Elijah

Elijah

Introduction
    In the Gospels, Jesus is portrayed not only as Son of God and Messiah, but also as a sage with a prophetic ministry. Many parallels are drawn between his ministry and those of Elijah and Elisha. Jesus describes his predecessor John the Baptist as the second Elijah (Matt. 11:13–14; cf. Mark 9:11–13), and his own concern for widows and Gentiles (see Nations) reflects that of Elijah and Elisha, whom he cites as models for his ministry (Luke 4:24–27). At the transfiguration of Jesus, Elijah appears next to Moses, possibly representing the prophets alongside the representative of the law, or reflecting the expectation of Elijah's coming at the end of the age. Both Moses and Elijah were prophetic figures who suffered rejection and persecution, but were vindicated by God, and in this they prefigure Jesus's own fate. In 1-2 Kings, Elijah is portrayed as a single-minded and solitary figure, but there are indications that Elijah's own view of his role did not correspond exactly to God's view (cf. Rom. 11:2–4), and Jesus on at least one occasion refused to emulate Elijah (Luke 9:54–55; cf. 2 Kings 1:10, 12). What then are the characteristics of Elijah and his ministry?

The Beginning and High Point of Elijah's Prophetic Ministry
    Elijah appears quite suddenly in 1 Kings 17, predicting a drought to Ahab. Remarkably, the initiative does not seem to have come from God, but from Elijah himself. Neither a prophetic call nor a divine oracle is recorded. Instead, James concludes, 'Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth' (Jas. 5:17, NRSV). However, Elijah's prayer is not arbitrary. The covenant between the Lord and Israel challenged the people to expect the blessing of rain from the Lord and threatened the withholding of rain in the event of apostasy (e.g. Deut. 11:16–17). Elijah asks that this threat be carried out in response to the royally sanctioned worship of Baal, the Canaanite storm and fertility god (cf. 1 Kgs. 16:31–33).
    Elijah is first recognized as a man of God by a widow in the heartland of Baal worship, but only after having brought back her son to life. Both the widow and Elijah refuse to acknowledge death as an independent force that could challenge Yahweh, but make Yahweh directly responsible for the death. This is in contrast to Canaanite religion in which Mot ('Death') is seen as a god to whom Baal succumbs from time to time. Like Jesus, Elijah demonstrates that God can use death (cf. John 11:4), and that his word is effective beyond the boundaries of Israel (cf. Mark 7:24–30; Matt. 15:21–28).
    When Yahweh asks Elijah to present himself to Ahab and to announce the return of the rain (1 Kgs. 18:1), Elijah uses the opportunity to challenge Israel to repent of their Baal worship. He does this by means of a public confrontation on Mt Carmel with the Baal prophets. Pointedly, he erects a twelve-stone altar (for the twelve tribes of Israel) and prays to the covenant God, 'O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel' (1 Kgs. 18:36–37; cf. Jas. 5:18), reminding the people of their true identity as the covenant people of Yahweh (cf. Exod. 24:1–11). Elijah's prayer is answered and he is vindicated against the Baal prophets who are slaughtered (the Hebrew word in 1 Kgs. 18:40 is used elsewhere to refer to the slaughter of sacrificial animals) as a punishment for their apostasy (cf. Deut. 13:12–15). However, Elijah flees when he realizes that even after the events on Mt Carmel, Ahab is still in submission to his wife Jezebel rather than to Yahweh. For the first time since he announced the drought, Elijah acts not in response to a word from God, but on his own initiative.

The Turning Point of Elijah's Prophetic

Ministry
    Some of Elijah's actions parallel those of Moses (e.g. the encounter of Moses with Pharaoh's magicians). Like Moses, Elijah flees from enemies into the wilderness, but this time in a 'reversal' of salvation history. He journeys for forty days and forty nights (far longer than necessary) from Beersheba, at the border of the Promised Land, to Horeb, i.e. Mt Sinai, symbolizing Israel's forty years' journey in the wilderness. Yet when he arrives at a cave (Moses was in the cleft of a rock when he saw the glory of Yahweh passing by in Exod. 33:18–23), Yahweh asks him what he is doing there (1 Kgs. 19:9). Elijah claims to be the only faithful person left in Israel, and it seems that God will have to make the same offer to Elijah as he once did to Moses, namely to make a great nation of him (Exod. 32:10).
    Elijah experiences the tangible signs of a theophany: a strong wind; an earthquake; and fire (for the latter two at Sinai, see Exod. 19:18). These are also frequently associated with Baal. But this time Yahweh does not reveal himself by these means. Instead it is 'a sound of sheer silence' (1 Kgs. 19:12), either a barely audible sound or what we might call 'a pregnant silence', which entices Elijah out of the cave to meet Yahweh. Elijah does not experience another Sinai theophany for two reasons: firstly, because contrary to what he thinks, God has preserved a remnant (cf. Rom. 11:2–4), and secondly, because the LORD is not merely a god of natural forces, but reveals himself also in history and through his word. The Sinai theophany served to legitimize Moses as a unique spokesman of Yahweh (cf. Deut. 34:10–12); later prophets were to be judged by their faithfulness to Mosaic teaching and by the fulfilment of their word (cf. Deut. 18:15–22), not by the signs that legitimized Moses.
    Elijah is ordered to return and to anoint three successors: one for the King of Aram; one for the King of Israel and one for Elijah himself. This new order will bring the victory over Baal-worship. Baal will be defeated not through more spectacular demonstrations of divine power in the natural realm, but through a historical process. Elijah has to be content with being the one who began the fight against Baalism rather than one who sees its completion. Elijah, however, apparently did not anoint any of the three people he was told to anoint (Elisha commissions both Hazael and Jehu, see 2 Kgs. 8:7–15; 9:1–13; differently Ecclus 48:8). When Elisha becomes his servant (rather than his successor), one wonders whether Elijah has merely postponed the anointing or is not prepared to give way to a successor. In 1 Kings 20 Yahweh continues to reveal himself as the true God of Israel in a victory over the Aramean king Ben-Hadad ('Son of Hadad', the storm god) and announces Ahab's doom, yet he does both without Elijah. There are, however, another three occasions on which Elijah acts as God's spokesman.

The Close of Elijah's Prophetic Ministry
    The story of Naboth in 1 Kings 21 reveals the profound difference between Israelite covenant law (cf. Lev. 25:23; Deut. 27:17) and the principles of Canaanite kingship. By appropriating Naboth's land as crown property, Ahab acts more like a Canaanite than an Israelite king, and even instigates the judicial murder of Naboth, who refuses to violate the covenant. This time Elijah is asked to confront Ahab, which he promptly does with a message that seems even harsher than the word of Yahweh itself (cf. 1 Kgs. 21:19 with 20–24; see 1 Kgs. 22:37–39 and 2 Kgs. 9:30–37 for the fulfilment of these prophecies).
    The last two recorded confrontations are with Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, and with Jehoram, Ahab's son-in-law, who introduces Ahab's apostasy into the southern kingdom. Ahaziah is condemned to death for inquiring of Baal-zebub ('Lord of Flies', probably a distortion of the original name intended to ridicule the Syrian deity) rather than of Yahweh. Elijah challenges the king's messengers to recognize him as a 'man of God' (rather than merely addressing him as such) by twice destroying fifty men with fire (2 Kgs. 1). Jehoram, in the southern kingdom, is condemned by letter (2 Chron. 21:12–15).
    At the end of his prophetic career, Elijah moves in stages to Bethel, to Jericho and to the Jordan, each time trying to leave Elisha behind (2 Kgs. 2:2, 4, 6). Finally, he crosses the Jordan into the same region where Moses died, having re-enacted one of the most symbolic moments in Israel's history, the dividing of the Jordan (cf. Exod. 14:15–31). Even now, Elisha's persistence is tested; he has to ask for the 'double share' of Elijah's spirit that will confirm him as the legitimate successor (cf. Deut. 21:17). In the past Elijah has been confident that he knows the will of God, but he is strangely reticent about whether God will grant Elisha his request. Is this another sign of Elijah's reluctance to accept God's plan? In any case, Elisha witnesses Elijah's departure up to heaven in a whirlwind and proves by his subsequent actions that he is the true successor. To Elijah's mysterious translation to heaven corresponds an eschatological return: 'See, I will be sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes' (Mal. 4:5, author's translation). On that day, the people will repent, and Elijah will not need to pray for the enactment of the covenant curses. Rather, 'he will turn the hearts of fathers to their sons and the heart of sons to their fathers, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse' (Mal. 4:6, author's translation).

The Lasting Significance of Elijah's Prophetic Ministry
    In early Jewish tradition, Elijah is remembered especially for his zeal. His mysterious rapture (according to 1 Macc. 2:58 the reward for his great zeal for the law) signifies to many that he has a role to play in God's ultimate victory, and apocalyptic writings are attributed to him (see O. S. Wintermute, 'Elijah, Apocalypse of', ABD 2, pp. 466–469). This tradition may explain John the Baptist's refusal to be (directly) identified with Elijah (John 1:21, 25). He is 'Elijah' only in a figurative sense. An alternative explanation is that John had similar difficulties accepting his God-given role.
    Elijah's name, which means 'Yahweh is (my) God', was his programme. His single-mindedness can inspire us to similar loyalty in the face of apostasy. We should, however, remember that Elijah was never as isolated or indispensable as he thought he was, and his zeal for God did not always bring him closer to God (the same was true for the apostle Paul who may have meditated on the Elijah narratives after his conversion; see N. T. Wright, 'Paul, Arabia, and Elijah [Galatians 1:17]', JBL 111, 1996, pp. 683–692). Like Moses, Elijah died outside the land before the work was completed. Their appearance at the transfiguration is perhaps meant to suggest that Jesus's death completes the work they began, although a witness similar to that of Moses and Elijah is still required in the struggles of the church (see Rev. 11, esp. vv. 5–6).
    See also: JOHN THE BAPTIST.

Bibliography
    J. R. Battenfield, 'YHWH's Refutation of the Baal myth through the actions of Elijah and Elisha', in A. Gileadi (ed.), Israel's Apostasy and Restoration: Essays in Honor of Roland K. Harrison (Grand Rapids, 1988); D. L. Bock, 'Elijah and Elisha', in DJG, pp. 203–206; A. J. Hauser and R. Gregory, From Carmel to Horeb: Elijah in Crisis (Sheffield, 1990); P. J. Kissling, Reliable Characters in the Primary History: Profiles of Moses, Joshua, Elijah and Elisha (Sheffield, 1996); I. W. Provan, 1 and 2 Kings, NIBC (Peabody and Carlisle, 1995); J. T. Walsh, 'Elijah', ABD 2, pp. 463–466.
T. RENZ

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Regards,
Ryan Chia

Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Mission exists because worship doesn't. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man.

From John Piper, Let The Nations Be Glad