The Great Prophet Elijah

The prophet Elijah is a great prophet, who lived about 800 years before the coming of Christ.From the time he was born, the high priests prophesied that he would be a special child, very zealous for God (Elijah means divine). They said that his life would be full of Light, although he would be strict with the Israelite people; yet his decisions and his whole life would be pleasing to God. He prophesied for 25 years, in many ways: three times he sent down fire from heaven.

With his word he withheld the rain and it did not rain for three and a half whole years, with the result that thousands of people and animals suffered from drought and the barrenness of the earth; then he said to rain and it rained. And many other miracles he did, to convince people to leave the worship of false gods and turn again to “his” God, the true God. He also rose from the dead • the child of a widow woman who miraculously nourished him during the three and a half years of famine (whose wife did not run out of the little flour she had to make bread, so that they would not die of hunger for the sake of the prophet).

He even claimed to see God, as far as it is possible for a man to see Him, there on the God-walked Mount Sinai, just like Moses, but here he passed by Elijah in a gentle breeze. Finally, he also split the Jordan River, as Joshua once did for the Israeli people, so that his disciple, the prophet Elisha, who had asked for “double grace from his teacher” could cross with him and he promised him that this would only happen if he saw him taken up into heaven. Indeed, the prophet Elisha did not lose sight of him and saw the prophet Elijah ascending to heaven in a fiery chariot. That is why his churches are usually located in high places, mountains and hills.

Ahab reigned in the kingdom of Israel at that time, having by his side a terrible woman, Jezebel, who passionately supported idolatry. After all, people and animals, had recovered from the drought and barrenness of the land, God told the prophet Elijah to present himself to Ahab. He, wanting to show who the true God is, asked that they all gather on Mount Carmel (in the north of Palestine) together, and the heathen priests and prophets – Jezebel’s protégés – almost a thousand all together.

There he asked them to sacrifice in front of the people, each one to his god, and whoever God hears the prayer and sends fire from heaven on the altar, so that the sacrifice can be offered, he will be the true God and Him they should worship , so that there is no error in the people. The prophet Elijah tells the pagan priests and false prophets: “Choose a calf and make your sacrifice first.” So they did and prayed to the Sun god, Baal, from morning to noon, but neither voice nor hearing.

Then the prophet Elijah began to mock them: “Shout louder, lest your god sleeps too!” But since nothing was being done, he says to them: “Put aside now that I may make my sacrifice.” He places twelve large stones – as many as the tribes of Israel – and immediately builds an altar. He places the wood and the animal that was for the sacrifice on top and orders a lot of water to be poured over it again and again, three times, so that no one thinks that there is a spark of fire hidden somewhere.

Then he raised his hands to heaven with all his mind and heart given to God and began to pray aloud, while all the people waited with bated breath. He did not have time to say many words and the Lord sent such fire from heaven that it burned everything in the altar, even the stones were licked up by the fire. All the people fell down and worshiped God and said, “Truly, this is the true God.” The prophet Elijah then said: “Arrest the false prophets immediately”, he also turned to King Ahab and said to him: “Prepare your chariot quickly, because I hear lightning and thunder and rain is coming”.

He didn’t have time to finish even where it had been raining for three and a half years and there wasn’t even a cloud in the sky before, a lot of clouds gathered and it started to rain torrentially, until Ahab reached his palace. As soon as Jezebel heard the news, she was furious with her evil and asked to kill the prophet Elijah. Surprisingly that courageous man of God was afraid and ran away. With the help and guidance of an angel he reached Mount Sinai, where God appeared to him just below the point where he gave Moses the tablets with the ten commandments and His Law.