St. Elijah the Tishbite (Commemoration 19 October)

St. Elijah (Mar Eliyah) of Tishbe is a mighty prophet of God who represents the prophets of old. We witnessed this representation in his appearance in the transfiguration of our Lord (Luke 9:28-33) alongside Moses who represents the Law. (See past article on the Transfiguration). But what is so significant about Elijah’s works that sets him apart as a faithful prophet? And what learning can we gain as we look to the example of this man of God?

Firstly, Elijah is introduced to us or first mentioned in 1 Kings 17:1 at the time of the reign of King Ahab, the king of Israel who was married to Jezebel. Both the king and his wife were worshippers of Baal (the pagan god of many other gods) and had influenced a large majority of Israel to follow in the same pagan worship.

In order to glorify His name and turn the hearts of Israel back to the truth, God instrumentally calls upon His faithful servant Elijah who demonstrates his great faith through the many miracles he performs in the name of the Lord, such as:

Raising the dead

The first mention of the miracle of raising the dead in the Bible is performed by Elijah when he calls on the name of the Lord God to raise a dead boy to life:

“Then Elijah cried out to the Lord and said, “Woe is me, O Lord! The witness of the widow with whom I lodge, you have embittered her by killing her son.” Then he stretched himself out on the child three times, and called on the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, let the soul of this child come back to him.” So it happened, and the child cried out. (1 Kings 17:20-22)

We see a meaningful significance in the way Elijah is lead to stretch himself over the dead boy three times; for the number three is a sacred number that points to the blessed Holy Trinity.

Feeding the poor

Elijah again gives glory to God by quoting to the poor widow the Godly words that were spoken to him; “For thus says the Lord;

‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, and the jar of oil shall not run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.’

The bin of flour was not used up, and the jar of oil did not run dry, according to the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah (1 Kings 17:16).

Through these works in the name of the Lord the widow who witnessed these, acknowledged Elijah as a true man of God and the words spoken to her from his mouth were true [as if from God Himself] (1 Kings 17:24).

Proving there is only one true God

A well-known miracle that Elijah is characterized by is the infamous calling down of fire from the heavens. In order to prove to the king and the prophets of Baal that their faith in these idols was in vain, the prophet calls on the name of the Lord again to prove the worthlessness of the idols and display the mighty strength of the one true God (1 Kings 18:20-40).

Elijah cried out to heaven and said, “O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, answer me, O Lord, answer me this day with fire, and let this people know You are the God of Israel, and I am Your servant; and for Your sake I do all these works.”(1 Kings 18:36)

In witnessing the might of God as performed through the word of Elijah, the people fell on their faces and they said, “Truly, the Lord is God; He is God.” (1 Kings 18:39) And again, Elijah proved true to his mission in serving the Lord through glorifying His name.

Separating the waters

When Elijah and Elisha stood at the bank of the Jordan River, Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up, and struck the water. The water was divided in two streams and allowed both men to walk across.(2 Kings 2:8) Afterwards, when Elisha was left with Elijah’s mantle, he tried to divide the waters in the same way, but it was not until Elisha called on the name of the Lord that the waters were divided (2 Kings 2:13-14).

God rewards Elijah for the faithful acts performed in His name by:

Providing for his needs

When the Lord commissioned Elijah to start his journey at the commencement of the drought, He provided ravens to bring Elijah bread and meat to eat, and a brook to draw water from (1 Kings 17:3-6).

The Lord lead Elijah to the poor widow who provided him with water to drink and bread to eat before Elijah showed her God’s providence through the miracles performed in her house. (1 Kings 17:8-9)

When Elijah fled from Jezebel and entered the wilderness, the angel of the Lord continually provided him with cakes of wheat and water to sustain him for forty days and forty nights. (1 Kings 19:4-9)

When God found Elijah afraid and alone after fleeing from the pagan worshippers, He comforted the faithful and zealous prophet by providing him with His holy presence and revealed Himself to the prophet in the sound of a gentle breeze (1 Kings 19:11-13).

Finally, we see Elijah, who was favoured by God unlike any other prophet, was spared the physical death and was taken up into heaven by a chariot of fire (2 Kings2:10-11).

Today, as faithful Christians of the Church and lovers of Christ, we too should look not only to the example of the prophets like Elijah and faithful forefathers before us, but to the glorious example of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. He came into the world to glorify the Father by leading people to know Him through His words and deeds and commands us, His followers to do the same;

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

St. John Chrysostom expounds on Elijah’s works and draws a great parallel for us to observe:

“For Elijah left a sheepskin (mantle) to his disciple, but the Son of God ascending left to us His own flesh! Elijah indeed, cast off his mantle, before he went up; but Christ left it behind for our sakes; and yet retained it when He ascended. Let us not lament, nor fear the difficulty of the times, for He who did not refuse to pour out His blood for all, and has suffered us to partake in His flesh and of His blood again, what will He refuse to do for our safety?”

Let us remember, that just as the prophet Elijah left his mantle (sheepskin) for Elisha to continue in the faithful works for the Lord, so too we have been entrusted with the duty that has been handed down to us through the apostles; to work for the Lord by making His name known to the world. We have the assurance in knowing that He has provided for our needs through His grace dispensed to us through the sacraments, and we trust that He will continue to provide for us in the same way he provided for the prophet Elijah when we call upon His mighty name.

“Your Name” – Paul Baloche and Glenn Packiam