Eliyahu - Elijah's Miracle on Mt Moriah

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On this site I will mostly use a version based on the “Jewish Publication Society” Tanakh (JPS)

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Please Note: On this page I will show the four letter blessed *“Memorial Name” of the Almighty in Ivrit - - Y-H-V-H, which we usually pronounce as “Adonai” or “HaShem”. At all times treat the most blessed Name with sanctity and when we even see the Name, we should say “blessed be His Sanctified Name”.

*“This is My Name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations” Shemot - Exodus 3:15.

Also: This study may not be suitable for non-Jewish readers, as it contains Hebrew terminologies, although some are translated. However, you may well find it interesting as there is so much to learn from this incredible event!

If you have arrived at this page via a search engine, I suggest that you might first read the study Eliyahu Part One, or go to the Eliyahu - Elijah Index at the bottom of this page as there are 4 studies on the prophet Eliyahu in total.

Rabbi Reuven Ben-Avraham.

Introduction:

In the Tanakh we read that the prophet Eliyahu - Elijah already had an amazing life of prophecy behind him, and we have seen miracles occur in the previous two studies, but he was about to prove his absolute faith in his beloved Elohim, but this time there was going to be a completely public and a miracle that was nothing short of spectacular to say the least. He would challenge king Ahab to a public confrontation and it would be sort of a major verbal duel between him and those evil false prophets of Ba’al. His language was exceptionally clear, and also rather provocative, as he said;

“You worship the idols, I serve Elohim let us see who is alive and who is not.”

The entire population was invited to Mount Carmel, especially the false prophets: 400 Ba’al worshippers and 450 of Jezebel’s house-prophets, so to speak. Facing this huge assembly was just one man, Eliyahu who believed in one Elohim, the Elohim of Israel, blessed be He!

And Eliyahu spoke, and what he said made sense: the following is paraphrased … “You cannot serve both Elohim and Ba’al; you cannot be both Jewish and anti-Jewish; you cannot believe in your own destiny and in someone else’s. You must commit yourself and take a stand. “Ad matai tifsekhu al shtei haseipim” or “How long are you going to live in two camps at once?” One must choose. If Elohim is Elohim, follow Him; if Ba’al is god, well follow him, but you do it at a huge risk!

In this study Part Three we find that Eliyahu had been in hiding for three and a half years, but Elohim, blessed be He, commands him to go and show himself to the king, thus in the next stage of Eliyahu’s life a huge event commences, which will convincingly prove that Elohim, blessed be His Sanctified Name, is the One and Only Elohim, and that all of those other useless stone and man made little so-called nothing gods which were being worshipped by so many are completely useless, and why is that so? Well could it possibly be that they simply did not exist and they believed in a piece of stone or timber, which was only good to build with. But they were nothing apart from that!

Interestingly Eliyahu had been in hiding for 3½ years, 42 months or 1,260 days. Obviously this was precisely half of 7 years, a time that is found frequently throughout the Tanakh. For 7 is related to the beginning of the 6 days of creation, and “on the 7th day Elohim rested”. The number 7 is an important number in the Tanakh just as are the numbers 8 and 40, but that could be another study one day!

Eliyahu’s Miracle at Mount Carmel:

If you wish to set the scene of this study why not read Melachim Aleph - 1 Kings 18:1 to 21.

I will commence with Melachim Aleph - 1 Kings 18:1 (JPS).

“And it came to pass after many days, that the word of came to Eliyahu, in the third year, saying: ‘Go, show thyself unto Ahab, and I will send rain upon the land’”.

However Ahab who was still searching for Eliyahu had called Obadyahu - Obadiah and gave him the following instruction;

“Go into the land to all the springs of water and to all the brooks; perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive, so that we will not have to kill any livestock.” Chapter 18: Vs 5.

And thus they divided the land between them and went off to explore it. Ahab went in one direction, whilst Obadyahu went in another by himself. It seemed that king Ahab cared more for his horses than he did for his people, he was happy to let that evil wife of his, Yezebel - Jezebel murder the faithful prophets of Elohim, and his citizens could well have been starving, but they never rated a mention, but his horses certainly had to be kept alive.

“And as Obadyahu was on his way, suddenly Eliyahu met him; and Obadyahu recognized him and he fell on his face, and said, ‘Is that you, my master Eliyahu?’ and he answered him, ‘It is I. Go; tell your master Eliyahu is here’ Chapter 18 Vs 7 & 8.

A note regarding Obadiah - Obadyahu; Throughout the Tanakh you will find thirteen Obadyahu’s, but the man Obadyahu we meet here happened to be in charge of the king’s household. We also learned in the Tanakh that secretly he continued to fear and serve the Elohim of Yisroel, and when he happened to hear Yezebel tell her servants to go and slay the prophets of Elohim, he quickly went to them and told them that he knew of two secret caves and he took a hundred of them, and he hid them fifty to a cave, and for the duration of their time in hiding, he fed them with bread and water.

But, it is important to understand that our Elohim always allows the full truth to be told, for verse 3 it stated; “Now Obadyahu feared greatly” yet at the same time he was also a man of fear, for when Eliyahu told him to go to the king to say that he was “here”, he protested, for he felt that the king would kill him, if Elohim had moved Eliyahu away by “the spirit”.

“Now thou sayest: ‘Go, tell thy master, behold, Eliyahu is here’. And it will come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the spirit of will carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he will slay me; but I thy servant fear from my youth” Chapter 18 Vs 11 & 12.

Thus this man who feared Elohim also feared the king, and thus he sort of argued with Eliyahu that if he came with the news that he had found him, that he could well be punished, even killed if Eliyahu had gone. But Eliyahu assured him;

“And Eliyahu said: ‘As of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself unto him today.’” Chapter 18 Vs 15.

Thus Obadyahu having been assured, he went to the king and told him to go and meet Eliyahu. Then Ahab went and sought Eliyahu, but at the very moment that the king saw Eliyahu, he said;

“Is it thou, thou troubler of Yisroel?’ And he (Eliyahu) answered: ‘I have not troubled Yisroel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of , and thou hast followed the Ba’alim.’” Chapter 18 Vs 17 & 18.

Eliyahu then told him, well, it really seemed more like that he commanded the king, to have all the people, as well as the king with his queen, Yezebel - Jezebel and also her 450 prophets of Ba’al, and the 400 prophets of Asherah, to meet him on Mount Carmel. Amazingly Ahab did as he was told, and Ahab made sure that the Children of Yisroel, and the prophets gathered together on Mount Carmel” (based on Chapter 18 Vs 19 & 20).

Thus what we have just read in simplified language was as follows; Eliyahu told Ahab,

“There is only one Elohim. He is Elohim! He is the only real Elohim for all of the others are just made up. Now you go and gather all of the people and all of the prophets of Ba’al and Asherah and bring them all to Mount Carmel. There we will have a contest and we will all see which god is real!”

Next came one of the most wonderful statements made by Eliyahu, as he said to the Children of Yisroel on Mount Carmel, where he made a powerful point!

“And Eliyahu came near unto all the people, and said: ‘How long halt (falter) ye between two opinions? If be Elohim, follow Him; but if Ba’al, follow him.’ And the people answered him not a word” Chapter 18 Vs 21.

Obviously, they were awaiting who was going to be the victor in the upcoming contest. Indeed we must all choose. If the Creator of heaven and earth, the Elohim of Avraham - Abraham, Isaac - Yitzchak and Jacob - Ya’aqov is your Elohim, blessed be He, then you better follow and worship Him; but for all who follow Ba’al, or any other false god, well follow them, but know this; a terrible punishment will await all those who do.

However, we should understand that sadly in the modern age throughout the world there are so many new god’s, and they may not be made of stone, etc, but believe me, there are many things I am afraid that I must say, that may have well become a god of sorts in your life, and this has all to do with what you choose to do in your life and the things that now have become a part of you. I will cover this subject later!

Eliyahu told everyone that there was going to be a contest, and that was to prove who the real Elohim really is. The prophets of Ba’al were to build an altar to their god and pray and ask their god to send a fire down and have it fully consume their bullock being their sacrifice. And later Eliyahu would also build an altar and do the same.

Below are the details direct from Melachim Aleph - 1 Kings 18:22 to 29 (JPS).

“Then said Eliyahu unto the people: ‘I, even I only, am left a prophet of ; but Ba’al’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under it; and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under it. And call ye on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of ; and the god that answers by fire, let Him be the Elohim.’ And all the people answered and said: ‘It is well spoken.’ And Eliyahu said unto the prophets of Ba’al: ‘Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under.’ And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Ba’al from morning even until noon, saying: ‘O Ba’al, answer us.’ But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they danced and leaped about the altar which was made. And it came to pass at noon, that Eliyahu mocked them, and said: ‘Cry aloud; for he is a god; either he is musing, or he is gone aside, or he is on a journey, or peradventure he sleeps, and must be woken.’ And they continued and cried loudly, and also cut themselves as was their way with swords and lances, till the blood gushed out upon them. And it was so, when midday was past, and they had prophesied until the time of the evening offering; but there was neither a voice, nor any answer”.

Well let’s face it, the prophets of Ba’al did agree to the contest that Eliyahu had set for them, and they made their altar and placed their timber and their bullock their sacrifice on top of it, and then they prayed and cried out to Ba’al and yes they even cut themselves. But of course as we well know nothing happened. These false prophets were completely humiliated by their own actions.

Eliyahu even said to them;

“Maybe Ba’al is asleep or maybe he is busy”.

By saying “he is busy” what he was really indicating that their god Ba’al may well have gone to use a certain (well you know what) facility. Let me explain this as tastefully as possible. In Hebrew the word used for “busy” is - or “sig”, which means “withdrawal”. The Hebrew word comes from the root “suwg” meaning a “withdrawal” - but it is a “withdrawal” into a very “private place”, yes I am sorry, it speaks of the WC. Thus Eliyahu was really mocking them, saying that their god was nothing, and he even does just what you do!

Of course Eliyahu knew that Ba’al was completely unable to cause fire to come down from heaven because, let’s face it, Ba’al is not real. It was just a god that someone at sometime had made up.

Then when it came to the time of the evening offering, Eliyahu called to the people to come closer and watch him. He gathered twelve stones, one for each of the twelve tribes, and he erected an altar to Elohim and placed the bullock to be sacrificed on the top. But he had not finished, for he ordered that a trench be dug around the altar and filled with water. He even poured water all over the sacrifice as well on the wood, until everything was completely drenched.

Let’s go and read chapter 18 verses 36 to 39:

“Elijah the prophet came near (to the altar), and said: ‘O , the Elohim of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that Thou art Elohim in Israel, and that I am Thy servant, and that I have done all these things at Thy word. Hear me, O , hear me, that this people may know that Thou, , art Elohim, for Thou didst turn their heart backward.’ Then the fire of fell, and consumed the burnt-offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said: ‘, He is Elohim; , He is Elohim.’ (blessed be His Sanctified Name!)

As soon as Eliyahu concluded his prayer and Elohim, blessed be He, sent down a fire from heaven that consumed not only the sacrifice, but all the wood, and even the stones, and the earth directly around it and the water of the trench, it was all consumed.

And as we read, in great awe the people “fell on their faces and they said: “, He is Elohim! , He is Elohim!”

Eliyahu told the people who now believed him: “Take the prophets of Ba’al; let not one of them escape.” The people then seized the false prophets; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook of Kishon and the false prophets were executed there.

Moriah’s Grand Finally:

We need to remember back to the time in Study One, when Eliyahu first walked into the palace and addressed king Ahab, without previous permission, which would have meant an automatic instant death sentence, and it was when he told the king …

“As , the Elohim of Israel, liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word” Melachim Aleph - 1 Kings 17:1 (JPS).

Now Eliyahu said unto Ahab: ‘Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.’ So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Eliyahu went back to the top of Mount Carmel; and he bowed himself down to the earth, and put his face between his knees. And he said to his servant: ‘Go now, look toward the sea.’ And he went, and looked, and when he returned he said: ‘There is nothing.’ And Eliyahu said: ‘Go again for seven times.’ And after the seventh time, the servant said: ‘Behold, there arises a cloud out of the sea, it is as small as a man’s hand.’ And Eliyahu said: ‘Go to king Ahab: Make ready thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.’ And in a short time the heaven grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain.

It was just at once that little cloud appeared in the sky, just the size of a man's hand. It grew very fast and a few minutes later the sky was black with clouds. The long-awaited rain came down in torrents, just as Eliyahu had said, “according to my word”.

Throughout the ages we have proclaimed this truth, that there is just One Elohim, the All-mighty and All-powerful Creator and Ruler of the world. Every year, at the conclusion of the Yom-Kippur services, we proclaim the words “HaShem, He is Elohim” seven times. And now, more than ever, we should realize this truth and put our trust in our Elohim.

“Shema Yisroel Elohenu, ECHAD” - “Hear, O Israel Adonai is our Elohim, Adonai is ECHAD”

Remember this; He who answered Eliyahu’s prayer on Mount Carmel will surely also answer all of us, if we remain in complete faith in Him!

The Next Scene:

With the false prophets having been executed at the Brook of Kishon, Eliyahu came under a death threat by the evil Yezebel. When she became Israel’s queen she brought the worship of her god Ba’al into the nation, influencing Ahab to also worship this hideous thing and set up idols throughout Israel (Melachim Aleph - 1 Kings 16:31; 1 Kings 21:25-26).

It can be seen throughout the Tanakh that the prophets of Elohim who bring messages of warning are generally hated and are accused of actually being the cause of all their suffering. Yezebel and the many that served Ba’al hated Eliyahu, and they spared no effort to catch and to kill him.

In a moment of human weakness Eliyahu was deeply discouraged and he went into the wilderness, but it wasn’t long before Elohim reassured him and sent him back again to face Ahab. Eliyahu was to deliver the message that Ahab and Jezebel would both die a humiliating death due to all the wicked deeds they simply refused to repent of.

“Ahab said to Eliyahu, ‘So you have found me, my enemy?’ ‘Yes, I have found you,’ he (Eliyahu) replied. ‘Because you have committed yourself to doing what is evil in the sight of , I will bring disaster upon you. I will make a clean sweep of you, I will cut off from Israel every male belonging to Ahab, bond and free. And I will make your house like the House of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the House of Baasha son of Ahijah, because of the provocation you have caused by leading Israel to sin. And had also spoken concerning Yezebel: ‘The dogs shall devour Yezebel in the field of Yezreel. All of Ahab’s line who die in the town shall be devoured by dogs, and all who die in the open country shall be devoured by the birds of the sky” Melachim Aleph - 1 Kings 21:20-24 (JPS).

Thus we have seen here that worshipping false gods will be punished in the most terrible manner for all that Eliyahu had said did actually happen for all of Ahab’s house did die as was prophesied.

The truth is we must all choose:

We must all choose if the Creator of heaven and earth, the Elohim Avraham, Isaac - Yitzchak and Jacob - Ya’aqov is your Elohim then you better follow and worship Him; but if Ba’al or any other is your god, well follow them, but know that severe punishment will come.

But sadly in the modern age throughout the world there are many new kinds of god’s, and there are a number of things I must say, for the modern little god’s in a way may also be what you choose to do in your life. And one god is money, and many have the desire for more and more ‘gelt’ and believe me it will destroy the soul, as it can so easily go against what Elohim desires from us! Yes, I know well that we need money in the modern age, but that is not what I am talking about, it is all about spending one’s life getting as much of it as possible. Money and the desire for more and more of it will destroy the soul as it goes against so many things that Elohim requires from us! It will take you away from your faith, go to the Synagogue less and less, and sadly like so many become just the occasional Yom Tov, or just a “Kol Nidre” attendee at Shul.

But there are other little god’s in many lives, and more so in these days of so called liberation. And I am sorry to have to say that this spirit that ruins life is sex, and although in principle it is fine, but only for a married couple is it perfect and a blessing. According to our beloved Torah, sex cannot be had in any other situation, such as pre marriage or, El forbid, homosexuality!

In addition, the modern age has thrown technology in our laps, and sadly it has become so over used, that so many are completely addicted to their phones and I have seen it, these mobiles have become like a drug, so many almost live on something that should be only a tool, but it has become far more than that, and it has become as I already indicated an addiction, just like it is a drug. Whatever you do, please do not drive and use it, for it has become a massive killer on the road, and sadly I see stupid people texting all the time, and they do it whilst they are driving. Think about it does that make sense?

Please do not be like those in the days of Ahab and Yezebel who worshipped their gods, and I do now mean the later new modern what I may call the small gods I have just mentioned, but if you love our beloved Creator, please keep His Torah as much as you are able, and by that I do mean those we were given to us in the Torah, and not those so-called laws that were man-made and created by many rabbis in the past who were overzealous rabbis, and their laws did not come from our Creator, Elohim, blessed be His Sanctified Name! Remember what Elohim made so clear in the Torah;

“You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of your Elohim which I command you.” Devarim - Deuteronomy 4:2. (JPS version of the Torah and Tanakh).

“Be careful to obey the Torah My servant Moshe gave you. Do not turn from it, not to the right or to the left. Only My Word stands forever.” Devarim - Deuteronomy 5:32.

“If thou shalt hearken to the Voice of thy Elohim, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the law; if thou turn unto thy Elohim with all thy heart, and with all thy soul. For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not too hard for thee, neither is it far off” Devarim - Deuteronomy 30:10-11 (JPS version of the Torah).

Study Four:

The next study No 4, will ask the question … “Was Eliyahu taken up in that chariot of fire to heaven to be with our Heavenly Father … if not where did he go?”

Rabbi Reuven Ben-Avraham.

The Eliyahu - Elijah INDEX:

Page 1 … Eliyahu Part One

Page 2 … Eliyahu Part Two

Page 3 … Eliyahu Part Three … This page.

Page 4 … Eliyahu Part Four

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Please Note: On many pages of this site, we will use the four letter *“Memorial Name” of the Almighty in Ivrit - - Y-H-V-H, which we Jews usually pronounce as “HaShem” or “Adonai”.

*“This is My Name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.” Shemot - Exodus 3:15.

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