‘Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” And the word of the Lord came to him, “Depart from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, that is east of the Jordan. You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” So he went and did according to the word of the Lord; he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.’ Thus begins the 1st Book of Kings Chapter 17 dramatically introducing us to the figure of Elijah who shortly is to meet the widow of Zarephath and to raise her son from the dead. Fr Robbie Low considers the significance of Elijah’s name which means ‘God alone is God’. As the prophet called by God to confront the pagan polytheism of his times, his name is indeed prophetic.

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In this second talk of our series for Lent, Fr Robbie sets the scene for the appearance of Elijah described in the Bible in 1 Kings Chapter 17.  Over 70 years before this and after the long reign of Solomon the kingdom of Israel splits in two and his descendants rule over an increasingly fractious, warring and apostate country. Each king appears to be worse than before. The last in this line, Ahab,  is described thus: ‘Ahab, son of Omri did what is displeasing to Yahweh, and was worse than all his predecessors.  The least that he did was to follow the sinful example of Jeroboam, son of Nebat: he married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, and then proceeded to serve Baal and worship him.” (1 Kings 16: 30-32).  Into this situation, with the majority of the people following their king and rejecting the worship of the one true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, comes Elijah, the Great Prophet of God.

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We are pleased to be able to publish this series of talks given during a retreat by Fr Robbie Low.  Especially appropriate for Lent reflection, the great prophet calls us back to the bedrock of our faith – trust in God as God – almighty, all knowing, all powerful, all loving. This first talk is an introduction to the retreat. To set the scene Fr Robbie quotes from the beginning of Chapter 48 of Ecclesiasticus: “Then the prophet Elijah arose like a fire, and his word burned like a torch. He brought a famine upon them, and by his zeal he made them few in number. By the word of the Lord he shut up the heavens, and also three times brought down fire. How glorious you were, O Elijah, in your wondrous deeds! And who has the right to boast which you have? You who raised a corpse from death and from Hades, by the word of the Most High; who brought kings down to destruction, and famous men from their beds; Blessed are those who saw you, and those who have been adorned in love; for we also shall surely live.”

Listen on your computer or click on the image to subscribe to our podcast Elijah – Great Prophet of God in the iTunes Store