Malachi 4: 1-6: For behold, the day comes, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. You shall go forth leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts. “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse.  In this short epilogue, Fr Robbie looks at the person of St John the Baptist, widely thought of at the time as Elijah returned as promised in the passage from Malachi above which closes the Old Testament. Finally Fr Robbie reminds us that it was Elijah who appeared with Moses when Christ was transfigured on the mountain and he considers the significance of this.  

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

1  Kings 19:1-16: Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” Then he was afraid…..and he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am no better than my fathers.” And he lay down and slept under a broom tree; and behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.”….. else the journey will be too great for you.” And he arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. And there he came to a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” And he said, “Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him, and …. said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, you shall anoint Haz’ael to be king over Syria; 16 and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel; and Eli’sha the son of Shaphat of A’bel-meho’lah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place.”  Fr Robbie takes us through these dramatic events in the life of Elijah, leading to the anointing of his successor, Elisha.

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

1 Kings 18: 16-21: So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah. When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel; but you have, and your father’s house, because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals. Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel, and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel.  And Elijah came near to all the people, and said, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.”   The text continues with the arguably one of the most extraordinary events in the whole of the old Testament – Elijah’s encounter with the prophets of Baal and the demonstration of the living presence and power of the one true God.  Fr Robbie takes us through these events and to the reaction of Elijah as he flees to Mount Horeb.

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

‘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.

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

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.

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

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