Wednesday Bible Study: Introducing The Big Kahuna

In Chapter 17, we meet Elijah, who is arguably the most important figure in the Tanakh. From the Jewish perspective, he is the harbinger of the Messiah, according to the Book of Malachi. He is therefore central to the eschatology of all the faiths that revere the Hebrew Bible, including Christianity and Islam. He is obviously also the inspiration for the Jesus of the Gospels, performing several miracles that prefigure ones attributed to Jesus. (However, Christian theology conflates him with John the Baptist, not Jesus himself.) Elijah appears at the Transfiguration in all three of the synoptic Gospels. (That is Matthew, Mark and Luke which share many elements.) In contemporary Judaism, his name is invoked weekly at the close of the Sabbath and he also has a role in the Seder and other Jewish customs. As we meet him in this chapter, he performs two miracles which prefigure miracles of Jesus. So it is really at this point that the link between Old Testament and New is established. (Jesus explicitly renounced the laws of the Torah in Matthew 22.)So here goes.17 Now Eli ′jah the Tishbite, of Tishbe[a] in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As theLord the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word. ”2 And the word of theLord came to him,3 “Depart from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, that is east of the Jordan.4 You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ra...
Source: Stayin' Alive - Category: American Health Source Type: blogs