Prophet Elijah. Holy prophet Elijah Orthodoxy prophet Elijah

On August 2, the Orthodox Church celebrates Remembrance Day holy prophet Elijah. He is revered not only in Christianity and Judaism, but also in the later Protestant churches and Islam, and traces of his image are also present in paganism.

Life of the Prophet Elijah

Prophet Elijah (translated from Hebrew as “My God”) was born in Thesbia of Gilead in the tribe of Levi 900 years before the birth of Christ. According to legend, when Elijah was born, his father had a mysterious vision: “ noble men welcomed the baby, swaddled him with fire and fed him with a fiery flame».

From an early age, Elijah devoted himself to God, lived in the desert, spent time in fasting and prayer. His prophetic ministry came during the reign of King Ahab, whose wife Jezebel convinced to accept paganism.

Therefore, the worship of the pagan god Baal was cultivated in the country. According to legend, to admonish the king and the Israeli people corrupted by him, the prophet Elijah struck the land with a three-year drought. After some time, through the prayer of the prophet Elijah, the Lord sent abundant rain to the earth, and the drought ended.

The Prophet Elijah is also mentioned in the New Testament: during the Transfiguration of the Lord, he and the Prophet Moses arrived on Mount Tabor to talk with Jesus Christ.

The prophet Elijah performed many miracles. One day he went to Zarephath of Sidon to visit a poor widow who did not spare the last handful of flour and oil, so the flour and oil have not been exhausted in the widow’s house since then. Then the prophet Elijah performed another miracle: he revived the recently deceased son of a widow.

Both in Judaism and Christianity it is believed that Elijah was taken to Heaven alive: “suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared, and separated them both, and Elijah rushed into Heaven in a whirlwind” (2 Kings 2:11). According to the Bible, before him only Enoch, who lived before the Flood (Gen. 5:24). However, in Orthodox theology there is an opinion that Enoch and Elijah were ascended not to heaven, but to some hidden place, in which they await the day of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Deuterocanonical book, Book of Wisdom of Jesus, son Sirakhova, describes this event as follows: “Elijah was hidden by a whirlwind, and Elisha was filled with his spirit” (Sirach 48:12). According to it, Elijah left his outer clothing (“mantle”) for the prophet Elisha, throwing it off the fiery chariot.

Veneration of the Prophet Elijah in Rus'

Prophet Elijah was one of the first saints who began to be revered in Rus'. In his honor, at the beginning of the 9th century, Prince Askold A cathedral church was erected in Kyiv. Princess Olga In the name of the prophet Elijah she built a church in the north of Rus'.

After Russia adopted Christianity, the image of Elijah the Prophet replaced the thunder god Perun, revered by the ancient Slavs. The idea that Elijah rides across the sky in a chariot, thunders and shoots lightning, chasing the serpent, is associated both with the image of Perun and with the fact that the prophet Elijah went to heaven alive in a fiery chariot.

Elijah's day

After the adoption of Christianity, the day of remembrance of the Prophet Elijah became dedicated to the traditional folk holiday of the eastern and southern Slavs. The celebration was called Elijah's Day.

Elijah the prophet with his life and deesis. From the Church of Elijah the Prophet in the Vybuty churchyard, near Pskov. End of the 12th century. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Elijah's day was considered the boundary of the seasons, while among the southern Slavs (for example, in Macedonia) this day was called the middle of summer, and in Russia - the turn to winter. Rain was expected after Ilyin's day. On this day they began to enjoy the fruits of the new harvest. The Slavs associated the holiday with a wedding and the symbolism of fertility: they prayed for a rich harvest, and girls prayed for getting married.

Celebrating this holiday began the day before - on the Thursday before Elijah's Day, when ritual cookies were baked in some areas, or from Marina Lazoreva, when they stopped doing field work.

In addition, on the eve of Elijah's Day, they took precautions to protect their home, farm and crops from rain, hail or lightning.

On this day, prayer services were held in the field and in churches and chapels dedicated to Elijah the Prophet (often established by vow); in some places the peasants had fasted throughout the previous week; they fumigated the house and buildings with incense, took out of the house or hid all shiny, sparkling objects in order to protect themselves from the wrath of Elijah.

In Rus', almost everywhere, the obligatory rite of Ilyin’s day was a collective meal (“brotherhood”) with the slaughter of a ram or a bull purchased by pooling. In addition, beer or wort was brewed for Ilya's brotherhood. Such fraternities ended with youth festivities, games, round dances and songs. The organizers of Ilya's brotherhood, unlike other holidays, were men.

Elijah's Day was considered the calendar boundary of the seasons, when the first signs of autumn appeared in nature and the behavior of animals, birds and insects changed.

On Elijah’s Day it was strictly forbidden:

• to work - work on this day will not bring any results and may anger Elijah the prophet, who severely punished for disrespectful attitude towards his holiday. The worker on this day was stopped and punished by his fellow villagers: in the Kaluga province, for example, they unharnessed the horse from the cart on which he was going to carry hay, and the horse team was taken to a tavern and drank together;
• swim - because from this day on all evil spirits return to the water (devils, mermaids, hair - from Midsummer's Day until now they were on land, where Elijah the Prophet shot them with lightning).

Sayings and signs of Ilyin's day:

• Ilya holds thunderstorms.
• Not swords against Elijah, he will burn the heaps with heavenly fire.
• Peter (June 29) - with a spikelet, Ilya - with a kolobok.
• From Ilya's day the night is long and the water is cold.
• Elijah the prophet rides horses across the sky, and from fast running one of the horses loses a horseshoe, which falls into the water, and the water immediately gets colder.
• Until Elijah the priest will not beg for rain; after Ilya, the woman will catch up with her apron.
• A ram's head on the table for the prophet Elijah (Vologda province).
• On Elijah's Day, cattle are not driven out into the fields to pasture.
• After Ilya, mosquitoes stop biting.

Ahab - king of the Kingdom of Israel in 873-852 BC. e., son and heir of Omri. The history of his reign is detailed in the Third Book of Kings.

Enoch is a descendant of Seth, son of Jared and father of Methuselah, the seventh patriarch starting from Adam. The fifth chapter of Genesis says that Enoch “walked with God” and lived 365 years, after which “he was no more, because God took him” (Gen. 5:22-24).

*** Baal is a deity in the Assyrian-Babylonian ethnoculture, revered in Phenicia, Canaan and Syria as the thunderer, the god of fertility, water, war, sky and sun. Baal created heaven and earth, stars, animals from primeval chaos, and from a mixture of earth with his blood he created man.

**** Prince Askold (died in 882) - Prince of Kiev (according to one version, he ruled jointly with Prince Dir).

Reference:

In Moscow there is an Orthodox church in honor of the prophet Elijah— Temple of Elijah the Everyday Prophet. It is located at 2nd Obydensky Lane, 6. The temple was built in 1702- 1706 on Ostozhye. The rector since November 2, 2012 is Archpriest Maxim Yurievich Shevtsov.

The Lord did this in order to save Elijah from being killed by Jezebel, so that Elijah would not die from hunger, and in order, through the ravens and the Horath stream, to arouse in Elijah compassion for people suffering and dying from hunger and thirst. Crows, in comparison with other birds, have a special property (): they are very voracious and do not have any feeling of pity even for their chicks, for the raven as soon as it hatches its chicks, leaves them in the nest, flying to another place and dooming the chicks to death from hunger . Only the Providence of God, taking care of every creature, saves them from death: flies fly into their mouths of their own accord, which the chicks swallow. And every time when the ravens, at the command of God, flying every day to the prophet, brought him food - bread in the morning, and meat in the evening, the conscience in Elijah - this inner voice of God in man - cried out to his heart:

- Look, crows, being wild in nature, dainty, voracious, not loving their chicks, how they care about your food: they themselves are hungry, but they bring food to you. You, a man yourself, have no compassion for people, and you want to starve not only people, but also cattle and birds.

Also, when after some time the prophet saw the stream dry, God said to him:

“It’s time to have mercy on the tormented creature and send rain to it, so that you yourself don’t die of thirst.”

But the zealot of God remained strong; on the contrary, he prayed to God that there would be no rain until those who had not yet been punished were punished, and until all the enemies of God perished on earth. Then again the Lord, wisely inclining His servant to mercy, sent him to Zarephath of Sidon, which was not under the authority of the king of Israel, to a poor widow, so that he would reflect on himself what disaster he had caused not only to the rich and married people, but also to the poor. widows, who not only during famine, but also during years of harvests of grain and all earthly abundance, often do not have daily food. The Prophet, having arrived at the gates of this city, saw a widow carrying firewood, no more than two logs; for she had only a handful of flour in the tub and a little oil in the jug. Since Elijah was tormented by hunger, he asked the widow for a piece of bread. The widow, having told him about her extreme poverty recently, said that she wanted to cook dinner for the last time for herself and for her son from the flour that remained with her, and then they would die of hunger. The man of God could be touched by this and take pity on all the poor widows suffering from hunger; but great zeal for God conquered everything, and he showed no mercy to the perishing creature, wanting to glorify the Creator and show the whole universe His omnipotent power. Having from God, according to his faith, the gift of miracles, Elijah created such that the flour and oil in the widow’s house remained inexhaustible; and he was fed by the widow until the famine ceased. The Prophet also resurrected the widow's deceased son through prayer, combined with blowing three times on the deceased, as it is written in the Word of God. There is a legend about this resurrected son of a widow, that his name was Jonah, that it was he who, having come of age, was awarded the prophetic gift, and was sent to Nineveh to preach repentance; being swallowed up in the sea by a whale and thrown out by it three days later, he prefigured the three-day resurrection of Christ, as is narrated in detail in the prophetic book and in his life.

After three rainless and hungry years, the all-good God, seeing His creation completely destroyed on earth from hunger, had mercy and said to His servant Elijah:

- Go and appear to Ahab; I want to have mercy on My creation and, at your word, send rain to the parched land, water it and make it fruitful. Ahab is already inclined to repentance, is looking for you and is ready to obey you in everything that you command him.

The Prophet immediately went from Zarephath of Sidon to Samaria, the capital city of the Kingdom of Israel. King Ahab at that time had as his steward a certain Obadiah, his faithful servant and a God-fearing man. He hid one hundred prophets of the Lord from being killed by Jezebel, placing them in two caves, fifty in each, and feeding them with bread and water. Having called this steward to him, King Ahab (even before Elijah came to him) sent him to look for grass among the dried streams, so that there would be something to feed the few horses and other livestock that were still alive. As soon as Obadiah left the city, he met the holy prophet Elijah, bowed to him to the ground and said that Ahab had carefully searched for him throughout his entire kingdom. Saint Elias answered Obadiah:

- Go, tell your master: here I am, Elijah, coming to him.

Obadiah refused, saying:

“I’m afraid that when I leave you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you to another country, and then I will turn out to be a liar before my master, and he, angry with me, will kill me.” Elijah answered:

“The Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand!” Today I will show myself to Ahab!

Obadiah returned and told the king. Ahab hastened to meet the man of God. When he saw Elijah, because of the anger hidden in him towards the prophet, he could not resist a cruel word and said to Elijah:

“Is it you who corrupts Israel?”

The Prophet of God fearlessly answered Ahab:

“It is not I who corrupt Israel, but you and your father’s house, who have forsaken the Lord your God and worshiped the vile Baal.”

After this, the prophet of God, as having within himself the power of Divine help, began to command the king with authority, saying:

“Send immediately and gather all ten tribes of Israel to me on Mount Carmel, bring four hundred and fifty wicked prophets serving other idols on the high mountains and in the groves eating from the table of Jezebel; let them enter into a dispute with me about God, and we will see who the true God is.

Immediately the king, having sent messengers throughout the entire land of Israel, gathered countless people, and called all the wicked prophets and priests to Mount Carmel, and he himself came there.

Then the zealot of God, Elijah, standing before those gathered, addressed the king and the entire Israeli people with these words:

- How long will you limp on both your knees? If the Lord God, who brought you out of Egypt with a mighty hand, is God, then why do you not follow Him? If Baal is your god, then follow him.

The people were silent, and could not answer anything, for every Israeli was convicted of error by his conscience. Then Elijah continued:

- This is what: in order for you to know the true God now, do what I command you. You see that I am the only one in all Israel who remains a prophet of the Lord; But you killed all the other prophets; You also see how many prophets of Baal there are here. So give us two bulls to sacrifice, one for me and the other for the priests of Baal; but we don’t need fire. On whose sacrifice fire falls from heaven and consumes it, his god is the true God, and everyone must worship Him, and those who do not recognize Him shall be put to death.

Having heard these words, all the people approved the decision of the prophet of God and said:

- So be it; your word is good.

When the calves were brought into the midst of the meeting, Saint Elijah said to the wicked prophets of Baal:

- Choose one calf for yourself, and you will be the first to prepare the sacrifice, for there are many of you, and I am one, and I will prepare it later. Having placed the calf on the wood, do not light the fire, but pray to your god Baal to send fire from heaven and burn your sacrifice.

The shameless prophets did just that. Having cast lots, they took the calf, divided it into parts, placed them on the altar on top of the firewood, and began to pray to their Baal to send fire on their sacrifice. They called on his name from morning until noon, shouting:

- Listen to us, Baal, listen!

“Shout louder,” he said, “so that your God will hear you; He must be not free now: either he is busy with something, or he is talking with someone, or he is feasting, or he has fallen asleep; scream as loud as possible to wake him up.

- Shut up and stop; It's time to be my victim.

The worshipers of Baal stopped. Then Elijah, turning to the people, said:

- Come to me!

Everyone approached him. The prophet took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of Israel, built an altar to the Lord from them, then, putting firewood on the altar, divided the calf into parts, put them on the firewood, dug a ditch around the altar and ordered the people to take four buckets and pour water on sacrifice and for firewood; so they did. Elijah ordered it to be repeated; repeated. He ordered the same thing to be done a third time, and they did it. Water flowed around the altar and the trench filled with water. And Elijah cried out to God, turning his gaze to heaven, saying:

- Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! Hear now to me, Your servant, and send fire from heaven for the sacrifice, so that all these people will now know that You are the only God of Israel, and I am Your servant, and I brought this sacrifice to You! Hear me, Lord, answer me with fire, so that the hearts of these people turn to You.

And fire fell from the Lord from heaven and destroyed everything that was burned - wood, stones, ashes, and even the water that was in the ditch - the fire consumed everything. At the sight of this, all the people fell face down on the ground, crying out:

– Truly the Lord is one God, and there is no other God besides Him!

Elijah said to the people:

“Detain the prophets of Baal so that not one of them escapes.”

The people fulfilled his order, and Elijah led them to the stream Kishon, which flows with its waters into the Great Sea. There he stabbed them with his own hands and threw their wicked corpses into the water so that the earth would not be defiled by them and so that the air would not become infected with the stench from them. After this, Saint Elijah ordered King Ahab to quickly drink and eat and harness the horses to the chariot to set off, because soon there would be a big rain that would wet everything. When Ahab sat down to eat and drink, Elijah went up Mount Carmel. Bending down to the ground, he put his face between his knees and prayed to God to send rain to the earth. Immediately, through his prayer, the heavens opened, as if with a key, and a great rain fell, which wetted everyone and gave the thirsty earth plenty to drink. Then Ahab, realizing his error, mourned his sins on the way to Samaria. Saint Elijah, having girded his loins, walked on foot ahead of him, rejoicing in the glory of the Lord his God.

The wicked queen, Ahab's wife, Jezebel, having learned about everything that had happened, was terribly angry with Elijah for the destruction of her shameless prophets and, swearing by her gods, sent to tell him. that tomorrow, at the very hour in which Elijah killed the prophets of Baal, she would kill him. Saint Elijah was afraid of death, for he was a man with all the infirmities characteristic of people, as it is said about him: “Elijah was a man like us (). Because of Jezebel's threats, he fled to Beersheba, in the kingdom of Judah, and went into the desert alone. After walking through the desert for one day, he sat down under a juniper bush to rest. Tormented by sadness, he began to ask God for death for himself, saying:

- God! It is enough for me that I have still lived on earth; take now my soul; Am I really better than my fathers?!

The Prophet said this not out of grief from persecution against him, but as a zealot of God, who does not tolerate human malice, the dishonor of God and the reproach of the most holy name of the Lord: for him it was easier to die than to hear and see the lawless, despising and rejecting their God. With such a prayer on his lips, Elijah lay down and fell asleep under a tree. And then the angel of the Lord touched him, saying:

- Get up, eat and drink.

Having risen, Elijah saw warm unleavened bread and a jug of water at his head, got up, ate, drank water and fell asleep again. The angel of the Lord touched him a second time, saying:

“Rise, eat and drink, for you have a long journey ahead of you.”

Elijah, getting up, ate more, drank water and, refreshed with this food, walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God Horeb, where he settled in a cave. Here his interlocutor was the Lord God Himself, who appeared to him in a light wind blowing quietly in the clean air. When the Lord approached him, terrible signs of His appearance preceded him: first there was a strong storm, destroying mountains and breaking rocks, then fire came, but the Lord was not in the fire; after the fire there is a breath of light wind; here was the Lord. When Elijah heard the passage of the Lord, he covered his face with his cloak and, leaving the cave, stood near it. He heard the Lord saying to him:

-What are you doing here, Elijah?

Elijah replied:

“I was jealous of You, the Lord Almighty, for the children of Israel forsook Your covenant, destroyed Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword; I am left alone, but they are looking for my soul to take it away.

The Lord, comforting Elijah in his sorrow, revealed to him that not all the people of Israel had abandoned Him, but He had seven thousand His secret servants who did not bow their knees to Baal. At the same time, the Lord announced to Elijah about the imminent destruction of Ahab and Jezebel and their entire house, and commanded Elijah to appoint some worthy man to the kingdom of Israel. by the name of Jehu, who was about to destroy the entire family of Ahab, and to anoint Elisha as a prophet. So, having comforted His servant, the Lord departed from him. The saint of God, at the command of the Lord, left Horeb, and on the way he met Elisha, the son of Saphat, plowing the land with twelve pairs of oxen; Having laid his cloak on him, Saint Elijah declared the will of the Lord to him, called him a prophet and ordered him to follow him. Elisha said to Elijah:

“I beg you, let me go for a short time to beg with my father and mother, and then I will follow you.”

Saint Elijah did not prevent this. Elisha, having come home, killed a pair of oxen, which he himself plowed, gave a treat to neighbors and relatives, and then, saying goodbye to his parents, went to Elijah and followed him everywhere, being his servant and his disciple.

At this time, King Ahab, under the influence of his wicked wife Jezebel, added a new and following to the previous iniquities.

An Israelite named Naboth had a vineyard near the property of King Ahab in Samaria. Ahab suggested to Naboth:

“Give me your vineyard so that it can serve as a garden for me, for it is located near my palace.” I will give you another, much better than this; and if this does not please you, then I will pay you with money for your vineyard.

Naboth answered:

- Lord preserve me, so that I give you the inheritance of my ancestors.

Ahab returned to his house, embarrassed and offended by Naboth's answer, and could not eat bread out of frustration. Jezebel, having learned the reason for his sadness, laughed at him saying:

“Is this really your power, O King of Israel, that you are not strong enough to show your will even on one person?” But stop grieving, eat the bread and wait a little time: I myself will give Naboth’s vineyard into your hands.

Having said this, she wrote an order on behalf of the king to the oldest citizens of Israel and attached the royal seal to it. It was written that they would bring a false accusation against Naboth, that he had slandered God and the king, and, presenting false witnesses, they would stone him outside the city. And that unjust murder was committed on an unlawful order. After executing the innocent Naboth, Jezebel said to Ahab:

“Now inherit the vineyard without money, for Naboth is no longer alive.”

Ahab, hearing about the murder of Naboth, was a little saddened, and then went to the vineyard to take it into his possession. On the way, at the command of God, the holy prophet Elijah met him and said to him:

“Since you unjustly killed the innocent Naboth and illegally took possession of his vineyard, therefore the Lord says: in the very place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, the dogs will lick your blood; Likewise, your wife Jezebel will be eaten up by dogs, and your whole house will be destroyed.

Ahab, hearing these words, began to cry, took off his royal clothes, dressed himself in sackcloth, and imposed a fast on himself. And Ahab’s small repentance before the Lord had such power that the execution of the appointed punishment for his entire household was postponed until after Ahab’s death. For the Lord said to His prophet Elijah:

- because Ahab resigned himself. then I will not bring trouble upon his house during his lifetime, but during his son’s lifetime.

After this, Ahab lived for three years and was killed in battle. From the scene of the battle he was taken by chariot to Samaria, and his blood flowing from the chariot was licked by dogs, as the prophet of God had predicted. Also, everything that was predicted about Jezebel and the entire house of Ahab was later fulfilled in due time, after Saint Elijah was taken to heaven ().

After the death of Ahab, his son Ahaziah reigned in his place, who turned out to be the heir to both the throne and his father’s wickedness, for, listening to his wicked mother Jezebel, he worshiped and made sacrifices to Baal, which greatly angered the God of Israel. One day, due to carelessness, Ahaziah fell from the window of his house and became very ill. He sent ambassadors to the false god Baal, in fact to the demon who lived in the idol of Baal and gave false answers to those who turned to him with questions. He sent to that demon to ask about his health, whether he would recover from his illness. When the ambassadors of Ahaziah were going to Baal, on the way, at the command of God, the prophet Elijah appeared to them and said:

– Is there no God in Israel, why are you going to ask Baal? Return and tell the king who sent you, this is what the Lord says: you will not rise from the bed on which you lie down, but you will die on it.

Having returned, the messengers conveyed these words to the sick king. The king asked them:

-What is the appearance of the person who said these words to you?

They answered:

- That man is covered in hair and is girded around his loins with a leather belt.

The king said:

- This is Elijah the Tishbite.

And he sent the oldest captain of fifty and with him fifty men to take Elijah and bring him to him. They went and saw Elijah on Mount Carmel, for he was accustomed to dwell primarily on this mountain. When the captain of fifty saw Elijah sitting on the top of the mountain, he said to him:

- Man of God! come down here; the king orders you to go to him.

Saint Elijah answered the captain of fifty:

“If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume you and fifty of your men.”

And immediately fire fell from heaven and burned them. The king sent another captain of fifty with the same number of people, but the same thing happened to them: fire that fell from heaven burned them too. The king sent the third captain of fifty with fifty men. This captain of fifty, having learned what had happened to those sent before him, came to Saint Elijah with fear and humility and, falling on his knees before him, begged him, saying:

- Man of God! here I and these thy servants who came with me stand before thee; have mercy on us: we did not come of our own free will, but were sent to you; Do not destroy us with fire, as you destroyed those sent before us.

And the prophet spared those who came in humility; He did not spare those who came before because they came with pride and power, they wanted to take him as a prisoner and lead him with dishonor. The Lord commanded Saint Elijah to go with these others fearlessly and tell the king the same thing that he had said before. Therefore the man of God came down from the mountain and went with the captain of fifty and his men. Having come to the king, Elijah said to him:

“Thus says the Lord: since you sent to ask Baal about your life, as if there was no God in Israel whom you could ask, then for this you will not rise from the bed on which you lie, but you will die.

And Ahaziah died according to the word of God spoken by the lips of the prophets. After Ahaziah, his brother Joram took over the kingdom, because Ahaziah had no sons. On this Jehoram the line of Ahab ceased, having been destroyed by the wrath of God in the days of the holy prophet Elisha, as it is written about in his life.

When the time approached at which the Lord determined to take Elijah to Himself alive, in the flesh, Elijah and Elisha walked from the city of Gilgal to the city of Bethel. Knowing from the revelation of God about his impending ascension to heaven, Elijah wanted to leave Elisha in Gilgal, humbly hiding from him his upcoming glorification from God. He said to Elisha, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel.” Saint Elisha, who also, by the revelation of God, knew about what was about to happen, answered:

“As the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you,” and both went to Bethel. The sons of the prophets who lived in Bethel approached Elisha alone and said to him:

“Do you know that the Lord will take from you your master over your head?”

Elisha answered:

- I know too, but keep quiet.

After this Elijah said to Elisha:

- Stay here, the Lord sent me to Jericho.

Elisha answered him:

“As the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you,” and they both came to Jericho. The sons of the prophets, who were in Jericho, came to Elisha and said to him:

“Do you know that today the Lord will take from you your master over your head?”

Elisha answered:

- I already found out, shut up.

Saint Elijah again said to Elisha:

“Stay here, because the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.”

Elisha said:

“As the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you,” and let’s go together. Following them, at a distance from them, went fifty men from the sons of the prophets; when both holy prophets reached the Jordan, Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and hit the water with it; the water parted on both sides, and they both passed through the Jordan on dry ground. Having crossed the Jordan, Elijah said to Elisha:

“Ask me what I can do for you before I am taken from you.”

Elisha answered:

“I ask that the spirit that is in you be in me twice as much as in you.”

Elijah said:

- You decided to ask something difficult; but, however, if you see how I will be taken from you, it will be according to you; if you don’t see it, you won’t receive it.

As they walked and talked like this, suddenly a chariot and horses of fire appeared and separated them from each other, and Elijah was taken into heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha looked and exclaimed:

- Father, father! The chariot of Israel and his cavalry! (With these words he seemed to be saying: you, father, were all the strength for Israel: with your prayer and zeal you helped the kingdom of Israel much more than a great many military chariots and armed horsemen helped it). Elisha no longer saw Elijah. Then he took hold of his clothes and tore them in grief. Soon Elijah's cloak, thrown from above, fell at his feet. Having picked him up, Elisha stopped on the bank of the Jordan and, like Elijah, divided the water on both sides, he crossed the dry land and became the heir of the grace that acted in his teacher. The holy prophet of God Elijah, taken together with his flesh to heaven on a fiery chariot, is still alive in the flesh, preserved by God in the villages of paradise. He was seen by the three holy Apostles during the Transfiguration of the Lord on Tabor (), and again ordinary mortal people will see him before the second coming of the Lord to earth. Having escaped death from the sword of Jezebel, he will then suffer from the sword of Antichrist (

One of the most famous biblical characters, a fighter for holiness and purity of faith, is the most revered saint not only in Orthodoxy, but also in Judaism, Catholicism, and Islam. Elijah the prophet is mentioned many times in both the Old and New Testaments. Such respect is well deserved - the righteous man lived an unusual life, showed feats of faith, was a living example of holiness, and performed many miracles.

Life of Elijah the Prophet

The origin of such a great man remains a mystery to historians - perhaps it was no coincidence that the Lord hid this part of his life. Elijah became famous during the reign of King Ahab, whose name became a household name. He was an apostate from the faith of his ancestors, built idols and served them, and expelled many righteous people from Israel. But the Lord stood guard over his great prophet Elijah. He remained firm, denounced sinners, and proclaimed God's will to them.

As punishment for persistence in sin, a great drought was sent to the country, which lasted for several years. And only the great servant of God was able to correct the situation.

• He invited the priests of Baal and offered to build 2 altars.
• The pagans placed the sacrifice on one, and Saint Elias the Prophet on the other.
• It was impossible to set fire - the light of fire was offered from heaven with the help of prayer.

The calculation was simple - whose god is the first to burn the victim, he is the true Lord. No matter how hard the pagans tried, their altar stood untouched. And through the prayer of Elijah, not only the sacrifice was burned, but also the stone throne itself, and the pit of water that surrounded it was burned out. The apostate people immediately repented of their sins, and the prophet brought the long-awaited rain to the earth.

Other famous miracles of Elijah

Many theological experts speak of Elijah the prophet as a prototype of the Savior Jesus Christ. You can indeed find similarities in their biographies.

• At one time, Elijah had to live with a poor widow who was of pagan origin - like Christ, his own people did not accept him.
• When a woman's only son died, the prophet resurrected him. Jesus also raised the dead many times during His earthly ministry.
• While Elijah lived in the widow's house, she always had oil in her jug, and she never ran out of flour. The Lord fed his children, just as he multiplied the fish and bread in the desert many times after the preaching of Christ.

For his great deeds the saint received a worthy reward. When the time came, a fiery chariot descended from heaven, on which he was taken straight to the heavenly abodes. It is believed that before the end of the earth, Elijah will be sent again to people to expose the Antichrist. He will also be able to convert the remaining Jews to Christianity.

Icons of Elijah the Prophet

Such a revered righteous man is often depicted on icons. Elijah the Prophet has the appearance of an old man with a long gray beard. His clothes are simple, his feet are bare, or he may be wearing sandals. The prophet often holds a long scroll in his hands.

It is present on the icon of the Transfiguration - a well-known biblical story, when the three apostles witnessed the appearance of the Divine glory of Christ. Next to Him were Moses and Elijah.

On personal icons it is depicted in different ways:

• can stand in the center of a hagiographic image, surrounded by the most famous scenes from Scripture;
• scene of being taken to heaven - Elijah on a fiery chariot;
• staying in the desert - sitting on a stone, a bird (raven) flies from the sky, holding a piece of bread in its beak.

For home prayer, any image purchased in a church store is suitable.

Reverence

On the icons of St. Elijah the Prophet one can find attributes of the Old Testament righteous, each with its own meaning.

• A raincoat is still worn in deserts, because it provides good shelter from the heat during the day and keeps warm at night. In those days, many saints spent a long time in prayer, for which they often left the bustling cities, retiring into the desert. The cloak also means a wanderer, because the prophet goes through life as God’s herald, abandoning his own life.
• A cap (either a hood or a bandage) has a practical value, protecting the head from the sun's rays. In theological understanding, this is a designation of Divine grace that is sent to the saint, a symbol of his election and glory.
• Long hair - this attribute came into iconography not by chance. In ancient times there was a sect of Nazarenes. They dedicated themselves to God: they did not marry, did not drink wine, prayed a lot and fasted. One of the vows included a promise not to cut one's hair. This is why facial hair eventually became associated with serving the Lord.
• Scroll - prophets came for a reason, they spoke from God. Their teachings turned out to be very important for many people. Usually one of the famous quotes of a given righteous person is taken as the text.

Temples of Elijah the Prophet in Russia

In Rus', churches of the Prophet Elijah began to be built immediately after the adoption of Christianity. The first was erected in Kyiv, then Saint Olga erected a church in his honor in her homeland, in the Pskov region.

The famous temple is located in Moscow, the date of construction is the beginning of the 18th century. A small building with a high bell tower is located on Obydensky Lane. Initially, the temple was wooden, but then a stone one was erected, preserving the original style. In the church there are quite ancient icons of the Savior and the Kazan Mother of God, the miraculous image “Unexpected Joy”. A. Solzhenitsyn got married here. The history of the parish is remarkable in that the temple did not close even during the years of Soviet power.

Who is patronized?

According to popular beliefs, the gray-haired old man knows how to control lightning, fire, and helps farmers. Often in the popular consciousness the prophet is confused with the holy warrior - Ilya Muromets. On August 2, Russia celebrates Airborne Forces Day, since it coincides with the church day of Elijah the Prophet, this great saint is considered the patron saint of paratroopers.

This coincidence is perhaps not accidental, because the righteous man performed very courageous deeds in his life. However, first of all, he protects all who faithfully serve God, can guide them on the path of truth, and enlighten those who are mistaken. Those who want to maintain chastity and purity can turn to him - after all, the righteous man was not married.

Prayer of Elijah the Prophet

Magnification to the Prophet Elijah

We magnify you, / holy, glorious prophet of God Elijah, / and honor (to Heaven / on a chariot of fire, / your glorious ascent.

Troparion to the Prophet Elijah

In the flesh, an Angel, / the foundation of the prophets, / the second Forerunner of the coming of Christ, the glorious Elijah, / who sent Elisha’s grace from above / to drive away illnesses / and to cleanse lepers, / he also brings healing to those who worship him.

Kontakion to the Prophet Elijah, tone 2:

Prophet and seer of the great deeds of our God, Elijah of great name, who filled the watercourse clouds with your broadcasts, pray for us to the only Lover of Mankind.

Prayer

O holy prophet of God Elijah, pray for us to God, the Lover of Mankind, to give us, the servants of God(names) , may the spirit of repentance and contrition for our sins, and by His omnipotent grace help us to leave the paths of wickedness, to excel in every good work, and in the fight against our passions and lusts may He strengthen us; May the spirit of humility and meekness, the spirit of brotherly love and kindness, the spirit of patience and chastity, the spirit of zeal for the glory of God and good care for the salvation of ourselves and our neighbors, implant into our hearts.

Turn away from us by your intercession the righteous wrath of God, so that having lived in peace and piety in this world, we will be worthy of the communion of eternal blessings in the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to whom honor and worship are due, with His Beginning Father and the Most Holy Spirit, forever and ever. .

About Elijah the Prophet - temples and icons was last modified: June 11th, 2017 by Bogolub

Date of publication or update 11/01/2017

The story of the life and miracles of the prophet Elijah.

Prehistory.

From ancient times, the chosen people of God, having their origins from the twelve sons of Israel, constituted one kingdom, ruled indivisibly and solely by one king, starting from Moses and Joshua to Davin and Solomon. When, after the death of Solomon, his son Rehoboam took over the kingdom, who turned out to be difficult for his subjects, for he burdened them with excessive taxes and work, severely punished them, even often sent them into exile, then ten tribes broke away from him and elected him as their king. the other was named Jeroboam. Jeroboam was formerly Solomon's servant.

One day Solomon wanted to put him to death for participating in the uprising, but Jeroboam fled to Egypt. After the death of Solomon, he returned to the land of Israel and was elected king of those Israeli tribes that broke away from Rehoboam. Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, reigned in Jerusalem over two tribes - Judah and Benjamin; Jeroboam, Solomon's servant, reigned over the ten tribes of Israel. The two tribes that remained faithful to the son of Solomon were called the kingdom of Judah, and the ten tribes that passed to the servant of Solomon made up the kingdom of Israel.

The tribes of Israel, although they were divided into two kingdoms, yet they all served one God, who created heaven and earth, and could not have another temple except Jerusalem, built by Solomon, or other priests except those appointed by God; therefore, people from the kingdom of Israel constantly went to Jerusalem to worship and sacrifice to the Lord their God. Seeing this, Jeroboam, the king of Israel, began to worry: “If these people always go to Jerusalem like this to worship God, they will want to go back to their first king, the son of Solomon, and they will kill me.”

Thinking about this, he began to look for ways to turn the Israelites away from Jerusalem. And he decided, first of all, to turn them away from God.

It is impossible, he said, to leave Jerusalem to them unless they first leave God.

Knowing that the people of Israel are easily inclined to idolatry, Jeroboam came up with such an insidious trick for their apostasy. He cast two young heifers out of gold, just as the ancient Israelites, upon leaving Egypt, carved a golden calf in the desert, which they worshiped instead of the true God. Having called all the people of Israel to him and pointing those gathered to those two heifers, Jeroboam said: “Israel! These are your gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt. Go no more to Jerusalem, but worship these gods.”

And he placed those heifers in various places: one in Bethel (southern Samaria), and the other in Dan (north Galilee), building beautiful temples for them and appointing priests for them; and even performed the duties of a priest himself. To further seduce sin-loving people, Jeroboam ordered that all sorts of lawlessness be committed in front of those calf-shaped idols cast from gold on the days of the holidays established in honor of them.

So the wicked king, for the sake of a temporary reign, himself fell away from God, and turned all ten tribes of Israel away from Him. After this, the king and other kings of Israel with all their subjects adhered to the same wicked idolatry as they had learned and become accustomed to under Jeroboam.

The most merciful Lord, who does not abandon the people who abandoned Him, but in His goodness seeks their conversion, sent His holy prophets to the Israelites so that they would expose errors and exhort them to get rid of the devil’s snares and return again to the worship of the true God. Among the prophets sent by God to Israel at different times was the great of the prophets, Saint Elijah.

Life and miracles.

According to reliable legends, the birthplace of the holy prophet of God Elijah was the country of Gilead in the eastern part of Palestine, and the city in which he was born was called Tishvit, which is why Elijah was nicknamed the Tishbite. Elijah came from the family of Aaron. The birth of Elijah was marked by a vision to his father, whose name was Shebakh. At the very time when Elijah’s mother was giving birth to him, Sheba saw white-shaped people talking to the baby, swaddling him with fire and feeding him, putting a flame of fire into his mouth. Frightened by such a vision, Sabah went to Jerusalem and told the priests about the vision. Then one of them, a perspicacious man, said to Savah:

Do not be afraid of the vision regarding your son, but know that that baby will be a vessel of God’s grace; his word will be like fire, strong and effective, his zeal for the Lord will be great, and his life will be pleasing to God, and he will judge Israel with weapons and fire.

Elijah received the upbringing that befits a young man from a priestly family; From a very young age, having devoted himself to God, he loved virgin purity, in which he remained as an angel of God, immaculate before God, pure in soul and body. Loving to think about God, he often retired for silence to deserted places, where he talked for a long time with God in warm prayer towards him, blazing towards him, like a seraph, with fiery love. And Elijah himself was loved by God, just as God loves those who love Him.

And as a result of his life as an equal to the angels, Elijah acquired great boldness towards God: everything that Elijah asked of God, he received. Hearing and seeing, on the one hand, the iniquities committed in corrupt Israel: kings - perpetrating ungodly wickedness, judges and elders - acting untruthfully, the people - serving abominations of idols and stagnant in all sorts of spiritual and physical vices without fear and fear of God, bringing their sons and daughters as sacrifices to demons; and on the other hand, zealous worshipers of the true God, enduring all kinds of oppression and persecution, even death - about all this, the prophet of God was very heartbroken: he either mourned the death of so many countless human souls, or complained about the cruel persecution of the righteous; He especially grieved and suffered in soul over the dishonor inflicted on the true God by wicked people, and was more and more filled with zeal for the glory of God.

First of all, Elijah prayed to God to turn sinners to repentance. But since God requires voluntary conversion from sinful people, and the hard-hearted Israelis did not have such a desire for good, the prophet Elijah, who was very jealous of the glory of God and the salvation of people, asked God to punish the Israelis temporarily, so that at least by such means he would turn them away from wickedness. But knowing at the same time that the Lord, due to His love for mankind and long-suffering, was not quick to punish, Elijah, out of his great zeal for Him, dared to ask God to command him, Elijah, to punish the lawbreakers. The merciful Lord, like a loving father, did not want to sadden His beloved servant, who served Him filially and did not violate even His smallest commandment.

At that time, King Ahab reigned in Israel, having Samaria as his capital city. Ahab married Jezebel, daughter of King Ethbaal of Sidon. Jezebel, as a pagan, brought with her to her new fatherland the Sidonian idol, the god Baal (Baal is the main god among the Canaanite peoples). Ahab built a temple for him in Samaria, erected an altar for him there, he himself worshiped Baal as a god, and forced all the Israelites to bow to this idol.

And it was to this king that the prophet of God Elijah came and denounced him for the error that he, having abandoned the God of Israel, was bowing down to demons and, together with himself, was leading the entire people to destruction. Seeing that the king did not listen to his admonitions, the holy prophet added action to his words, handing over the enemy king and his subjects to punishment. He said:

The Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand! In these years there will be neither dew nor rain, except according to my word.

Having said this, Elijah left Ahab, and according to the word of the prophet, the sky closed and there was a drought: not a single drop of rain or dew fell to the ground. Due to the drought, there was a complete failure of the grain harvest, and famine ensued. For when one king sins, the wrath of God comes upon all his subjects (as before, as a result of the fall of David alone, the entire kingdom suffered). The prophet of God, Elijah, expected that Ahab, the king of Israel, having been punished, would realize his error, turn to God with repentance, and together with himself would turn the people who had been corrupted by him to the true path. But when Saint Elijah saw that Ahab, like Pharaoh, remained bitter, not only did not think of putting an end to wickedness, but, on the contrary, was sinking more and more into the abyss of evil, persecuting and even killing people who were pleasing to God with their lives, he continued the punishment for another and in the third year. At this time, the word of the first God-seer, the holy prophet Moses, said to Israel was fulfilled: “And your heavens, which are above your head, will become copper, and the earth under you iron,” because when the heavens were closed, the earth had no moisture and did not produce any fruit.

Since the air was always hot, and every day there was intense heat from the scorching sun, all the trees, flowers and grass withered - the fruits died, the gardens, fields, and fields became completely empty, and there was no plowman or sower in them. The water in the springs dried up, small rivers and streams completely dried up, and in large rivers the amount of water decreased, the whole earth became waterless and dry, and people, livestock and birds were dying of hunger. Such punishment befell not only the kingdom of Israel, but also the surrounding countries. For when one house in the city catches fire, the fire spreads to neighboring houses. This happened in the heavenly realms: one nation of Israel incurred the wrath of God, and the whole universe suffered.

But all this happened not so much from the wrath of God, but from the zeal for the glory of God of the prophet Elijah. For the most merciful and man-loving Lord, in His immeasurable goodness, seeing the misfortune of people and the death of animals, was already ready to send rain to the earth, but He refrained from doing so in order to fulfill the decision of Elijah, and so that the words of the prophet would not turn out to be false: “in these years there will be no There will be neither dew nor rain, except at my word."

The one who said this was so overwhelmed with jealousy of God that he did not spare himself, for he knew that when the supply of food on earth was depleted, he, like all people, would have to endure hunger. But he neglected this, for he preferred to die of hunger rather than have mercy on unrepentant sinners who were at enmity against God.

What is the all-good God doing? He sends the prophet Elijah to some secluded place, far from human habitations, saying: “Turn to the east and hide by the stream Cherith, which is opposite the Jordan; from this stream you will drink, and I commanded the ravens to feed you there.”

The Lord did this so that Elijah would not die from hunger and so that, with the help of the ravens and the Horath stream, he would arouse in Elijah compassion for the people suffering and dying from hunger and thirst. Crows, in comparison with other birds, have a special property: they are very voracious and do not have a feeling of pity even for their chicks, for often the raven, as soon as it hatches the chicks, leaves them in the nest, flying to another place and dooming the chicks to death from hunger. Only the Providence of God, taking care of every creature, saves them from death. And every time the ravens, at the command of God, flew to the prophet and brought him food - bread in the morning, and meat in the evening, the conscience in Elijah - this inner voice of God in man - cried out to his heart: “Look, the ravens, being nature wild, tasty, voracious, not loving their chicks, as they care about your food: they themselves are hungry, and they bring food to you, you yourself are a man, you have no compassion for people, and you want to starve not only people, but also cattle and birds. ".

Also, when after some time the prophet saw the stream dry, God said to him:

It’s time to have mercy on the tormented creature and send rain to it, so that you yourself don’t die of thirst.

But the zealot of God remained strong, he prayed to God that there would be no rain until the unpunished were punished, and until all the enemies of God perished on earth. Then again the Lord, wisely inclining His servant to mercy, sent him to Zarephath of Sidon, which was not under the authority of the king of Israel, to a poor widow, so that he would be convinced of the disaster he had caused not only to rich people and married people, but also to poor widows, who, not only during famine, but also in years of harvests of bread and all earthly abundance, often do not have daily food.

The Prophet, coming to the gates of this city, saw a widow carrying firewood, no more than two logs: for she had only a handful of flour in her tub and a little oil in a jug. Since Elijah was tormented by hunger, he asked the widow for a piece of bread. The widow, who told him about her extreme poverty recently, said that she wanted to cook dinner for the last time for herself and for her son from the remaining flour, and then they would die of hunger. The man of God could have been moved by this and taken pity on all the poor widows suffering from hunger: but great zeal for God conquered everything, and he did not show any mercy to the perishing creature, wanting to glorify the Creator and show the whole universe His almighty power. Having the gift of miracles from God through his faith, Elijah created such that the flour and oil in the widow’s house remained inexhaustible: and he ate from the widow until the famine ceased. The Prophet also resurrected the widow's deceased son through prayer combined with blowing three times on the deceased, as it is written about in the Word of God. “After this, the son of this woman, the mistress of the house, fell ill, and his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. And she said to Elijah: what do you and me, man of God? You came to me to remind me of my sins and to kill my son. And he said to her: Give me your son. And he took him from her hands, and carried him to the upper room where he lived, and laid him on his bed. And he cried to the Lord and said: O Lord, my God, with whom I am staying, will you do evil by killing her son? And prostrating himself over the boy three times, he cried out to the Lord and said: Lord my God, let the soul of this boy return to him! And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the soul of this boy returned to him! him, and he came to life. And Elijah took the boy, and brought him out of the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother, and Elijah said: Look, your son is alive. And the woman said to Elijah: Now I know that you are a man of God. and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is true." (1 Kings 17:17-24)

There is a legend about this resurrected son of a widow that his name was Jonah, that it was he who, having come of age, was granted the prophetic gift and was sent to Nineveh to preach repentance; being swallowed up in the sea by a whale and thrown out by it three days later, he prefigured the three-day resurrection of Christ, as is narrated in detail in the prophetic book and in his life.

After three rainless and hungry years, the all-good God, seeing His creation completely destroyed on earth from hunger, had mercy and said to His servant Elijah: “Go, appear to Ahab; I want to have mercy on My creation and, at your word, send rain to the parched land, give it water.” and make it fruitful. Ahab is already inclined to repentance, is looking for you and is ready to obey you in everything that you command him.”

The Prophet immediately went from Zarephath of Sidon to Samaria, the capital city of the Kingdom of Israel. King Ahab at that time had a housekeeper named Obadiah, his faithful servant and a God-fearing man. He hid one hundred prophets of the Lord from being killed by Jezebel, placing them in two caves, fifty in each, and feeding them with bread and water. Having called this steward to him, King Ahab (even before Elijah came to him) sent him to look for grass in the dried up streams, so that he would have something to feed the few horses and other livestock that were still alive. As soon as Obadiah left the city, he met the holy prophet Elijah, bowed to him to the ground and said that Ahab had carefully searched for him throughout his entire kingdom. Saint Elijah answered Obadiah: “Go, tell your master: “Elijah is here.”

Obadiah refused, saying: “When I leave you, then the Spirit of the Lord will carry you away, I don’t know where; and if I go to notify Ahab and he does not find you, he will kill me.”

Elijah answered: “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand! Today I will show myself to him!”

Obadiah returned and told the king. Ahab hastened to meet the man of God. When he saw Elijah, because of the anger hidden in him towards the prophet, he could not restrain a cruel word and said to Elijah: “Are you the one who troubles Israel?”

The Prophet of God fearlessly answered Ahab: “It is not I who trouble Israel, but you and your father’s house, because you have despised the commandment of the Lord and are following the Baals.”

After this, the prophet of God, having within himself the power of Divine help, ordered the king: “Now go and gather to me all Israel to Mount Carmel and four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and four hundred prophets of the oak forests, eating from the table of Jezebel.”

Immediately the king, having sent messengers throughout the entire land of Israel, gathered countless people, and called all the wicked prophets and priests to Mount Carmel and came there himself.

Then the zealot of God, Elijah, turned to the king and to the entire Israeli people with these words: “How long will you limp on both knees? If the Lord is God, then follow Him, and if Baal, then follow him.”

The people were silent, and could not answer anything, for every Israeli was convicted of error by his conscience. Then Elijah continued: “I am the only prophet of the Lord left, and the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty people; let them give us so many bullocks, and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it up and put it on the firewood, but let them not add fire, and I will prepare another the bullock and put it on wood, but I will not put fire; and you call on the name of your god, but I will call on the name of the Lord my God. The God who gives the answer through fire is God.”

Having heard these words, all the people approved the decision of the prophet of God and said: “So be it, your word is good.”

When the bullocks were brought into the middle of the meeting, Saint Elijah said to the wicked prophets of Baal: “Choose one bullock for yourself, and you will be the first to prepare the sacrifice, for you are many, and I am alone, and I will prepare it after. Having laid the bullock on the wood, do not light the fire, but pray to your god Baal that he may send fire from heaven and burn your sacrifice.”

The shameless prophets did just that. Having cast lots, they took the calf, built an altar, put a sufficient amount of wood on it, slaughtered the calf, divided it into parts, placed their altar on top of the wood and began to pray to their Baal to send fire on their sacrifice. They called on his name from morning until noon, shouting: “Listen to us, Baal, listen!”

But there was no voice, no answer. They began to jump around the altar, but all in vain. At noon, the prophet of God laughed at them: “Shout louder,” he said, “so that your God will hear you; he must be not free now: either he is busy with something, or he is talking with someone, or he is feasting, or he has fallen asleep; shout like as loud as possible to wake him up."

The false prophets called Baal with a loud voice and, according to their custom, stabbed themselves with knives, while others beat themselves with whips until they bled. Before evening came, Saint Elijah the Tishbite said to them: “Be silent and stop; it is time for my sacrifice.”

The worshipers of Baal stopped. Then Elijah, turning to the people, said: “Come to me!”

Everyone approached him. The prophet took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of Israel, built an altar to the Lord from them, then, covering the altar with firewood, divided the calf into parts, placed them on the firewood around the altar, dug a ditch and ordered the people to take four buckets and pour water on the sacrifice and for firewood; so they did. Elijah ordered it to be repeated; repeated. He ordered the same thing to be done a third time, and they did it. Water flowed around the altar and the trench filled with water. And Elijah cried out to God, turning his gaze to heaven, saying: “Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! Hear me, Lord, hear me now in the fire! And send fire from heaven for the sacrifice, so that all these people will now know that You are the only God of Israel, and I am Your servant, and I have offered this sacrifice to You! Hear me, O Lord, answer me with fire, so that the hearts of these people will turn to You!”

And fire fell from the Lord from heaven and destroyed everything that was burned - wood, stones and ashes, and even the water that was in the ditch - the fire consumed everything.

At the sight of this, the people fell face down on the ground, crying out: “The Lord is God!”

Elijah said to the people: “Seize the prophets of Baal, so that not one of them escapes.”

The people fulfilled his order, and Elijah took them to the stream Kishon, and slaughtered them there, and threw their wicked corpses into the water so that the earth would not be desecrated by them and so that the air would not be infected with the stench from them. After this, Saint Elijah ordered King Ahab to quickly drink and eat and harness the horses to the chariot to set off, because soon there would be a big rain that would wet everything.

When Ahab sat down to eat and drink, Elijah went up Mount Carmel. Bending down to the ground, he put his face between his knees and prayed to God and to send rain to the earth. Immediately, through his prayer, the heavens opened, as if with a key, and a great rain fell, which wetted everyone and gave the thirsty earth plenty to drink. Then Ahab, realizing his error, mourned his sins on the way to Samaria. Saint Elijah, having girded his loins, walked on foot ahead of him, rejoicing in the glory of the Lord his God.

The wicked queen, Ahab's wife, Jezebel, having learned about what had happened, became terribly angry with Elijah, and, swearing by her gods, sent to tell him that tomorrow at the very hour at which Elijah killed the prophets of Baal, she would kill him. Saint Elijah was afraid of death, for he was a man with all the infirmities characteristic of people, as it is said about him: “Elijah was a man like us.” Because of Jezebel's threats, he fled to Beersheba, in the kingdom of Judah, and went into the desert alone. After a day's travel, he sat down under a juniper bush to rest. Tormented by sadness, he began to ask God for death for himself: “Enough already, Lord; take my soul, for I am no better than my fathers.”

The Prophet said this not out of grief from persecution against him, but as a zealot of God, who does not tolerate human malice, the dishonor of God and the reproach of the Most Holy Name of the Lord: for him it was easier to die than to hear and see the lawless, despising and rejecting their God. With such a prayer on his lips, Elijah lay down and fell asleep under a tree. And then an angel of the Lord touched him, saying: “Rise, eat and drink.”

Having risen, Elijah saw warm unleavened bread and a jug of water at his head, got up, ate, drank water and fell asleep again. The angel of the Lord touched him a second time, saying: “Rise, eat and drink, for a long road is before you.”

Elijah got up again, ate more, drank water, and, refreshed with this food, walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God Horeb, where he settled in a cave. Here his interlocutor was the Lord God Himself, who appeared to him in a light whirlwind quietly blowing in the clean air. When the Lord approached him, terrible signs of His appearance preceded him: first there was a strong storm, destroying mountains and breaking rocks, then there was fire, the Lord was not in the fire; after the fire - a breath of light wind; here was the Lord. When Elijah heard the passage of the Lord, he covered his face with his cloak, and leaving the cave, he stood near it. He heard the Lord saying to him: “Why are you here, Elijah?”

Elijah answered: “I am jealous of the Lord, the God of hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, destroyed your altars and killed your prophets with the sword; I am left alone, but they are also looking for my soul to take it away.”

The Lord, comforting Elijah in his sorrow, revealed to him that not all the people of Israel had abandoned Him, but He had seven thousand His secret servants who did not bow their knees to Baal. At the same time, the Lord announced to Elijah about the imminent destruction of Ahab and Jezebel and their entire house and commanded Elijah to appoint a worthy man named Jehu to the kingdom of Israel, who would destroy the entire family of Ahab, and to anoint Elisha as a prophet. So, having consoled His servant, the Lord departed from him.

The saint of God, at the command of the Lord, left Horeb, and on the way he met Elisha, the son of Saphat, plowing the land with twelve pairs of oxen; Having laid his cloak on him, Saint Elijah declared the will of the Lord to him, called him a prophet and ordered him to follow him.

Elisha said to Elijah, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and I will follow you.”

Saint Elijah did not prevent this. Elisha, having come home, slaughtered a pair of oxen, which he himself had plowed, gave a treat to neighbors and relatives, and then, saying goodbye to his parents, went to Elijah and began to serve him.

At this time, King Ahab, under the influence of his wicked wife Jezebel, added new ones to his previous iniquities.

An Israelite named Naboth had a vineyard near King Ahab's property in Samaria. Ahab proposed to Naboth: “Give me your vineyard, from it I will have a vegetable garden, for it is close to my house, and in its place I will give you a better vineyard than this, or, if you wish, I will give you the amount of silver it is worth.”

Naboth answered: “The Lord preserve me, so that I may give you the inheritance of my fathers!”

Ahab returned to his house, embarrassed and offended by Naboth's answer, and could not eat bread out of frustration. Jezebel, having learned the reason for it, laughed at him: “Is this really your power, King of Israel, that you are not able to show your will even on one person? But stop grieving, eat the bread and wait a little: I myself will give you the vineyard into your hands.” Naboth."

Having said this, she wrote an order on behalf of the king to the oldest citizens of Israel and attached the royal seal to it. It was written that they should bring a false accusation against Naboth, that he had slandered God and the king, and, presenting false witnesses, stone him outside the city. And that unjust murder was committed on an unlawful order. After the execution of the innocent Naboth, Jezebel said to Ahab: “Now inherit the vineyard without money, for Naboth is no longer alive.”

Ahab, having heard about the murder of Naboth, was a little saddened, and then went to the vineyard to take it into his possession (The estate of those executed for crimes against the king went to the king). On the way, at the command of God, the holy prophet Elijah met him and said to him: “Since you unjustly killed the innocent Naboth and illegally took possession of his vineyard, therefore the Lord says: in the very place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, the dogs will lick and Your blood will also be eaten by dogs, Jezebel, and your whole house will be destroyed."

Ahab, hearing these words, began to cry, took off his royal clothes, dressed himself in sackcloth, and imposed a fast on himself. And Ahab's small repentance before the Lord had such force that the execution of the appointed punishment for the whole house was postponed until Ahab died. For the Lord said to His prophet Elijah: “Do you see how Ahab humbled himself before Me? I will not bring trouble in his days; in the days of his son I will bring trouble upon his house.”

After this, Ahab lived for three years and was killed in battle with the Syrian king Benhadad. From the scene of the battle he was taken in a chariot to Samaria, and the blood flowing from the chariot was licked by dogs, as the prophet of God had predicted. Likewise, everything that was predicted about Jezebel and the entire house of Ahab was later fulfilled in due time, after the taking of Saint Elijah into heaven.

After the death of Ahab, his son Ahaziah reigned, who turned out to be the heir to both the throne and his father’s wickedness, for, listening to the wicked mother Jezebel, he worshiped and made sacrifices to Baal, which greatly angered the God of Israel. One day, due to carelessness, Ahaziah fell from the window of his house and became very ill. He sent envoys to Baal, who lived in the idol Baalom and gave false answers to those who approached him with questions. He sent to that demon to ask about his health, whether he would recover from his illness. When the ambassadors of Ahaziah were going to Baal, on the way, at the command of God, the prophet Elijah appeared before them and said: “Is there no God in Israel, why are you going to ask Baal? Return and tell the king who sent you - this is what the Lord says: from your bed, on which you lie down, you will not rise up, but you will die on it.”

Having returned, the messengers conveyed these words to the sick king. The king asked them: “What is the appearance of the man who came out to meet you?”

They answered: “That man is covered in hair and is girded with a leather belt around his loins.”

The king said, "This is Elijah the Tishbite."

And he sent the oldest captain of fifty and with him fifty men to take Elijah and bring him to him. They went and saw Elijah on Mount Carmel, for he was accustomed to dwell primarily on this mountain. Seeing Elijah sitting at the top of the mountain, the captain of the fifty said to him: “Man of God, the king says: come down.”

Saint Elijah answered the commander of fifty: “If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and burn you and your fifty.”

And immediately fire fell from heaven and set them on fire. The king sent another captain of fifty with the same number of people, but the same thing happened to them: fire falling from the sky set them on fire. The king sent the third captain of fifty with fifty men. This captain of fifty, having learned what had happened to those sent before him, came to Saint Elijah with fear and humility, and falling on his knees before him, begged him, saying: “Man of God! Here I and these thy servants who came with me stand before you; have mercy on us: we did not come of our own free will, but were sent to you; do not destroy us with fire, as you destroyed those sent before us.”

And the prophet spared those who came in humility; He did not spare those who came before because they came with pride and power, they wanted to take him as a prisoner and lead him with dishonor. The Lord commanded Saint Elijah to go with these others fearlessly and tell the king the same thing that he had said before. Having come to the king, Elijah said to him: “Thus says the Lord: since you sent to ask Baal about your life, as if there was no God in Israel whom you could ask, then for this you will not rise from the bed on which you lie, but you will die."

And Ahaziah died according to the word of God spoken by the lips of the prophets. After Ahaziah, his brother Joram took over the kingdom, because Ahaziah had no sons. On this Jehoram the line of Ahab ceased, having been destroyed by the wrath of God in the days of the holy prophet Elisha, as it is written about in his life.

When the time approached at which the Lord determined to take Elijah alive in the flesh, Elijah and Elisha walked from the city of Gilgal to the city of Bethel. Knowing from the revelation of God about the approaching hour, Elijah wanted to leave Elisha in Gilgal, humbly hiding from him his upcoming glorification from God. He said to Elisha, “Stay here, for the Lord is sending me to Bethel.” Saint Elisha, who also knew by the revelation of God about the upcoming miracle, answered: “As the Lord lives and as your soul lives! I will not leave you” - and both went to Bethel. The sons of the prophets who lived in Bethel, coming to Elisha alone, said to him: “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master and exalt him above your head?”

After this, Elijah said to Elisha: “Stay here, for the Lord is sending me to Jericho.”

Elisha answered him: “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you,” and they both came to Jericho.

The sons of the prophets, who were in Jericho, approached Elisha and said to him: “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master and exalt him above your head?”

Elisha answered: “I know the same thing, be silent.”

Saint Elijah said to Elisha: “Stay here, for the Lord is sending me to the Jordan.”

Elisha said: “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you,” and they went together. Following them at a distance from them went fifty men of the sons of the prophets; when both prophets reached the Jordan, Elijah took his sword, rolled it up and struck the water with it; the water parted on both sides, and they both passed through the Jordan River on dry ground.

Having crossed the Jordan, Elijah said to Elisha: “Ask what you can do before I am taken from you.”

Elisha answered: “Let the spirit that is in you be doubly upon me.”

Elijah said: “You are asking a difficult thing. If you see me taken away from you, it will be so for you, but if you do not see it, it will not be.”

As they walked and talked like this, suddenly a chariot and horses of fire appeared and separated them from each other, and Elijah was taken into heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha looked and exclaimed: “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and his cavalry!” (With these words he seemed to be saying: you, father, were all the strength for Israel: with your prayer and zeal you helped the kingdom of Israel much more than a great many war chariots and armed horsemen helped it). Elisha no longer saw Elijah.

Then he took hold of his clothes and tore them in grief. Soon Elijah's cloak, thrown from above, fell at his feet. Having picked him up, Elisha stopped on the bank of the Jordan, and, like Elijah, dividing the water on both sides, he crossed the dry land and became the heir of the grace that acted in his teacher. The holy prophet of God Elijah, taken together with his flesh to heaven on a fiery chariot, is still alive in the flesh, preserved by God in the villages of paradise. He was seen by the three holy apostles during the Transfiguration of the Lord on Tabor, and again ordinary mortal people will see him before the second coming of the Lord to earth. He who escaped death from the sword of Antichrist, and not only as a prophet but also as a martyr, will be awarded in the ranks of the saints greater than now, honor and glory from the righteous rewarder of God, in the three Persons of One, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, to whom be honor and glory now , and ever and ever. Amen.

(Based on the book "The Holy Prophet Elijah" by Tabernacle Publishing House)

This Week on August 2 we celebrate the day of remembrance of the Prophet Elijah

The holy prophet Elijah, one of the greatest prophets and the first virgin of the Old Testament, was born in Thesbia of Gilead in the tribe of Levi 900 years before the Incarnation of God the Word. Saint Epiphanius of Cyprus reports the following legend about the birth of the prophet Elijah: “When Elijah was born, his father Sovakh saw in a vision that handsome men greeted him, swaddled him with fire and fed him with a fiery flame.” The name Elijah (the fortress of the Lord) given to the baby determined his entire life. From an early age he devoted himself to the One God, settled in the desert and spent his life in strict fasting, contemplation of God and prayer.

Called to prophetic service under the Israeli king Ahab, the prophet became a fiery zealot for true faith and piety. At that time, the Israeli people fell away from the faith of their fathers, abandoned the One God and worshiped pagan idols, the veneration of which was introduced by the wicked king Jeroboam. The wife of King Ahab, the pagan Jezebel, especially supported idolatry. The worship of the idol Baal led the Israelites to complete moral decay. Seeing the death of his people, the prophet Elijah began to denounce King Ahab of wickedness, urging him to repent and turn to the True God. The king did not listen to him. Then the prophet Elijah announced to him that, as punishment, there would be no rain or dew on the earth for three years and the drought would end only through his prayer. And indeed, through the prayer of the prophet, the sky closed, and drought and famine occurred throughout the entire earth. The people suffered from unbearable heat and hunger. The Lord, in His mercy, seeing the suffering of the people, was ready to spare everyone and send rain to the earth, but did not want to violate the words of the prophet Elijah, who was burning with the desire to turn the hearts of the Israelis to repentance and return them to true worship of God. Preserving the prophet Elijah from the hands of Jezebel, the Lord sent him during the disaster to a hidden place near the stream Cherith. The Lord commanded the predatory crows to bring food to the prophet, thereby instilling in him pity for the suffering people. When the stream of Choreth dried up, the Lord sent the prophet Elijah to Zarephath of Sidon to a poor widow who was suffering with her children in anticipation of starvation. At the request of the prophet, she prepared him unleavened bread from the last handful of flour and the rest of the oil. Then, through the prayer of the prophet Elijah, flour and oil from then on did not run out in the widow’s house throughout the famine. By the power of his prayer, the great prophet performed another miracle - he resurrected the dead son of this widow. After three years of drought, the Merciful Lord sent a prophet to King Ahab to end the disaster. The Prophet Elijah ordered all Israel and the priests of Baal to be gathered to Mount Carmel. When the people gathered, the prophet Elijah proposed to build two altars: one from the priests of Baal, the other from the prophet Elijah to serve the True God. “On which of them fire falls from heaven, that will be an indication whose God is true,” said the prophet Elijah, “and everyone will have to worship Him, and those who do not recognize Him will be put to death.” The priests of Valla were the first to begin the sacrifice: they called out to the idol from morning to evening, but in vain - the sky was silent. In the evening, the holy prophet Elijah erected his altar of 12 stones, according to the number of the tribes of Israel, laid the sacrifice on the firewood, ordered a ditch to be dug around the altar, and ordered to water the sacrifice and firewood with water. When the ditch was filled with water, the fiery prophet turned to God with a fervent prayer and petition, so that the Lord would send fire from heaven to admonish the erring and embittered Israeli people and turn their hearts to Himself. Through the prayer of the prophet, fire came down from heaven and burned the sacrifice, wood, stones and even water. The people fell to the ground, crying out: “Truly the Lord is One God and there is no other God besides Him!” Then the prophet Elijah killed all the priests of Baal and began to pray for the sending of rain. Through his prayer, the sky opened and abundant rain fell, watering the thirsty earth. King Ahab realized his error and mourned his sins, but his wife Jezebel threatened to kill the prophet of God. The Prophet Elijah fled to the kingdom of Judea and, grieving over his powerlessness to eradicate idolatry, asked God for his death. An Angel of the Lord appeared to him, strengthened him with food and commanded him to go on a long journey. The prophet Elijah walked for forty days and nights and, having reached Mount Horeb, settled in a cave. Here, after a terrible storm, earthquake and flame, the Lord appeared “in a still wind” (3 Kings 19:12) and revealed to the grieving prophet that He had preserved seven thousand faithful slaves who did not worship Baal. The Lord commanded the prophet Elijah to anoint (or dedicate) Elisha to the prophetic ministry.

For his fiery zeal for the Glory of God, the prophet Elijah was taken to Heaven alive in a fiery chariot. The prophet Elisha witnessed the ascent of the prophet Elijah to heaven in a fiery chariot and received, along with his fallen mantle (cloak), the gift of the prophetic spirit twice as great as the prophet Elijah had.

According to the tradition of the Holy Church, the prophet Elijah will be the Forerunner of the Terrible Second Coming of Christ to earth and will suffer bodily death during the sermon. The life of the holy prophet Elijah is described in the Old Testament books (3 Kings; 4 Kings; Sir. 48, 1-15; 1 Mac. 2, 58). During the Transfiguration of the Lord, the prophet Elijah talked with the Savior on Mount Tabor (Matthew 17:3; Mark 9:4; Luke 9:30).

Materials from the site pravoslavie.ru were used for this article.