Sublime

11 Again the king sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty. He went up[1] and said to him, “O man of God, this is the king’s order: Come down quickly!” 12But Elijah answered them, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fift

34Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim.

Elijah represents the possibility of deliverance, either immediately or finally when he will escort the Messiah.

Having ascended to heaven, Elijah does not remain there constantly, awaiting his messianic mission; he returns to earth ahead of time, frequently—to save those in danger, fight for justice, champion the innocent, heal the sick, gladden the miserable, fortify the weak, and stimulate both the wicked and the average to engage in teshuvah

he and his disciple-successor, Elisha, are the only prophets in the Hebrew Bible especially noted for performing miracles.

16 The LORD aroused against Jehoram the anger of the Philistines and of the Arabs who are near the Ethiopians.[47] 17They came up against Judah, invaded it, and carried away all the possessions they found that belonged to the king’s house, along with his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except Jehoahaz, his youngest son.

this respect, Elijah outshines Moses, for he is the only figure in the Hebrew Bible of whom it is explicitly stated that he went up to heaven. Perhaps

The notion that Elijah became an angel accords with rabbinic tradition, but the Zohar alludes to a more radical view: Elijah was originally an angel, even before his biblical phase.

Elijah has now become a champion of ethical demands, advocating for justice and human rights. He exhibits the moral conscience that develops further in the classical prophets of the next century: Amos, Hosea, Micah, and Isaiah. As we will see, this sterling quality characterizes the postbiblical Elijah.