Sublime

Elijah—He stands first as a new breed of prophet, confronting Israel’s political and religious establishment with pronouncements that begin with the jolting phrase, “thus says the Lord.”

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.

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Elyon gives Yahweh jurisdiction over Jacob and the land where Jacob and his family lived. Yahweh — the Bible says — takes excellent care of Jacob’s family; and that is all. It is clear that the matching of Jacob’s family with Yahweh has no particular universal significance, nor does it convey a global message for all humanity. Israel was a tiny

For the rabbi in distress—and for his oppressed and colonized people—Elijah breaks the rules of the game, in which the Romans governing Palestine (or the Persians governing Babylonia) always win and the Jews always lose. Elijah in disguise opens unpredictable possibilities.

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

In the white and empty room he stood in his bespoken suit with his hat in his hand and he peered down with his small and lashless pig’s eyes wherein this child just sixteen years on earth could read whole bodies of decisions not accountable to the courts of men and he saw his own name which nowhere else could he have ciphered out at all logged into