Troubler of Israel
The stories of Elijah in 1st Kings are a gripping and fascinating set of stories set within a larger narrative about the monarchs of Israel. Growing up as a Southern Baptist, I heard many sermons preached about the power and zeal of this prophet and what examples he set for doing God’s work. The story of the “still small voice” heard by Elijah on Mount Horeb was always presented to me as a major turning point in God’s relationship with Israel, and reading the story of the prophetic contest on Mount Carmel still brings back memories of Sunday School lessons of my childhood. Elijah has always been held out for me as a great example of life with God – an example of the power of God over every other part of life. Re-experiencing these texts through the lens of a seminary education has led me to see this prophet in light of a new set of questions. Why are these stories included here? What message do they have for the intended audience of the text, and what message to they have for us? What was going on in the world when these events took place? Studying the textual inconsistencies and the social, political, and religious backgrounds of these stories has opened up new insights for me into the function and character of the stories, as well as the utility of their placement within the Deuteronomistic History.
The Deuteronomic History of Joshua, Judges, 1st and 2nd Samuel, and 1st and 2nd Kings presents a fairly unified narrative of the history of Israel in the Hebrew Bible. This collection has been studied and debated for decades by biblical scholars, but most agree that an editor (or a group or succession of editors), who most scholars now refer to as the Deuteronomist, put together these books from several sources to explore the meanings and possible causes of Israel’s exile to Babylon in 587 BCE. Researchers have identified many common themes in the Deuteronomistic History, and several of these themes are pertinent to the use of the Elijah stories: a general discomfort with monarchy, a rigid focus on singular worship of Yahweh, the centrality of the Temple and Jerusalem, the superiority of the Southern Kingdom of Judah, the kingly role expressed as the duty to rid the nation of idolatry, and, perhaps most important, the covenantal relationship of Israel with Yahweh – if Israel breaks the covenant, God will punish them. Further, many detect a repeating cycle of falling away from God, crying out to God for assistance, and God’s saving action within the narratives of the Deuteronomistic History, thus emphasizing God’s constant involvement with and care for the nation of Israel within the events of history.[1] Elijah, then, serves the Deuteronomist well in his fervor to enact some of these very themes.
Elijah was and is a kind of superhero of the Jewish faith. Even as these stories were recorded and retold, the reverence for his prophetic zeal and character is clear. He is the only prophet to be compared with Moses, and indeed the structure of the stories in 1st Kings seems intent upon linking the two. Elijah, like Moses, began as an outsider – he simply appears in the text with no introduction or explanation. Like Moses standing up to Pharaoh, Elijah confronts King Ahab of Israel with his sin. Elijah experiences God’s presence in the same place as Moses, parts the waters of the Jordan, and is taken up by God (similar to Moses’ burial by God) on the far side of the Jordan. Like Moses passing his role to Joshua, Elijah, too, finds a successor in Elisha. The parallels between these two make a clear connection easy to maintain, and they make Elijah into a kind of “New Moses” who can act on behalf of God in decisive and memorable ways to affect theology and history in the nation of Israel.[2][3]
In light of the possibility of re-purposing these narratives by the Deuteronomist to achieve larger literary goals, a character such as Elijah would be useful indeed. The Deuteronomistic History loves its prophets – they are always portrayed as the pinnacle of spiritual power, above priests and kings in their importance and abilities. It appears that the Deuteronomist has set Elijah to the task of championing monotheistic worship and condemning the Northern Kingdom of Israel, especially the Omri dynasty (as represented by King Ahab)[4]. The stories of Elijah’s drought prophesy, his miraculous feeding of the widow and her son, and the even more miraculous resuscitation of her (possibly) dead son all work together to establish Elijah’s credentials as a prophet and a man of God.[5] Yet, according to Walter Brueggemann, the settings of these stories and their implications have more subtle and far-reaching implications than is apparent at first glance.
Credentialing the Prophet
The drought prophesy is no mere circumstance: Baal was believed to be the god of fertility, including storms and rain, and by claiming Yahweh’s ability to withhold rain, Elijah sets Yahweh in direct opposition to Baal, a hint at the conflict to come. The prophet’s subsequent flight beyond the territory of Israel frees him from any connection or obligation of the King. By relying on God’s provision in a foreign territory, Elijah shows the sovereignty of God above any kingdom or geographical boundary. But even more than this illustration, the place of Elijah’s exile is important is well, for Sidon is the native territory of Jezebel, the foreign idolatrous wife of Ahab. In sending Elijah there, God is making a corresponding invasion of enemy territory. Further, the depiction of a widow near death by starvation incriminates King Ahab in his inability to perform his kingly duty of caring for widows. These settings work together to portray the tension of a failing king and a rising prophet.[6]
Fire from Heaven
As Elijah’s story moves into the showdown at Mount Carmel, the themes of prophetic power and the importance of monotheistic worship are magnified. This story works on several fronts: it delegitimizes Baal-worship, shows the power and care of God manifest in the world, and serves up the ultimate condemnation of Ahab and Jezebel, thus finally justifying the Deuteronomist’s judgment preceding these texts.[7] The rich symbolism – the twelve stones of Elijah’s altar, the lavish pouring of drought-scarce water over the offering, the caricatured foolishness of the Baal prophets, the silence of Baal – serve to connect this story with all of Israel’s history as well as to elevate this event to a decisive moment where Yahweh is vindicated as the one true God.
However, the story also betrays some inconsistencies with the rest of the Deuteronomistic History. In the course of the contest, Elijah rebuilds an altar and makes a sacrifice to God in an admittedly high place. This circumstance disagrees with the depiction of several earlier waves of religious reforms that destroyed the altars in high places because of their dedication to idols, as well as the Deuteronomist’s consistent portrayal of the exclusivity of the Jerusalem Temple. Also, Elijah functions as a priest in this story – offering a sacrifice to God on an altar – yet this is expressly forbidden for anyone but the priests in the book of Deuteronomy. Many scholars see these irregularities as evidence that these stories come from other, older sources.[8][9]
There is very little evidence available to trace the origin of these stories. While many assume that they come from varied sources predating the Deuteronomic History, no other corroborating ancient documents have been found to help explore this idea. One interesting conjecture is made by Thomas Overholt: that the stories of both Elijah and Elisha bring forth themes, unique to the biblical narrative, which serve to connect these two prophets with a much older, and more widespread practices of shamanism. These parallels serve to link the Judaism of the Deuteronomic History in an unbroken chain to much older tribal forms of belief and practice, and may have been present within the popular religion of Elijah’s time.[10]
The contest in this narrative is set within the Northern Kingdom of Israel, during the rule of King Ahab, who is in the Omri dynasty. Each of these, for the Deuteronomist, is undesirable. Oddly, the Deuteronomistic History gives a very different treatment of the Omri dynasty than other historic sources. By other accounts, Omri was a rather successful ruler. He inaugurated peace by successful alliances, built the strategically important city of Samaria, and established a dynasty that lasted an unprecedented (for the Northern Kingdom) three generations. Yet the Deuteronomist’s judgment of Omri asserts that he did “more evil” than all who preceded him. Even so, Omri enjoys the unexpected blessing of a peaceful death. Where Omri did “more evil,” Ahab – according to the Deuteronomist – does even more. The source of this judgment lies with Ahab’s marriage to Jezebel, a Sidonian princess committed to the god Baal, and his subsequent construction of an altar dedicated to Baal.[11] It is against this backdrop that the Elijah stories are used to condemn the Northern Kingdom and help explain their forthcoming exile to Assyria.[12]
A Thin, Petrifying Sound
Elijah’s experience on Mount Horeb, for all its connections to Moses, all its literary richness, simply defies explanation. Elijah despairs of his condition – a fugitive from the power of an evil king – and wishes to die. Instead, he is nourished by angels and led to Mount Horeb, where God visits him in new way: a dynamic reversal of Moses’ experience on Sinai. The phrase used to describe God’s new presence is mysterious: while King James gives us the familiar “still, small voice,” other translators have run the gamut from “sheer silence” to “a thin, petrifying sound” to a “roaring and thunderous voice.”[13] [14] This discrepancy in translation, though it muddies the story somewhat, does not change the fact that in this story, God is very involved not only in the life of a single person, but also in the direction and rule of the nation of Israel. From this theophany, God sends Elijah forth to anoint two kings and prophetic successor. Thus we see, as elsewhere in the Deuteronomic History, that God is active in history through God’s prophets, who have power even over kings.
Conclusions
Though the Deuteronomist may have used these stories primarily as a condemnation of the Northern Kingdom and Baal-worship, their power as descriptors of God’s interaction with humans transcends their context. Elijah’s bold and charismatic appearances and actions give him a unique place within the story of our faith. His prophetic, outsider voice condemning the nations and his unswerving loyalty to Yahweh embody themes that resonate with God’s people in any age. Personally, I find Elijah’s care for the widow a sure sign of God’s concern for the people on the margins of society. I also find inspiration in Elijah’s wilderness sojourns, where he is alternately fed by ravens and angels, and experiences God in the terrible silence of mountain solitude.
This exploration has enriched these stories for me, and given me new eyes with which to approach their telling. Brueggemann’s treatment of Elijah spoke consistently to very current themes and events, and helped me to see another layer of application in my own reading. Through my research of 1st Kings, I have discovered some shortcomings in my approach to the Bible: primarily that I must exert much effort to read the Bible in a critical way. I found many times over that in reading commentaries on the scripture, I would go back to the text and discover concepts and problems that seemed beyond obvious once identified by others. Old habits die hard, and my formative years of reading the Bible as an history-less document still exert a strong influence.
[1] From class notes
[2] Saint-Laurent, George E. "Light from Ras Shamra on Elijah's Ordeal Upon Mount Carmel." In Scripture in Context: Essays on the Comparative Method, edited by William W. Hallo, John B. White Carl D. Evans, 123-139. Pittsburgh: Pickwick Press, 1980. 126-27
[3] Long, Burke O. 1 Kings: with an Introduction to Historical Literature. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1984. 201-203
[4] Long 177
[5] 1 Kings 17:1-24
[6] Brueggemann, Walter. 1 & 2 Kings. Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys, 2000. 207-212
[7] 1 Kings 16:30
[8] Long, 175
[9] Saint-Laurent, 127
[10] Overholt, Thomas W. "Elijah and Elisha in the Context of Israelite Religion." In Prophets and Paradigms: Essays in Honor of Gene M. Tucker, edited by Stephen Breck Reid, 94-111. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996. 108-111
[11] Brueggemann, 202
[12] 2 Kings 17:7-18
[13] Long, 199
[14] Brueggemann, 236
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