Elias

“ The watch the rabbi had given him!—the same that was ticking in his waistcoat-pocket at this very instant. And the prayer that the rabbi had chanted! And how Elias himself, with swelling heart, had joined in the invocation: “Holy, holy Lord, Thou Who art one God!” and had vowed silently that, by the Lord's help, he would “strive to become good in the sight of men, and a pride unto his people.” ”

“ Thus was that voice silenced, that burning and shining light extinguished; thus did that prophet, that Elias, of the new Testament, fall a sacrifice to the resentments of an imperious, whorish woman. Thus did he, who was great in the sight of the Lord, die as a fool dieth, his hands were bound, and his feet put into fetters; and as a man falleth before wicked men, so he fell, a true martyr to all intents and purposes: dying, though not for the professions of his faith, yet for the performance of his duty. ”

“ It was perfectly consistent with the spirit, principle, and genius of the dispensation of which Elias was the exponent and representative, to call down fire from heaven to consume the men sent by a godless king to arrest him; but the blessed Lord was the perfect Exponent and divine Representative of another dispensation altogether. His was a life of perfect self-surrender, from first to last. He never asserted His rights. He came to serve and to give; He came to represent God—to be the perfect expression of the Father in every way. ”

“ The spirit of Elias is to prepare the way for a greater revelation of God, which is the Priesthood of Elias, or the Priesthood that Aaron was ordained unto. And when God sends a man into the world to prepare for a greater work, holding the keys of the power of Elias, it was called the doctrine of Elias, even from the early ages of the world. * * * This is the Elias spoken of in the last days, and here is the rock upon which many split, thinking the time was past in the days of John and Christ, and no more to be. ”

“ But Prophet Elias was his usual self once more. He had assumed that air which a practical man like Britt found an aggravating, teasing pose or a kind of lunacy with which common sense could not cope. Elias slowly spread his umbrella. He stood beneath it and declaimed:
“'And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land.'”
“You let me tell you something! There's one man going out of this land mighty sudden—and he's going to the county jail in charge of a constable.” ”

“ Never had his own self loomed larger in his eyes, never had it more exclusively absorbed his faculties, than at this moment, in the face of this moonlit view.
Elias had been bred in the straitest sect of his religion; a rare thing in this country in these days of radicalism and unbelief. ”

“ Whence the Syriac translates by the imperative—If ye wish, receive ye. For he shall be Elias unto you, because he being endowed with the spirit and power of Elias, shall convert you to God and Christ, in the same way that Elias shall convert your children and descendants at the end of the world by a like zeal and purity of life to the same Christ. Thus S. Jerome says, “John is Elias which is for to come, not because the same soul was in both, as the heretics think, but because they had the same grace of the Holy Spirit. John was girded as Elias was. Like Elias he lived in the desert. ”

“ A hairy man, with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said: It is Elias, the Thesbite.
1:9. And he sent to him a captain of fifty, and the fifty men that were under him. And he went up to him, and as he was sitting on the top of a hill, he said to him: Man of God, the king hath commanded that thou come down.
1:10. And Elias answering, said to the captain of fifty: If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume thee, and thy fifty. ”

“ That is, First, He shall be such a man as Elias was, and do such work as Elias did,—shall, like him, preach the necessity of repentance and reformation to a very corrupt and degenerate age,—shall, like him, be bold and zealous in reproving sin and witnessing against it even in the greatest, and be hated and persecuted for it by a Herod and his Herodias, as Elijah was by an Ahab and his Jezebel. He shall be carried on in his work, as Elijah was, by a divine spirit and power, which shall crown his ministry with wonderful success. ”

“ Yes, indeed: the period, long or short, during which first love holds sway over our hearts, tyrant though the ruler be, is notoriously our golden age, never to come but once. In this respect history does not repeat itself. Elias felt that each of his five senses had been sharpened, and that, moreover, he had acquired a sixth sense, a super-sense. The homeliest things, the most familiar sights, the commonest occurrences, took on a beauty, a significance, a suggestiveness, undreamed of until now. ”

“ Every man is known by his ability (or, natural disposition) . And as for the strife of Elias, because of his righteousness a raven used to bring him his food, whereas so far as I am concerned, I have all the food which I require. If I laid my bread out in the sun, a raven would come and carry it off.” When the emperor heard this he marveled at the savor of his words, and he said unto him, “Tell me, O my father, why God did not give unto thee a son?” And the elder said, “Because the days will come when there shall arise on the earth division in respect of the Faith. ”

“ And Elias said again to the people: I only remain a prophet of the Lord: but the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men.
18:23. Let two bullocks be given us, and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it upon wood, but put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under it.
18:24. Call ye on the names of your gods, and I will call on the name of my Lord: and the God that shall answer by fire, let him be God. And all the people answering, said: A very good proposal. ”

“ Of Israel ere Earth knew Abraham [6] ;
Sealed in the forehead with the sacred Name,
Bearing the Ark of God, the Sword of Flame [7] ;
Behold them coming, coming, as they came 2060
Whene'er was kindled here the beacon blaze
By each Elias of the olden days!
Truth, error, shine and shadow [8] , alternate,
As oft as mankind proves degenerate.
But ever, as the day-beam sinks and dies,
The stars reset their lanterns in the skies;
And unto Moses in the wilderness
Comes greater light, succeeded by the less [9] . ”

“ He saved you from destruction; and, like a forgiving parent, He brought you back to His bosom. Isn't what I say true, Elias?”
The rabbi paused; but Elias remained silent.
“Answer me, Elias. Isn't it true?”
“Oh, I suppose it's true. Yes, yes, I suppose it's true. But what difference does that make? You—you may analyze it as much as you choose. I don't deny what you say. I don't care about that. But if you had been through it—if you had been through it—— Good God! You make me mad, sitting there, and talking philosophy to me.”
“Not philosophy—don't say philosophy—say religion. ”

“ The Emîr was greatly pleased; not so Elias. When Iskender had made an end, the dragoman flung up his hands.
"That only!" he cried to heaven; "and for an Emîr, a great one, like our friend here!"
It was a crime unheard of, an abomination! Their beloved would die of discomfort in a single night. No, that should never be, so long as he (Elias) enjoyed life and health, with some slight credit among honest people. He would himself provide two upright men, a cook and a waiter, at his own expense. ”

“ Now perchance this Jesus is even Elias; for many so report of him, and even the Scribes say that Elias must come, and some say that Elias hath come oftentimes before now. But whether he be Elias or no, doubtless, if he be a true prophet, he can work the sign [pg 230] of Elias. For a false prophet can work signs on the earth and in the air, and in the deep; but a sign in heaven or from heaven he cannot work. Therefore meet it is that the Pharisees, instead of setting snares for Jesus, should promise to obey him if he will work a sign in heaven in their presence. ”

“ It was the peculiarity of his individuality, that he left the world without dying: what right have we to subject the person of Elias to the scientific notion of an abstract humanity, which we have formed without asking his leave? ”

“ Elias now had two hundred head of horses, a hundred and fifty head of horned cattle, and one thousand two hundred sheep. Many men-servants pastured the tabuns [1] and the herds of Elias, and many maid-servants milked the mares and the cows and made kumis, butter and cheese. Elias had much of everything, and everybody round about envied the life of Elias. People said: "Ah, what a lucky fellow that Elias is! He has everything in abundance, he has no need to die." And good people began to know Elias and make his acquaintance. And guests came to him from afar. ”

“ Call it not death; call it an exodus—a mighty deliverance of the people of God."
Then Elias: "O Son of God, right well do I know that the strength of one man may be made the strength of many; and the triumph of many may spring from the victory of one. I myself have stood alone in the face of an opposing people ”

“ Who are these, my lord? And he said to me: These are Enoch and Elias. And they came and saluted me, saying: Welcome, Paul, beloved of God! And I said to them: Who are you? And Elias the prophet answered and said to me: I am Elias the prophet, who prayed to God, and He caused that no rain should come down upon the earth for three years and six months, on account of the unrighteousness of the sons of men. For often, of a truth, even the angel besought God on account of the rain; and I heard, Be patient until Elias my beloved shall pray, and I send rain upon the earth. [32] ”

“ Equality—nay, justice, holds the helm,
Each hath his own, the lost lamb finds the fold.
Elias comes—'tis restitution's reign,
And order hurls disorder from the throne. 1320
"War sheathes his fangs, aloft on fearless wing
Peace broods above a restful universe;
A common faith and interest unite,
But conscience still her fullest freedom [24] sees.
Wider than Church extends the Kingdom's bound:
The law from Zion, and the royal word,
The Monarch's edict, from Jerusalem;
A centralized diffusion's balanced sway,
God's might, man's right, in equilibrium. ”

“ And he answered: Thou hast asked a hard thing; nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, thou shalt have what thou hast asked: but if thou see me not, thou shalt not have it.
2:11. And as they went on, walking and talking together, behold, a fiery chariot and fiery horses parted them both asunder: and Elias went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
2:12. And Eliseus saw him, and cried: My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the driver thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own garments, and rent them in two pieces. ”

“ Now, too, Elias saw more of the big man who sat in the stern in the same place as himself. Out of his back, below the sou'wester, when he turned, stuck a six-inch-long iron spike which Elias thought he ought to know. And now, in his own mind, he had come to a clear understanding upon two points: one was that it was no other than the sea-goblin himself who was steering his half-boat by his side and was leading him to destruction, and the other, that it was so ordained that he was sailing his last voyage that night. For he who sees the goblin on the sea is a lost man. ”

“ Now certainly no one will pretend that John was the Elias prophecied of by Malachi, as to come before the great, and terrible day of the Lord, which has not yet taken place. And besides, that he was not Elias is testified of, and confirmed by, John himself, who in the gospel of John, chapter 1, to the question of the Scribes, asking him, if he was Elias? answers I am not. It is pretty clear that Jesus was embarrassed by the question of the Apostles, how say the Scribes, that Elias must come first? ”

“ Elias, seeing the game was lost, threw himself on the ground, and with expressions of deep contrition implored forgiveness. He was pardoned, but banished to a distant hermitage, where humbled and sad he pondered for many months upon his next move. He allowed his hair and beard to grow to such a length that even his enemies began to believe his repentance was sincere, and only two years after his misconduct we find him elected Vicar-General in the place of his former rival, and, under the title of Guardian and Master of the Basilica and Convent, in full command of the works at San Francesco. ”

“ For all these things are true. Since when He saith, “Elias indeed cometh, and will restore all things,” He means Elias himself, and the conversion of the Jews which is then to take place; but when He saith, “Which was for to come,” He calls John, Elias, with regard to the manner of his administration. Yea, and so the prophets used to call every one of their approved kings, David; [14] and the Jews, “rulers of Sodom,” [15] and “sons of Ethiopians;” [16] because of their ways. For as the other shall be forerunner of the second advent, so was this of the first. ”

“ When Jelāl was quite young, he was one day preaching on the subject of Moses and Elias (Qur’ān xviii. 59-81) . One of his disciples noticed a stranger seated in a corner, paying great attention, and every now and then saying: “Good! Quite true! Quite correct! He might have been the third one with us two!” The disciple surmised that the stranger might be Elias. (Elias is believed by Muslims to be always visible somewhere, but that people know him not. Did they recognise him, they could obtain from him a knowledge of the secret of eternal life, which he possesses.) ”