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Category: Ki Tisa

Elijah — Faithful to God

Shemot (Exodus) 30:11–34:35 | M’lakhim Alef (1 Kings) 18:1–39

This haftarah consists of one of the miraculous events from the series of Elijah stories found in I Kings chapters 17-19, 21 and II Kings chapter one. The story contained within haftarah to parashat Ki Thisa is perhaps, one of the better-known tales of this great prophet of God.

Some things never change. This seems to be true of the propensity of the people of Israel to idolatry. Parashat Ki Thisa relates the sad story of how the children of Israel worshipped the golden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai even as Moshe was receiving the covenant and revelation of the Torah. Now, during the time of Elijah, some 450 to 600 years later, the descendants of Jacob are still worshipping idols.

Elijah’s Reputation

Our story begins with an immediate contrast between the two central figures. On the one hand, there is Elijah. He is God’s man, the prophet. On the other hand, there was King Ahab. He was sinful and wicked, yet “politically successful.”

Obadiah is the main figure in the first part of this story. He was described in I Kings 18:3 as one who “feared the Lord greatly.” In this portion, Obadiah is described as the head of King Ahab’s household.

We read in I Kings 18:4 that during the time when Ahab’s Canaanite wife, Jezebel, was persecuting the prophets of God, “Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water.” Obadiah’s godliness comes into play when he meets the great prophet Elijah. The text tell us that when he came to Elijah, “…he (Obadiah) recognized him (Elijah) and fell on his face…” (I Kings 18:7). This expression indicates that Obadiah bowed to Elijah out of respect. The respect that Obadiah showed to Elijah is an indication of the kind of man Elijah was. His reputation had spread far and wide as God’s man of the hour.

In I Kings 18:16-19, we read about Elijah’s reprimand of Ahab’s...

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© 2009 First Fruits of Zion. All rights reserved. We encourage you to share this material with your friends for further personal study. However, This material may not be republished, in print, electronically, or any other form without our prior permission.

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