Elijah, Part 3 - Revision history

Greetje: New page: {{info}}Mount Horeb was an awesome place,
Where God refused to show his face
To Moses lest he die, but hid
Him in a mountain cave, and bid
Him live by watching from the back,
2008-10-12T20:38:27Z

New page: {{info}}Mount Horeb was an awesome place,<br>Where God refused to show his face<br>To Moses lest he die, but hid<br>Him in a mountain cave, and bid<br>Him live by watching from the back,<b...

New page
{{info}}Mount Horeb was an awesome place,<br>Where God refused to show his face<br>To Moses lest he die, but hid<br>Him in a mountain cave, and bid<br>Him live by watching from the back,<br>As through a bright and slender crack<br>In space, the glory of the Lord. 

It was a place where lions roared,<br>And jackals howled, and eagles soared,<br>And snakes would banquet on the hoard<br>Of lizards under rocks that broke<br>In pieces when the tempest spoke.<br>No fountain there, nor bread to eat<br>No wine, no oil, no holy meat,<br>But wind and fire and fasting in<br>The sacred heights where clouds begin.<br>And each four-hundred years the Lord<br>Of hosts comes down to be adored.

Two-hundred miles northeast there lay<br>Beersheba where the travellers stay.<br>Another hundred miles northeast<br>Jezreel, where Ahab makes his feast,<br>And learns from Jezebel that kings<br>Can kill the righteous for the things<br>They want to have.

This was the way<br>Elijah ran. There was no stay<br>To feast with Ahab for the rain.<br>His thanks was that he would be slain<br>Before the morning light. And so<br>He fled.

One secret visit, though,<br>He made that night outside Jezreel.<br>It was behind the potter's wheel,<br>As secret as a place could be.<br>At midnight in the rain, these three<br>Took leave, and bade themselves farewell,<br>While Obadiah watched to tell<br>If anyone should come. "You will<br>Be missed, Elijah. How long till<br>You come again? You know you are<br>The apple of his eye, the star<br>In his night sky, the peak among<br>His little hills, the song we've sung<br>For these three years, and most of all,<br>The father that he never had, as tall<br>As any man he'll ever know,<br>However tall that man may grow.<br>You will be missed." The child held tight<br>Elijah's leg and tried to fight<br>Back tears, "Elijah, can we go<br>with you? I want to come, and so<br>Does Mommy too." The widow bowed<br>Her head. "I know I'm not endowed<br>With wealth, and I am not a Jew.<br>But I would rather flee with you<br>And your great God, and have one cup<br>Of meal, one cruse of oil, and sup<br>In simple rooms or on the ground,<br>Than live in mansions and be found<br>Like Jezebel. Have I not prized<br>Your God? The boy is circumcised.<br>We do not bow before the shrines<br>Of Zarephath, nor sip the wines<br>Of Baal. Elijah, what must I<br>Do more than this to qualify?"

"No more. The great impediment<br>Is not in you, nor is dissent<br>Found in my soul for such desire:<br>Come witness now a thousand dreams<br>That I have dreamt by empty streams<br>And inside mountain caves. The bar<br>Comes not from you nor me, but far<br>Above us God has made decree:<br>The Lord has not allowed to me<br>That I should take a wife or sons.<br>But if he had, you'd be the ones."

"They're coming!" Obadiah called,<br>"Make haste! They will be stalled."<br>Elijah knelt down in the rain,<br>"I love you, son, but can't explain<br>Just now." He stood and took the hood<br>From off the widow's brow, "I would,<br>If I were free. Fear not my flight.<br>Remember ravens fly at night."

Elijah fled to Judah, then<br>Beyond Beersheba's well full ten<br>More miles, and fell exhausted there<br>Beneath a spreading broom tree where<br>He sat and asked the Lord that he<br>Might die. Instead he slept. The tree<br>God made to give him shade, then sent<br>An angel down with food, who went<br>And woke the prophet thus: "Awake!<br>Instead of death, God gives you cake.<br>By this you will walk forty days<br>And forty nights until you gaze<br>Like Moses on the majesty<br>Of God. Nor am I sure that He<br>Will ever grant your wish to die.<br>Come now, Elijah, eat and fly."

For forty days and forty nights<br>Elijah walked the plains and heights<br>Between Beersheba and the place<br>Upon Mount Horeb where the face<br>Of God would shine. The angel led<br>Him to an ancient cave, a dread<br>And awesome place not far below<br>The clouds, and left him there to know<br>The Lord.

"What are you doing here<br>Elijah?" asked the Lord. "None fear<br>The Lord but me. The people break<br>Your statutes every day, forsake<br>Your holy covenant, destroy<br>Your sacred altars, and with joy<br>Have killed the prophets with the sword,<br>While I am jealous for the Lord.<br>And my reward? They seek my life.<br>What's more, I might have had a wife.<br>And so I'm here to pray that you<br>Reveal your wrath, far overdue,<br>Upon your people Israel<br>With quakes that open fires of hell<br>And mighty winds to spread the flame<br>And wipe out wicked Israel's name."

"Elijah, is that all?" the Lord<br>Inquired. "That's all, unsheathe your sword,<br>And show the nation all your might."<br>"Elijah, rise and stand this night<br>Upon the Mount of God and see<br>The might and glory that will be."

And as Elijah stood, a blast<br>Of wind so strong that as it passed<br>The boulders broke and fell like crumbs<br>Between the fingers and the thumbs.<br>But look for glory deep and vast?<br>God was not present in the blast.

And then an earthquake ripped the shell<br>Of Sinai and gave vent to hell<br>And molten fire flowed to reveal<br>What boiling floods around Jezreel<br>Would be. But is it for God's sake?<br>God was not present in the quake.

And then a bolt of lightning hit<br>The cliff beside the cave and split<br>The mountain like a blade would cleave<br>A melon rind and then bereave<br>Ten thousand hearts. Come look and see.<br>Is this the sum of majesty?<br>What is the God of glory like?<br>He was not present in the strike.

And then a still small voice at last,<br>When wind and quake and fire had passed.<br>At this Elijah wrapped his face,<br>And saw, as through a crack in space,<br>The glory of the Lord. "My son,<br>There is a danger when you run<br>With too much zeal, and lose the path<br>Out of the wilderness of wrath.<br>I know you prize the widow's life.<br>Consider then: I love my wife,<br>And though you cry her down to hell,<br>I will not disown Israel.<br>My first desire is not to damn,<br>This is the heart of who I am."

And so today in candle three<br>Behold what fire and zeal can be:<br>It can destroy the devil's gate,<br>But also melt the ice of hate.<br>It can explode in forest flames<br>And speak with quiet advent names.<br>The God who calls himself "I AM"<br>Is both a Lion and a Lamb.