1 Kings 18

1 Kings 18:1

Ephrem the Syrian: “After many days the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year of the drought, saying, ‘Go, present yourself to Ahab; I will send rain on the earth.’ ” The Lord, by giving life back to the child, granted grace to Elijah. He had taught him through the affliction of the child, who had died, that his Lord was also grieved for his creatures tormented by starvation and thirst, even though he did not want to destroy or sever the link of the word of his servant against his will. After preparing the spirit of Elijah through this thought, he calls him and says to him, “Go, present yourself to Ahab; I will send rain on the earth.” — ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 18:1

1 Kings 18:5

Ephrem the Syrian: Observe again and see how the Lord orders Elijah to appear before Ahab exactly on the day when [the king] had taken up the heavy burden of searching for food to feed the horses and the mules of his house. This was part of the divine plan, so that the impious king might come to know the providence of God toward all creatures, even toward horses and mules, and to realize how much more the Creator would be ready to make up the indigence of the king if he had not been ungrateful to God and had not lightheartedly taken advantage of his favors. And God showed this same benevolence of his good will and indulgence toward animals when he said to Jonah, “And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons, who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?” — ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 18:1

1 Kings 18:17

Ephrem the Syrian: “When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” He answered, “I have not troubled Israel; but you have, and your father’s house.” “It is you and your father Omri who ruined this people, because through your abominable customs and your evil commandments you corrupted their spirit and their worship and ridiculed the holy law that God had given them, and for that reason rain and dew stopped falling from heaven, and people were overwhelmed by starvation. Therefore it is not my words, which are good, but it is your actions, which are disgusting and trouble Israel.” And this freedom of speech torments Ahab greatly, but he does not fight back or rebuke Elijah about anything, as is related in the two histories of the kings, so that you may know the authority that the Lord had given Elijah over the spirit of the king and the fear toward his prophet that he had put in [Ahab’s] heart. This is what [God] had done in the ancient times to Pharaoh through Moses and Aaron, when they spoke with harshness and afflicted him [with their actions] even more than with their words. — ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 18:8

John Chrysostom: Were Elijah and John then lacking in boldness? Did not the one reprove Ahab, and the other Herod? The latter said, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother Philip’s wife.” And Elijah said to Ahab with boldness: “It is not I that trouble Israel, but you and your father’s house.” You see that this poverty especially produces boldness? For while the rich person is a slave, being subject and in the power of every one wishing to do him hurt, one who has nothing fears no confiscation or fine. So, if poverty had made people to lack in boldness, Christ would not have sent his disciples with poverty to a work requiring great boldness. — ON THE EPISTLE TO THE Hebrews 18.4

1 Kings 18:19

Ephrem the Syrian: “Have all Israel assemble for me at Mount Carmel.” Now, it is amazing how the king obeyed Elijah, who asked him for a general gathering of the people; and how also the people obeyed him humbly, even though he bitterly reproached them for their evil actions. It is also amazing how his request was granted, when he asked to be allowed to fight against the prophets of Baal. It is certain that they could not find a way to avoid meeting him, and they even looked for him, if it is true what some of the doctors say. And we also know that in our days false and deceiving people do the same. Therefore they thought that the prophets of Baal would make an altar in which they would have someone, who, at their sign, would set the fire and destroy the wood and the bull that were on the altar. And since they were confident in this scheme, they came to the fight, confident of the expected victory and in order to provoke Elijah. — ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 18:8

1 Kings 18:22

Ephrem the Syrian: When Elijah said, “I alone am left as a prophet to the Lord,” he was not speaking against the just, because they were no [longer] to be found. Rather he was denouncing sinners, because they had done away with [the just]. He did not wish it to be, therefore, that he alone be found just, and for this reason, he could not be found by them for three years, for he had discovered that they were not worthy of being visited by God. — COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 7.14

1 Kings 18:25

Ishodad of Merv: [Elijah] ordered [the prophets of Baal] to sacrifice first, in order that they might not have any excuse [by saying], “If we had sacrificed first, [Baal] would have accepted our sacrifice, but now he is angry with us, because we have sacrificed last.” They planned to set the fire secretly, according to their custom, but were prevented by divine power at this time. — BOOKS OF SESSIONS 1 Kings 18:25

1 Kings 18:26

Ephrem the Syrian: “They limped about the altar that they had made.” This means they had cut the bull in pieces and passed among the pieces lying on the altar by going from side to side. The Scripture shows us another image of this in the sacrifice of Abraham. He divided the animals and saw a torch of fire passing among the pieces. And Jeremiah mentions something similar when he reproaches the Jews because they had become similar to the pagan people and passed among the pieces of their sacrifices: “I will make [those who transgressed my covenant] like the calf which they cut in two and passed between its parts—the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf shall be handed over to their enemies.” — ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 18:26

1 Kings 18:29

Ishodad of Merv: [Elijah and the prophets of Baal] had agreed to fix a specific time and deadline [by saying], “We will stay until this hour, and he whose sacrifice is not accepted will die.” Otherwise they might have said, “Today [our sacrifice] was not accepted, but it will be accepted tomorrow.” — BOOKS OF SESSIONS 1 Kings 18:29

1 Kings 18:33

Ambrose of Milan: Moreover, if anyone has not been baptized, let him be converted all the more securely by receiving the remission of his sins, [so that baptism] as a kind of fire may consume his sins, because Christ baptizes in fire and spirit. Hence, you read of this type in the books of Kings, where Elijah placed wood upon the altar and told them to pour water on it from urns. “And he said, ‘Do the same the second time.’ And they did it the second time. And he said, ‘Do the same also the third time,’ ” and when the water dripped about, Elijah prayed, and fire descended from heaven. You, O mortal, are on an altar, you who are purified by water and whose sin is burned out that life may be renewed; for fire consumes wood and stubble. Do not fear the fire through which you are enlightened. Therefore it is said to you, “Come to him to be enlightened.” Take up the yoke of Christ; do not fear because it is a yoke; hasten because it is light. It does not bruise the neck but adorns it. Why do you hesitate, why do you delay? It does not bind the neck with chains but unites the mind by grace. — On Elijah and Fasting, Chapter 22, 83

Origen of Alexandria: And what is the source of your belief that Elijah who is to come will baptize? Did he not even baptize the wood on the altar in the times of Ahab, when it required a bath that it might be burned up when the Lord appeared in fire? He commanded the priests to do this, and not only once, for he says, “Do it a second time, when also they did it a second time,” and “Do it a third time, when also they did it a third time.” How, then, will he who did not himself baptize at that time, but gave the task to others, baptize when he has come in fulfillment of the things said by Malachi? Christ, therefore, does not baptize in water, but his disciples. He reserves for himself the act of baptizing with the Holy Spirit and fire. — COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF John 6.125

1 Kings 18:38

Ambrose of Milan: In the time of Elijah, also, fire came down when he challenged the prophets of the heathen to light up the altar without fire. When they could not do so, he poured water three times over his victim, so that the water ran around about the altar; then he cried out, and the fire fell from the Lord from heaven and consumed the burnt offering. You are that victim. Contemplate in silence each single point. The breath of the Holy Spirit descends on you; he seems to burn you when he consumes your sins. The sacrifice that was consumed in the time of Moses was a sacrifice for sin, wherefore Moses said, as is written in the book of the Maccabees: “Because the sacrifice for sin was not to be eaten, it was consumed.” Does it not seem to be consumed for you when in the sacrament of baptism the whole outer person perishes? “Our old self is crucified,” the apostle exclaims. Herein, as the example of the Fathers teaches us, the Egyptian is swallowed up—the Hebrew arises renewed by the Holy Spirit, as he also crossed the Red Sea dry shod—where our fathers were baptized in the cloud and in the sea. — On the Duties of the Clergy 3.18.106-7

Ephrem the Syrian: Elijah, who on mount Carmel abolished the sacrifices of the pagan priests, ministers of vanity, through the burnt offering which he offered to the living God, gives us a living image of the burnt offering that the Emmanuel made on Mount Golgotha, bringing to an end through his own sacrifice which was offered only once, all the sacrifices prescribed by Moses, as well as the burnt offerings which the pagans offered to their infamous gods. “Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones and the dust, and even licked up the water that was in the trench.” You acted justly, Elijah, and quite wisely! Your fire will consume the stones, and the worshipers of the stones will blush for their shame. It will consume the wood, and those who make their gods out of carved wood will be upset and will turn away from their madness. It will consume the bull, so that nobody may ever worship the bull. — ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 18:26-38

1 Kings 18:40

Ephrem the Syrian: “Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishon, and cut their throats there.” There is no doubt that the people rose against the prophets of shame and brought them before Elijah. But it is not entirely clear who killed them. The Scripture says that Elijah cut their throats. And this is in perfect agreement with the true spirit of Elijah, who was concerned for the safety of the assembly: he tried to be the only one who could be accused of the murder of the prophets. Indeed, he knew that Jezebel would have claimed vengeance for the shed blood of her priests. — ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 18:40

1 Kings 18:41

Ephrem the Syrian: “Elijah said to Ahab, ‘Go up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of rushing rain.’ ” Elijah, after acknowledging that the people, thanks to the miracle that he had showed them, had turned away from their evil thoughts, and that the priests of Baal, their deceivers, had received a just sentence, wisely prophesies and announces the rain to the king. And he asks his Lord for a new miracle, in order to confirm his first miracle and accomplish his promise. Indeed, he had promised his people to give them rain if they repented of their iniquity. Therefore he prophesies [the coming of the rain], because he is certain that God is reconciled with his people in consequence of their repentance and the killing of the prophets who had misled them. — ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 18:40

1 Kings 18:42

Ephrem the Syrian: “And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel.” He does not go to Jerusalem in order to offer a sacrifice to the Lord, even though he knows the commandment of the law, which prevents the Jews from sacrificing outside the place that God had appointed as holy for them. He goes up to top of the Carmel in order to ask for rain, even though he knows that Solomon had mentioned the rain in his prayer for the people and the Lord had promised him that he would have given rain to those who prayed to him inside the temple of Jerusalem. Therefore Elijah prayed, so that they might see the miracle, because many of them still had not realized that the famine that overwhelmed them had been sent by the Lord through Elijah, who had prayed to him. In order that the word might confirm that Elijah had bound the heavens and now opened them, it was necessary that the people saw the prophet kneeling down in prayer, in the act of causing the rain to come down through his prayer. — ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 18:42

1 Kings 18:44

Augustine of Hippo: After this blessed Elijah presented himself to the king, “went up to Mount Carmel and put his head between his knees,” praying the Lord to send rain on the earth. “And he said to his servant, ‘Look toward the sea.’ ” When the boy reported that he saw nothing at all, he told him, “Go and look seven times.” The seventh time he returned and said, “ ‘I see a little cloud rising out of the sea like a person’s foot.’ And suddenly the heavens grew dark, and there fell a great rain.” For this reason, as we said, Elijah prefigured our Lord and Savior. Elijah prayed and offered sacrifice; Christ offered himself as a spotless sacrifice for the whole world. Elijah prayed for rain to come on the earth; Christ prayed that divine grace might come down into the hearts of humankind. When Elijah told his servant, “Go and look seven times,” he signified the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit that was to be given to the church. When he declared that he saw a little cloud rising out of the sea, it prefigured the body of Christ, which was to be born in the sea of this world. Therefore, lest anyone doubt, he said that the cloud had the foot of a person who said, “Who do people say the Son of man is?” After three years and six months, rain came down from heaven at the prayer of Elijah, because at the coming of our Lord and Savior the rain of the word of God happily watered the whole world during the three years and six months in which he deigned to preach. Just as at the coming of Elijah all the priests of the idols were killed and destroyed, so at the advent of the true Elijah, our Lord Jesus Christ, the wicked observances of the pagans were destroyed. — SERMON 124.5

Caesarius of Arles: After this blessed Elijah presented himself to the king, “went up to Mount Carmel and put his head between his knees,” praying the Lord to send rain on the earth. “And he said to his servant, ‘Look toward the sea.’ ” When the boy reported that he saw nothing at all, he told him, “Go and look seven times.” The seventh time he returned and said, “ ‘I see a little cloud rising out of the sea like a person’s foot.’ And suddenly the heavens grew dark, and there fell a great rain.” For this reason, as we said, Elijah prefigured our Lord and Savior. Elijah prayed and offered sacrifice; Christ offered himself as a spotless sacrifice for the whole world. Elijah prayed for rain to come on the earth; Christ prayed that divine grace might come down into the hearts of humankind. When Elijah told his servant, “Go and look seven times,” he signified the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit that was to be given to the church. When he declared that he saw a little cloud rising out of the sea, it prefigured the body of Christ, which was to be born in the sea of this world. Therefore, lest anyone doubt, he said that the cloud had the foot of a person who said, “Who do people say the Son of man is?” After three years and six months, rain came down from heaven at the prayer of Elijah, because at the coming of our Lord and Savior the rain of the word of God happily watered the whole world during the three years and six months in which he deigned to preach. Just as at the coming of Elijah all the priests of the idols were killed and destroyed, so at the advent of the true Elijah, our Lord Jesus Christ, the wicked observances of the pagans were destroyed. - “Sermon 124.5”

Ephrem the Syrian: “Look, a little cloud no bigger than a person’s hand is rising out of the sea.” Before going up, Elijah prayed seven times. He did this, in the first place, in order to invite the people who were waiting for the rain, to meditate on the greatness of the grace that they received from their Lord; second, in order to teach them that even if their prayers were not fulfilled [immediately], they should not cease from multiplying their prayers until they were fulfilled at the time appointed by God. And at the seventh time a cloud bringing rain appeared, so that they might know that God had released [them] from the bondage of the famine into the abundance of his mercy in the fourth year, even though he had originally fixed the term to the seventh. — ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 18:44

1 Kings 18:45

Ephrem the Syrian: In my opinion Elijah accorded a great honor to Ahab, of which he was unworthy, when he ran in front of him like a servant. And there are two reasons for this. In the first place, [the prophet intended] to comfort with his company the terrified and trembling king who was troubled in his spirit by the sudden weather changes that had occurred. It seems that he was taken by a great fear when, in a second, the sun had veiled its light and a heavy darkness had spread over all the land. And in that obscure and thick darkness he saw lightning and heard terrifying peals of thunder and a storm of violent winds and the rain falling like a cataract. Indeed, it was necessary that the atmosphere was clothed with such a dress in order to show the greatness of the sign that God had accomplished before his prophet. But the main reason for this action was that the king, who saw the honor that the prophets, messengers of the Highest, accorded to him, might learn that he had to honor God, his Creator, over all things, might be converted, might fulfill his commandments, observe his laws and obey the prophets sent to him.See the humility of Elijah, and admire his wisdom before the pride, insanity and foolishness of Ahab. I certainly call mad and senseless one who, after seeing the wind, the water, the fire and the weather subjected to the power of Elijah, and hearing the entire people proclaim his power similar to that of God, did not recognize the excellence of his dignity, did not admire his action or honor his person, but in the excess of his pride, let him march before him, as a servant precedes one who is superior to him many times over. Indeed, the king should have let the prophet climb up and sit with him on his chariot. — ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 18:46