Written by: Peretz Green

MESSAGE OF THE ARCHANGEL GABRIEL

Part 2: You are blessed in the sanctification

You are blessed in the sanctification of king Assa: "And Assa did what is right in the eyes of the Lord, like David his father. And he put away the sodmites out of the land, and removed all the idols which his fathers had made. And also Ma'acha his mother, even her he removed from being queen; because she had made a scandalous image for the Ashera; And Assa cut down her scandalous image, and burnt it by the brook Kidron" (Kings 1, 15: 11-13).

You are blessed in the marvelous sanctifications of the Prophet Elijah, of blessed mentioning: "Then said Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gil'ad, unto Achab: As the Lord the God of Israel liveth, before whom I have stood, there shall not be in these years dew or rain, except according to my word. And the word of the Lord came unto him saying: Go away from here, and turn thyself eastward and hide thyself by the brook Kerith, which is to the east of the Jordan. And it shall be that out of the brook shalt thou drink; and the ravens have I ordained to sustain thee there. And he went and dwelled by the brook Kerith, that is to the east of the Jordan.

"And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and out of the brook he drank. And it came to pass after a while that the brook dried up; because there had been no rain in the land. And the word of the Lord came unto him saying: Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there; behold I have ordained there a widow-woman gathering sticks of wood; and he called her, and said: Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she went to fetch it, he called to her, and said: Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand. And she said: As the Lord thy God liveth, I have nothing baked, but a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a cruise: and behold, I am gathering a couple of sticks, that I may go in and prepare it for me and my son; and when we have eaten it we shall have to die. And Elijah said unto her: Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake at first, and bring it out unto me, and thee and thy son shalt thou prepare afterward.

"For thus hath said the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal shall not fail, neither shall the cruise of oil diminish, until the day that the Lord giveth rain upon the face of the earth. And she went and did according to the word of Elijah; and she, and he, and her household, did eat for many days. The jar of meal failed not, nor did the cruise of oil diminish, according to the word of the Lord, which He had spoken by Elijah. And it came to pass after these events, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness became very severe, until that at length there was no breath left in him. And she said unto Elijah: What have I to do with thee, O man of God? Thou art come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son! And he said unto her: Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up to the upper chamber, in which he abode, and he laid him upon his own bed. And called unto the Lord, and said: O Lord my God, hast Thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?

"And he stretched himself out over the child three times, and called unto the Lord, and said: O Lord my God, let, I pray Thee, the soul of this child return again within him. And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child returned into him, and he revived. And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the upper chamber into the house, and gave him unto his mother; and Elijah said: See, thy son liveth. And the woman said to Elijah: Now by this do I know, that thou art a man of God, and the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth" (ibid, 17: 1-24).

You are blessed in the great sanctification on the Carmel: "And it lasted many days, when the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying: Go, show yourself to Achab; and I will give rain upon the face of the earth" (ibid, 18: 1). "Then said Elijah: As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I have stood, surely today I will show myself unto him. So Obadiah went to meet Achab, and he told it to him: and Achab went to meet Elijah. And it came to pass, when Achab saw Elijah, that Achab said unto him: Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answered: I have not troubled Israel; but thou and thy father's house, through your forsaking the commandments of the Lord, and because hast followed the Be'alim. And now send, assemble unto me all Israel at Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Ba'al four hunred and fifty, and the prophets of the Asherah four hundred, who eat at the table of Izabel. And Achab sent round among all the children of Israel, and he assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel. And Elijah approached unto all the people, and said: How long halt ye between the two opinions? If the Lord be the God, follow Him; and if Ba'al follow him. And the people answered him not a word. And Elijah said unto the people: I have been left a prophet of the Lord by myself alone; but the prophets of Ba'al are four hundred and fifty men.

Therefore let there be given unto us two bullocks; and let them choose for themselves the one bullock, and cut it in pieces, and lay it upon the wood, and put no fire to it. And do ye call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord, and it shall be that the God who answereth by fire, he shall be the the God. And all the people answered and said: The proposal is good. And Elijah said unto the prophets of Ba'al: Choose you for yourselves the one bullock, and prepare it first; for you are the many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it. And they took the bullock which he had given to them, and they prepared it; and they called on the name of Ba'al from the morning even until noon, saying: O Ba'al, answer us! But there was no voice, nor any answer; and they danced around the altar which had been made. And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked at them, and said: Call with a loud voice; for he is a god; either he is holding council, he is busy in some pursuit, or he is on a journey; or peradventure he sleepeth and may thus awaken. And they called with a loud voice and cut themselves after their custom with knives and spears, till the blood rushed out over them. And it came to pass, when midday was passed, that they practiced their follies until near the time of the offering of the evening-sacrifice; but there was neither voice, nor any answer, nor any perceptible sound.

And Elijah said unto all the people: Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him; and he repaired the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord was come, saying: Israel shall be thy name. And he built of the stones an altar in the name of the Lord; and he made a trench as great as would contain two seahs of seed round about the altar. And he put in order the wood, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid them on the wood. And he said: Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt-offering, and on the wood. And he said: Do it the third time. And they did it a third time. And the water ran about the altar; and the trench also he filled with water. And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening-sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said: O Lord, God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Israel, this day let it be known that Thou art God in Israel, and that I am Thy servant, and that at Thy word I have done all these things.

Answer me O Lord, and let all this people know that Thou O lord are the God, and Thou wilt have turned their heart back again. And there fell a fire of the Lord, and consumed the burnt-offering, and the wood, and stones, and trhe dust; and the water also that was in the trench did it lick up. And when all the people saw this, they fell on their faces, and they said: The Lord – He is the God; the Lord – He is the God. And Elijah said unto them: Seize the prophets of Ba'al; not one of them must escape. And they seized them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slaughtered them there" (ibid: 15-40).

You are blessed in Elijah's sanctification: "And when he saw this, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheva, which belongeth to Judah, and he left his young man there. But he himself went into the wilderness a day's journey, and he came and sat down by a certain broom-bush; and he requested for himself to die; and he said: It is enough, now, O Lord, take away my soul; for I am not better than my fathers. And he laid himself down to rest under a certain broom-bush, and, behold then, an angel was touching him, and said unto him: Arise, eat.

And he looked about, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on coals, and a cruise of water; and he ate and drank, and laid himself down again. And the angel of the Lord came again, the second time, and touched him, and said: Arise, eat; because the journey is yet far for thee. And he arose, and ate and drank; and he went on the strength of that eating forty days and forty nights unto the mount of God, Horeb. And he came there unto a cave, and loged there over night: and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and said unto him: What doest thou here Elijah? And he said: I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant,Thy altars have they thrown down, and Thy prophets have they slain with the sword; and even I only am left, and they have sought my life, to take it away. And He said: Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord: and behold the Lord passed by, and a wind, great and strong, rending the mountains, and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but not in the wind was the Lord; and after the wind was an earthquake; but not in the earthquake was the Lord; And after the earthquake was a fire; but not in the fire was the Lord; and after the fire ; but not in the fire was the Lord; and after the the fire was was a sound of a soft whisper. And it came to pass, when Elijah heard it, that he concealed his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave; and behold, there came a voice unto him, and said: What dost thou here, Elijah? And he said: I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, Thy altars have they thrown down, and Thy prophets have they slain with the sword: and I, even I, only am left, and they have sought my life, to take it away. And the Lord said unto him: Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus; and go, anoint Chazael to be king over Syria" (ibid: 19, 3-15).