Map Jerusalem hilltop
Map of the Jerusalem hilltop, the City of David, the Mount of Olives, and the Kidron Valley, with Gethsemane.
Jerusalem hilltop city and Temple
Bible map of Assyrians attacking Jerusalem
Elijah’s chariot of fire
Elijah's chariot of fire
Elijah's walk into the wind
Elijah didn't die, according to Bible writers. He was carried away on the wind while his colleague, Elisha, watched as "horses of fire pulling a chariot of fire charged at the men—driving between them and separating them. Then a powerful wind knocked Elijah off his feet and carried him into the sky" (2 Kings 2:11). Elisha started screaming, “Father! Father! Israel’s chariots and calvary!” (2 Kings 2:12).Experts try to explain what happened
Scholars don’t agree about how to explain what just happened. Was it a theophany—a physical expression of a spiritual or celestial event? Or was it physical and literal—horses that could toast a hotdog? Was it physical and metaphorical—lightning and a tornado or maybe an intense thunderstorm associated with a powerful dust storm? Or was it a vision of heaven’s military carrying Elijah away.Did Elijah die?
What remains of the story is the teaching that Elijah never died. Jews today set a cup of wine out for Elijah at every annual Passover meal known as a seder. Some teach that Elijah will come before the Messiah comes, as one prophet seemed to predict (Malachi 4:5). Jesus later taught that John the Baptist fulfilled that prophecy (Matthew 11:14).Elisha's request
Before the windstorm, while still on the walk, Elisha asked if he could take Elijah's role as the lead prophet: “Please, let me be the one to inherit the position you’re leaving behind" (2 Kings 2:9). And that's what happened. A group of prophets in Jericho said so: “The ministry of Elijah now rests on Elisha’s shoulders” ( 2 Kings 2:15).Elisha's ministry
The Hebrew word for “ministry” is ruah, which has many meanings: breath, wind, spiritual essence of a person, spirit being. In the context of the story, the prophets seemed to recognize that Elijah’s ministry as Israel’s leading prophet had just fallen to Elijah’s apprentice, Elisha.For more Bible features
Elijah on Mount Carmel
Elijah on Mount Carmel
Elijah and Baal prophets meet on Mount Carmel
It's a battle to see which god will send fire to burn a sacrifice.
It's the God of Israel against the local god of lightening and rain
AHAB MEETS ELIJAH THE “TROUBLEMAKER”
When Ahab approached Elijah, the king said, “Israel’s troublemaker, is that you?” Elijah said, “I’m not Israel’s troublemaker. You are. You and your God-forsaken family. You quit on the LORD, and you started worshiping Baal. 19Tell the people to meet me at Mount Carmel. Bring the 950 prophets Jezebel feeds: 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah.BATTLE OF THE GODS
Ahab did just that. He brought the prophets and the people to Mount Carmel. Elijah told the people, “How long will it take you to make up your minds? If the LORD is God, act like it. If Baal is god, go ahead and try following him. But what makes you think you can do both?” No one answered... Elijah told Baal’s prophets, “So, go ahead and pick a bull and prepare your sacrifice. There are a lot of you, so go ahead and take the first turn. Don’t light the fire. Instead, ask your god to send down the fire.” They killed the bull, cut it into pieces, and laid it on the wood. Then they prayed to Baal, from morning to noon: “Baal, answer.” He didn’t. They danced a slow, rhythmic hobble around the altar they made. At noon, Elijah took a few jabs at them. “Pray louder. Maybe he’s meditating—yeah he’s in deep meditation. Or maybe he took a little walk to the outhouse. He might even be taking a power nap.” They prayed loudly. They cut themselves, too. They cut with swords, spears, and knives. They cut until the blood gushed out. This was one of their worship rituals. They kept it up until evening. That’s when it was time for the daily sacrifice just before the sun went down. No one answered themELIJAH CALLS DOWN THE FIRE
Elijah told the people, “Come close.” They crowded up around him. He repaired what had once been a stone altar to God, which someone had torn apart. He picked out 12 stones, one for each tribe of Israel—extended families descended from the 12 sons of Jacob. These are the people God named as Israel. Elijah used those stones to build an altar devoted to the LORD. He dug a trench around the altar. It would hold about three gallons of water. He stacked the wood on top of the stones, and he placed meat on the wood. He said, “Fill four jars of water and pour it all on the meat and wood.” 34When they did, he said, “Do it again.” When they did, he said, “Do it a third time.” When they did, the excess water drained into the trench and filled it. It was now time for the evening sacrifice. Elijah said, “LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, show these people who you are. Let then know you are the God of Israel. And let them see that I am a man of God, and that I am doing what you told me to do. Answer me, LORD, so these people will know you are God and come back to you.”GOD LIGHTS IT UP
Fire of the LORD struck the wood with heat that consumed everything it touched: meat, wood, stone, and water. When the people saw that, they were sold on God. They dropped face-down in the dirt and said, “The LORD is God. The LORD is God.” Elijah said, “Arrest the prophets of Baal. Don’t let one of them escape.” Elijah led them down the hill to the Kishon River Valley below. He killed them all there. 1 Kings 18:17-40God vs Baal on Mount Carmel
Ark of the Covenant comes to Jerusalem
Ark of the Covenant comes to Jerusalem
ARK OF COVENANT’S DEAD END
From 2 Samuel 6, Casual English Bible
1David assembled his army of 30,000 men of Israel. 2Then he took them all to a town in Judah: Baalah, also known as Kiriath-jearim. [1] He went there to get the Ark of the Covenant, [2] the sacred chest that held the Ten Commandments. This Box of God was engraved with the name of the LORD who rules over everyone. God’s throne rests between the cherubim on the lid of the chest.
3They carried the chest out of the hilltop home of Abinadab, where it had remained in storage. Then they put it on a new cart. Abinadab’s sons, Uzzah and Ahio, managed the cart. 4Ahio walked in front of the cart. 5David and the people with him danced for joy, and with a lot of energy. Some sang. Some played instruments, such as lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals. It was a joyful noise.
6But oxen pulling the cart lurched forward when they reached a threshing floor. This was a flat area where a farmer named Nacon knocked grain kernels loose from the stalks. Uzzah grabbed hold of the Box of God, to steady it. 7The LORD got angry and killed Uzzah on the spot. [3]
ARK OF COVENANT PARKED FOR THREE MONTHS
8Then David got mad about the LORD getting mad and killing Uzzah. After that, people have been calling that spot Perez Uzzah, which means Outburst at Uzzah.9Uzzah’s death put the fear of God into David. He asked, “How can I protect the chest if I can’t move it to a safe location?” 10David decided not to take it into the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of a man known as Obed-edom from Gath. 11David kept the chest there for three months. During that time, the LORD blessed the host and his family with kindness.
ARK OF THE COVENANT ON PARADE
12Someone gave David the good news about that: “The LORD has been blessing Obed-edom because of the Box of God.” That encouraged David. So, he brought the box from Obed-edom’s house to the City of David. It was a happy parade. 13But it was slow. After every six steps the people took as they carried the Box, David made them stop so he could sacrifice an ox or a calf.14During the walk, David danced with all his enthusiasm, wearing only a linen loincloth. 15David and the others joyfully accompanied the Box of God, cheering and blowing ram’s horns to celebrate.
Notes
1 6:2 Kiriath-jearim was where the people of Israel parked the Ark of the Covenant for 20 years after they got it back from the Philistines. The Philistines had stolen it after defeating Israel in a battle (1 Samuel 6:21; 7:2). Kiriath-jearim is usually associated with a ruin called Tell el-Azar, about 8 miles (13 km) west of Jerusalem, less than half a day’s walk.
2 6:2 The Ark of the Covenant was a wooden chest plated with gold all over. Inside that chest was a golden jar with some manna, Aaron’s almond wood staff that budded, and stone tablets engraved with the Ten Commandments. Covering the chest was a lid with figures representing glorious celestial beings called cherubim. This was the place where God’s people found forgiveness (Exodus 25:10-22; Hebrews 9:4-5). It was lost to history, perhaps stolen by invaders such as the Assyrians from what is now northern Iraq or the Babylonians of southern Iraq who leveled Jerusalem and the Temple in 586 BC.
3 6:7 Some scholars argue that God didn’t kill the man for trying to protect the chest. They say it’s more likely the writer only presumed God killed Uzzah, since in Bible times many seemed to believe that God controlled every detail of whatever happened. If it happened, God was behind it.
Solomon’s Jerusalem
Solomon's Jerusalem
Solomon's Jerusalem
King Solomon's Jerusalem sat on ridge and stretched about one kilometer (3/4 miles) from the Temple Mount on the top of the ridge, down to Lower Jerusalem called the City of David. King David's Jerusalem was about half as big. Solomon added the Temple and surrounding area later. Kings after Solomon began extending Jerusalem to the west. The Jerusalem of Jesus, during the Roman occupation of Israel, was much larger...until Rome crushed a Jewish revolt and destroyed the city in AD 70. That was the last Temple the Jews ever had. Arab invaders conquered the land and 1400 years ago built a Muslim shrine on the Temple Mount. It's now Jerusalem's most famous landmark: the Dome of the Rock. For another angle on Jerusalem, see the map with Nehemiah 7. Here's a sampling of King Solomon's unusual writing, which many scholars say was written centuries later by a writer borrowing Solomon's name.WHATEVER WE DO, IT’S A WASTE OF TIME
1David’s son, the Scholar and King of Jerusalem, offers these observations 2It’s a pitiful waste of time, the Scholar says. It’s all worthless and meaningless. 3What do people get for all their hard work, For spilling their sweat under the sun? 4A generation dies and another is born, But it makes no difference to the everlasting earth. 5The sun rises. The sun sets. Then it races all night to rise again. 6The wind blows north. The wind blows south. The wind blows round and round. It follows its route, comes back home, Then it starts all over again. 7Rivers and streams flow into the sea But the sea always has room for more. So, water returns to the streams where it came from And the streams flow back to the sea. 8Everything is exhausting, Too exhausting for words. What we see isn’t satisfying. What we hear isn’t good enough. Ecclesiastes 1:1-8, Casual English BibleKing Solomon's Jerusalem