The Holy Prophet Elijah. Life and Miracles of the Prophet Elias

The thunder rolled across the sky, and the old women crossed themselves, cautiously looking at the clouds. "Ilya the Prophet in the chariot drove," - they hear their whisper. People of the older generation remember such scenes. Who is this prophet, shaking the heavens and the earth? Let's open the Bible and listen to what it tells us.

Israel in the darkness of paganism

For 900 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, the wicked King Jeroboam reigned in Israel. For reasons of self-interest, he renounced the true God, fell into idolatry and dragged the entire unfortunate people behind him. Since then, a whole galaxy of kings of Israel has worshiped idols. Many people suffered from the woes because of their wickedness. But the Lord, through his boundless mercy, did not leave apostates, but tried to bring them back on the right path, sending them prophets and denouncing them with their lips. Among them, the most ardent fighter for true faith was the prophet Elijah of God.

The birth of a new prophet

The Bible tells us that he was born in the east of Palestine, in the city of Fesvit. At the time of the birth of his father, the priest, had a vision: he saw some husbands swaddling the baby with fire and putting a flame in his mouth. This was a prediction that in his mature years the words of his sermons would be similar to fire, and he would mercilessly burn the wickedness among his fellow countrymen who had fallen into sin. They named the newborn Elijah, which, in Hebrew, means "My God." These words perfectly represented his destiny to become a vessel of the grace of God.

Growing up, the prophet Elijah, as befits the son of the priest, led a clean and righteous life, for a long time retiring to the desert and spending time in prayers. And the Lord loved him, sending down everything he asked for. The very same young man endlessly mourned the soul, seeing around the eerie bacchanalia of idolatry. Rulers and people brought human sacrifices. All is mired in vice and depravity. The true God was forgotten. In his eyes, those rare righteous who still remained in Israel and tried to condemn dishonor, were put to death. The heart of Elijah was overwhelmed with pain.

Terrible accuser of wickedness

At that time, Jeroboam's successor, King Ahab, reigned in the country. He was also wicked, but his wife Jezebel was especially committed to idols. She worshiped the Phoenician god Baal and planted this belief in the Israelites. Everywhere pagan altars were built and temples were built. The prophet Elijah, despising the mortal danger, went to the king and threatened him in all the iniquities that he was doing, trying to convince the truth of the one God of their fathers. Seeing that the king's heart is impenetrable to the truth, in order to prove his words and to punish the apostates, he sent a terrible drought to the whole country through the power of God, from which the harvest perished and the famine began.

Speaking of the miracles revealed by the saints during their earthly life, one should pay attention to a very important detail: they themselves do not perform miracles, as they are ordinary people during that period, and the Lord God works by their hands. They, by virtue of their righteousness, become some kind of a transfer link between the Most High and the people. After death, staying in the Kingdom of God, the saints, according to our prayers to them, can beg God for the fulfillment of the petition.

The prophet Elijah risked not only becoming a victim of royal wrath, but also with ordinary people, starving to death. However, God saved his life. The Lord brought his prophet to a distant place where there was water, and commanded a crow to bring him food. It is worth noting that the prophet Elijah, whose icon is present in almost every Orthodox church, is often depicted with a crow that brings food.

Miracles in the Zarephath

The next perfect miracle was the rescue from the hungry death of a poor widow from the town of Sarepta, where Elijah went by the command of God. For the fact that the poor woman did not spare the last piece of bread for him, her meager supplies of food by God's power became inexhaustible. When the widow's son died of illness, the prophet Elijah, having revealed a new miracle, returned the boy to life. His name was Jonah. The Bible tells of his amazing destiny. Growing up with the years, the young man became an ardent zealot of true faith. Once, on a ship heading for Nineveh, where he was going to appeal to the inhabitants with an appeal to repent, he fell into a storm and was overboard, where he was swallowed by a whale. But by the will of God, in three days, Jonah was spewed out alive and unharmed. This stay in the belly of the whale and the subsequent return to the world is the prototype of the three-day Christ's resurrection.

Competition with the priests and the end of the drought

In the third year of the drought, the last wells were already dry. Everywhere death reigned and desolation. The merciful Lord, not wishing to continue the tragedy, commanded the prophet Elijah to go to King Ahab and persuade him to turn away from the worship of demons. After three years of terrible disasters, even such a wicked man had to understand the perniciousness of idolatry. But the king's reason grew turbid.

Then the holy prophet, in order to prove the truth of his God and turn the king and the people of Israel from idolatry, volunteered to compete with the priests of Baal. They accepted the challenge and built their altar. The prophet began praying to them with heavenly fire. The servants of Baal were four hundred and fifty, and the prophet Elijah was alone. But only the prayer of the righteous was heard, and his altar lit up with fire, and the efforts of the priests were vain. They danced, and pricked themselves with knives - all in vain. The people praised the true God, and the confounded priests were immediately executed. The people clearly saw the rightness of the messenger of God.

After this, the holy prophet Elijah, having ascended to Mount Carmel, offered the Lord a prayer for the giving of rain. No sooner had he finished, than the heavens were opened, and a rushing shower rushed to the ground, irrigating fields and gardens. All that happened was so impressive that even King Ahab repented of his errors and began to mourn his sins.

Visit to the Prophet Elijah God

However, the embittered Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab, set out to avenge her disgrace and ordered the murder of the prophet. He was forced to hide in the desert. Once, exhausted from hunger and thirst, the prophet Elijah fell asleep. The angel of God appeared to him in a dream, ordered him to direct his way to Mount Horeb and settle there in a cave. When Elijah woke up, he saw food and a jug of water in front of him. It was very useful, since it was to go forty days and forty nights.

The bitter experiences of the destiny of his heathen nation plunged the prophet Elijah into deep sorrow. He was on the verge of despair, but the most gracious Lord granted him to Mount Horeb with his visit and announced that the righteous in the land of Israel had not run out yet, that He had kept seven thousand faithful slaves, that the time was near when King Ahab and his wife would perish. In addition, the Lord proclaimed the name of the future king, who is to destroy all the family of Ahab. To top it off, the prophet Elijah recognized from the mouth of God the name of his successor, whom he must anoint with the prophets. After a while the Almighty sent Elijah a disciple - the pious Elisha, who also began to struggle with paganism zealously.

The New Sin of King Ahab

Meanwhile, the wicked King Ahab again took the path of sin. I liked the vineyard of an Israeli named Naboth, but, having tried to buy it, the king was refused. His proud heart was unable to bear such a shame. Learning of what had happened, the queen Jezebel slandered Naboth through her minions, accusing him of abusing both God and the king. An innocent man was stoned by the crowd, and Ahab became the owner of the vineyard. But his joy was short-lived. The Lord through the mouth of his prophet Elijah convicted the slanderer and foretold him and his deceased wife a speedy death. Once again, the king poured out tears of repentance. Three years later he was killed. The wife and the children went through the wicked for a short time.

The descent of the heavenly fire to the servants of King Ahaziah

After Ahab, his son Ahaziah reigned. Like his father, he worshiped Baal and other pagan gods. And then one day, seriously ill, he began to call them to help. Upon learning of this, the Prophet Elijah angrily condemned him and predicted an imminent death. Twice the angry troops sent troops of soldiers to seize Elijah, and twice the fire came down from heaven and destroyed them. Only the third time, when the messengers fell before him on his knees, the Prophet pardoned them. After Elijah repeated his accusatory speech, Ahaziah died.

Ascension to the sky

Other miracles performed by Elijah the Prophet are described in the Bible. Once, with the blow of his cloak, he stopped the waters of the Jordan River, forced them to part and went to the other shore on a dry bottom just as Joshua had done before.

Soon, according to God's command, a miracle happened - the prophet Elijah was taken alive to heaven. The Bible describes how suddenly a fiery chariot drawn by flaming horses appeared, and the prophet Elijah ascended to heaven in a vortex like lightning. The witness of the miracle was his disciple Elisha. To him passed from the teacher of God's grace and with it the ability to work miracles. The Prophet Elijah himself is still alive in the villages of the Paradise. The Lord keeps him as a faithful servant. Proof of this can serve as his appearance in the flesh on Mount Tabor, where he, in the presence of the holy apostles and Moses, was conversing with the transfigured Jesus Christ.

It should be noted that before him, only the righteous Enoch, who lived before the Great Flood, was taken alive to heaven. This fiery path in the clouds and served as the reason that the thunderclap we often associated with his name. The prophet Elijah, whose life is basically described in the Old Testament, is mentioned repeatedly in the New. Suffice it to recall the scene on Mount Tabor, where he appeared to the transfigured Jesus Christ along with Moses, as well as a number of other episodes.

Veneration of the Prophet Elijah in Russia

Since when the light of Orthodoxy shone in Russia, the prophet Elijah became one of the most revered Russian saints. The first temples in his honor were built in the time of Prince Askold and the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga. This is largely due to the fact that the first Christian missionaries on the banks of the Dnieper and Volkhov faced the same problems as the prophet Elijah in Palestine - it was necessary to get the people out of the darkness of paganism.

When the summer droughts happened in Russia, they went to the fields of the procession and asked for help from him. There was no doubt: the holy prophet Elijah, whose prayer put an end to a three-year drought in Palestine, has the power to send rain and to our land.

The Prophet Elijah and his miracles inspired many Russian rulers to create temples in his honor. In addition to the already mentioned saints, Prince Askold and Princess Olga, Prince Igor erected the Temple of Elijah the Prophet in Kiev. Such churches are also known in Veliky Novgorod and Pskov.

Temple of the Prophet Elijah in Obydensky Lane

Among the current ones, the most famous is the Moscow temple of Elijah the Prophet in Obydensky Lane, a photo of which is presented in our article. It is generally believed that it was built in 1592. The place where the temple is now is called Ostozhenka, and once it was called Skorod. The fact is that they rafted logs along the river, and it was convenient and quick to build here. The quick house turned out. One day is "routine", and everything is ready. This gave the name of the alleyways that lay here.

The wooden church of Elijah the Prophet built in this place was one of the most revered in the city. In the Time of Troubles, in 1612, within its walls the Moscow clergy performed a moleben, asking for help from the Lord God in exile from Moscow to the Polish invaders. Historical chronicles often refer to the processions to the church during the days of drought, as well as to the feast days. Often the service in it was conducted by representatives of the higher clergy.

The stone building of the temple was erected in 1702, and for three hundred years the stream of worshipers has not run low. Even in the difficult years for the church, its doors were not closed, although such attempts were made. It is known, for example, about the intention of the authorities to close the church immediately after the end of the Liturgy on June 22, 1941. But the Lord did not allow this.

During the persecution of the church, the Temple of the Holy Prophet Elijah became a place where parishioners of many churches closed in the capital flocked. They brought with them not only church utensils, saved from confiscation, but also many pious traditions, preserved since pre-revolutionary times. Thus, growing, the community was enriched spiritually.

The Temple of Elijah the Prophet in Butovo

With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the "Program 200" started in Moscow in 2010 - a project to build two hundred Orthodox churches in the capital. Within the framework of this program in 2012 in Northern Butovo, at the intersection of Green and Kulikovskaya streets, the construction of another church began in honor of the Old Testament prophet Elijah. Currently, the building is under construction, and services are held in a temporary room. Despite the forced inconvenience, the parish life of the church is very full. An advisory service has been established, whose activists are ready to give exhaustive explanations on all issues related to the church service. An Orthodox film club was opened. In addition, for children there is a Sunday school and a number of sports sections. The Temple of Elijah the Prophet in Butovo will undoubtedly become one of the prominent religious and cultural centers of our capital.

The Image of the Prophet Elijah in Our Days

Today the church conducts extensive work to promote Orthodox culture. Out of print books, movies are made. Among other materials, the "Holy Prophet Elijah" is very popular. Life. " For children and adults there will be many interesting things. Modern painters-icon painters created a gallery of works representing the deeds of St. Elijah. Following the established canons, they creatively rethink the religious and moral significance of the image.

Also it is impossible not to recall that the holy prophet Elijah is the patron of the airborne troops of Russia. Every year on August 2, ceremonies are held in the churches of the airborne troops. More than a thousand years ago, the light of Orthodoxy shone in Russia, and during these years Elijah the Prophet, whose earthly life passed in Palestine, became a truly Russian saint, a defender in troubles and an example of selfless Christian service to God.