The consequence of this idolatry: the absence of rain, as a curse from God (1 Kings 17:1) the consequences of which are given at the end of the previous chapter (1 Kings 16). Therefore, the land, a gift of God, is profaned by the worship given to Baal.
When all the people of Israel recognize by acclamation that only the Lord is God (1 Kings 18.39), the land given for God to his people, profaned by the idolatry, and consequently deprived of life and sterile, then it may receive again the blessing of heaven, the rain. Henceforth, the obstacle to God’s blessing is removed because of conversion of all Israel to his God that followed the manifestation of the divine power against the prophets of Baal. Elijah, the servant of God is recognized as such, and thereby he is enabled to intercede for obtaining the blessing, the rain.
The silent intercession of the Prophet marks a double aspect characteristic of Israel’s faith: on one hand it favors the recognition of the one God and Lord and secondly it qualifies the prophet Elijah, in whose mouth the Word of God is truth (17.24).
Two presuppositions must be assured so that the rain may fall:
– Ahab must eat and drink, as an anticipation of the benefits that the rain involves.
– The silent Intercession of the Prophet, symbolized by his humble posture and by presence of the cloud compared to a man’s hand (1 King 18.44), evoking concretely the hand lifted up to heaven and therefore the prayer. Elijah, in a posture of adoration, abandoned to the will of God, addresses to him a silent prayer.
The cloud that rises symbolizes the granted prayer, pleasing to God. The Psalmist alludes to the rise of incense by comparing his prayer signified by the raising of hands in the evening sacrifice that is offered before the face of the Lord (Ps 141, 2).
But the servant must go up 7 times (1 King 18, 42), number of perfection. Therefore prayer needs time to become perfect prayer of humility and dependence towards God. Better said, the man who prays needs time so that through his prayer the Lord may dispose him to receive with dignity the object of his petition and to use it rationally.
If the curse resulting from idolatry, has caused the sterility of the earth and consequently the prohibition of using the gift of God, the blessing, answering the humble supplication addressed to Him, who only can give back the rain, solves the tension evoked in the first verse of the previous chapter, ” “As the LORD the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” “(1Kings 17, 1). The promise of the Lord is realized through the word of his prophet. The prophet Elijah appears to be like the channel permitting to pass from drought to rain, from sterility to fertility, from death to life.
But commonly, in the Bible, the symbolism of the water given as a gift of God, evokes the gift of life, eternal life. Therefore the returning of the rain through the intercession of the prophet Elijah emphasizes the maternal dimension of water, that of the faith, of the vision and of the life. So, the episode of the healing of the man born blind (John 9) puts the water in relation with the vision. In fact the “sight of the blind” opens for him more than seeing: to Believe. So, the disciple sent to Siloam and who start to see, means that he start to believe, to believe in God, the same way the people of Israel did facing the manifestation of divine power: “The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God.”(1 Kings 8, 39).
The water is changed in wine at Cana (John 2, 1-12). The wine is the water from heaven given by God, source of vitality and joy. That is why it is necessary to be born of water and the Spirit (John 3, 5) to enter in the kingdom of God and participate fully in the divine nature.
Water is also related with the blood on the Cross. Sacramental interpretation, blood and water are the Baptism and the Eucharist, both sacraments of life. So, water is the sign and maternal symbol of life. We understand better, through this, the connection between the episode of Cana and the water and the blood, previously in the body of Jesus, flowing freely after He was pierced by de soldier (John 19, 34). The water is the gift free and gratuitous of God’s life, just like the rain has been at the time of the prophet Elijah.
Ultimately, we can learn from the silent intercession of Elijah
– That the fault of a group of people can lead to harmful and incalculable consequences for a whole nation.
– That idolatry is a definite obstacle to unfurl of the life, which becomes sterile, without future.
– That the battle between good and evil always ends with the victory of good and that the last word of God is the gift of life as a demonstration of his absolute sovereignty and goodness, because traditionally the control of nature and of its elements, namely wind, water, the sun was considered as relevant to the competence of Baal.
– That the blessing of God, symbolized by the rain after drought in Elijah’s time, acquires its full meaning when the Word of God becomes our daily food: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work” (John 4:34), like the prophet Elijah who was faithful to the word of God, so that by our presence, the Lord may be all in all… (1 Co 15, 28)
F. Mateo ocd