He Who Heals the Sicks

By: Jonathan Seidel

Elijah's suicidal thoughts and divine insights

Elijah was carried off by God. He met his end on a perpetuated plea. Elijah was an important prophet but like all other prophets was subject to the torture of alienation and discrimination. He was alone with a message from God. Preaching to a rowdy group to change their ways. They would never listen to him. Yet he continued to try even with Jezebel and Ahab trying to rid him. Elijah did his duty for God and the Jewish people. 

Elijah’s journey is not so different from other prophets. Like his successors Isaiah and Jeremiah their lives with intertwined with God. God relayed them a message and they obeyed the order at times reluctantly. It was not God they took issue with but the people’s dismay. God’s appointment placed them in hot water. They were ousted for their dedication to him at the expense of communal ire. The later prophets are more poetic about their struggles. The existential dread that surrounded their daily lives. Elijah’s journey is more narrational. Explaining the events from an outsider telling the events then the character themselves exposing their struggle. Nevertheless, the picture is bleak. The reader feels for Elijah. He keeps trying and he keeps failing. Though not due to his inadequacy. The people were entrenched in idolatry. His messages were futile. 

Ahab and Elijah are in a fierce dual and it is in this moment that the challenge is proposed. Elijah vs. the baal prophets. Elijah allows the confident fools to proceed. The prophets begin their ritual motioning and drawing in the correct resources but fail. They call upon the god to bring down the fire but nothing happens. Elijah mocks them teasing them to try again. A second time they fail. Elijah grows weary of this nonsense. All the people are watching these two go head to head. Waiting to see who will emerge victorious who is the true prophet. Elijah calls out to heaven and a fire blazes down. The people are shocked. Scared they prostrate themselves immediately chanting Hashem is the true god. Following Elijah they kill the baal prophets. Elijah is on top of the world. He has won. He has saved the nation putting them back on the right track. Yet Elijah celebrates too soon. Jezebel puts a bounty on Elijah’s head and he flees. Confused and perplexed he wallows to Mount Sinai. He could he be betrayed? Did he not just show them the truth? What went wrong?

Elijah is mystified. He doesn’t know what to do. If they can’t change their minds, what will? Is it even possible? The text is very clear of his feelings. His emotions are high and his sorrow is emphasised. His cynicism flows through his lament. He realises he is doomed. There is no saving them. The people are failures. God comes to soothe his soul. To teach him a lesson. God teaches Elijah that he is in the still small voice. Elijah’s response is less devastating than the horrid emotional toll sullied by Jeremiah. God gives Elijah a new order and he follows through taking a new apprentice under his wing. Elijah continues his prophetic duties anointing and criticising. He is taken by God in an unorthodox way but the event is much later than the Mount Carmel debacle. He isn’t asking to be taken away out of overwhelming stress of his job. He is ready to go. He has fulfilled his duties and wishes to be near God. An ambitious but beloved comment by a servant of the lord.

After the Carmel debacle Elijah does ask to die. He has failed and feels that he is inferior to his predecessors and cannot win this battle. Yet he is rejuvenated by the divine call. He continues on and follows directives. There is a misconception between his depression and his send off. Yet what still remains is the torment he endured through his prophetic quest. The point of desiring to die is a truly stellar abyss. Whether the chariot send off is related is of little importance. The emotional disorientation of prophetic life. The downtrodden captivation with a single motive. He can’t help the people. He wishes to die not only so that Jezebel can’t do it but because his purpose is thwarted. He is unable to anything. He’d rather live elsewhere in the confines of serenity than be forced to entertain a nation who has no desire to return to God. Zealous for God criticising the people for their disenchantment. He was harsh and it affected him. 

Suicidal jargon penetrates Elijah’s mind. He wishes to die though through God’s intervention then his own hand. He desires God to withdraw him from the world. God appointed him to his mission now it is God who will finish it. Elijah could’ve done the deed himself but instead desired God to take action. In a way cowardly but also in a way bold. He was showing God that the Lord had placed him a tough situation and he believed he had completed his part. God had other plans. He wouldn’t let Elijah die just yet. Though God never accepts the deal outright, he does in the end carry Elijah off. He does demonstrate his reciprocity, his thanks for Elijah’s handwork. Acknowledging the debt to the prophet’s cause. Before that Elijah had more to do. God needed Elijah in the right head space. He had other prophets but Elijah was unique and profound. 

God salvaged Elijah’s suicidal thinking not by telling him to stop or curing him of the pathology. God does three things 1) teaches him about the small still voice 2) gives him a mission 3) finds him a companion. The first is the quiet comfort of bliss. The simplicity of stillness. God is found in the everyday. The projected and intentioned. Do not worry Elijah I am with you. This was not an attack but more a reminder of God’s concern for Elijah. Elijah had tried his best to bring the spectacle to inspire. God responded that small mechanical shifts will do the job. It takes patience and understanding not huge waves of inspiration. A renewed approach with divine aid. A mission to keep Elijah busy. Travelling to anoint was to give him structure and meaning. Similar to Kohelet. Dealing with depressive thoughts is through productive distractions. Purpose cultivated through habituated patterns. A companion was a comfort to Elijah’s loneliness. Do not worry you are not alone. It may feel that way but Elisha will be by your side faithfully. You are not alone in this difficulty.     

God saves Elijah from despair. Following the Carmel incident he is famished. Yet God provides purpose. God acts as a companion to Elijah. Do not concede defeat it is far from over. You are still my servant go and do what I say. While this may sound harsh sometimes a kick in the butt is critical to jumpstarting a struggling individual. Getting lost in the order, in the activity, will distract his mind from the haunting truth he has concocted. He believes he has failed whether or not it is true. He believes there is no more he can do so God gives him tasks to fulfil. It is not over yet there is more for you to accomplish. This journey is tough and distractions are momentary. God therefore tells Elijah that he is always with him. It isn’t the grand intervention of Carmel but in the stillness of the air. God answered Elijah’s call openly. A revelation. Yet one that requires active engagement. One that requires a relationship and effort. Elijah had divine aid but he also needed a friend. 

Elisha was the package deal. Elijah was struggling alone. With a companion he could be ever more distracted. If he wasn’t alone on his journeys. If he didn’t feel like he was carrying the burden alone then peace would settle his shoulders. The yoke will be hauled by two instead of one. Elijah was beating under the pressure but Elisha would raise it above their heads. Elisha was not only a companion but a pupil. Elijah was now a mentor with someone to guide. It wasn’t only comfort but purpose. He was to guide Elisha in the ways of God. Readying him for his position as a prophet of Israel, his successor. Elisha was Elijah’s new project. Just as a parent to a child. Their growth and cultivation is worth living for. It is worth staying around and partaking in that development to excellence. Elijah found a new calling. One that permitted peace in his soul. Though he “failed” his pupil could salvage. It wasn’t his time just as it wasn’t David’s time to build the Temple but for Solomon to do so. Elijah soaked his being into Elisha’s dedication. He entrusted the future to Elisha and with that he was ready to leave.

Elijah’s end is unique but it is with great pride and not with great sorrow that he left. God raised him after continuing on despite the torture. He found new meaning in his life. A new direction and a new hope. Elisha was Elijah’s second wind and promising aspiration. God’s advice prevailed. The suicidal abyss evaporated with Elisha’s embrace. His salvation was renewed purpose and reflected importance.