Elijah the Prophet

Elijah was a prophet in Israel in the 9th century BCE. He appears in the Hebrew Bible, Talmud, Mishnah, New Testament, and the Qur'an. According to the Books of Kings, Elijah raised the dead, brought fire down from the sky, and ascended into heaven in a whirlwind (accompanied by chariots, not in one). In Christianity, the New Testament describes how both Jesus and John the Baptist are compared with Elijah, and on some occasions, thought by some to be manifestations of Elijah, and Elijah appears with Moses during the Transfiguration of Jesus. ####In the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite, he is commemorated on the same date (in the twenty-first century, Julian Calendar 20 July corresponds to Gregorian Calendar 2 August). He is greatly revered among the Orthodox as a model of the contemplative life. He is also commemorated on the Orthodox liturgical calendar on the Sunday of the Holy Fathers (the Sunday before the Nativity of the Lord). In the Qur'an, Elijah is the prophet known as Ilyas Similar to the story in the Hebrew Bible, Ilyas preaches in opposition to Baal, pleading with the people not to forsake Allah. He also causes a famine and prophesies destruction on Ahab and Jezebel. He has been compared to Zachariah, John, and Jesus, and listed in the ranks of the righteous.

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