June 16

OT -- 1st Kings 15:25-17:24
Enter Elijah, the foremost prophet other than Moses in the Hebrew Bible. Jesus apparently thought so as well since who was at the transfiguration? Moses and Elijah.
Elijah is an ever present figure in Judaism. He is present at every circumcision, a cup and a chair are left for him at all Seders and prayers are invoked in his name at the close of every Shabbos day (Saturday evening).
In Christianity, both John the Baptist and Jesus are compared to Elijah.
What interests me, is that Elijah is a prophet to the NORTHERN KINGDOM, not Judah. I grant you, Jezebel and Ahab are quite interesting but still, the lineage and the story happens through Judah.
Elijah, being a prophet, has very unkind words to say about Ahab, his wife, his policies regarding acquisition and his treatment of the less fortunate. Tomorrow, the story with the priests of Baal is one of my favorites in the whole Bible.
Once, when someone who was challenging me on the power of God, I told him that story. I think I ended it with "if God can burn up oxen, what is raising someone from the dead?" His response was, 'how come we never see or hear of a regenerating arm or leg?' I don't have an answer for that. I don't have an answer for a lot. But I do know that God uses stories like Elijah to remind us that He is powerful and He does intervene.

Acts 10:23b-48
Just an aside, if women aren't circumcised (and don't email me pictures of African girl babies who have been), does vs. 45 "The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles." mean that only men were in Peter's party?
Sorry, my feminist head rearing up a little.

This is a powerful story on several fronts. The first is the call of Peter and his response to the dream. Okay, it took him 3 times. But he DID response and he DID go. The second is Peter's willingness to put aside a LIFETIME of habituated responses to people who were not Jewish. Must have been really hard to do. We have that same tendency. After all, isn't Peter 'everyman'?
But the real hero of the story is Cornelius. Think about it. He has a vision. A specific vision and immediately responses and prepares for it. Cornelius isn't Jewish. He never met Jesus and he doesn't really have a background in belief, just giving. And he is so convinced that he convinces others to show up and be there for Peter. I don't know about you, but the last time someone told me about seeing visions, I didn't respond so nicely.
Powerful story. Powerful testimony.