1. Elijah prepares for going to Heaven
We are reading the books of Kings since the beginning of the year. Today¡Çs lecturing part is about the end of the earthy life of Elijah who had struggled for long time to ban the idolatry from Israel. We will also learn how his fight was succeeded by Elisha, one of his disciples. (³¤­…)

1. Elijah runs away
This year, we are reading the books of Kings and learned about the idolatry of Baal last Sunday. It was conducted by Ahab, the king of Israel, and his wife Jezebel. Against that idolatry, the prophet Elijah stood up. He carried out alone a duel to defeat 450 prophets of Baal. Then Elijah made those prophets executed to establish his ultimate victory. In that way, the war between God and Baal should have ended. And the idolatry should have been thrown away from Israel. Nonetheless, Jezebel, as the leader of the idolatrous worship, gave the order to arrest and kill Elijah. Her decision altered the situation totally. Elijah, in his turn, had to escape and hide himself. In those unacceptable circumstances, Elijah despaired and even wished to die. But God encouraged him. Elijah was empowered by God¡Çs words to rise up once more as an authentic prophet. Today¡Çs reading portion 1 King 19 also teaches us how to make our mind up to try again, regardless of present misfortune or failure. (³¤­…)

1. The choice between God and idols
We are taking lectures on the books of Kings since the first Sunday of this January. Last Sunday, we learned about the 3 years-drought by reading the 1 Kings 17. It was made happen by God as a punishment to Israelites. Though the prophet Elijah predicted the phenomena, Ahab, the king of Israel of the time oppressed him. He hated Elijah because of that very prophecy. The text tells us that Elijah hided himself in a desert to avoid aggression of the king and was fed by Ravens and a widow. (³¤­…)

1. Ravens fed Elijah
We start today the first lecture series of this year 2011 and, for coming 3 months, the reading passages will be taken from the book 1 Kings. The two books of Kings tell the history of Israel since the enthronement of Solomon, the son of King David, till schism and destruction of the country. Thought their authorship is uncertain, the contents are said to be compiled by an editor called ¡Èthe Deuteronomist*1.¡É (³¤­…)