Thoughts on "being released"...
When my late sister-in-law's mom [Molly] died my brother was sitting at home digesting the news that only he and other close members of family knew, when a friend called him up to say, "I just saw an amazing sight. Molly was flying in a chariot up into the sky. What do you think it means?"
Hmmm... is that what happens when we die, chariots of fire swooping our souls up into the sky; or bright lights [which my father saw hours before he died and which signified to him that he was about to die. "They are coming to take me. It's OK now," he said to my nephew who was sitting at his bedside. Hours later he was released.]
This is what the Torah says...
And it came to pass, as they [Elijah and Elisha,] still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more:
Legend has it Elijah's departure from the world is described as marvelous and miraculous, According to the literal words of the text Elijah did not die, rather he went up to heaven in a whirlwind and remained in a state of flesh and blood.
In recent times various commentators and philosophers have not been able to accept the plain literal sense of Scripture regarding Elijah's departure from the world, and have gone beyond the simple sense of the words, but according to all views the underlying intentions remain the same.
Aside from showing Elijah's greatness, the description of Elijah's ascent to heaven also points out the fault that lay in his zeal in this world. In the beginning of his career he brought down fire from heaven to slaughter the prophets of Ba'al. At the end of his career he brought down fire from heaven and burned the captains of fifty and their men who had been sent to him by the king, even though they had committed no sin deserving death (II Kings 1:10-12).
Thus Elijah's end was measure for measure: for his zeal which burned like fire, bringing down fire from heaven and consuming his opponents in fire, he had to depart this world and ascend to heaven in a fiery chariot drawn by fiery horses.
Who knows? Maybe all our deaths are meant to be measure for measure... cleansing the soul...
Check out the photos in my Pics folder / Mt Meron [I haven't figured out how to add them to my journal entry yet.]. They were taken on Mt Meron, at a site reputed to be the spot where Elijah rode the chariot.
When my late sister-in-law's mom [Molly] died my brother was sitting at home digesting the news that only he and other close members of family knew, when a friend called him up to say, "I just saw an amazing sight. Molly was flying in a chariot up into the sky. What do you think it means?"
Hmmm... is that what happens when we die, chariots of fire swooping our souls up into the sky; or bright lights [which my father saw hours before he died and which signified to him that he was about to die. "They are coming to take me. It's OK now," he said to my nephew who was sitting at his bedside. Hours later he was released.]
This is what the Torah says...
And it came to pass, as they [Elijah and Elisha,] still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more:
Legend has it Elijah's departure from the world is described as marvelous and miraculous, According to the literal words of the text Elijah did not die, rather he went up to heaven in a whirlwind and remained in a state of flesh and blood.
In recent times various commentators and philosophers have not been able to accept the plain literal sense of Scripture regarding Elijah's departure from the world, and have gone beyond the simple sense of the words, but according to all views the underlying intentions remain the same.
Aside from showing Elijah's greatness, the description of Elijah's ascent to heaven also points out the fault that lay in his zeal in this world. In the beginning of his career he brought down fire from heaven to slaughter the prophets of Ba'al. At the end of his career he brought down fire from heaven and burned the captains of fifty and their men who had been sent to him by the king, even though they had committed no sin deserving death (II Kings 1:10-12).
Thus Elijah's end was measure for measure: for his zeal which burned like fire, bringing down fire from heaven and consuming his opponents in fire, he had to depart this world and ascend to heaven in a fiery chariot drawn by fiery horses.
Who knows? Maybe all our deaths are meant to be measure for measure... cleansing the soul...
Check out the photos in my Pics folder / Mt Meron [I haven't figured out how to add them to my journal entry yet.]. They were taken on Mt Meron, at a site reputed to be the spot where Elijah rode the chariot.
You went to Karnak..I would love to visit it. Its on my list of places to see in my life. I want to go to Easter Island as well.
Interesting observation in regards to Elijah btw.