Fire of Elijah?

Andrew Sibley is of the opinion that the fire in Israel’s Carmel region was significant. Could it be the “fire of Elijah”, he asks on my blog “The Israel Inferno” (Sunday).

What exactly does Andrew mean by the “fire of Elijah”? Presumably he is referring to the fire Elijah was able to call down from heaven to demonstrate to an apostate Israel that Yahweh was God, and Baal wasn’t. Elijah also called down fire from heaven to consume several of the king’s men when they were sent to arrest him.

Andrew wants to know my thoughts. Well here they are:

First, no one called down this fire from heaven; it was apparently the result of two Druze brothers leaving burning rubbish unattended.

Secondly, Elijah’s fire vindicated him as a prophet of Yahweh and everyone who observed the fire come down knew it was a supernatural vindication of the prophet.

Thirdly, the fire on Carmel came as the result of a showdown between the prophets of Baal and Elijah. This latest fire on Carmel was the result of an accident (forgive me if my theology sounds a little flaky there; I hope you know what I mean).

Fourthly, if I understand Andrew’s book Zion’s New Name properly (see my blog "Replacement Theology's New Name", Monday 11 January 2010), he believes the modern state of Israel no longer stands in a covenant relationship with Yahweh. Israel’s astonishing transformation of the land from desert and swamp to fertile arable land apparently means nothing; Israel’s remarkable technical achievements have no significance; the benefits bestowed on the rest of the world in the areas of agriculture, technology and medicine are too insignificant to mention. However, when a fire breaks out in an area of outstanding natural beauty, killing 42 people, that has significance. And biblical significance to boot!

Perhaps I am reading far more into Andrew’s brief comment than I ought and am judging him a little harshly, in which case I am open to correction.

For a very interesting and bizarre revelation on the "fire of Elijah", visit Joseph Weissman's latest blog at Harry's Place.

The Israel Inferno

I have just returned from Israel where the worst fire in Israel’s history had destroyed 12,000 acres of forest, just under half of the entire Carmel forest reserve. As I write, the fire is still blazing but it is hoped that Israeli fire fighters will put out the blaze tonight. According to the Jewish National Fund it will take decades to rehabilitate the area.

Aid has come from the USA, Spain, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Egypt and Australia, and even the Palestinian Authority sent a token detachment of three fire engines to help put out the inferno.

The fire has claimed the lives of 42 people, including 36 prison guards whose bus was en route to a local prison that was being threatened by the fire and needed to be evacuated.

An editorial in Palestine Today stated: “We have to tell you how happy our Palestinian people are at the killing 40 Zionist wardens burned to death,” referring to the Israeli prison guards who were burned to death while trying to reach a prison that was under threat from the flames.

The editorial continued: “Many lessons will be learned from this ‘divine fire’, and the lesson that is most prominent is that the demise of this [Zionist] entity is just a matter of time.”

A survey of Arab media outlets by Jerusalem Post journalist Khaled Abu Toameh revealed that in surrounding Muslim countries the fire was seen as Allah’s judgment on Israel. Readers of those media outlets urged Allah to continue and intensify this punishment, and encouraged Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas to take advantage of the situation and attack Israel.

A typical comment was: “Thank Allah for this new Holocaust. Thank God for burning the Jews the same way they burned our Muslim brothers in Palestine [sic].”

Another urged Hizbullah, Hamas and all Arabs to see the fire as a “golden opportunity to get rid of Israel. The sea and fire are in front of the Jews and weapons are behind them.”

Another praised Allah for the fire, calling on his Palestinian brothers to set fire to all forests in Israel.

Commentators on the Arabic web forum Muslm.net (not a typo) posted photographs of Israelis burned to death in the fire with captions reading “Allah is Great!” and hailing the disastrous wildfire as a gift from Allah.

Nevertheless, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad phoned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to offer his personal condolences. Fayyad also sent three Palestinian fire engines to fight the fire.

Sadly, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, one of Israel’s most senior religious figures, called the fire a divine visitation on the nation for not observing Shabbat.