Elijah: The Still, Small Voice

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Previously on The Chosen People. 00:00:03 Speaker 2: Gather the people. Every tribe, every elder, every priest. Meet me on Mount Carmel. 00:00:11 Speaker 1: Bring your... your prophets of Baal. 00:00:15 Speaker 2: All 450 of them. 00:00:17 Speaker 3: We'll settle this right here, right now. 00:00:22 Speaker 1: Ah, competition. The mountain was packed. Thousands had gathered. pressing against the rocky slopes, lining the ridges, standing shoulder to shoulder. Answer me, Yahweh! 00:00:38 Speaker 4: Show them! 00:00:39 Speaker 1: Wake them! 00:00:40 Speaker 2: Drop them to their knees! 00:00:42 Speaker 5: Let them see with. 00:00:43 Speaker 6: Their own eyes! 00:00:45 Speaker 7: Let them know, without a doubt, that you alone are God! 00:00:53 Speaker 1: The sky ripped open. The heavens roared. Fire erupted, crashing down, blinding, consuming. In an instant, the flames consumed everything. Seize them! 00:01:07 Speaker 7: For too long they perverted our minds with witchcraft. 00:01:11 Speaker 6: No longer! 00:01:12 Speaker 1: Not one escapes! The crowd moved as one. Baal's prophets tried to run. They were tackled, dragged, and beaten, screaming. to the river, to judgment. One by one, they fell. The water ran red. Jezebel stood by the window, watching the storm from below. 00:01:37 Speaker 8: So, the prophet of fire thinks he can toy with my kingdom? Mark my words, husband. By this time tomorrow, Elijah will be dead. 00:01:58 Speaker 1: The morning after Mount Carmel was quiet, the hills stretched golden under the first breath of sunlight, soft and untroubled. Somewhere in the distance, birds chattered, indifferent to the struggles of men and kings. Elijah sat outside his home, cross-legged, his fingers curled around a simple clay cup of watered wine. He drank slowly, savouring the way the warmth settled in his chest. This was a moment of peace, calm, long overdue. For the first time in years, the tension in his body had begun to uncoil. He exhaled, stretching out his legs, letting the morning sink into him. He had spent too long fighting, running, carrying the weight of a prophet's call like a stone pressed into his ribs. But now, maybe, just maybe, he could allow himself to believe it had all meant something. The fire had fallen, the heavens opened, rain had come, and the people collapsed in worship to Yahweh. Even Ahab, that spineless fool, had been shaken. Maybe the war was over. Maybe Israel would finally return. Maybe Jezebel's grip had begun to slip. Elijah smirked, raising his cup slightly, as if toasting the dawn. Well, Lord, that was quite the spectacle, wasn't it? You've got their attention now. 00:03:46 Speaker 3: I may be wrong, but it seems like perhaps you were enjoying yourself. 00:03:52 Speaker 1: I know I was. Elijah lifted the cup to his lips, but the quiet was interrupted by the sound of running. A shadow stumbled into view, a messenger. The boy skidded to a stop in front of Elijah, clutching his knees, gulping down air in sharp, ragged gasps. Elijah, a message from the palace. Elijah barely glanced up, still swirling the wine in his cup. Let me hear some. Ahab sending his apologies? 00:04:27 Speaker 2: Or perhaps a summons, now that he's found his spine? 00:04:31 Speaker 1: The boy didn't answer. His face was too pale, too drawn, eyes wide with something deeper than exhaustion. He swallowed, then reached into his robe, pulling out a tightly wound scroll and thrusting it toward Elijah with unsteady hands. Elijah took it without urgency, still half convinced this was the formal letter of surrender he had been waiting for. But when his fingers curled around the parchment, he hesitated. It was rough, not the usual soft scrolls of the palace scribes. This was cruder, thicker, like something torn from old skin rather than woven from reeds, and it was stained. dark red. Elijah's pulse slowed and his contented smirk faded. He unrolled it. The letters were harsh, jagged, carved more than written, as though the hand that had scrawled them had been trembling, not with fear, but with rage. Elijah's eyes traced the. 00:05:42 Speaker 8: Words, Elijah of Tishbe, know this. By this time tomorrow, your blood will. 00:05:50 Speaker 1: Stain the earth. 00:05:52 Speaker 8: Your bones will lie unburied. 00:05:54 Speaker 6: Your flesh will be torn by the same vultures that feasted on my priests. The sun will set on your corpse, and when it does, I will smile. You will not die a hero. You will not die a martyr. You will die as a man abandoned, screaming for a god who will not answer, and only the rats will mourn you. 00:06:25 Speaker 8: When you take your last. 00:06:27 Speaker 6: Breath, know this. Your name will be Ash, and your god will be forgotten. 00:06:36 Speaker 1: Elijah's breath hitched. The parchment trembled in his grip. The ink. Why is it. 00:06:46 Speaker 1: The boy swallowed. His voice, when it came, was barely more than a whisper. The messenger's hands clenched into fists. His voice trembled. Elijah went white. His stomach lurched, his legs felt suddenly hollow beneath him. His fingers slackened and the parchment drifted to the ground, curling slightly at the edges like something still alive. He didn't think, didn't speak, didn't breathe. He just ran. The hills blurred past him, his body moving on something beyond instinct, beyond thought, something primal and urgent and stupid. Because running was useless, wasn't it? He could run across the whole world and still wake up with her voice echoing in his ears. He could cross the sea and hide in the cliffs of Tyre, and still Jezebel would reach him. The fire of Carmel hadn't moved her to repentance. It had only stirred her to anger. Fools! The people saw the. 00:08:05 Speaker 3: Fire, they saw the storm, they saw it all, and yet they still bow to Jezebel? What is wrong with these people? 00:08:13 Speaker 1: His breath came in ragged bursts, his ribs aching with every step, his mind an unspooling tangle of rage and confusion and something else, something deeper, something darker. Ahab had been a fool from the beginning, but he was weak. Jezebel was something else. She did not hesitate, she did not kneel, she did not fear. And the worst part... was that maybe she was right. Maybe this was what the world really was. Maybe Yahweh could burn altars and split seas and cool down plagues, and people would still do what people always did. What did Moses say? 00:09:02 Speaker 7: These people are stiff-necked, as the word stiff-necked, proud, blind. They have seen, they have seen everything, and they still do not believe anything. 00:09:12 Speaker 1: The Lord had warned them again and again through Moses, through the judges, through David, through Elijah himself. He had shown them, yet still they rebelled. Idiots! 00:09:27 Speaker 7: You claim Yahweh with its convenience. The second Jezebel speaks, you. 00:09:31 Speaker 4: Go back to your filth, back to your Asherah balls, back to your Baal feasts, your orgies, your mindless, spineless, cowardly excuses for worship. How many times must the Lord prove. 00:09:45 Speaker 3: Himself to you? 00:09:46 Speaker 1: His legs faltered. His knees hit the dirt. His lungs burned. His arms shook. A single, lonely broom tree barely cast enough shade to soften the heat. But he crawled under it, burying his face in his hands, shouting now, wild, raw, furious. Enough! 00:10:08 Speaker 7: I can't do this anymore! 00:10:10 Speaker 2: Do you hear me, Lord? 00:10:12 Speaker 7: I can't do this! 00:10:13 Speaker 1: His voice cracked, but he didn't stop. He wouldn't stop. Not until he had said it all. 00:10:21 Speaker 7: This is what you wanted, isn't it? This is why you called me? To waste my life on these people who don't care? 00:10:29 Speaker 4: To watch them bend their knees one day and break their vows the next? 00:10:34 Speaker 7: Was Moses wasting his time too? Was Joshua for all of us? 00:10:40 Speaker 1: Did you know? 00:10:42 Speaker 7: When you split the sea, that they would still chase after every false god they could carve with their filthy little hands. 00:10:50 Speaker 1: The wind hissed over the sand, carrying his words nowhere. Elijah's chest heaved in anger. He was wrong, of course. Obadiah and many others had remained faithful, but Elijah, in his grief, felt completely alone. He let himself collapse, dust and sweat streaking his face. Silence. And then, a hand reached out and touched his shoulder. Warm, solid, reassuring. That's a bit dramatic, don't you think? Elijah flinched so hard he nearly threw himself sideways. A man was kneeling next to him. No, not just a man. He was young or old, a stranger yet familiar. His robes were plain. His face was knowing, amused, affectionate. The smirk at the edge of his mouth made something in Elijah's already frayed mind snap. Who are you? The man gestured lazily to a rock beside them. There was bread, fresh bread. 00:12:08 Speaker 4: Warm. 00:12:09 Speaker 1: Next to it, a jug of water. Eat. 00:12:12 Speaker 5: Drink. 00:12:14 Speaker 1: A little food would do you well. Elijah just stared. Go on. 00:12:20 Speaker 10: You'll need your strength for all the flailing and whining you plan on doing later. 00:12:25 Speaker 1: Elijah's mouth opened. Nothing came out. His mind was still reeling, still caught between his grief and his rage. He hesitated. He hesitated. 00:12:36 Speaker 5: What? 00:12:37 Speaker 1: You think I poisoned it? 00:12:39 Speaker 10: Do you always act like this when someone gives you food? 00:12:42 Speaker 1: I sent the crows in. You seem to get along with them just fine. Elijah scowled, reaching for the bread without thinking. It was soft. He ate. The warmth filled his stomach, slow and steady. The first real thing he had felt in days. He drank. 00:13:03 Speaker 9: Oh! 00:13:04 Speaker 1: It was pleasant if only for a moment. The man watched him, grinning like he had been waiting for this exact moment. Better? 00:13:16 Speaker 5: Maybe. 00:13:17 Speaker 10: Good. 00:13:18 Speaker 1: Now sleep. You've got a long journey ahead of you. For forty days and forty nights, Elijah had wandered through the wilderness, driven by hunger, fear, and something deeper, nameless, gnawing, pulling him forward. Mount Horeb loomed before him, dark against the endless sky. The air here was different, thicker, heavy with the weight of things too ancient to name. This was no mere mountain. It was a graveyard of past revelations. This was where Moses had stood, where the Lord had split the heavens in thunder and glory. This was where the law had been carved into stone. Elijah approached a large cave carved by the wind somewhere between the base and its peak. He stepped inside, sat and waited. Suddenly, in the stillness, A voice came. 00:14:28 Speaker 5: What are you doing here, Elijah? 00:14:31 Speaker 1: Elijah exhaled sharply, his whole body tensed. The voice had been neither harsh nor condemning, just a question, simple and direct. But something in it unraveled him. 00:14:46 Speaker 7: Why would you ask that? 00:14:49 Speaker 1: I thought you knew everything. A flicker of shame curled in his chest. Had he just spoken to the Lord like that? He bit the inside of his cheek, glancing down, his hands loosening for half a breath. Irreverence burned on his tongue, bitter, unworthy. But then he recalled all he had been through. His voice wavered, then rose, hot, furious, undone. My God, I have. 00:15:20 Speaker 7: Been very zealous for you. 00:15:22 Speaker 1: I fought for you. 00:15:24 Speaker 7: Stood alone for you. 00:15:26 Speaker 1: And what has it gotten me? 00:15:28 Speaker 7: Israel has forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, murdered your prophets. 00:15:34 Speaker 1: I am the last one left. 00:15:36 Speaker 3: And now they want me dead too. 00:15:39 Speaker 2: You're asking me what I'm doing here? 00:15:42 Speaker 5: Lord, what are. 00:15:44 Speaker 1: You doing here? The words left his mouth before he could stop them. His voice cracked, his chest heaved. Elijah waited, wondering if this was the moment he would die. But his words were met with silence. Not fire, not brimstone, just silence. Elijah's heart pounded against his ribs. His breath was sharp and steady. He braced himself. Suddenly... The Lord spoke. 00:16:16 Speaker 5: Go out and stand on the mountain before me. I have something I wish for you to see. 00:16:25 Speaker 1: Elijah's breath hitched, his pulse stammered. He knew what this meant. He had read of Moses, of Sinai. He had read of the cloud and the fire and the trembling of the earth when the presence of the Almighty moved. He had read of how even the great prophet had been forced to turn away, shielded in the cleft of the rock because to see Yahweh was to die. His feet moved forward, slow, deliberate. He did not cower. He did not shield his face. Let it come. Let the wind split the sky, let the fire consume him, let the ground crack beneath his feet. Let Yahweh take him. He stepped forward. The wind came first. It howled down the mountainside, a living thing, a force with teeth. It roared past him, tearing into the rock, ripping it apart. Stones cracked and shattered, debris flying in every direction. It screamed with a sound that did not belong to the earth, a sound that felt like it was ripping the world apart. Elijah staggered back, hands raised to shield his face, his heart pounding wildly. His breath hitched, his whole body was tense. This is how Moses saw him. The wind shrieked. It raged. It broke the mountain. And then, silence. And Yahweh was not there. Elijah's stomach twisted. His hands dropped slowly. He swallowed hard. He barely had time to process the disappointment before the earthquake came. The ground beneath him lurched, cracked and split. The whole mountain shook, the rocks beneath his feet rolling. He had to brace himself against the wall of the cave, his legs buckling, his breath stolen from him. Yes, yes, this is it, the fire. The quake rumbled, roared, and then it stopped. The dust settled. The mountain stood still. And Yahweh was not there. Elijah let out a sharp breath, his chest tight. He clenched his jaw. 00:19:19 Speaker 9: Wasn't it always like this? The sea split, the cloud of fire, the mountain in flames. 00:19:30 Speaker 1: Mortals need a spectacle to have faith, right? 00:19:34 Speaker 2: Without it, they run back to their idols like dogs to filth. 00:19:40 Speaker 1: Where are you? And then the fire came. It rose before him, searing, blinding, and pure. It licked at the air, twisting, raging. It was a consuming force. The heat alone should have killed him. 00:19:58 Speaker 10: Yes, yes, Lord. 00:20:01 Speaker 1: Here you are, I knew it. Thank me, Lord, I'm ready. And then the fire faded away. Yahweh was not there, and something inside Elijah broke. His fists clenched, his throat tightened, his heart hammered, but it wasn't in awe anymore. It was rage. Where are you? 00:20:27 Speaker 2: Where is your voice? 00:20:29 Speaker 4: I've seen you set fire. 00:20:31 Speaker 3: I've seen you stop the rain. 00:20:33 Speaker 7: I've seen you strike down the prophets of Baal and split the waters before Moses. 00:20:38 Speaker 2: Where are you? 00:20:41 Speaker 1: There was a long stretch of silence. Then, suddenly, there was a breath, a hush, a whisper. A still, small voice. 00:21:00 Speaker 5: Elijah. 00:21:02 Speaker 1: Elijah froze when the Lord said his name. It wasn't booming. It wasn't thundering. It wasn't consuming. But it was near. And in the stillness, in the quiet, in the absence of fury and spectacle... Elijah felt something he had not felt since he was a little boy. He felt the tenderness of God. He didn't feel like the renowned prophet of fire. He felt like a child, wrapped in his father's embrace, being hushed to calm after a tantrum. Elijah's whole body, taut with anxiety and rage, began to loosen. His knees hit the earth, and then, in the silence, he felt it. His calloused heart began to soften. Tears stung the corners of Elijah's eyes. 00:22:07 Speaker 5: You are not alone, Elijah. You never have been. 00:22:13 Speaker 1: Elijah thought about the ravens, the stream, the fire, and the widow's son. Of course, he'd never been alone. Elijah just pressed his forehead to the dirt and listened. 00:22:29 Speaker 5: Your mission is not over. Go, anoint Hazael as king over Aram. Anoint Jehu, son of Nimshi, king over Israel. He will be my hand against the house of Ai. 00:22:55 Speaker 1: The prophecy of judgment sent a flicker of something electric through Elijah's exhausted mind. Ahab, Jezebel, their stolen vineyard, their slaughtered prophets, their golden idols gleaming in the filth of Samaria. Elijah's breath hitched. He had thought it was over. thought he would die in a cave, bitter and forgotten. But here God was, giving him hope that good could actually triumph over evil. 00:23:31 Speaker 5: Elisha, son of Shafrat, shall be a prophet in your place. 00:23:38 Speaker 1: So, you aren't done burning things down yet? Not yet. Elijah wiped his face. He stood. He turned toward the path ahead, and he walked. Elisha had always known the land. His father's fields stretched wide, their furrows deep, the soil dark and rich beneath his hands. It was a good life. a steady life, the kind of life most men dreamed of, with its quiet certainties, oxen in their yoke, the slow rhythm of ploughing, the knowledge that seasons turned as they always had, as they always would. He had spent his youth with his hands in the dirt and his mind in the scrolls, learning the laws of Moses by lamplight, whispering the Psalms under his breath, while the oxen pulled forward. But the truth, the truth he had never said aloud, was that the steady life had never quite fit him. The land was good, the work was good, but some restless thing inside him had never stopped looking toward the horizon. He had read of Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, and David, of the men who went astray. He had wondered what it would be like to be called, to leave, to follow, to live a life where God's voice was not a story in the past, but a presence in the present. The plow dug into the soil, the wooden yoke creaking under the strength of the twelve-yoked oxen. Elisha squinted against the sun, dust curling in the dry wind. Another day, another field. Then, suddenly, he saw a tall, wild-haired figure walking straight toward him from the horizon. Elisha blinked. The man did not slow, did not stop, did not announce himself. He just walked right up to Elisha without a word and unceremoniously threw a cloak onto him. It landed across his shoulders like a verdict. Elisha stared at it, then at the man. Hello there. May I help you? The man, if he could even be called that, stared back at Elisha with eyes of fire. There was something unearthly about him, something almost elemental. The man tilted his head slightly. His beard was thick, his eyes sharp, his robes dust-stained and travel-worn. No. No, I think it is you who will be helping me. Ah, of course. Naturally. 00:26:51 Speaker 10: A mysterious wild-eyed man throws a cloak over me and now I'm his assistant? 00:27:01 Speaker 2: Apprentice, disciple, prophet in training, herald of the Empire's doom. 00:27:07 Speaker 1: Take your pick. Elisha ran a hand down the fabric draped over him. It was rough woven, heavy. There was something ancient about it. Something that carried weight beyond its threads. A thought flickered in his mind, sharp and sudden. This was the mantle of a prophet. His chest tightened, his breath came short, and then it clicked. The wild eyes, the sun-beaten face, the dust-caked robes, the eyes of fire. He knew who this was. Elijah? The name landed like a stone in his gut. This was Elijah the Tishbite. Elijah, the prophet of fire. Elijah, the slayer of Baal's priests. Elijah, who called down flames from the heavens and rain from an empty sky. Elijah, whom Ahab feared, whom Jezebel hated, whom Yahweh had chosen. Elisha straightened beneath the weight of the mantle the weight of the moment. He swallowed hard, steadying himself. Let me ask you this, Elisha. 00:28:27 Speaker 3: Does your blood not boil to see how Ahab ravages this land? How Jezebel paints her face and plays queen while Israel falls into ruin? 00:28:39 Speaker 1: Elisha exhaled slowly, his expression unreadable. then tilted his head as if considering something. 00:28:48 Speaker 10: I imagine it takes her longer to get ready in the morning than it does for Ahab to lose a battle. 00:28:53 Speaker 1: Elijah blinked, then grinned a wild grin. I like you. So, are you in? Elisha only nodded, adjusting the cloak around his shoulders. 00:29:08 Speaker 10: I wouldn't miss it for the world. I only ask, let me go kiss my father and mother goodbye. 00:29:14 Speaker 1: Then, I will follow you. Elijah shrugged, the smirk still lingering at the corner of his mouth. Sure, go ahead. 00:29:22 Speaker 2: Kiss whoever you want. What have I done to you? 00:29:26 Speaker 10: That remains to be seen. 00:29:28 Speaker 1: No, you're quick. This will be fun. Elisha had spent his whole life behind the plow. It was his father's before him and his father's before that. It was stability. It was tradition. It was the kind of thing that men were supposed to hold on to. Elisha burned it. He slaughtered the oxen, broke apart the plow and lit it all ablaze. The fire roared, snapping at the air, the scent of roasting meat rising with the smoke. The entire village gathered, the smell too inviting to ignore. They ate, they feasted, they watched as Elisha, son of Shaphat, walked away from his family's fields forever. Because there was no going back. Because Elisha knew when Yahweh called, you do not hesitate. Because a prophet's life was not a life of safety or comfort or return. It was a life of fire. And Elisha was ready. As Elisha and his new master walked away from the smoking fields, silence stretched between them. A good silence, the kind that meant something had shifted. A new hope was dawning in Israel. Yahweh was on the move. Elisha pulled the mantle tighter around his shoulders and turned to his master with a grin. 00:31:10 Speaker 10: Elijah and Elisha. Well, I'm sure that won't get confusing at all. 00:31:17 Speaker 1: Oh, good. 00:31:19 Speaker 2: You've got some wit in you. 00:31:21 Speaker 1: In this line of work, you'll need it. This Pray.com production is only made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents. Steve Katina, Max Bard, Zach Schellewager and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of The Chosen People, narrated by Paul Colter-Fianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwald, Sylvia Zaradok, Thomas Copeland Jr., Rosanna Pilcher, and Mitch Lashinsky. Music by Andrew Morgan Smith. written by Aaron Salvato, Brie Rosely, and Chris Baig. You can hear more Prey.com productions on the Prey.com app, available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. If you enjoyed The Chosen People, please rate and leave a review.