Eje conservación de recursos naturales

Elijah’s Cave: School of the Prophet, 230 Allenby Rd, Haifa, Israel

Many important events in the life of the Prophet Elijah (9th century BC) are said to have hap- pened in this revered cave: he lived and meditated here before defeating the pagan prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel; he hid here when fleeing the wrath of King Ahab and his wife, Jezebel; and Elijah established his school here upon his return from exile. The cave is sacred to Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Druze, all of whom venerate the prophet Elijah. There was a mosque here until 1948. Tradition also has it that the Holy Family (Mary, Joseph and Jesus) found shel- ter in this cave for a night on their return from Egypt. ‘And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from {a} Gilgal. (2 Kings, 2: 1). The term has been shortened, and should rather be called the School of the Sons

of the Prophets. ‘Son‘ being an analogue for ‘student‘.

“The prophetic order is generally regarded as founded on Deut. 18:15,18. The order itself, however, did not exist until the time of Samuel … He is the last of the climax of the Judges, the end of an old order … the watershed or borderland between theocracy and monarchy. … During his life we

find the existence of collections of schools of ‘sons of the prophets‘. These are attributed to Samuel as founder and form the beginning of a ‘prophetc order‘, whose continuum can be traced … and

“That there were institutions of this character appears clear, but the question is, were they of divine or human origin! We have no scriptural authority for believing them to be of God, but that these men of God, Samuel, Elijah, and Elisha, should have gladly given themselves to the instruction of the young committed to their charge, teaching them those things which God had revealed to them, and bringing them up to reverence God in all His institutions, is by no means improbable. God was now with the prophet and not with the priest, and therefore real godliness could only be secured through the prophet. It appears also that these young men were used by the

prophets, who were raised up by the special energy of the Spirit of God, on any service or errand they might be pleased to send them. Thus we read, “Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said unto him, Gird up thy loins and take this box of oil in thine hand and go to Ramoth-Gilead: and when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in and make him arise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber; then take the box of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus saith the Lord, I have

anointed thee king over Israel. Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not. So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramoth-Gilead” (2 Kings 9: 1-4). There can be little doubt that young men so educated would by degrees have a character attached to them, not ac- cording to the actual energy of the Spirit of God in them, but according to the education they had

received. And although God from among them might raise up instruments fitted to be employed in His service, yet that is not the thing which would have been regarded so much as their offi- cial training. And the influence which they had with the people would not have been that which

flowed directly from God, but from that which men had instituted, to perpetuate a class among them, which might be useful to them as expositors of the mind of God. This has been one way of

man’s waywardness — to seek to secure God’s blessings by his own wisdom and prudence.”

- The Schools of the Prophets, William Kelly, Stem Publishing, 1978, p 2

Matthew Henry‘s Concise Commentary:

The Lord had let Elijah know that his time was at hand. He therefore went to the different schools of the prophets to give them his last exhortations and blessing.

Easton‘s Bible Dictionary:

Samuel exercised the functions of judge, going “from year to year in circuit” from his home in Ramah to Bethel, thence to Gilgal (not that in the Jordan valley, but that which lay to the west of Ebal and Gerizim), and returning by Mizpeh to Ramah. He established regular services at Shiloh,

where he built an altar; and at Ramah he gathered a company of young men around him and established a school of the prophets. The schools of the prophets, thus originated, and afterwards

established also at Gibeah, Bethel, Gilgal, and Jericho, exercised an important influence on the national character and history of the people in maintaining pure religion in the midst of growing

Bearing the above references in mind, as well as the etymology of the term ‘Barnabas‘, it is reasonable to suggest, as some scholars do, that some of the Essene sects were a continuation

of this tradition, and that this tradition was renewed and transferred by Prophet Isa to the Ebionite Church under James the Just in anticipation of Mohammad‘s advent, as chronicled in the GoB and as referred to by the term ’True Pharisees‘. Thus it would appear that some of the Prophet‘s Companions (PBUT) may also be counted among this continuum of True Pharisees or ‘Seekers of God‘, and that the core GoB represents sacred literature as a link between them and the disciples of Isa who embraced Islam during the Advent of Mohammad. – Omar Zaid

Appendix VII -