Haftarah Ki Tisa Part Eight

“Elijah said to the people, “I have remained a prophet of God by myself, but the profits of the Baal or 450 men.” We asked why Elijah claims to be the only prophet remaining to God. We also asked why Elijah seems to ignore the prophets of theAsheirah he had insisted be invited.

Elijah did not invite the prophets of the Asheirah a because he wanted to confront them. He invited the extra prophets because he wanted to call notice to the fact that all these prophets ate at the table of the Queen. They were supported by Jezebel. They were not prophets devoted to one god or another, they were simply lackeys of the Queen. This then, is what he means when he says, “I have remained a prophet of God by myself,” as if to say I am a prophet of the God, actually his words are “to God”; he devotes himself to God. The prophets of the Baal are no different from the profits of the Asheirah, they simply work at the Queens whim.

No wonder Jezebel did not attend; Elijah wanted to make her the subject of the confrontation.