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332 came back into him, and he revived." "And the woman said unto Elijah: Now by this I know that thou art a Man of God, and that the word of Yahweh in thy mouth is truth." As time went on, Jezebel had no less than 450 "prophets of Ba'al" assembled in her palace, with Elijah alone re- maining a "prophet of Yahweh." Told by Elijah to arrange a final showdown, the king assembled the people and the prophets of Ba'al on Mount Carmel. Two bullocks were brought and prepared for sacrifice on two altars, but no fire was lit on the altars: Each side was to cry out and pray to their god for a fire to strike the altar from the heavens. The whole day went by without anything happening on the altar to Ba'al; but when it was the turn of Elijah to seek divine intervention, "a fire from Yahweh fell down and consumed the sacrifice" and the altar itself. "And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said: Yahweh is the Elohim!" And Elijah told them to kill all the prophets of Ba'al, letting not one escape. When the news reached Jezebel, she ordered Elijah killed; but he escaped southward, toward the wilderness of Sinai. Hungry and thirsty he lay exhausted, ready to die; it was then that the Angel of Yahweh miraculously provided him with food and water and showed him the way to a cave on Mount Sinai, the "Mount of the Elohim." There the Lord, speaking to him out of the stillness, instructed him to go back north and anoint a new king in Damascus, the Aramean capi- tal, and a new king over Israel; and to "anoint Elisha son of Shaphat to be a prophet after thee." This was more than a hint of things to come—the involve- ment of the Prophets of Yahweh in affairs of state—pre- dicting the downfall of kings and anointing their successors; and not only in Israel or Judaea, but also in foreign capitals! Several more times the prophetic activity of Elijah is stated to have taken place after the "Angel of Yahweh" had given him instructions, and it appears that this was the manner in which Yahweh's word was communicated to him. Untold by the Bible, though, is the manner by which Elijah was given his most memorable (and final) instructions for his ascent to heaven in a fiery chariot. The event, the likes of which harken back to the times of Enmeduranki, Adapa, and Enoch, is DIVINE ENCOUNTERS