A
PLACE OF REFUGE
 The
theme of the desert abounds in prophetic literature. Eliyahu, who
is generally considered to be one of the first prophets, takes refuge
there to escape the threats of Jezebel, the Phoenician wife of the
Israelite king, Ahab, after having humiliated the pagan priests on
the Carmel:
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The refuge in the desert |
Faced
with this threat, he fled to save his life. He arrived
in Beersheva in Judea where he left his servant. He went
on a day long journey into the desert and came and sat
down under a broom tree and requested that he may die
saying: “Enough now! Oh God, take my life for I am no
better than my fathers.” He lay down and slept under a
broom tree. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to
him: “Arise and eat.” He looked and behold, there was
a cake baked on coals and a jug of water by his head.
He ate and drank and then lay down again. And for the
second time, the angel of the Eternal touched him and
said to him: “Arise and eat. For you have a long journey
ahead of you.” He rose, ate and drank. Strengthened by
that meal, he walked for forty days and forty nights to
Horev, the mountain of God.
1
King 19: 3 – 8
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Rabbis
and researchers will question at length the nature of the broom shrub
– rotem in Hebrew – unde r
which the prophet lay down and upon whose coals he prepared his cake.
The best candidate would be a shrubby tree measuring about 2 meters
that grows in wadi beds. Its grayish branches, which are bare during
most of the year, are covered with small, thin branches at the end
of the rain season. When it sways in the wind, it reflects light in
such a way that it is possible to spot a rotem from a distance. From
February to March, it is covered with fragrant, yellow flowers. During
the dry season, it looses its small branches that burn easily. Their
embers, which burn out slowly, inspired the Psalmist:
| The
burning embers |
Oh
Lord, deliver my soul from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.
What will it give you and of what benefit is it to you false
tongue, like arrows of the warriors, sharpened by the embers
of the broom tree?
Psalms 120: 2 – 4
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These embers
also inspire commentaries by the rabbis:
| The
inextinguishable embers |
“The sharp arrows of the warriors”:
Why of all the weapons, specifically arrows?
- Unlike the other weapons, which are used up close, the
arrow is used from afar in the manner of evil tongues: what
is said in Rome kills in Syria. Furthermore, this is not
a question of just any coal, but the charcoal that comes
from the broom tree. For unlike the other types of coal
that stop burning in the interior when they are extinguished,
that of the broom tree continues to burn on the inside even
if it stops burning on the exterior. It is the same for
the victims of calumny; even when you think that you have
calmed them and they show signs of reconciliation, they
continue to burn internally. The charcoal that comes from
the white broom tree consumes itself during eighteen months
throughout the winter, the summer and then again, the winter.
Genesis Rabba 95: 19
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Furthermore,
the prophet, Eliyahu, perceives the voice of God in the strange silence
that reigns in the desert:
| A
sweet whisper |
He [God] said: “Go
out, stand on the mountain to wait for the Eternal!” Behold,
the Eternal passed by and a great and strong wind shattered
the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Eternal;
but the Eternal was not in the wind. And after the wind,
an earthquake, but the Eternal was not in the earthquake.
And after the earthquake, a fire, but the Eternal was not
in the fire. And after the fire, a quiet, small voice; and
when Eliyahu heard it, he covered his face and went to stand
at the entrance of the cave…
1 Kings
19: 11 – 13
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