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[[Elijah]] ([[Hebrew]], "[[YHWH]] is [[God]]") (fl. 918-896 BC according to [[James Ussher|Ussher]], or 874-852 BC as may be inferred from [[Edwin R. Thiele|Thiele]]) is the best-known and probably the greatest [[prophet]] of [[God]] of the [[Old Testament]] era--and certainly the greatest prophet of the era of the Divided Kingdoms [[Northern Kingdom|Northern]] and [[Southern Kingdom|Southern]]. Ironically, he holds this distinction even though he does not have a book of the [[Bible]] to his name. He is a by-word for courage-under-fire and for willingness to challenge the established order. His record is by no means perfect, but even the one episode of failure-of-nerve is an instructive example.

[[Elijah]] ([[Hebrew]], "[[YHWH]] is [[God]]") (fl. 918-896 BC according to [[James Ussher|Ussher]], or 874-852 BC as may be inferred from [[Edwin R. Thiele|Thiele]]) is the best-known and probably the greatest [[prophet]] of [[God]] of the [[Old Testament]] era--and certainly the greatest prophet of the era of the Divided Kingdoms [[Northern Kingdom|Northern]] and [[Southern Kingdom|Southern]]. Ironically, he holds this distinction even though he does not have a book of the [[Bible]] to his name. He is a by-word for courage-under-fire and for willingness to challenge the established order. His record is by no means perfect, but even the one episode of failure-of-nerve is an instructive example. He was also known to be very sensitive about his receding hairline. In 4 Kings 2:23-24 he prays to have 42 kids mauled by bears for making fun of his hairline.  

Elijah holds another distinction, of being the only man who ever lived (aside from [[Enoch]]) to enter into the next life without directly tasting death. Prophecy holds that he will return by a specific gate of the [[Temple of Jerusalem]]. The contemporaries of [[John the Baptist]] once asked him whether he himself was Elijah (he denied this). Students of [[eschatology]], or at least those who hold to a [[Futurism|futuristic]] interpretation of end-times prophecies, hold that Elijah will return again to this world, in the company of [[Moses]] (or [[Enoch]]), to give a pivotal testimony in [[Jerusalem]].

Elijah holds another distinction, of being the only man who ever lived (aside from [[Enoch]]) to enter into the next life without directly tasting death. Prophecy holds that he will return by a specific gate of the [[Temple of Jerusalem]]. The contemporaries of [[John the Baptist]] once asked him whether he himself was Elijah (he denied this). Students of [[eschatology]], or at least those who hold to a [[Futurism|futuristic]] interpretation of end-times prophecies, hold that Elijah will return again to this world, in the company of [[Moses]] (or [[Enoch]]), to give a pivotal testimony in [[Jerusalem]].