Israel's Cycle of Sin and Elijah Rebuked at Horeb

By these measures the Holy One, blessed be He, rejoices over one who does good and is angry over one who does evil. And whence do you know that this is so? Go and learn from the way of the world: for a man, until he has married a wife and until he has had children, his mind is content with him, he has no grief or sighing in his heart, and he has tranquility in his house; but after he has married a wife and has children, his mind is not content with him, he has grief and sighing in his heart, and he has no tranquility in his house, because his children provoke him with their ways and their deeds and their evil doings. So too people acted before the Holy One, blessed be He, rebelling against His sight; for until the Holy One, blessed be He, created man upon the earth, His mind was content, as it were; but after He created people, they provoked the Holy One, blessed be He, with their evil doings and their evil ways, with children who shortened their father's mind by their ways and their evil doings; then He brought, as it were, grief and sighing into His heart, and He had no tranquility in all the world. Know that this is so: for three hundred years Israel worshiped idolatry in the days of the judges who judged, until the Holy One, blessed be He, delivered Israel into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim and into the hand of Jabin king of Hazor, and likewise into the hand of other nations; and when Israel turned back and repented, immediately the Holy One, blessed be He, turned back and redeemed Israel from their hand. And so Israel worshiped foreign worship, whether in the Land of Israel or outside the Land, and so from generation to generation they continued to sin with idolatry, until the Holy One, blessed be He, delivered Israel into the hand of the nations, as it is said, "And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baalim and the Ashtaroth, and the gods of Aram, and the gods of Sidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and they forsook the LORD and served Him not; and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the children of Ammon, and they crushed and shattered the children of Israel" (Judges 10:6-8). And when they turned back and repented, immediately the Holy One, blessed be He, turned back and accepted their repentance and redeemed Israel from the hand of those nations into whose power they had been delivered, because the Holy One, blessed be He, cannot bear the distress of Israel if they have repented; and were it not a verse written, it would be impossible to say it, as it is said, "And the children of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, We have sinned against You, because we have forsaken our God and served the Baalim... and they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD; and His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel" (Judges 10:10,16). And so Israel reviled and provoked their Creator and worshiped idolatry three hundred and ninety years in the days of the First Temple. And whence do you know that this is so? For indeed Israel dwelt in the First Temple four hundred and ten years; subtract from them twenty years in which the kings of Judah and Israel did not worship idolatry, and there remain three hundred and ninety years in which the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah worshiped idolatry. And every single prophet who spoke with Israel and reproved them that they should return in repentance—they did not desire the good of the prophet, but would say to him, "I have no desire for your prophecy, and we do not want your prophecy." And whence do you know that this is so? For Ahab king of Israel asked Elijah the Tishbite and said to him, "It is written in your Torah, 'Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, and the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and He shut up the heavens that there be no rain, and the ground not yield its produce' (Deuteronomy 11:16-17); yet we worship idolatry, and the rains are not withheld!" But come and see how much good came his way, as it is said, "And Ahab son of Omri reigned over Israel... and did evil in the sight of the LORD... and reared up an altar for Baal... in his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho; he laid its foundation with Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with Segub his youngest, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by the hand of Joshua son of Nun" (I Kings 16:29-34). Immediately Elijah was filled with great wrath against Ahab, and said to Ahab, "Empty one, you have despised the One who created the whole world for His glory and the One who gave the Torah for His glory. By your life, I will judge you only out of your own words," as it is said, "And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I have stood, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except according to my word" (I Kings 17:1). Immediately Elijah took the key of rain and went his way, and there was a great famine, until the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Elijah, "Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will give rain." Moreover, the Holy One, blessed be He, drove Elijah to the place where the fathers of Israel had sought mercy for their children, as it is said, "And he lay down and slept under a certain juniper tree; and behold, an angel touched him and said to him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and behold, at his head was a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water; and he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the LORD came again the second time and touched him and said, Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you. And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mountain of God; and he came there to the cave and lodged there. And behold, the word of the LORD came to him and said, What are you doing here, Elijah?" (I Kings 19:5-9). When the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Elijah, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" Elijah should have said before the Holy One, blessed be He, "Master of the universe, they are Your children, they are the children of those You tested, they are the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who did Your will in the world." But not only did he not say so; rather he said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts, because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant" (I Kings 19:10). Immediately the Holy One, blessed be He, began to speak words of consolation to Elijah and said to him, "When I revealed Myself to give the Torah to Israel, none revealed themselves with Me except the ministering angels, who desire the good of Israel," as it is said, "And He said, Go forth and stand upon the mountain before the LORD. And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and shattered the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire a still small voice" (I Kings 19:11-12). What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He waited for Elijah three hours, and he still stood by his earlier words and said yet a second time, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts" (I Kings 19:14). At that hour the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Elijah, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus... and Jehu son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king... and Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place" (I Kings 19:15-16)—and what is in your mind I cannot do.