{N}19,{/}9 Elijah arrives at {C}Beer-Sheba{/}. This is one of the most ancient places of worship of the Israelites. The biblical authors who finished the editing of these books after the people's return from exile make it evident that there had not been any legitimate place of worship in Israel since the construction of the Temple. As a matter of fact, Jerusalem did not impose its monopoly until much later with Josiah's reform. The provincial sanctuaries continued to function even though Jerusalem's Temple became identified as the official place for orthodox worship for faithful Jews. The kings supported it and supervised its practices. The Israelites in the north preferred to go in pilgrimage to Beer-Sheba in the extreme south (Amos 5,5). Evidence of this is that when Elijah goes to seek God, he does not travel to Jerusalem, but to Beer-Sheba. In reality, Elijah is returning to the origins, to the fountainhead of revelation at Mount Horeb. 
He searched for {C}the cave {/}and spent the night there. This detail helps us understand why Elijah traveled to the mountains of Sinai. Archeological inscriptions evidence to the fact that Horeb was a sacred mountain and a place of pilgrimage long before Moses went to visit it. And Elijah, like Moses before him, sought out the mountain where God dwelled. {C}The cave{/} was most likely a well-known place where one could pass the night in the hope of having a dream or receiving some other divine communication.
What occurred there characterizes for us the very nature of biblical revelation. God does not intervene in order to form wise men who will then illuminate receptive people with their teachings. Rather, God chooses prophets who will call the people to repentance in face of the events that are taking place. This is not to discount the exceptional testimony of Elijah's brilliant prophetic ministry among the people. As a matter of fact, it is only through the reports that his followers could pass on that we know about him. 
As always, we encounter two inseparable factors in the life of biblical personalities, as was the case of Moses (Ex 3,14-16). First, they received knowledge about God from God himself. Second, they received a task to perform in the political and worldly events of the day. If we have trouble understanding why these two elements are always interrelated, it may be that we do not understand the real meaning of history.
Elijah will not accomplish personally the triple task that is given him. It will be sufficient for him to call and to form his successor (19,19).

