Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) — Chapter 48

And Elias the prophet stood up as a fire, and his word burnt like a torch. Elijah's prophetic fire: his word was like a blazing torch. Lapide develops the fire imagery throughout, connecting Elijah to John the Baptist (who came \"in the spirit and power of Elijah,\" Luke 1:17) and to the two witnesses of Revelation 11.

By the word of the Lord He shut up the heaven, and he brought down fire from heaven thrice. Elijah's great miracles: shutting up the heavens for three and a half years, and calling down fire from heaven on the altar and on the soldiers of Ahaziah. Lapide defends the literal historicity and exegetes the theological meaning of each miracle.

Who wast taken up in a whirlwind of fire, in a chariot of fiery horses. Elijah's translation in the fiery chariot: Lapide treats this as a historical fact and interprets it as a figure of the resurrection and of the future return of Elijah before the Last Day. He refutes those who allege that Elijah died before his translation.

Who art registered in the judgments of times to appease the wrath of the Lord; to reconcile the heart of the father to the son, and to restore the tribes of Jacob. Elijah's future eschatological mission: to \"turn the heart of fathers to sons\" (Mal. 4:6) and restore Israel. Lapide expounds the patristic consensus that Elijah will return before the Second Coming to preach penance to the Jews.

In his days he was not afraid of any prince, and no man was stronger than he. Elisha as the spiritual heir of Elijah: equal to him in sanctity if not in spectacular miracles. Lapide notes the double portion of Elijah's spirit that fell on Elisha (2 Kgs. 2:9) and catalogs the miracles that flowed from this inheritance.

Ezechias fortified his city, and brought in water into the midst thereof, and dug a rock with iron, and made a pool of water. Hezekiah's engineering works—the tunnel of Siloam—and his spiritual fidelity during Sennacherib's invasion. Lapide treats Hezekiah as the model of the just king who combines practical wisdom with devout prayer.

In the spirit of Isaiah he saw the last things, and comforted the mourners in Sion. Isaiah's prophetic vision of the end times and his consolation of Jerusalem. Lapide treats Isaiah as the supreme prophet of the Old Testament—\"the fifth Evangelist\" whose messianic prophecies are the most explicit and extensive in all of Scripture.