Monday, July 1, 2019

Intertextual Connections between descriptions of the destruction at the time of the death of Christ and the story of Elijah? (And Luke 24)

In 1 Kings 19:11-12, Elijah has an experience in the wilderness in which various natural forces manifest great power, but the Lord was found in a "still, small voice."  The natural forces include: "strong wind," "earthquake," and "fire."

In 3 Nephi 8-11 we find a description of the destruction that occurred on the American continent at the time of the death of Jesus Christ and the voice which introduces Jesus Christ.  The destructive forces includes "a great and terrible tempest" and "whirlwinds" (3 Nephi 8:6, 12), "exceedingly great quaking of the whole earth" (3 Nephi 8:12), and "fire" (3 Nephi 9:3, 9-11),

The voice is described like this (see 3 Nephi 11:3):
...notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn.
Incidentally, that last phrase channels Luke 24:32.

Hat tip Daniel Peterson.