September 1927
T h e
K i n . g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
573
in International Lesson Commentary
mi Heart of the Lesson—K.L.B. Devotional—David L. Cooper Little Folk—Mabel L. Merrill
his own priests. As their raving intensi fied into' mania, Elijah answered them with lofty . defiance: and withering sar casm (vs. 28-29). .Then followed the of fering of Elijah, made in calm, sublime simplicity. Baal’s prophets laad been given every advantage. They, could not have asked for more favorable circumstances. “There was no voice, nor any that answered” (v. 26) even when the sun was hottest. All this is not a thing of the past. What •Strange .scenes today are, by some people, called worship ! Millions; still are in idol atry. Millions still pray, though not to the personal, loving Heavenly^ Father, and there is no voice in the pitiless sky, Other false' prophets, we have, who, while they do not bow to Baal, point to nature, as the only god there is, or try to enthrone humanity. In magazine articles they cry aloud. They talk of social salva tion through their godless religions. For centuries the .world has waited to see the descent of fire upon those altars, but no fireponies, and society goes on unre newed. Meanwhile, the world sees humble men and women, here and there, , upon whom a divine fire descends in answer to prayer. Those who worship the true God through Jesus Christ are seen to have the flame of Christian love burning in their hearts, and there is a warmth of Christian zeal found in the Church of Christ, not to be found anywhere else. Can there; be' any doubt as to which company call upon the true God? In.sim ple, quiet,- intelligent manner, Elijah called upon God. He spoke to a personal God. He asked something definite, and asked according to the will of God. “Let it be known that thou art God, and that I am thy servant and have done these things at thy wordy” God could not but honor such earnestness and such childlike faith. The fire fell. “It was Elijah’s prayer,” says John Foster, “converted and re turned in flame." The people bowed themselves to earth and cried: “The Lord, He is God” (v. 39). The modern reproduction of the test of Garmel may be witnessed in the power lessness of all schemes of social reforma tion and rationalistic teachings, in con trast with the old Gospel which remains “the power of God unto salvation.” God still answers by fire, for “our God is a consuming fire,” Who burns out sin and sets the souls of men aflame with holy zeal and spiritual fervor. P ith and P oint Every church has its religious limpers (v. 21). The man of faith need not fear to risk his all on the honor of God (v. 23). One way to unmask error is to allow it free opportunity to do its best (v. 25). Religious sincerity is dangerous when not run on the track that God has laid down (v. 28). • False religions cannot bring down the
O ctober 2, 1927 Elijah on Mt. Carmel Lesson Text— 1 Kings 18:17-39
bled his'heart in the least. He was a thor oughly self-willed man. But Elijah was ho reed blown by the wind. He also had a will, and it was re enforced by divine power. In the name of God, he hurled back' the infamous charge! “I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and followed Baalirn” (v. 18). Ahab was thé real Achan in the camp, the real troubler of Israel. • Where are the men today who dare to deal with these, royal sinners? Samuel rebuked Saul; Nathan rebuked David; John rebuked Herod; Paul rebuked Fe lix; Do we fear to denounce sin in high places? Note how conscious guiljpsealed the lips of Ahab. Not a word could he utter. There was nothing to do but lis ten silently to the command that followed. Without à word, he proceeded to. obey it. He was told to convene all Israel at Carmel (v. 19). All the idolatrous proph ets were to be there also. So con vinced was Ahab- that .Elijah was the vicegerent of the King of kings, that he carried out Elijah’s orders as though the prophet were sovereign and he the sub ject. Now for a show-down ! These people must be turned back to God. Something must be done to stir these sluggish souls. Elijah meets them with a sharp question and charge:— “How long halt ye between two opinions? I f the Lord be God, fol low Him; if Baal, then follow him” (v. 21). I . They were silent. It was a confession of the truth of the rebuke. Elijah pro posed a method of decision. If t h e y were tottering between two opinions, .he would show them something that would make them get off the fence, on one side or the other. Sacrifice was a' rite common to all re ligions. It was at first divinely instituted as the great symbol of expiation. False religions had copied it because of the awe attached to it, but had cast aside its true meaning. Elijah appealed to the ordeal of sacrifice. Let there be an appeal to their respective deities, “and the God that atiswereth by fire, let Him be God ” (v. 24). . , , , In former days Jehovah had thus tes tified His acceptance of the sacrifices of Moses, Gideon, David and Solomon. Baal was supposed to be the sun god, with sovereign control over all natural ele ments and forces. It would be an easy thing for Baal to send down fire, if the claims of the priests were true. Whether the priests liked the proposition or not, the people saw the reasonableness of the proposal. Ahab was silenced. A dramatic scene it was! Baal paid no attention to the blood-invoking power of
BURDENED over the apostate condi tion of the' people, the prophet Elijah had . been led to pray that rain might be withheld, as a means of bringing Israel'
to -their knees. The chapter f o r today shows something of how this preparatory work had been ac complished in th e hearts of king and people. T h e y h a d gone
through a fearful experience. T h e y b e g a n to r e a l i z e t h a t it was the God of their fathers, and not Baal, who incontestably and absolutely controlled the clouds of heaven. The thoughtful among the people evidently had some realization of the grave offense of Israel against the living God. They saw that their protracted suffering was the consequence of departure from the true God. KingAhab, and his court too, had shared in some of the terrible expe riences. His search throughout the land for Elijah, the man of God, shows that he had been doing some thinking. He at least had a feeling that the drought was due to. the prophet’s prayers, and would have laid murderous hands on him, could he have found him. But the search had been in vain. Meanwhile all the prophet’s words continued to come true. Three years and a half .had elapsed since. Elijah’s startling prediction to Ahab; God’s time to send rain had come, .therefore, Elijah is bidden to go and show himself to Ahab. There was one godly man in Ahab’s court—Obadiah. To save the remnant of the King’s horses and mules, Ahab directed Obadiah to search through one-half of the land for grass, while the king himself took the other half. Soon after the parting of Obadiah from Ahab, he came upon Elijah. That was no accident. We see such pre-arranged providences brought about in the almost everyday meeting of men. It is God’s purpose carried out in actual events, and no thinking man can doubt it. Well did Obadiah know the king’s in tense desire to lay hands on Elijah. This he declared to the prophet. Elijah .in formed him of his purpose to show him self immediately to the king (v. IS). “So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him : and Ahab went to meet Elijah" (v. 16).. The meeting of the false-hearted king and the true-hearted prophet soon took place. The guilty Ahab dared to assume the side of right in charging evil upon the prophet. “Art thou he that troubleth Is rael?” he asks. His question shows that all the events of three years had not hum
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