MAY 18, 1947
For tho Children
E l ijah , the B rave P rophet (1 K ings 18:1, 2, 7-10, 15-18, 21, 22, 46a; 19:1-6, 9, 14, 15a, 19-21) M emory V erse : “He [the Lord] will be with thee, he will not fail thee” (Deut. 31:8). A wicked king, Ahab, had tried to take the life of Elijah, God’s faith ful servant. Because the children of Israel and their king had sinned against God, God had refused to send rain to water their crops. No grain could grow; soon there was a fam ine in the land. One day, God spoke to Elijah, and said, “Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.” Many men would have refused to go to a king whom they knew was try ing to kill them, but Elijah quickly obeyed God. Bravely he told Ahab that his sin, and the sins of the chil dren of Israel, were the reasons for which God was punishing them. A contest was planned to show the peo ple whether the idol which they worshiped was the true Lord God, or a false god. In God’s strength, brave Elijah held a contest against four hundred heathen religious lead ers. Of course, Elljah,’s God won the contest! The wicked religious lead ers were killed. The bad queen was very angry and tried to take Elijah’s life. The man of God fled and sat down under a juniper tree in the wilderness. He was so discouraged that he wanted to die. As he slept under the tree, God sent an angel who awakened him and said, “Arise and eat.” Elijah awakened and saw a cake and a jar of water. Later, Elijah hid in a cave. God spoke to him and again gave him the courage to bravely preach God’s Word in spite of danger to his own life. Soon God gave to Elijah a young man, Elisha, to help him with his work. How happy Elijah must have been to have a helper! God had re warded His servant for his faithful ness and his bravery. Sometimes Christian boys and girls are called upon to stand alone for the right against many who want to do the wrong thing. The Lord Jesus can and will give to His chil dren the courage and the strength to serve faithfully. We never teat the resources of God until t oe attempt the impossible. A PENNY A DAY! (Not ouch a large sum to invest (or eternity) Wilt Give Spirituel sight to the Hind H O W 7 For information write to THE CHR IST IAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE BUND, INC. 4M East 141st Street, New York 54, V. Y. O. B. Grommets. Pros. J, E. Bonnet, Treas APRIL, 1947
GOD IN NATIONAL AFFAIRS A mos 5:6-15, 21-24
Points and Problems “Seek the Lord, and ye shall live” (Amos 5:6). Here God is admonishing the kingdom of Israel, a people who had named His name. In the primary sense, no man seeks the Lord. The Lord seeks man. "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). After God has sought and found sinful man, then man ought continually by pray er and reading His Word to seek the Lord to find out His will for the dally Christian life. Those who follow this practice will know the meaning of abundant living (John 10 : 10 ). “In the gate” (5:10, 12, 15). Three times this phrase appears in our les son. Throughout the Old Testament, the gate of the city was the place where justice was meted out and where the elders sat in judgment. It was like the city hall of the present day where a court of justice is es tablished. There the law was de fended. Since a gate suggests a means of entrance into a domain, in this case it should have meant entrance into the enjoyment of jus tice or fair play. But it was not so in Israel. There was no respect for "the gate,” and "the gate” had no re spect for those to whom it minis tered. Such are the gates of this world. Happy are they who know the true Gate, even the Lord Jesus Christ, and commit the judgment of their lives unto Him. “I !Ml not smell in your solemn as semblies” (5:21). The offerings men tioned in verse 22 were called sweet savour offerings. See Leviticus 1:3. The Lord was pleased with the fra grance of these offerings when they were presented with sincere hearts, because they pictured some of the glories of the Messiah’s redemptive work. But the verse before us indi cates that they had become dis tasteful to God because they were of fered in hyprocrisy. “Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs” (6:23). Some re ligious singing is a grating, jarring discord to God. Unless hearts are right, God is not interested in the songs that people sing. It would be a good thing for every group of God's people to examine their singing fre quently to see whether it meets His approval. 7 *8 * Tbirty-nine
Outline and -Exposition T he E xhortation (A mos 5:6-9)
The prophet exhorted the people to seek the Lord himself, not merely sacred places (v. 5), in order to avoid having judgment fall upon them (v. 6 ). They were reminded of their sinfulness and rebuked for casting away righteousness. They were told to seek the God of wisdom and power, "the Lord is his name,” who would come to the aid of all the op pressed (w. 7-9). T he C ondemnation (5:10-15) Israel hated authority. The “gate’.’ was the court of justice, but they de spised any true administration of law, and “abhorred” truthfulness in the courts (v. 10). They trampled upon the poor, exacting that which was unjust. Hence God would not allow them to dwell in the houses they built, or to enjoy the fruit of vineyards they had planted (v. 11 ). They practiced bribery in the courts to such an extent that it was prudent for honest people to keep silent in the face of injustice (w. 12,13). Yet, in spite of all of this there was a possibility that the Lord would “be gracious” to them, if they would turn from their evil ways and “seek good, and not evil,” practice justice, hate the wrong, and establish justice in the land (w. 14, 15). T heir R ebellion (5:21-24) The children of Israel continued their religious rites and ceremonies, trusting in them to counterbalance their sinfulness. But God rejected all their religious forms; their feast days were hateful to Him. Their prayers were unheard. The “smell” of the incense is a reference to prayer. Their offerings were displeasing; the burnt offerings, the meat offerings, and peace offerings were refused; their praise was a mere noise to God (w. 21-23). • What God demanded, first of all, was righteousness (v. 24). He wanted it to be running down as a mighty torrent, carrying away all pretense, and establishing the justice and equity of the Lord’s rule among them. Alas! the people continued in their rebellion until God’s judgment necessarily fell upon them.
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