Almighty," Psa. 78:41. He is never a t His "wits', end" and there is no end to His power. ;
Of God; for which reason the Lord doomed him to. see it but not to taste it. Unbe- lief shall not inherit the blessing. (2) God does not need to make windows in heaven. Our unbelief is largely due to short-sighted- ness. In the simplest and most n a t u r al way He can provide by agencies we never would dream of. We mu st not "limit the The lesson is radiant with the manifesta- tion of the supernatural, f r om the humblest service of restoring a borrowed ax-head to t h at of leading a blinded a r my into the most imminent oeril. God worked through His servant to the praise of His own glory. It will afford a splendid oooortunity to ma g- nify the supernatural power of God—as il- lustrated in His dealings through Elisha. p f HR the supernatural knowledge given to Elisha, who w as able to tell the King of Israel wh at the King of Syria was planning to do. This corresponds to the knowledge which our Lord had of the hearts of men. He k n ew all (Jno. 2:24); He knew the thoughts of men's h e a r ts (Jno. 13:21). Elisha warned the king and the king was saved ' more t h an once. How well it would be if men would but listen to the warning of the Word and be saved from the sorrows and distress which mu st come upon the world! Second, he had supernatural vision. He saw the Invisible agencies of God. There was no fear in his h e a rt concerning the chariots and horses of Syria, for he saw God's host. He knew they outnumbered and out ranked the enemy. It Is difficult for us to believe t h at the atmosphere about us is filled with principalities and powers, t h at HOUSE OF AHAB. A BOY CROWNED KING OF JUDAH. Lesson 111.—2 Kgs. 8:11. I. THE JUDGMENT OF FAMINE. God mingles j u d gme nt with mercy in deal- ing with sinners. Men are neither warned by the one nor moved by the other; they "will revolt more and more" (Isa. 1:15). The chapters 8-11, following the deliverances, we have considered, record a series of. dread- ful judgments. We have: 1. A seven-year famine, the horrors of which we are left to imagine, and 2. The raising up of Hazael as King of Syria to become by wa rs a scourge of the nation, and 3. The anointing of Jehu to inflict the long delayed b ut com- plete destruction of the wicked house of Ahab. Note: The Lord never forgets His own when trouble comes. Sometimes He bears them through it, sometimes He saves t h em from it. The fact is t a u g ht and illustrated, and ever stands true, b ut the case of the SThunammite. As faithful Noah e s c p e d the flood, and righteous Lot the doom of Sodom, by divine warning, so this pious and faith- ful mother in Israel, warned by the prophet t h at "the Lord had called for a famine," found as asylum among the Philistine^ till JUDGMENTS ON ISRAEL AND THE
"Blind unbelief is sure to err, And scan His works in vain; God is His own Interpreter, And He will make it plain."
PITH AND PIVOT.
unseen forces are arrayed against us t h at would crush us in an instant were it not t h at there are forces for us which • are mightier. T h at was a splendid faith t h at could see the unseen and laugh at the seen; this was. the faith of Paul, who could say, "These light afflictions which are but for a moment work for a f ar more exceeding and eternal weight of glory while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are unseen" (2 Cor. 4:17-18). T h a nk God, the believer walks by faith; he lives by faith; he is in touch with the invisible powers of God and, like little David, he fears to face no foe; even a Goliath is insignificant in the presence of the mighty God. The clairvoyants talk of a second sight; we talk of an insight, a sniritual in- sight. Surely the angel of the encamp- eth about them t h at fear H im and deliver- eth them. The prayer for the true teacher for the scholars will be, "Lord, open their eyes t h at thpy may see." We mu st first see for • ourselves; we must live in touch with the supernatural and then will we be able, in faith,- to invoke sight for others. When we come to realize t h at the real things are spiritual and the real world the unseen world and the greatest blessings are those which are given to our spiritual lives, then wiil we indeed begin to live. the distress was passed. H er lands, alien- ated during her absence, were restored on her return by the same gracious Providence; as she came into the presence of the kirfg to petition for their restoration at the psy- chological moment while Gehazi was re- counting to him the miracles of Elisha, with the raising of her boy from death (chap. 4), and said, "this is the woman, and this is her son!" We may confidently entrust ourselves to such a God at all times. "A thousand may fall at pur side and ten thou- sand at our right hand, b ut It shall not come nigh u s" (Psa. 91.7). II. THE JUDGMENT OF WAR. 1. Benhadad was about to fall into the hands of Death, a captor who would npt release him so freely as Ahab (1 Kgs. 20:34, 42). Though wicked men escape again and again, they mu st go to Judgment at last. 2. Hazael was sent to ask Elisha the result of the king's sickness. "Tell him, Thou mayest certainly recover," and (he added to Hazael), "Howbeit the Lord hath showed me that he shall surely die." 3. The eye of Elisha fell searchlngly on the face of Ha- 7ael, till conscious t h at his purpose to de- stvov his master was perceived by the man of God. his guilty sould shrank before his g a z e . But h e' was not dissuaded f r om his evil purpose. 4. How often God's word CH»b. 4:12) discloses a man's soul to h'-^- self. Would t h at its design to save him
Lesson for April 16, 1911
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