221
T H E
K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
April 19-24
visit sinners with everlasting destruction from the pres ence of the Lord. Where is your peace? Where is the power of your gods? Do they answer? Nay, verily, the silence' of the Baal-gods of Mount Carmel has lain along the passing centuries until now, and is only punctuated by the wails of the lost who have trusted in gods that could not hear.%-Prac. Com. In this lesson on “Elijah and the struggle with Baal” we have another great triumph of faith. Take time to visual ize the scene on Mt. Carmel. One man of God against a nation! .One prophet of God against four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, to whom every pos- DEVOTIONAL sible advantage is given by Elijah! As COMMENT to the outcome of this great test Elijah John A. Hubbard is absolutely sure. There did not arise in his mind such questions as, “Suppose by some possible means fire should fall upon the bullock prepared by Baal’s prophets?” “Suppose Jehovah should fail to answer by fire?” There was no room for doubt, be cause Elijah knew whom he had believed. He exemplified the truth of Isa. 30:15, “In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.” Did Elijah attain to this in one day, by one leap? No, indeed. He had been in training in the school of faith for several years. His first recorded act and word reveal a man of faith— standing before King Ahab and announcing, “As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word” (1 Ks. 17:1). By faith he fearlessly stood be fore Ahab, because he continually stood before the Lord. By faith he made this startling announcement, because bafck of it was the never-failing word of God (see Dt. 11:16, 17; 28:23, 24). Then came the test and development of faith at Cherith (1 Ks. 17: 2-7). “Hide thyself by the brook Cherith. Thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.” A human being fed by ravens! Of all things, this seemed most unlikely. Nevertheless it came to pass. The test at Cherith was followed by a greater one at Zarephath. A widow with a handful of meal and a little oil— she and her son and Elijah were to be sustained by this till the drought should be broken! Unbelief would say, “Impossible.” Faith cried, “It sh a ll.b e done!” And it was. “The barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord.” Then came the severest test of all— the raising of the widow’s son from the dead. But the test is successfully met; faith triumphs, and Elijah goes forth from God’s won derful school of faith to show to poor, backslidden Israel that Jehovah is the living God. In view of the training of chapter 17 we are not surprised at the triumph of chap ter 18. It may be, my reader, that God is training you now for greater triumphs in the future. Trust Him, for “He doeth all things w ell!” God Hears Elijah’s Prayer. 1 Kings 18:20-24, 36-39. Memory Verse.— “The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him.” Psa. 145:18. Approach— Children what is this in my hand? (Hold up slice of bread). Every one of you knew this was bread, be cause you eat bread every day, and O how good it does taste with butter and jam. We could not live very long without bread. How many of you know what ELEMENTARY bread is made of? James you tell us. Mabel L. Merrill Wheat. That is right, and there are other grains such as rye and corn from m M
laren. The people of Israel were to come to witness the test, for on their
COMMENTS FROM THE
being convinced that Jehovah was the COMMENTARIES true God, and choosing him as their V. V. Morgan God, the very life of the nation de pended. The 450 prophets of Baal, and the 400 prophets of the groves (the pillars which repre sented Jezebel’s goddess, Venus). All these would be clothed in their priestly “white robes and peaked turbans, and all the bravery of their sacrificial vestments. Over against these stood (in the words of Geikie) “the solitary prophet of Jehovah, his rough sheepskin mantle over his shoulders, his simple linen tunic held together by a strap of hide, and his long hair hanging down his back or blown by the mountain breeze.”—Peloubet. V. 21. Israel is met together. Elijah rates them not so much for their superstition, as for their unsettledness and irresolution. Nothing is more odious to God than to halt betwixt right and wrong. The Spirit wished that the Laodiceans were either hot or cold; either temper would be better borne than neither, than both. In reconcileable differences, nothing is more safe than indifferency both of practice and opinion; but in cases of so necessary hostil ity as betwixt God and Baal, he that is on neither side is the deadliest enemy to both. Less hateful are they to God that serve Him not at all, than they that serve Him with a rival.—Horn. Com. Israel’s inconsistency lay in an attempt to blend the claims of Jehovah and Baal in wavering between them, an attempt to accbmplish an impossibility, an insult to the authority and character of God. The reconstruction of spiritual life in Israel must begin at the point of its incipi ent overthrow. The drought and famine had prepared their stubborn hearts for Elijah’s appeal and disposed them to consider.—Prac. Com. V. 24. Elijah gave Baal’s prophets “every advantage in priority of action. Error is best unmasked by being allowed free opportunity to do its best; for the more favorable the circumstances of trial, the more signal the defeat. God’s servants must never be suspected of unfair tricks in their controversy with error.”—Maclaren. The trial was as fair as possible. The Baalites had all the advantage. They were 850 to one. They, had knowl edge of all the trickery of (heir cult. Elijah was a simple countryman. They had their choice of the time. Baal was the sun-god, the god of fire. If Baal could bring the fire, he might bring the rain.—Peloubet. V. 36. Five things Elijah had: (1 ) An all-absorbing desire for Jehovah’s glory. (2 ) But one desire for himself, to be Jehovah’s servant and to act according to His word. (3) An unwavering conviction that he was Jehovah’s ser vant. (4) An intense desire for the conversion of his peo ple. (5 ) Faith in God; faith to risk all upon His Word. He made his remarkable proposal to put matters to the test because Jehovah had bidden him to. That is faith and the secret of achievement, finding out what God’s Word is and risking all upon it. He gave himself up wholly to God’s plans and acted exactly according to God’s Word.— Torrey. V. 38. What is the miracle of that fire which devoured the burnt offering and compelled the whole people to cry out: “The Lord He is God/’ in comparison with the mir acle that God hath sent His Son into the world to kindle the greatest fire which has ever burnt in the world; com pared with the miracle that the Word has become flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory? In Bethlehem, and upon Golgotha, the glory of the Lord is in finitely higher in its manifestation than uppn Carmel.— Lange. Joseph Cook, in one of his lectures, submits the argu ment that God wills the happiness of the race; that the race to be happy must have a perfect religion; that the perfect religion must produce pardon for sin, peace of con science and reconciliation with God. What modern Baal- worshiper finds these three things? Come, now, ye wor shipers of the Baal-god of wealth! What is your answer? Where is your pardon of sin and your peace of mind and your reconciliation with God? Come, now, all ye worship ers of the Baal-gods of pleasure, of fashion, of worldly honor, of lust, of power, call on your gods for help. Sin stalks abroad, cracking his taskmaster’s whip over the backs of his slaves. Conscience stings with remorse and pungent condemnation. God stands as one holding the reins of the steeds of divine wrath, lest they prematurely
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter