SECTION VI.

THE PROPHET'S RAPTURE 106

CONCLUDING REMARKS

ON THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH 125

PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS

ON THE

LIFE AND TIMES OF ELIJAH THE TISHBITE.

INTRODUCTION.

The exercise of prophetic ministry in Israel, of old, was always a

proof of the nation's decline. So long as the great national

institutions were maintained in their vigor, and the machinery of the

Mosaic economy carried out according to its original design, there was

no need of anything extraneous, and therefore the voice of a prophet

was not heard; but when failure had set in--when those laws and

institutions which had been enacted, and set on foot by God Himself,

ceased to be carried out in their pristine spirit and power, then

there was a demand for something additional, and that something was

supplied by the energy of the Spirit in the prophets.

There were no materials in the whole range of Levitical rites and

ceremonies for the formation or maintenance of such a ministry as that

of Elijah the Tishbite; there was too much of the carnal element in

them for that. The message of a prophet could only be delivered in the

power of the Holy Ghost, and therefore, so long as the Levitical

institutions fulfilled their end, the Spirit had no need to put forth

any fresh energy. There was no need of such a minister as Elijah in

the days of Solomon's glory and greatness; all was in order then--the

whole machinery was in a sound condition--every wheel and every screw

worked effectually in its own place--the king on the throne wielded

the sceptre for the maintenance of Israel's civil interest--the priest

in the temple discharged in due order his religious functions--the

Levites and the singers were all at their respective posts: in a word,

all moved on in such a measure of order as to render the voice of a

prophet unnecessary.

However, the scene soon changed; the mighty tide of evil soon set in,

and swept away the very foundations of Israel's civil and religious

system: ungodly men, in process of time, ascended the throne of David,

and sacrificed the interests of the people of God at the shrine of

their own vile lusts; and to such a height did wickedness rise, that

at last the wicked Ahab, with his consort Jezebel, occupied that

throne from which Solomon had administered the judgment of God.

Jehovah could no longer forbear; He could not allow the tide of evil

to rise any higher, and He therefore sent forth from His quiver a

polished shaft to pierce the conscience of Israel, if haply He might

bring them back to their place of happy allegiance to Himself. This

shaft was none other than Elijah the Tishbite--the bold and

uncompromising witness for God who stood in the breach at a moment

when every one seemed to have fled from the field of conflict, unable

to stem the overwhelming torrent.

But, before we proceed to the consideration of the life and ministry

of this remarkable man, it may be well just to make one observation

upon the twofold character of prophetic ministry. We shall find, in

considering the ministry of the prophets, that, not only had each

prophet a distinct ministry committed to him, but that, also, in one

and the same prophet, there was a double purpose carried out: the Lord

dealt with the conscience about present evil, while He pointed the eye

of the faithful one to the future glory. The prophet, by the Holy

Ghost, brought the light and truth of God to bear upon the heart and

conscience--he laid open fully and faithfully the hidden chambers of

evil within--he spoke plainly of the people's sad declension and

departure from God, and removed the foundations of that false

religious system which they were erecting around them.

But the prophet did not stop here; it would have been sad indeed had

he been confined to the humiliating story of Israel's failure, and the

departure of their ancient glory; he was able, through grace, to add

to the solemn announcement, "O Israel, _thou_ hast destroyed thyself,"

the consolatory assurance, "but IN ME is thy help;" and herein we have

developed to us the two elements which composed the ministry of the

prophets, namely, Israel's total failure, and God's triumphant

grace--the departure of the glory as connected with, and based upon,

the obedience of Israel, and its final return and establishment as

connected with, and based upon, the obedience and death of the Son of

God.

Truly, we may say, this was ministry of a very elevated and holy

character; it was a glorious commission to be told to stand amid the

fragments of a crushed and ruined system, and there to point to the

time--the happy time--when God would display Himself in the immortal

results of His own redeeming grace, to the joy of His ransomed ones in

heaven and on earth.

_SECTION I._

THE PROPHET'S FIRST MESSAGE.

The reign of Ahab, the son of Omri, was a dark and dreary time for the

house of Israel; iniquity had risen to a fearful height; the sins of

Jeroboam were little when compared with the black catalogue of Ahab's

transgressions; the wicked Jezebel, the daughter of the uncircumcised

king of the Zidonians, was chosen to be the partner of his heart and

his throne, and this circumstance alone was enough to secure the

oppression of Israel, and the entire subversion of their ancient

worship. In a word, the Spirit sums up the whole matter with these

words, "Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than

all the kings of Israel that were before him" (1 Kings xvi. 33). This

was saying enough for him. The whole line of kings from Jeroboam down,

had done evil in the sight of the Lord; but to do more than all of

them, marked a character of no ordinary degree of guilt. Yet such was

Ahab--such was the man that occupied the throne of God's ancient

people, when Elijah the Tishbite entered upon his course of prophetic

testimony.

There is something particularly sorrowful to the spirit in

contemplating a scene like that which the reign of Ahab presents.

Every light had been extinguished, every voice of testimony hushed;

the firmament in which many a brilliant luminary had shone from time

to time, had become overcast with dark clouds; death seemed to spread

itself over the whole scene, and the devil to carry every thing with a

high hand, when, at length, God in His mercy to His poor oppressed and

misguided people, raised up a bright and powerful witness for Himself

in the person of our prophet. But then it is just at such a time that

a real witness for God is likely to produce the most powerful effect,

and exert the most extensive influence. It is after a long drought

that a shower is likely to be felt in all its refreshing virtue. The

state of things at this time in Israel called for some mighty man of

valor to come forth and act in divine energy against the tide of evil.

However, it is instructive to observe that Elijah is presented to us,

in common with all his fellow-servants, in circumstances of secret

training and exercise ere he appears in public. This is a feature in

the history of all the servants of God, not excepting Him who was

emphatically _the Servant_; all have been trained in secret with God

previous to their acting in public with man; and, moreover, those who

have entered most deeply into the meaning and value of the secret

training will be found the most effective and permanent in their

public service and testimony. That man has much cause to tremble for

his destiny who has arrived at a position in public which exceeds the

measure of his secret exercise of soul before God; he will assuredly

come short. If the superstructure exceed the measure of the foundation

below, the building will totter or fall. If a tree shoot forth its

branches into the air to a degree exceeding the depth of its roots, it

will be unequal to the violence of the storm, and will come to the

ground: so is it with the man who enters a place of public service; he

must be _alone with God_; his spirit must be exercised in private; he

must pass through the deep waters in his own experience, otherwise he

will be but a theorist, and not a witness; his ear must be opened to

hear, ere his tongue can be fitted to speak as the learned. What has

become of all those apparently brilliant lights which have suddenly

flashed across the path of the Church of God from time to time, and as

suddenly disappeared behind the cloud? Whence came they, and whither

have they gone, and why have they been so evanescent? They were but

sparks of human kindling; there was no depth, no power of endurance,

no reality in them; hence they shone for a time, and speedily vanished

away, producing no result save to increase the darkness around, or at

least the sad consciousness thereof. Every true minister of God should

be able, in measure, to say with the apostle, "Blessed be God, even

the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the

God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we

may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort

wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God" (2 Cor. i. 3, 4).

I Kings xvii. gives us Elijah's first appearance in public; but the

Spirit, in James, has graciously furnished us with the account of a

yet earlier stage in his history, and one full of instruction to us,

be our sphere of service what it may. The sacred historian introduces

our prophet in a way which might seem abrupt. He presents him to us as

at once boldly entering upon his sphere of labor, with this grand and

solemn announcement, "Thus saith the Lord." But he does not tell us,

in this place, anything of the prophet's previous exercise; he speaks

not of how it was he came to learn how the Lord would have him to

speak: of all this, though most important for us to know, the Spirit

in the historian says nothing; He simply introduces him to our notice

in the holy exercise of a power which he had obtained in secret with

God: He shows us Elijah acting in public, and nothing more. But the

apostle lets us into the secret of Elijah's prayer _to God_, before

ever he came out in active service before _man_. "Elias was a man

subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it

might not rain; and it rained not on the earth by the space of three

years and six months" (James v. 17).

Now, if the Holy Ghost had not informed us about this important fact,

by the pen of James, we should have lacked a very powerful incentive

to prayer; but Scripture is perfect--divinely perfect, lacking nothing

that it ought to have, and having nothing that it ought to lack;

hence it is that James tells us of Elijah's secret moments of prayer

and wrestling, and shows him to us in the retirement of the mountains

of Gilead, where he had, no doubt, mourned over the lamentable state

of things in Israel, and also fortified his spirit for the part he was

about to act.

This circumstance in the life of our prophet teaches us a truly

profitable lesson. We live in a time of more than usual barrenness and

spiritual dearth. The state of the Church may well remind us of

Ezekiel's valley of dry bones. We have not merely to cope with evils

which have characterized by-gone ages, but also with the matured

corruption of a time wherein the varied evils of the Gentile world

have become connected with, and covered by, the cloak of the Christian

profession. And when we turn to the state of those whose knowledge of

truth and high profession might naturally encourage the expectation of

more healthy and vigorous Christian action, we find alas! in many that

the knowledge is but cold and uninfluential theory, and the profession

but superficial, having no power over the feelings and affections of

the inward man. Amongst persons of this class it will also be found

that the truth of God possesses little or no interest, or attractive

power; they know so much in the intellect that nothing can be

presented to them with which they are not already acquainted: hence

the lifelessness with which they harken to every statement of truth.

In such a condition of things, what is the resource of the faithful

one? To what should he betake himself? Prayer; patient, persevering

prayer; secret communion with God; deep and real exercise of soul in

His presence, where alone we can arrive at a true estimate of

ourselves, and things around us: and not only so, but also obtain

spiritual power to act for God amongst our brethren, or toward the

world without. "Elias was a man of like passions with us;" and he

found himself in the midst of dark apostasy, and wide-spread

alienation of heart from God. He beheld the faithful failing from

amongst the children of men; he saw the tide of evil rising around

him, and the light of truth fast fading away: the altar of Baal had

displaced the altar of Jehovah, and the cries of the priests of Baal

had drowned the sacred songs of the Levites; in a word, the whole

thing was one vast mass of ruin before his view. He felt it; he wept

over it; he did more--"_he prayed earnestly_."

Here was the resource--the sure unfailing resource of the grieved

prophet; he retreated into the presence of God; he poured out his

spirit there, and wept over the ruin and sorrow of his beloved people;

he was really engaged about the sad condition of things around him,

and therefore prayed about it--prayed as he ought, not coldly,

formally, or occasionally, but "earnestly," and perseveringly.

This is a blessed example for us. Never was there a time when fervent

prayer was so much needed in the Church of God as at this moment. The

devil seems to be exerting all his malignant power to crush the

spirits and hinder the activities of the people of God; with some, he

makes use of their public engagements; with others, their domestic

trials; and with others, personal sorrow and conflict; in a word,

"There are many adversaries," and nothing but the mighty power of God

can enable us to cope with them and come off victorious.

But Elijah was not merely called to pass unscathed, as an individual,

through the evil; he was called to exert an influence upon others: he

was called to act for God in a degenerate age; he had to make an

effort to bring his nation back to the God of their fathers; how much

more, therefore, did he need to seek the Lord in private; to gather up

spiritual strength in the presence of God, whereby alone he could not

only escape himself, but be made an instrument of blessing to others

also. Elijah felt all this, and therefore "he prayed earnestly that it

might not rain."

Thus it was he brought God into the scene, nor did he fail of his

object. "It rained not." God will never refuse to act when faith

addresses Him on the ground of His own glory, and we know it was

simply upon this ground that the prophet addressed Him. It could

afford him no pleasure to see the land turned into a parched and

sterile wilderness, or his brethren wasted by famine and all its

attendant horrors. No; it was simply to turn the hearts of the

children to the fathers--to bring the nation back to its early

faith--to eradicate those principles of error which had taken fast

hold of the minds of the people: for such ends as these did our

prophet pray earnestly that it might not rain, and God harkened and

heard, because the prayer was the offspring of His Spirit in the soul

of His dear servant.

Truly we may say, _it is good to wait upon God_: it not only leads to

happy results as seen in God's answer to it, but there is also much

sweetness and comfort in the exercise itself. How truly happy it is

for the tried and tempted believer to find himself alone with God! how

blessed to allow his spirit to flow out, and his affections to ascend

to Him who alone is able to lift him above the depressing power of

present things into the calmness and light of His own most blessed

presence! May we all be found, then, waiting more upon God--making the

very difficulties of our day an occasion for drawing near to the

mercy-seat, and then we shall not only exert a salutary influence in

our respective spheres, but our own heart will be comforted and

encouraged by private waiting upon our Father, for the promise has

never yet failed, "They that wait on the Lord shall renew their

strength!" Precious promise! May we make full proof of it!

Thus, Elijah the Tishbite entered upon his path of service; he came

forth armed from the sanctuary of God with divine power to deal with,

and act upon, his fellow-men. There is much power in the words, "as

the Lord God of Israel liveth _before whom I stand_;" they bring

before us in a very special way the basis on which the soul of this

eminent servant of God was resting, as also the principle which

sustained him in his course of service. He stood before "THE LORD GOD

OF ISRAEL," and so standing, he could speak with a measure of power

and authority.

But how very little did Ahab know of the secret exercises of Elijah's

soul, ere he had thus come forth to speak to his conscience! He knew

not that Elijah had been on his knees in secret before he presented

himself in public. He knew nothing of all this, but Elijah did, and

hence he could boldly confront the very head of the evil; he could

speak to king Ahab himself, and announce to him the judgments of an

offended God. In this, our prophet may be viewed as a fine model for

all who are called upon to speak in the name of the Lord. All who are

so called should feel themselves, in virtue of their divine

commission, entirely lifted above the influence of human opinion. How

often does it happen that men who can speak with a measure of power

and liberty in the presence of some, are before others cramped, and,

it may be, altogether hindered! This we know would not be the case did

they but realize with distinctness, not only that they had received

their commission from on high, but also that they executed it in the

presence of _the living God_. The messenger of the Lord should never

be affected by those to whom he delivers his message; he should be

above them, while at the same time he takes the humble place of a

servant. His language should be, "But with me it is a very small

matter that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment."

(ανθρωπινης ημερας.)

This was pre-eminently the case with our blessed Master. How little

was He affected by the thoughts or judgments of those to whom He

spoke! They might thwart, oppose, and reject, but that never led Him

for a moment to lose sight of the fact that He was sent of God. He

carried with Him, throughout His entire course, the holy,

soul-sustaining assurance expressed in the synagogue of Nazareth, "The

Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach

the gospel to the poor," etc. (Luke iv. 18). Here was the basis of His

ministry as Son of man. It was "in the power of the Spirit," and hence

He ever felt Himself to be the minister of God, and as such raised

quite above the influence of those with whom He had to do. "My

doctrine is not Mine," said He, "but His that sent Me." He could truly

say, "The Lord God of Israel, _before whom I stand_:" He was ever "the

Lord's messenger," speaking "in the Lord's message unto the people"

(Hag. i. 13).

And should not all who fill the place of servants or messengers of the

Lord, seek to know more of this holy elevation of mind above men and

circumstances? Should they not aim at being less under the power of

human thoughts and feelings? What have we to do with the thoughts of

men about us? Nothing. Whether they will hear, or whether they will

forbear; whether they will accept, or whether they will reject;

whether we shall be highly esteemed for our work's sake, or made of no

reputation--still let it be our aim, our constant aim, to "approve

ourselves as the ministers of God."

* * * * *

But observe further, the power and authority with which our prophet

speaks, "There shall not be dew nor rain these years but according to

my word." He felt such perfect assurance in the fact that he was

standing in the Lord's presence, and speaking the Lord's words, yea,

that he was thoroughly identified with Him, that he could say,

"according to my word."

Such was the privilege of the Lord's messenger, when delivering the

Lord's message. Such are the wondrous results of secret prayer. "Elias

was a man of like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it

might not rain; and it rained not on the earth by the space of three

years and six months." May it prove a powerful incentive to all those

who desire to act for God in this day of weakness! We want to be more

in the presence of God, in the real sense of our need; if we felt our

need more, we should have more of _the spirit of prayer_. And it is

the spirit of prayer we want--that spirit which puts God in His own

proper place of _giver_, and us into our proper place of _receivers_.

But how often are we deceived by the mere form of prayer--with the

formal utterance of words which have no reality in them! There are

many who make a kind of god of prayer--many who let their very

prayers get between their souls and the God of prayer. This is a great

snare. We should always take care that our prayers are the natural

outflow of the Spirit within us, and not of the mere superstitious

performance of what we think ought to be done.[15]

[15] I would offer a few words here on the subject of united prayer

among Christians, an exercise which seems so sadly neglected by us at

a time when it is so specially needed. It will be generally found that

collective life and energy, service and testimony, will be in

proportion to the measure of collective waiting upon God. Where there

are not public prayer-meetings, there is sure to be a lack of service

and testimony; the interests of the Church of God are not realized,

and, as a consequence, the things of earth occupy a place of undue

prominence in the minds of Christians. If we _felt_ our collective

weakness, there would be a collective utterance of that weakness, and,

moreover, a renewal of our collective strength. Now I think it will be

found that all important movements among the people of God have been

the result of united heartfelt prayer. And surely we may say it is

natural that it should be so. We are not to expect that God will pour

forth His reviving grace on those who rest satisfied with their

deadness and coldness. The word is, "Open thy mouth wide, and I will

fill it." If we will not open our mouths, how can they be filled? If

we are satisfied with what we have, how can we expect to get more? Let

it be, therefore, the aim of the Christian reader to stir up his

fellow-Christians around him to seek the Lord in united prayer, and,

he may be assured of it, the happy results will speedily be seen.

SECTION II.

THE PROPHET IN RETIREMENT.

Hardly had our prophet delivered his testimony when he was again

called away from public observation into retirement and solitude. "And

the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn

thee eastward, and _hide thyself_ by the brook Cherith, that is before

Jordan."

These words are full of deep instruction. Elijah had taken a very

prominent place in the presence of Israel, and though his having done

so was the result of previous retirement and exercise of soul in the

presence of God, yet did the faithful One for whom he was acting see

it needful to have him away again into privacy, that so he might not

only occupy a high place in the presence of his brethren, but also a

low place in the presence of God. All this is full of teaching for us.

We must be kept low. Flesh must be crushed. Our time of _training in

secret_, must far exceed our time of _acting in public_. Elijah stood,

as it were, for a brief moment, in public testimony, and that too,

after having been alone with God, and he must at once be led away into

seclusion for three years and a half.

Oh! how little can man be trusted; how badly can we bear to be set in

a place of honor! How soon we forget ourselves and God! We shall see

presently, how much our honored prophet needed to be thus kept in

retirement. The Lord knew his temperament and tendencies, and dealt

with him accordingly. It is truly humiliating to think how little we

can be trusted in the way of public testimony for Christ; we are so

full of self; we vainly imagine that _we_ are something, and that God

will do much by _us_: hence it is that we need, like our prophet, to

be told to "hide ourselves," to get away from public view, that we may

learn, in the holy calmness of our Father's presence, our own proper

nothingness. And the spiritual mind can at once see the importance of

all this. It would never do to be always before the eye of man; no

creature could stand it: the Son of God Himself constantly sought the

solitary place, apart from the din and bustle of the city, where He

might enjoy a quiet retreat for prayer, and of secret communion with

God. "Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives." "Rising up a great while

before day, He departed into a solitary place and there prayed."

But it was not because He needed to hide Himself, for His entire path

on earth was, blessed be His name, a hiding of self. The spirit of His

ministry is brought out in these words, "My doctrine is not Mine, but

His that sent Me." Would that all the Lord's servants knew more of

this! We all want to hide self more,--much more than we do. The devil

acts so on our poor silly hearts; our thoughts so revolve round

ourselves; yea, we so often make our very service, and the truth of

God, a pedestal on which to show forth our own glory. No marvel,

therefore, that we are not much used: how could the Lord make use of

agents who will not give Him the glory? How can the Lord use Israel,

when Israel is ever prone to vaunt himself? Let us then pray to be

made more truly humble, more self-abased, more willing to be looked

upon as "a dead dog, or a flea," or "the off-scouring of all things,"

or nothing at all, for the name of our gracious Master.

In His lonely retreat by the brook Cherith, Elijah was called to

sojourn many days; not, however, without a precious promise from the

Lord God of Israel in reference to his needed provision, for he went

accompanied by the gracious assurance, "_I have commanded_ the ravens

to feed thee there." The Lord would take care of His dear servant

while hidden from public view, and minister to his necessities, even

though it should be by the instrumentality of ravens. What a strange

provision! What a continual exercise of faith was there involved in

being called to look out for the daily visits of birds that would

naturally desire to devour the prophet's meal! But was it upon the

ravens that Elijah lived? Surely not. His soul reposed in the precious

words, "_I have commanded_." It was God, and not the ravens, for him.

He had the God of Israel with him in his hiding place--he lived by

faith. And how truly blessed for the spirit thus to cling, in

unaffected simplicity, to the promise of God! How happy to be lifted

above the power of circumstances, in the apprehension of God's

presence and care! Elijah was hiding himself from man, while God was

showing Himself to Elijah. This will ever be so. Let us only set self

aside, and we may be assured that God will reveal Himself in power to

our souls. If Elijah had persisted in occupying a prominent and a

public place, he would have been left unprovided for. _He must be

hidden_; for the streams of divine provision and refreshment only

flowed for him in the place of retirement and self-abasement. "I have

commanded the ravens to feed thee _there_." If the prophet were

anywhere else but "_there_" he would have gotten nothing at all from

God.

What teaching for us in all this! Why are our souls so lean and

barren? Why do we so little drink of the streams of divinely provided

refreshment? Because we are not hiding self sufficiently. We cannot

expect that God will strengthen and refresh us for the purpose of

earthly display. He will strengthen us for Himself. If we could but

realize more that we are "not our own," we should enjoy more spiritual

power.

But there is also much meaning in the little word "_there_." Elijah

should be "_there_" and nowhere else, in order to enjoy God's

supplies; and just so is it with the believer now; he must know where

God would have him to be, and there abide. We have no right to choose

our place, for the Lord "orders the bounds of our habitation," and

happy for us is it to know this, and submit to His wise and gracious

ordering. It was at the brook Cherith, and there alone, that the

ravens were commanded to convey bread and flesh to the prophet; he

might wish to sojourn elsewhere, but, if he had done so he should have

provided for himself: how much happier to allow God to provide for

him! So Elijah felt, and therefore he went to Cherith, for the Lord

had "commanded the ravens to feed him _there_." The divinely appointed

provision is alone to be had in the divinely appointed place.

Thus was Elijah conveyed from solitude to solitude. He had come from

the mountains of Gilead, with a message from the Lord God of Israel to

Israel's king, and having delivered that message, he was again

conducted, by the hand of God, into unbroken solitude, there to have

his spirit exercised, and his strength renewed in the presence of God.

And who would be without those sweet and holy lessons learnt in

secret? Who would lack the training of a Father's hand? Who would not

long to be led away from beneath the eye of man, and above the

influence of things earthly and natural, into the pure light of the

divine presence, where self and all around are viewed and estimated

according to the judgment of the sanctuary? In a word, who would not

desire to be alone with God?--alone, not as a merely sentimental

expression, but really, practically, and experimentally alone; alone,

like Moses at the mount of God; alone, like Aaron in the holiest of

all; alone, like our prophet at the brook Cherith; alone, like John in

the island of Patmos; and above all, alone, like Jesus on the mount.

And here, let us inquire what it is to be alone with God. It is to

have self and the world set aside; to have the spirit impressed with

thoughts of God and His perfections and excellencies; to allow all His

goodness to pass before us; to see Him as the great Actor _for_ us,

and _in_ us; to get above flesh and its reasonings, earth and its

ways, Satan and his accusations; and, above all, to feel that we have

been introduced into this holy solitude, simply and exclusively

through the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

These are some of the results of our being alone with God. But, in

truth, it is a term which one can hardly explain to another, for each

spiritually-minded saint will have his own feelings on the subject,

and will best understand what it means in his own case. This, at

least, we may well crave, to be truly found in the secret of our

Father's presence; to be done with the weariness and wretchedness of

endeavoring to maintain _our character_, and to know the joy, the

liberty, the peace, and unaffected simplicity of the sanctuary, where

God in all His varied attributes and perfections rises before our

souls and fills us with bliss ineffable.

"To find my place within the veil,

To know that God is mine,

Are springs of joy that will not fail,

Unspeakable, divine."

But, though Elijah was thus happily alone by the brook Cherith, he was

not exempt from the deep exercise of soul consequent upon a life of

faith. The ravens, it is true, in obedience to the divine command,

paid him their daily visits, and Cherith flowed on in its tranquil and

uninterrupted course, so that the prophet's bread was given him, and

his water was sure, and thus, as far as he was personally concerned,

he might forget that the rod of judgment was stretched out over the

land. But faith must be put to the test. The man of faith cannot be

allowed to settle on his lees; he must be emptied from vessel to

vessel; the child of God must pass from form to form in the school of

Christ, and having mastered, through grace, the difficulties of one,

he must be called to grapple with those of another. It was, therefore,

needful that the soul of the prophet should be tried in order that it

might be seen whether he was depending upon Cherith, or upon the Lord

God of Israel; hence, "it came to pass, after awhile, that _the brook

dried up_."

We are ever in danger, through the infirmity of our flesh, of having

our faith propped up by circumstances, and when these are favorable,

we think our faith is strong, and _vice versa_. But faith never looks

at circumstances; it looks straight to God; it has to do exclusively

with Him and His promises. Thus it was with Elijah; it mattered little

to him whether Cherith continued to flow or not; he could say,

"In vain the creature streams are dry,

I have a fountain still."

God was his fountain, his unfailing, exhaustless fountain. The brook

might yield to the influence of the prevailing drought, but no

drought could affect God, and the prophet knew this; he knew that the

word of the Lord was as certain a portion, and as sure a basis in the

drying up of Cherith, as it had been during the time of his sojourn

upon its banks; and so it was, for "the word of the Lord came to him,

saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and

dwell there; behold _I have commanded_ a widow woman there to sustain

thee."

Elijah's faith must still rest upon the same immutable basis. "I have

commanded." How truly blessed is this! Circumstances change; human

things fail; creature streams are dried up, but God and His word are

the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. Nor does the prophet seem to

have been the least disturbed by this fresh order from on high. No;

for, like Israel of old, he had learned to pitch and strike his tent

according to the movement of Jehovah's cloud. The camp, of old, was

called to watch attentively the wheels of that heavenly chariot which

rolled onward toward the land of rest, and here and there halted in

the wilderness to find them out a resting-place; and just so was it

with Elijah; he would take up his solitary post by the banks of

Cherith, or tread his weary way to Zarephath of Zidon in undeviating

obedience to "the word of the Lord." Israel of old were not allowed to

have any plans of their own; Jehovah planned and arranged everything

for them. He told them when and where they were to move and halt; at

various intervals He signified His sovereign pleasure to them by the

movement of the cloud above their heads. "Whether it were two days, or

a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle,

remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and

journeyed not; but when it was taken up they journeyed. At the

commandment of the Lord they rested in their tents, and at the

commandment of the Lord they journeyed" (Num. ix. 22, 23).

Such was the happy condition of the Lord's redeemed, while passing

from Egypt to Canaan. They never could have _their own way_, as

regards their movements. If an Israelite had refused to move when the

cloud moved, or to halt when it halted, _he would have been left to

starve in the wilderness_. The rock and the manna followed them while

they followed Jehovah; in other words, food and refreshment were alone

to be found in the path of simple obedience. Just so was it with

Elijah; he was not permitted to have a will of his own; he could not

fix the time of his sojourn at Cherith, nor the time for his removal

to Zarephath; "the word of the Lord" settled all for him, and when he

obeyed it he found sustenance.

What a lesson for the Christian in all this! The path of obedience is

alone the path of happiness. If we were more successful in doing

violence to self, our spiritual condition would be far more vigorous

and healthy than it is. Nothing so ministers to health and vigor of

soul as undeviating obedience; there is strength gained by the very

effort to obey. This is true in the case of all, but specially so as

regards those who stand in the capacity of ministers of the Lord. Such

must walk in obedience if they would be used in ministry. How could

Elijah have said, as he afterwards did, upon Mount Carmel, "If the

Lord be God, _follow Him_," if his own private path had exhibited a

wilful and rebellious spirit? Impossible. The path of a servant must

be the path of obedience, otherwise he ceases to be a servant. The

word _servant_ is as inseparably linked with _obedience_, as is _work_

with _workman_. "A servant," as another has observed, "must move when

the bell rings." Would that we were all more alive to the sound of our

Master's bell, and more ready to run in the direction in which it

summons us. "_Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth._" Here is our

proper language. Whether the word of the Lord summons us from our

retirement into the midst of our brethren, or from thence into

retirement again, may our language ever be, "Speak, Lord, for thy

servant heareth." The word of the Lord, and the attentive ear of a

servant, are all we need to carry us safely and happily onward.

Now, this path of obedience is by no means an easy one; it involves

the constant abandonment of self, and can only be pursued as the eye

is steadily kept on God, and the conscience kept under the action of

His truth. True, there is a rich reward in every act of obedience, yet

flesh and blood must be set aside, and this is no easy work. Witness

the path of our prophet. He was first called to take his place by the

brook Cherith, to be fed by ravens! How could flesh and blood

understand this? Then again, when the brook failed, he is called away

to a distant city of Zidon, there to be nourished by a destitute widow

who seemed to be at the very point of dying of starvation! Here was

the command: "Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon,

and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to

sustain thee."

And what confirmation did Elijah derive from appearances, upon his

arrival at this place? None whatever; but everything to fill him with

doubts and fears had he been looking at circumstances in the matter.

"So he arose, and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of

the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks; and

he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a

vessel, that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch it, he called

to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine

hand. And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but

a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and

behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for

me and my son, that we may eat it, and die."

This was the scene that presented itself to the eye of the prophet

when he had arrived at his divinely appointed destination. Truly a

gloomy and depressing one to flesh and blood. But Elijah conferred not

with flesh and blood; his spirit was sustained by the immutable word

of Jehovah; his confidence was based upon the faithfulness of God, and

he needed no aid from things around him. The horizon might look dark

and heavy to mortal vision, but the eye of faith could pierce the

clouds, and see beyond them all "the firm foundation which is laid for

faith in Jehovah's excellent word."

How precious, then, is the word of God! Well might the psalmist say,

"Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage forever." Precious

heritage! Pure, incorruptible, immortal truth! How should we bless our

God for having made it our inalienable portion--a portion which, when

all sublunary things shall have vanished from view, when the world

shall have passed away and the lust thereof, when all flesh shall have

been consumed as withered grass, shall prove to the faithful a real,

an eternal, an enduring substance. "Thanks be to God for His

unspeakable gift."

But what were the circumstances which met the prophet's eye upon his

approach to Zarephath? A widow and her son starving, two sticks, and a

handful of meal! And yet the word was, "I have commanded a widow woman

there to sustain thee." How trying, how deeply mysterious, was all

this! Elijah, however, staggered not at the promise of God through

unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. He knew that

it was the Most High and Almighty God, the possessor of heaven and

earth, that was to meet his necessities; hence, though there had been

neither oil nor meal, it would have made no matter to him, for he

looked beyond circumstances to the God of circumstances. He saw not

the widow, but God. He looked not at the handful of meal, but at the

divine command; therefore his spirit was perfectly calm and unruffled

in the midst of circumstances which would have crushed the spirit of

one walking by sight, and he was able, without a shadow of doubt, to

say, "Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not

waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the

Lord sendeth rain upon the earth."

Here we have the reply of faith to the language of unbelief. "Thus

saith the Lord" settles everything. The moment the spirit apprehends

God's promise, there is an end to the reasonings of unbelief. Unbelief

puts circumstances between the soul and God; faith puts God between

the soul and circumstances. This is a very important difference. May

we walk in the power and energy of faith, to the praise of Him whom

faith ever honors!

But there is another point in this lovely scene to be particularly

noticed: it is the way in which death ever hovers around the spirit of

one not walking by faith. "That we may eat it and die" is the language

of the widow. Death and unbelief are inseparably linked together. The

spirit can only be conducted along the path of life by the energy of

faith: hence if faith be not in energy, there is no life, no power, no

elevation. Thus was it with this poor widow: her hope of life was

based upon the barrel of meal and the cruse of oil: beyond these she

saw no springs of life, no hope of continuance. Her soul knew not as

yet the real blessedness of communion with the living God to whom

alone belong the issues from death. She was not yet able against hope

to believe in hope. Alas, what a poor, frail, tottering thing is that

hope which rests only on a cruse of oil and a barrel of meal! How

scanty must be those expectations which only rest on the creature!

And are we not all but too prone to lean upon something quite as mean

and paltry in God's view as a handful of meal? Truly we are; and it

must be so where God is not apprehended by the soul. To faith it is

either God or nothing. A handful of meal will afford, in the hand of

God and to the view of faith, as efficient materials as the cattle

upon a thousand hills. "We have here but five loaves and two small

fishes; but _what are these amongst so many?_" This is the language of

the human heart; but faith never says what are _these_ amongst so

many? but what is _God_ among so many? Unbelief says _we_ are not

able; faith says, but _God_ is well able.

And would it not be well, ere we turn from this interesting point in

our subject, to apply these principles to the poor, conscience-smitten

sinner? How often is such an one found clinging to some vain resource

for the pardon of his sins, rather than to the accomplished work of

Christ upon the cross, which has forever satisfied the claims of

divine justice, and ought therefore, surely, to satisfy the cravings

of his guilty conscience. "I have no man, when the water is troubled,

to put me into the pool; but while I am coming, another steppeth down

before me." Such is the language of one who had not as yet learned to

look beyond all human aid, straight to Jesus. "_I have no man_," says

the poor, guilty, unbelieving sinner: but I have _Jesus_, says the

believer; and he may add, Thus saith the Lord, The cleansing efficacy

of the blood shall not fail, nor its preciousness diminish, until the

time that the Lord shall have safely housed His ransomed forever in

His own heavenly mansions.

Hence, if these pages should meet the eye of any poor, halting,

trembling, fearful sinner, I would invite him to take comfort from the

precious truth that God has, in His infinite grace, set the cross of

Jesus between him and his sins, if only he will believe the divine

testimony. The great difference between a believer and an unbeliever

is this: the former has Christ between him and his sins; the latter

has his sins between him and Christ. Now, with the former, Christ is

the all-engrossing object: he looks not at the enormity of his sin,

but at the value of the blood and the preciousness of the person of

Christ: he knows that God is not now on the judgment-seat, but on the

mercy-seat: if He were on the former, His thoughts would be simply

occupied about the question of sin, but being on the latter, His

thoughts are, blessed be His name, as purely occupied about the blood.

Oh for more simple and abiding communion with the mind of Heaven, and

more complete abstraction from the things and thoughts of earth! The

Lord grant more of both to all His saints!

It has been already observed that the man of faith must be emptied

from vessel to vessel; each successive scene and stage of the

believer's life is but his entrance upon a new form in the school of

Christ, where he has to learn some fresh and, of course, more

difficult lesson. But, it may be asked, what more trying circumstances

had Elijah to grapple with at Zarephath than at Cherith? Was it not

better to be cast upon human sympathies than to have ravens as his

channel of supply? And further, was it not more pleasing to the spirit

to be domesticated with human beings than to dwell in the loneliness

and solitude of the brook Cherith? All this might have been so, no

doubt; yet solitude has its sweets, and association its trials. There

are selfish interests which work amongst men, and hinder that refined

and exquisite enjoyment which human society ought to yield, and which

it will yield, when humanity stands forth in its divinely-imparted

perfections.

Our prophet heard no such words as "_me and my son_" when he took up

his abode by the brook. There was there no selfish interest acting as

a barrier to his sustenance and enjoyment. No, but the moment he

passed from his retirement into human society, then he was called to

feel that the human heart does not like to have its own objects in

the least interfered with; he was called to enter into the deep

meaning of the words "_me and my son_," which unfold the hidden

springs of selfishness, which actuate humanity in its fallen

condition.

But it will doubtless be observed that it was natural for the widow's

heart to entertain thoughts of herself and her son in preference to

any one else, and surely it was _natural_; it is what nature ever

does. Harken to the following words of a genuine child of nature:

"Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have

killed for my shearers, and give it unto men whom I know not whence

they be?" (I Sam. xxv. II).

Nature will ever seek its own first; nor does it come within the

compass of this perishing world so to fill the human soul as to make

it overflow for the benefit of others. It is the province of God alone

to do this. It is utterly in vain to try to expand the heart of man by

any instrumentality save the abundant grace of God. This it is which

will cause him to open wide the door of his affections to every needy

applicant. Human benevolence may do much where abundant resources

prevent the possibility of personal privation, but grace alone will

enable a man to trample personal interests underfoot to meet the

claims of another. "Men will praise thee when thou doest well to

thyself." This is the world's principle, and nothing can make us

unlearn it but the knowledge of the fact that God has done well for

us, and, morever, that it is our best interest to let Him continue to

do so unto the end.

Now it was the knowledge of this divine principle that enabled our

prophet to say, "Make _me_ thereof a little cake _first_, and bring it

unto _me_, and _after_ make for thee and thy son." Elijah was, in his

address, simply putting in the divine claim upon the widow's

resources; and, as we know, the result of a true and ready response to

that claim will be a rich harvest of blessing to the soul. There was,

however, a demand upon the widow's faith in all this. She was called

to act a trying and difficult part, in the energy of faith in a divine

promise, "Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall

not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the

Lord sendeth rain upon the earth."

And is it not thus with every believer? Undoubtedly it is; we must act

in faith. The promise of God must ever constitute the great moving

principle in the soul of the Christian. There would have been no room

for the exercise of faith on the part of the widow had the barrel been

full; but when it was exhausted, when she was reduced to her last

handful, to be told to give of that handful to a stranger _first_, was

surely a large demand, to which nothing but faith could have enabled

her to respond. But the Lord often deals with His people as He dealt

with His disciples in the matter of feeding the multitude. "This He

said to prove them, for He Himself knew what He would do." He

frequently tells us to take a step involving considerable trial, and

in the very act of taking it we not only see the reason of it, but

also get strength to proceed. In fact, all the divine claims upon us

for action are based upon the principle involved in the command to the

children of Israel of old, "Speak to the children of Israel that they

go forward." Whither were they to go? Through the sea. Strange path!

Yet behind this trying command we see grace providing the ability to

execute it in the word to Moses, "But lift thou up thy rod, and

stretch out thy hand over the sea, and divide it; and the children of

Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea" (Ex. xiv.

16). Faith enables a man, being called, to go out not knowing whither

he goes.

But there is more than the mere principle of obedience to be learned

from this truly interesting scene between Elijah and the widow of

Zarephath: we learn, also, that nothing but the superior power of

divine grace can lift the human mind above the freezing atmosphere of

selfishness in which fallen man lives, and moves, and has his being.

The effulgence of God's benevolence shining in upon the soul disperses

those mists in which the world is enveloped, and enables a man to

think and act upon higher and nobler principles than those which

actuate the moving mass around him. This poor widow had left her house

influenced by no higher motive than self-interest and self-preservation,

and having no more brilliant object before her mind than death. And is

it in any wise different with multitudes around us? Yea, is it a whit

better in the case of any unregenerate man on earth? Not a whit. The

most illustrious, the most intellectual, the most learned--in a word,

every man upon whose spirit the light of divine grace has never shone,

will be found, in God's estimation, like this poor widow, influenced

by motives of self-interest and self-preservation, and having no

brighter prospect before him than death.

The truth of God, however, speedily alters the aspect of things. In

the case of the widow it acted most powerfully: it sent her back to

her house occupied about and interested for another, and with her soul

filled with cheering thoughts of life. And so will it ever be. Let but

the soul get into communion with the truth and grace of God, and it is

at once delivered from this present evil world, it is turned aside out

of the current which is rapidly hurrying millions away upon its

surface. It becomes actuated by heavenly motives, and animated by

heavenly objects. Grace teaches a man to live and act for others. The

more our souls taste the sweetness of redeeming love, the more earnest

will be our desire to serve others. Oh that we all felt more deeply

and abidingly the constraining power of the love of Christ, in this

day of lamentable coldness and indifference! Would to God we could all

live and act in the remembrance that we are not our own, but bought

with a price!

The widow of Zarephath was taught this truth. The Lord not only put in

His claim to the handful of meal and the cruse of oil, but also laid

His hand upon her son--the cherished object of her affections. Death

visits the house in which the Lord's prophet, in company with the

widow and her son, were feeding together on the precious fruits of

divine benevolence. "It came to pass, after these things, that the son

of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness

was so sore that there was no breath left in him." Now this son, as we

know, had, in common with herself, stood in her way in the matter of

her ready response to the divine claim as put forward by Elijah; hence

there is solemn instruction for the saint in the death of this child.

So surely as we allow _any object_, whether it be parent or child,

husband or wife, brother or sister, to obstruct us in our path of

simple obedience and devotedness to Christ, we may rest assured that

object will be removed. This widow had given her son a higher place in

her thoughts than the Lord's prophet, and the son was taken from her

that she might learn that it was not merely "the handful of meal" that

should be held in subjection to the Lord and in readiness for Him, but

also her dearest earthly object.

It needs no small measure of the spirit of Christ to hold everything

in mere stewardship for God. We are so prone to look upon things as

ours, instead of remembering that all we have, and all we are, belongs

to the Lord, and should ever be given up at His call. Nor is this a

mere matter of rightful obedience; it is for our lasting benefit and

happiness. The widow responded to God's claim on her handful of meal;

and what follows? She and her house are sustained for years! Again

the Lord lays His hand upon her son; and what follows? Her son is

raised from the dead by the mighty power of God, thus teaching her

that the Lord could not only sustain life, but impart it.

Resurrection-power is brought to bear upon her circumstances, and she

receives her son now, as she had received her supplies before,

directly from the hand of the Lord God of Israel. How happy to be a

dependent upon such bounty! How happy to go to our barrel of meal, or

our cruse of oil, and find it daily replenished by our Father's

generous hand! How happy to hold the dearest object of our affections

in the power of resurrection ties! Such are the privileges of the

weakest believer in Jesus.

Before, however, I turn from this branch of our subject, I would

observe that the effect which the divine visitation produced upon this

widow was to awaken a solemn inquiry in her conscience as to her sin.

"Art thou come to call my sin to remembrance?" When the Lord comes

near to us, there will always be observed a divine quickness and

sensitiveness of conscience which are most earnestly to be sought

after. One may often pass on from day to day in the ordinary routine

of life, in the enjoyment, too, of a replenished barrel and cruse,

without much deep exercise of conscience before God. The latter will

only be found where there is really close walking with God, or some

special visitation of His hand. Had the Lord merely met the poor

widow's need from day to day, there might never have been a question

of "sin" raised in her mind; but when death entered, conscience began

to work, for death is the wages of sin.

There is a twofold action in all the divine dealings with us, namely,

an action of _truth_, and an action of _grace_. The former discovers

the evil, the latter puts it away; that unfolds what man is, this what

God is; that brings out into the light the hidden workings of evil in

the heart of man, this brings out, in contrast, the rich and

exhaustless springs of grace in the heart of God. Now, both are

needful: _truth_, for the maintenance of God's glory; _grace_, for the

establishment of our blessing; that, for the vindication of the divine

character and attributes, this for the perfect repose of the sinner's

heart and conscience. How blessed to know that both "grace and truth

came by Jesus Christ." The divine dealings with the widow of Zarephath

would not have been complete had they not elicited from her the

confession contained in the last verse of our chapter, "By _this_ I

know thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth

is _truth_." She had learnt _grace_ in the marvelous supply of her

need; she learnt _truth_ in the death of her son.

And if we were only more spiritually sensitive and quick-sighted, we

should at all times perceive these two features in our Father's mode

of dealing with us. We are the constant recipients of His grace, and

again and again we get examples of His truth in the dealings of His

hand which are more particularly designed to bring out the evil from

the hidden chambers of the heart, in order that we may judge and put

it away. While we see our barrel and cruse replenished, conscience is

apt to slumber, but when Jehovah knocks at the door of our hearts by

some chastening dispensation, forthwith it wakes up and enters with

vigor upon the seasonable work of self-judgment.

Now, while we cannot too strongly deprecate that form of

self-examination which frequently genders doubt as to the fact of the

soul's acceptance, yet we must remember that _self must be judged_ or

we shall break down altogether. The believer is not told to examine

himself with any such idea as that the examination may issue in the

discovery that he is not in the faith. This idea is often based upon

an unsound interpretation of 2 Cor. xiii. 5, "Examine yourselves,

whether ye be in the faith," etc. Now, the idea in the mind of the

apostle was the very reverse of what is sought to be deduced from his

words, as may at once be seen by a little attention to the context. It

would seem that the assembly at Corinth had given a place amongst them

to certain false apostles who presumed to call in question the

ministry of the apostle Paul, thus rendering it necessary for the

latter to enter upon a defense of his apostleship, which he does,

first, by a reference to his general course of service and testimony;

and secondly, by a touching appeal to the Corinthian saints. "Since,"

says he, "ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, ... examine

yourselves." The most powerful and, to them at least, affecting proof

of the divine authority of his apostleship was to be deduced from the

fact that they were in the faith. It cannot therefore for a moment be

supposed that he would have told them to examine themselves in order

to prove his heavenly mission if that examination were to issue in the

discovery that they were not in the faith at all: on the contrary, it

was because he had a well-grounded assurance that they were

"sanctified in Christ Jesus," that he could confidently appeal to them

as an evidence that his mission was from above.

There is, however, considerable difference between what is called

"self-examination" and self-judgment; not so much in the abstract

things themselves as in the ideas which we attach to them. It is a

most blessed exercise to judge nature--honestly, solemnly and rigidly

to judge that evil nature which we carry about with us, and which ever

clogs and hinders us in running the race set before us. The Lord grant

us all more spiritual power to exercise this judgment continually. But

then we must take great care that our examination of self does not

savor of mistrusting God. It is upon the ground of God's grace and

faithfulness that I judge myself. _If God be not God, there is an end

of everything._

But there was also a voice in this visitation for Elijah. He had

presented himself to the widow in the character of a man of God, and

he therefore needed to establish his claims to that character. This

Jehovah graciously did for him by the resurrection of the child. "By

_this_ I know," said she, "that thou art a man of God." It was

resurrection that vindicated his claim upon her confidence. There must

be the exhibition of a measure of resurrection power in the life of

the man of God ere his claim to that character can be fully

established. This power will show itself in the form of victory over

self in all its odious workings. The believer is risen with Christ--he

is made a partaker of the divine nature, but he is still in the world,

and bears about with him a body of humiliation; and if he does not

deny himself, he will soon find his character as a man of God called

in question.

It would, however, be but a miserable object merely to seek

_self-vindication_. The prophet had a higher and nobler aim, namely,

to establish the truth of the word of the Lord in his mouth. This is

the proper object of the man of God. His own character and reputation

should be matters of small moment with him, save as they stand

connected with the word of the Lord in his mouth. It was simply for

the purpose of maintaining the divine origin of the gospel which he

preached that the apostle Paul entered upon the defense of his

apostleship in his epistles to the Galatians and Corinthians. It

mattered little to him what they thought of Paul, but it mattered much

what they thought of Paul's gospel. Hence, for their sakes, he was

anxious to prove that the word of the Lord in his mouth was truth. How

important, then, was it for the prophet to have such a testimony to

the divine origin of his ministry before entering upon the scenes in

which he is seen moving in chap, xviii.! He gained thus much at least

by his retirement at Zarephath; and surely it was not a little. His

spirit was blessedly confirmed; he received a divine seal to his

ministry; he approved himself to the conscience of one with whom he

had sojourned for a long period, and was enabled to start afresh upon

his public career with the happy assurance that he was a man of God,

and that the word of the Lord in his mouth was truth.[16]

[16] I may just add a word here on the subject of self-vindication. It

is truly sorrowful when the servant of God is obliged to vindicate

himself; it shows there must be something wrong either in himself or

in those who have rendered it needful for him thus to act. When,

however, such a course becomes necessary, there is one grand object to

be kept clearly before the mind, namely, the glory of Christ, and the

purity of the truth committed to his trust. It too frequently happens

that when any charge is brought either against our ministry or our

personal character, the pride of our hearts is drawn out, and we are

quick to stand up in self defense. Now, we should remember that, apart

from our connection with Christ and His saints, we are but vile atoms

of the dust, utterly unworthy of a thought or word; it should

therefore be far from our thoughts to seek the establishment of our

own reputation. We have been constituted the depositaries, to a

certain extent, of the reputation of Christ; and provided we preserve

that unsullied, we need not be careful about self.

The Lord grant us all grace to walk in the abiding consciousness of

our high dignities and holy responsibilities as the "epistle of

Christ, known and read of all men"!

We have now arrived at the close of a very important stage of Elijah's

history, embracing a period of three years and a half, during which he

was hidden from the view of Israel. We have been occupied simply with

the consideration of those principles of truth which lie on the

surface of Elijah's personal history. But may we not draw instruction

from his course viewed in a mystic sense? I believe we may. The

reference of Christ Himself to the prophet's mission to the Gentile

widow may justly lead us to see therein the blessed foreshadowing of

the gathering of the Gentiles into the Church of God. "But I tell you

of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the

heaven was shut up for three years and six months, when great famine

was throughout all the land; but unto none of them was Elias sent,

save unto Sarepta, a city of Zidon, unto a woman that was a widow"

(Luke iv. 25, 26). The Lord Jesus had presented Himself to Israel as

the prophet of God, but found no response; the daughter of Zion

refused to hear the voice of her Lord. "The gracious words which

proceeded out of His mouth" were answered by the carnal inquiry, "Is

not this Joseph's son?" He therefore finds relief for His spirit, in

the view of Israel's scorn and rejection, in the happy reflection that

there were objects beyond Jewish bounds to whom the divine grace of

which He was the channel could flow out in all its richness and

purity. The grace of God is such that if it be stopped by the pride,

unbelief, or hardness of heart of some, it will only flow more

copiously to others, and so, "Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall

I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and My God shall be My

strength. And He said, It is a light thing that Thou shouldst be My

servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved

of Israel: I will also give Thee for _a light to the Gentiles_, that

Thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth" (Isa. xlix. 5,

6). The precious truth of the call of the Gentiles is largely taught

in Scripture, both by type and precept, and it might be serviceable at

another time to enter fully upon the consideration of it in its

various ramifications; but my object, in this paper, is rather to

consider the life and ministry of our prophet in a simple and

practical way, with the hope that the Lord would be graciously pleased

to acknowledge such simple reflections for the comfort and edification

of His people of every name and denomination.

SECTION III.

THE HOUSE OF AHAB

We must now leave our prophet, for a season, and turn our attention to

the sad condition of things in Israel during the time that he was

hidden with God. Terrible indeed must be the condition of things on

earth when "the heaven is shut up." Sterile and dreary must be the

aspect of this lower world when heaven withholds its refreshing

showers, and specially of that land which was to "drink water of the

rain of heaven." Egypt might not have regarded much the shutting up of

heaven, seeing she had never been wont to look thither for her

supplies. She had her resources in herself. "My river is mine own,"

was her independent language. But such was not the case with the

Lord's land--"the land of hills and valleys." If heaven yielded not

its supplies, all was parched and sterile. Israel could not say, "My

river is mine own." No; they were ever taught to look up; their eyes

were always to be upon the Lord, as the Lord's eyes were ever upon

them. Hence, when anything arose to hinder the intercourse between

heaven and earth, the land of Canaan was made to feel it with painful

intensity.

Thus it was "in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three

years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land."

Israel was made to feel the dreadful consequences of departure from

their only source of real blessing. "There was sore famine in Samaria,

and Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of

water, and unto all brooks; peradventure we may find grass to save the

horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts. So they

divided the land between them, to pass throughout it; Ahab went one

way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself." Israel had

sinned, and Israel must feel the rod of Jehovah's righteous anger.

What a humbling picture of God's ancient people, to see their king

going forth to look for grass! What a contrast between all this and

the rich abundance and glory of Solomon's day! But God had been

grossly dishonored, and His truth rejected. Jezebel had sent forth the

pestilential influence of her principles by the instrumentality of her

wicked prophets--Baal's altar had superseded the altar of God; hence

the heaven above was iron, and the earth beneath brass; the physical

aspect of things was but the expression of Israel's hardness of heart

and low moral condition.

Now there is not so much as a word about God in Ahab's directions to

his servants--not a syllable about the sin that had called down the

heavy displeasure and judgment of God upon the land. No; the word is,

"Go unto all fountains and brooks." Such was Ahab's thought, his poor

groveling thought; his heart turned not, in true humility, to

Jehovah; he cried not to Him in the hour of his need; hence his word

is, "peradventure _we may find grass_." God is shut out, and self is

the all-engrossing object. Provided he could find _grass_, he cared

not about finding _God_. He could have enjoyed himself in the midst of

Jezebel's idolatrous prophets, had not the horrors of famine driven

him forth: and then, instead of searching out the cause of the famine,

in true self-judgment and humility, and seeking for pardon and

restoration at the hand of God, he goes forth, in impenitent

selfishness, to look for grass. Alas! he had sold himself to work

wickedness; he had become the slave of Jezebel; his palace had become

a cage of every unclean bird; Baal's prophets, like so many vultures,

hovered around his throne, and from thence spread the leaven of

idolatry over the whole land. Oh, it is a truly awful thing to allow

the heart to depart from the Lord. One cannot tell where it may end.

Ahab was an Israelite, but he had allowed himself to be ensnared by a

false religious system, at the head of which was Jezebel his wife; he

had made shipwreck of faith and a good conscience, and was driven

headlong into the most abandoned wickedness. There is no one so bad as

the man who turns aside from the ways of God. Such an one is sure to

plunge into more profound depths of wickedness than even the ordinary

victims of sin and Satan. The devil seems to take special delight in

making such an one an instrument in carrying out his malignant designs

against the truth of God.

Reader, if you have ever been taught to value the ways of truth and

holiness, if you have ever taken delight in God and His ways, be

watchful; "keep thy heart with all diligence;" beware of false

religious influence; you are moving through a scene in which the very

atmosphere you breathe is noxious, and destructive of spiritual life.

The enemy has with hellish sagacity--a sagacity sharpened by well-nigh

six thousand years' acquaintance with the constitution of the human

mind--laid his snares on all sides of you, and nothing but permanent

communion with your heavenly Father will avail to preserve your soul.

Remember Ahab, and pray continually to be kept from temptation.

The following passage of Scripture may well be used, in connection

with Ahab, as a solemn and seasonable warning: "Cursed be the man that

trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth

from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall

not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the

wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited" (Jer. xvii. 5, 6).

Such was the wretched Ahab--wretched though favored with a diadem and

a sceptre. He cared neither for God nor his people. In his sayings and

doings, on the melancholy occasion to which we are referring, we find

as little about Israel as about God. There is not one word about the

people that had been committed to his care, and who ought, after God,

to have been his great object. His earthly mind seems to have been

unable to reach beyond "the horses and mules." Such were the objects

of Ahab's anxious solicitude in the day of Israel's direful calamity.

Alas, what a contrast between all this low and groveling selfishness

and the noble spirit of the man after God's own heart, who, when the

land was trembling beneath the heavy stroke of Jehovah's chastening

rod, could say, "Is it not I that have commanded the people to be

numbered: _even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed_; but as

for _these sheep_, what have they done? let Thy hand, I pray Thee, O

Lord my God, be on me, and on my father's house; but not on Thy

people, that they should be plagued" (I Chron. xxi. 17).

Here was the true spirit of a king. David, in the spirit of his

blessed Master, would expose his own bosom to the stroke, in order

that the sheep might escape; he would "stand between them and the

foe;" he would turn the sceptre into a shepherd's crook; he thought

not of his "horses and mules;" yea, he thought not of himself or his

father's house, but of the people of God's pasture, and the sheep of

His hand. Happy, ineffably happy, will it be for Israel's scattered

tribes to find themselves again under the tender care of the true

David.

It might be profitable to follow out a little more fully the history

of Ahab; to dwell upon his unprincipled treatment of the righteous

Naboth; of the alluring influence exerted by him over the mind of the

good king Jehoshaphat, and of many other circumstances in his unhappy

reign; but all this would lead us too far from our subject. We shall

therefore advert for a few moments to the character of an important

member of Ahab's household, and then return to Elijah.

Obadiah, the governor of Ahab's house, was one who, in the secret of

his own spirit, feared the Lord, but who was planted in a most

unhallowed atmosphere. The house of the wicked Ahab, and his still

more wicked consort, must have been a painful school for the righteous

soul of Obadiah; and so he found it. He was hindered in service and

testimony. What he did for the Lord was done by stealth. He was afraid

to act openly and decidedly; yet he did quite enough to show what he

would have done had he been planted in a more congenial soil, and

cherished by a more healthful atmosphere. "He took a hundred prophets,

and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water."

This was a most precious token of devotedness of heart to the Lord--a

blessed triumph of divine principle over the most untoward

circumstances.

Thus it was with Jonathan in the house of Saul. He, too, was sadly

hindered in his service to God and to Israel. He should have stood

forth in more entire separation from the evil in which his father

lived, and moved; his place at Saul's table should have been vacant as

well as David's; the cave of Adullam would have been his proper place,

where, in holy companionship with the rejected David and his despised

band of followers, he might have found a wider and more suited range

in which to manifest his affectionate devotedness to God and His

anointed.

Human expediency, however, might, and doubtless would, have

recommended Jonathan to remain in Saul's house, and Obadiah to remain

in Ahab's house, as being "the sphere in which Providence had placed

them;" but expediency is not faith, nor will it aid a man in his path

of service, whatever it may be. Faith will ever lead a man to break

through the freezing rules of human expediency, in order that it may

express itself in a way not to be mistaken. Jonathan felt constrained

at times to leave the table of Saul in order that he might embrace

David: but he should have abandoned it altogether; he should have cast

in his lot entirely with David; he ought not to have rested satisfied

with speaking _for_ his brother, he should have identified himself

_with_ him. But he did not do so, and therefore he fell on Mount

Gilboa, by the hand of the uncircumcised. Thus, in his life he was

harassed and hindered by the unrighteous principle of rule which Saul

had set up to entangle and bind the consciences of the faithful, and

in his death he was ingloriously mingled with the uncircumcised.

Just so it was with Obadiah. It was his lot to stand in connection

with the man who occupied the lowest step of that ladder of apostasy

whereby the kings of Israel had descended from original principles.

Hence he was obliged to act stealthily for God and His servants; he

was afraid of Ahab and Jezebel; he lacked boldness and energy to

stand out in decided testimony against all abominations; he had no

room for the development of his renewed energies or affections; his

soul was withered by the noxious vapors around him, and he could

therefore exert but little influence on his day and generation. Hence,

while Elijah was boldly confronting Ahab, and openly serving the Lord,

Obadiah was openly serving Ahab, and stealthily serving the Lord.

While Elijah was breathing the holy atmosphere of Jehovah's presence,

Obadiah was breathing the polluted atmosphere of Ahab's wicked court.

While Elijah was receiving his daily supplies from the hand of the God

of Israel, Obadiah was ranging the country in search of grass for

Ahab's horses.

Truly a most striking contrast! And is there not at this moment many

an Obadiah similarly occupied? Is there not many a God-fearing man

sharing, in common with the children of this world, its death and

misery, and laboring in co-operation with them to avert its impending

ruin? Doubtless there is. And is this fit work for such? Should "the

mules and horses" of an ungodly world engross the thoughts and

energies of the Christian, instead of the interests of the Church of

God? Ah no! it should not be so. The Christian should have a nobler

end in view--a higher and more heavenly sphere in which to use his

energies. God, and not Ahab, demands and deserves our devotion.

This is a very wide question, and there are few amongst us that may

not learn a lesson from it. Let us ask ourselves honestly, as before

the Searcher of hearts, what are we doing? What object are we

carrying out? What end have we in view? Are we sowing to the flesh?

Are we working for merely earthly objects? Have we no higher end in

view than self or this present world?

Oh these are searching questions, when rightly put! The tendency of

the human heart and affections is ever downward--ever toward earth and

the things of earth. The palace of Ahab holds out far more powerful

attractions to our fallen nature than the lonely banks of Cherith or

the house of the starving widow of Zarephath. But ah, _let us think of

the end_! The end alone is the true criterion by which to judge in

such matters. "Until I went into _the sanctuary of God_; then

understood I _their end_" (Psa. lxxiii. 17).

Elijah knew, by being in the sanctuary, that Ahab stood in a slippery

place; that his house would speedily crumble in the dust; that all his

pomp and glory was about to end in the lonely tomb, and his immortal

spirit to be summoned to render its final account. These things the

holy man of God thoroughly understood, and he was therefore well

content to stand apart from it all. His leathern girdle, his homely

fare, his lonely path, were far better, he felt, than all the

pleasures of Ahab's court. Such was his judgment, and we shall see,

ere we close this paper, that his judgment was sound. "The world

passeth away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God

abideth forever." Would that all who love the name of Jesus were more

uncompromising and energetic in their testimony for Him! The time is

rapidly approaching when we would give worlds that we had been more

_true and real_ in our ways here below. We are too lukewarm, too much

inclined to make terms with the world and the flesh, too ready to

exchange the leathern girdle for the robe in which Ahab and Jezebel

are most willing to array us.

May the Lord give all His people grace to testify against this world

that the deeds thereof are evil, and to stand apart from its ways, its

maxims and principles; in a word, from everything which properly

belongs to it. "The night is far spent, and the day is at hand." Let

us then cast off the works of darkness and stand clothed in the armor

of light; let us, as those that are risen with Christ, set our

affection on things above, and not on things on the earth; having "our

citizenship in heaven," let us, with unceasing eagerness, "look for

the Saviour from thence, who shall change the body of our humiliation,

that it may be fashioned like unto the body of His glory, according to

the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things to Himself."

_SECTION IV._

THE PROPHET ON MOUNT CARMEL

In the opening verse of chapter xviii. a new order is issued to our

prophet. "And it came to pass, after many days, that the word of the

Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go show thyself unto

Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth."

Here Elijah is summoned away from his retirement at Zarephath, to make

his appearance in public and stand again before king Ahab. To one

occupying the position, and exhibiting the spirit, of a true servant,

it matters not what summons he receives. Whether it be "Go _hide_

thyself," or "Go _show_ thyself," he is ready, through grace, to obey.

The Lord had been training His servant for three years and a half in

secret. At Cherith and Zarephath He had taught him many important

lessons; and when the time was come for his showing unto Israel, he

was called to leave the desert and appear again as the public witness

of Jehovah.

Nor did he hesitate. No, not for a moment, however much he might have

preferred retirement to the stormy scenes and harassing vicissitudes

of public life. Elijah was a _servant_, and that was enough. He was as

ready to confront the angry Ahab, and all the prophets of Baal, as he

had been to seclude himself for three years and a half. Truly we may

well covet the spirit of a servant--a humble, obedient servant. Such a

spirit will carry us through many difficulties; will save us from much

contention; will send us along the path of service while others are

disputing about it. If only we be willing to obey, and to serve, we

shall never lack opportunity, nor be at a loss as to the path we

should pursue.[17]

[17] In every age the servant character is marked by the Holy Ghost as

one of special value. It is, in fact, the only thing that will stand

in times of general declension. Of this we have numerous examples in

Scripture. When the house of Eli was about to fall before the divine

judgment, Samuel occupied the position of a servant whose ear was

opened to hear. His word was, "Speak, Lord, for _Thy servant_

heareth." When all Israel had fled from the face of the Philistine

champion, the servant character again stood prominently forth. "Thy

_servant_ will go and fight," etc. The Lord Jesus Himself had the

title of Servant applied to Him by Jehovah, in the words of the

prophet, "Behold my _Servant_," etc. Furthermore, when the Church had

failed, and had become "the great house," "the _servant_ of the Lord"

was told how he ought to carry himself. And lastly, it is mentioned as

one of the special features of the heavenly Jerusalem, that "His

_servants_ shall _serve_ Him." The Lord grant us more of this spirit!

We have already had occasion to notice the prophet's unhesitating

obedience to the word of the Lord. Such obedience will ever involve

the abandonment of self. To be told, for example, to leave one's sweet

retreat in order to appear before an angry tyrant who, with his wicked

queen, led on to the contest a host of idolatrous prophets, called

for no small measure of self-renunciation. But Elijah, through grace,

was ready. He felt he was not his own. _He was a servant_, and as such

ever stood with girded loins and open ears to attend his Master's

summons, whatever it might be. Blessed attitude! May there be many

found therein!

Elijah, therefore, goes to meet king Ahab, and we are called to follow

him now into one of the most important scenes of his life.

Before, however, he comes in contact with Ahab, he crosses the path of

Obadiah, and his meeting with him is perfectly characteristic. Obadiah

certainly does not meet the prophet with that affectionate cordiality

which ought to appear in the bearing of one brother towards another,

but rather in the cold formality of one who had been moving much in

the world's society. "Art thou that _my lord_ Elijah?"

Now, though all this might have been occasioned by the overawing

solemnity of Elijah's appearance and manner, still the thought forces

itself upon one that there ought to have been more holy familiarity

between two servants of the Lord. Elijah, too, seems to maintain this

distance. "I am," said he; "go tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here."

Elijah felt himself to be the depositary of the secret of the Lord, of

which secret his brother knew nothing.

And how could he? Ahab's house was not the place to obtain an entrance

into the divine counsels. Obadiah was out on a mission perfectly in

keeping with the place from whence he had come, and with the person

who had sent him; and so was Elijah. The former had as his immediate

object grass--if peradventure he might find it; and as his ultimate

object, the preservation of Ahab's horses and mules; the latter had as

his immediate object the announcement of Jehovah's indubitable purpose

concerning rain; and as his ultimate object, the bringing back of the

nation to its early faith and devotedness.

True they were both men of God; and, moreover, it may be said by some

that Obadiah was as much in his place as Elijah, seeing he was serving

his master. No doubt he was serving his master; but should Ahab have

been his master? I believe not. I believe his service to Ahab was not

the result of communion with God. True it did not rob him of his name

and character as one that feared the Lord greatly, for the Holy Ghost

has graciously recorded this concerning him; but truly it was a

miserable thing for one that feared the Lord greatly to own as his

master the worst of Israel's apostate kings. Elijah would not have

done so. We cannot think of him as going forth on such a mission as

that which was commanding the energies of his more worldly brother.

Elijah would not own Ahab as his _master_, though he was bound to own

him as his _king_.

There is a great difference between being _a subject_ and one in a

position under a monarch. People argue thus: "The powers that be are

ordained of God," therefore it is right to hold office under them.

But those who argue thus seem to lose sight of the manifest

distinction between being _subject to_ and _co-operating with_ the

powers that be: the former is a sound and scriptural service--an act

of positive obedience to God; the latter is an unsound and

unscriptural assumption of worldly authority, for the wielding of

which we have no direction, and which, moreover, will be found a sad

obstruction in the path of the servant of God.

We would not enter into judgment upon those who feel they can enlist

their energies in the government of this world; but this much we would

say--they will find themselves in an extremely awkward position in

reference to the service of their heavenly Master. The principles of

this world are diametrically opposed to those of God, and it is

therefore hard to conceive how a man can be carrying out both at the

same time.

Obadiah is a remarkable example of this. Had he been more openly on

the Lord's side, he would have had no need to say, "Was it not told my

lord what I did?" His hiding the prophets seems, in his estimation, to

have been such a remarkable thing that he wondered if all had not

heard it. Elijah had no need to ask such a question; it was well known

"what he did." His acts of service to God were no phenomena in his

history. And why? Because he was not trammeled by the arrangements of

Ahab's house. _He was free_, and could therefore act for God without

reference to the thoughts of Ahab or Jezebel.

In acting thus, however, he had to lie under the charge of troubling

Israel. "Art thou he that troubleth Israel?" The more faithful one is

to God and His truth, the more exposed he is to this charge. If all be

allowed to sleep "in dead supineness," the god of this world will be

well pleased, and his domain untroubled; but only let some faithful

one make his appearance, and he is sure to be regarded as a troubler,

and an intruder upon peace and good order. But it is well to have that

peace and order broken up which stand connected with the open denial

of the Lord's truth and name. The hearts of the earthly-minded may

only be occupied with the question, "Is it peace?" utterly regardless

as to whether that peace is procured at the expense of truth and

holiness. Nature loves ease, and may often be found, even amongst

Christians, pleading for peace and quietness, where faithfulness to

Christ and His principles would call for plain dealing with unsound

doctrine or evil practice.

The tendency of the age is to hold all religious questions in

abeyance. The things pertaining to the world and the flesh are of far

too much importance, in the estimate of this generation, to have them

interfered with for a moment by questions of eternal importance.

Elijah, however, thought not so. He seems to have felt that the

peaceful slumber of sin must be interrupted at all cost. He beheld the

nation wrapped in the deep sleep of idolatry, and he thought it well

to be the instrument of raising a storm around them.

So it was, and so it is. The storm of controversy is always preferable

to the calm of sin and worldliness. Truly happy is it when there is no

need of raising such a storm; but when it is needed--when the enemy

would stretch forth over the people of God "the leaden sceptre" of

unholy repose--it is a matter of thankfulness to find that there is

life enough even to break in upon such repose. Had there been no

Elijah in Israel in the days of Ahab and Jezebel, had all been like

Obadiah or the seven thousand, Baal and his prophets might have held

undisputed sway over the minds of the people. But God raised up a man

who cared not about his own ease; no, nor about the nation's ease, if

that ease were to be purchased at the expense of God's honor and

Israel's early principles. He feared not, in the strength of the Lord,

to face a terrific array of eight hundred and fifty prophets, whose

living depended upon the nation's delusion, headed, as they were, by a

furious woman who could turn her weak-minded lord whithersoever she

would.

All this, surely, called for no small amount of spiritual vigor and

energy. It needed deep and powerful convictions of the reality of

divine truth, and a very clear insight into Israel's low and degraded

condition, to enable a man to leave his quiet retreat at Zarephath and

burst into the midst of Baal's votaries, thus to bring upon himself a

fierce storm of opposition from every quarter. Elijah might, to speak

after the manner of men, have remained in quiet retirement, in

undisturbed repose, had he been satisfied to let Baal alone, and to

allow the strongholds of idolatry to remain untouched. But this he

could not do, and therefore he comes forth and meets the angry Ahab

with these solemn and heart-searching words, "I have not troubled

Israel; but thou and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the

commandments of the Lord, and thou hast served Baalim."

This was tracing the evil up to its right source. It was departure

from God and His holy commandments that had brought all this trouble

upon them. Men are ever prone to forget the sin that has occasioned

trouble, and think only of the trouble; but true wisdom will ever lead

us to look from the trouble to the procuring cause.

Thus, too, when unsound doctrine has insidiously crept in, and gained

power over many minds,--if some faithful one should feel called to

make a firm and decided stand against it, he must count upon being

regarded as a troubler, and as being the cause of all the commotion

consequent upon such acting; whereas the intelligent and reflecting

mind will at once trace the matter, not to the faithful one who has

made a stand for truth against error, but to him who may have

introduced the error, and to those who have received and entertained

it.

True, the defender of truth will need to watch his spirit and temper,

lest, while he attacks error in doctrine, he fall into evil in

practice. Many who have set out in real sincerity of heart to

vindicate some neglected or disputed truth have failed in this

particular, and have thus, in a great degree, nullified their valuable

testimony; for their sagacious enemy is always ready to act upon the

narrow-mindedness and unreasonableness of men by leading them to

fasten upon the petty infirmities of temper, and lose sight of the

important principle advocated.

But our prophet entered the arena well equipped; he had come from "the

secret place of the Most High;" he had been learning, in solitude,

those lessons of self-judgment and self-subjugation which could alone

qualify him for the momentous scenes on which he was about to enter.

Elijah was no angry or stormy controversialist; he had been too much

in the secret of the divine presence for that; he had been blessedly

solemnized in his spirit ere he was called to confront Baal's host of

prophets. Hence he stands before them in all the calm elevation and

holy dignity which ever marked his bearing. We see no haste about him,

no perturbation, no hesitancy. He was before God, and therefore he was

self-possessed and tranquil.

Now it is in such circumstances that a man's spirit is really tested.

Nothing but the mighty power of God could have maintained Elijah in

his extraordinary position on Mount Carmel. "He was a man of like

passions with us;" and being the only one of his day who possessed

sufficient moral courage and spiritual power to make a public stand

for God against the power of idolatry, the enemy might readily suggest

to his poor heart, "What a great man you are to stand forth thus as

the solitary champion of Israel's ancient faith!" But God held up His

dear servant so far. He carried him through this very trying scene,

because he was His witness, and His servant.

And so it will ever be. The Lord will ever stand by those that stand

by Him. Had Obadiah only made a stand against Ahab and Jezebel, the

Lord would have owned him and carried him through, so that instead of

being the servant of Ahab, he might have been the yokefellow of Elijah

in his great reformation. But this was not the case, and therefore,

like Lot of old, "his righteous soul was vexed" by the errors and

evils of an idolatrous house.

O dear Christian reader, let us aim at something beyond this! Let us

not be chained down to earth by deliberate connection with this

world's systems or plans. Heaven is our home; there, too, our hope is;

we are not of the world; Jesus has purchased us, and delivered us from

it, in order that we might shine as lights and walk as heavenly men

while passing onward to our heavenly rest.

However, it was not merely in his deportment and manner that Elijah

acquitted himself as a servant of God; he also showed himself to be

one taught of God in reference to those principles on which the needed

reformation should be based. Personal deportment and manner would

avail but little if soundness in the faith were lacking. It would be

an easy thing to put on a leathern girdle, and assume a solemn and

dignified manner; but nothing save a spiritual apprehension of divine

principles will enable any one to exert a reforming influence on the

men of his age. But Elijah possessed all those needed qualifications.

Both his appearance and his faith were such as, in an eminent degree,

suited a thorough reformer. Conscious, therefore, that he was in

possession of a secret which would deliver the spirits of his brethren

from the unhallowed thraldom of Baal, he says to Ahab, "Now,

therefore, send and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the

prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the

groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table."

He is determined to bring Baal and the God of Israel face to face, in

the view of the nation. He felt that matters should be brought to a

test. His brethren must no longer be left to "halt between two

opinions." What strength there is in the prophet's word as he stands

before the assembled thousands of Israel! "How long halt ye between

two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow

him."

This was very simple. The prophets of Baal could not gainsay nor

resist it. The prophet only asked for decision of character. There

could be nothing gained on either side by vacillating ways. "I would

ye were either cold or hot." We know from the Lord's own words to

Elijah, in the next chapter, that there were seven thousand in Israel

who had not bowed the knee to Baal, and who, we may suppose, were

only waiting for some vigorous hand to plant the standard of truth in

order that they might rally round it. No one amongst them would seem

to have had power for such a bold step, but they would no doubt

rejoice in Elijah's boldness and ability to do so. This has often been

the case in the history of the people of God. In times of greatest

darkness there have always been those whose spirits mourned in secret

over the widespread evil and apostasy, who longed for the bursting in

of spiritual light, and were ready with joy to welcome its earliest

beams. God has never left Himself without a witness; and although it

is only here and there we can perceive a star of sufficient magnitude

and brilliancy to pierce through the clouds of night and enlighten the

benighted Church in the wilderness, yet we know, blessed be God, that

let the clouds be ever so dark and gloomy, the stars have been there

in every age, though their twinkling has been but little seen.

Thus it was in the days of Elias; there were seven thousand such stars

whose light was obscured by the thick clouds of idolatry--who would

not yield to the darkness themselves, though they lacked power to

enlighten others; yet was there but one star of sufficient power and

brightness to dispel the mists and create a sphere in which others

might shine. This was Elijah the Tishbite, whom we now behold, in

heavenly power and light, breaking into the very stronghold of Baal,

upsetting Jezebel's table,[18] writing folly upon the whole system of

Baal's worship, and in fact, by God's grace, effecting a mighty moral

change in the nation--bringing the many thousands of Israel down into

the dust in real self-abasement, and mingling the blood of Baal's

prophets with the waters of Kishon.

[18] False religion has always sought the sunshine of this world's

favor, whereas true religion has always been more pure and genuine

when the world has frowned upon it. "_The prophets of the groves eat

at Jezebel's table._" If Jezebel had had no table, she would have had

no prophets either; it was _her table_, and not _her soul_, they

sought.

How gracious of the Lord to raise up such a deliverer for His deluded

people! And what a deathblow to the prophets of Baal! We may safely

assert they never offered a more unwilling sacrifice to their idol

than that which our prophet suggested. It was the sure precursor of

his downfall, and of theirs also. What a sad aspect they present,

"crying and cutting themselves with knives and lancets till the blood

gushed out," and crying out, with unavailing earnestness, "O Baal,

hear us!" Alas, Baal could not hear nor answer them! The true prophet,

conscious in his inmost soul of the sinful folly of the whole scene,

mocks them: they cry more earnestly, and leap with frantic zeal upon

the altar; but all in vain. They were now to be unmasked in the view

of the nation. Their craft was in imminent danger. Those hands which,

through their influence, had so often been lifted up in the diabolical

worship of a sinful absurdity, were speedily about to seize them and

drag them to their merited fate. Well, therefore, might they cry, "O

Baal, hear us!"

How solemn, how immutably true, are those words of Jeremiah, "Cursed

is the man whose heart departeth from the Lord"! It matters not on

whom, or on what, we place our confidence: whether it be a religious

system or a religious ordinance, or anything else, it is a departure

of the heart from God; a curse follows it, and when the final struggle

comes the Baal will be invoked in vain; "there will be neither voice,

nor any to answer, nor any to regard."

How awful is the thought of departure from the living God! How

dreadful to find, at the end of our history, that we have been leaning

upon a broken reed! O reader, if you have not found solid and abiding

peace for your guilty conscience in the atoning blood of Jesus, if you

have a single emotion of fear in your heart at the thought of meeting

God, let me put the prophet's question to you, "How long halt ye

between two opinions?" Why do you stand aloof when Jesus calls you to

come unto Him and take His yoke upon you? Believe me, the hour is

coming when, if you have not fled for refuge to Jesus, a greater than

Elijah will mock at your calamity. Harken to these solemn words:

"Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out My hand,

and no man regarded; but ye have set at naught all My counsel, and

would none of My reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity; I will

mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and

your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish

cometh upon you" (Prov. i. 24-27).

Awful words! inconceivably awful! How much more awful the reality!

Reader, flee to Jesus. Betake yourself to the open fountain, and there

find peace and refuge, ere the storm of divine wrath and judgment

bursts upon your head. "When once the master of the house has risen up

and shut to the door," you are lost, and lost forever. Oh think of

this, I implore of you, and let not Satan drag your precious soul into

everlasting perdition!

We now turn to another side of the picture. The prophets of Baal were

signally defeated. They had leaped, cut themselves, and cried to no

purpose. Their whole system had been proved a gross fallacy; the

superstructure of error had been trampled to the ground, and it only

now remained to rear the magnificent superstructure of truth in the

view of those who had been so long enslaved by vanity and lies. "And

Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people

came near unto him. _And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was

broken down._ And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number

of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord

came, saying, Israel shall be thy name: and with the stones he built

an altar in the name of the Lord."

It is always well to wait patiently, and allow evil and error to find

their own level. Time will surely bring the truth to light; and let

error array itself ever so carefully in the venerable robes of

antiquity, yet will time strip it of these robes, and display it in

all its naked deformity. Elijah felt this, and therefore he could

stand quietly by and allow all the sands of Baal's glass to run out

ere he began to exhibit the pattern of a more excellent way. Now it

needs a very real apprehension of divine principles to enable one to

adopt this patient course. Had our prophet been shallow-minded, or

badly taught, he would have been in much greater haste to display his

system and raise a storm of opposition against his antagonists. But a

spirit gifted with true elevation is never in haste, never perturbed;

he has found a centre round which to move, and in revolving round that

he finds himself carried out of the region of every other influence.

Such an one was Elijah, a really elevated, independent, holy man--one

who in every scene of his extraordinary career maintained a heavenly

dignity which is earnestly to be sought after by all the Lord's

servants. When he stood on mount Carmel, beholding the fruitless

bodily exercise of Baal's prophets, he presented the appearance of one

who was fully conscious of his heavenly mission; and not only in his

manner, but also in his principles of acting, he acquitted himself as

a prophet of the Lord.

What, then, were those principles on which Elijah acted? They were, in

a word, those on which the unity of the nation was based. The first

thing he does is to "repair the altar of the Lord that was broken

down." This was Israel's centre, and to this every true reformer

directed his attention. Those who seek to carry out a one-sided

reformation may rest satisfied with merely throwing down that which is

false, without proceeding further to establish a sound basis on which

to erect a new superstructure: but such reformation will never stand;

it will carry with it too much of the old leaven to admit of its being

a testimony. The altar of Baal must not only be thrown down, but the

altar of the Lord must be set up.

Some there are who would sacrifice to the Lord on the altar of Baal;

in other words, they would retain an evil system, and rest satisfied

with giving it a right name. But no; the only centre of unity which

God can recognize is the name of Jesus--simply and exclusively that.

The people of God must not be looked at as members of a system, but as

members of Christ. God sees them as such, and it should be their

business to reckon themselves to be what God tells them they are, and

manifestly to take that blessed place.

And we may further remark that Elijah in his actings on mount Carmel

does not stop short of the recognition of Israel's unbroken unity. He

takes _twelve stones_, according to _the number of the sons of Jacob_,

unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, "_Israel shall be thy

name._" This was taking high ground--yea, the very highest. Solomon

could have taken no higher. To recognize the twelve tribes of Israel

at a time when they were divided, and weakened, and degraded,

evidenced true communion with the mind of God in reference to His

people. Yet this is what the Spirit will ever suggest. "Our twelve

tribes" must never be given up. True they may, through their own

weakness and folly, become scattered and divided; yet the God of

Israel can only think of them in that unbroken unity which they once

exhibited, and which, moreover, they will exhibit again when, having

been united by the true David, they shall in holy fellowship tread the

courts of the Lord forever.