Marshall County Republican., 1877-02-08
Bible Lesson for Next Sunday.
I Kings xviii; 1922

I Kings xviii 1879.
ali Israel unto mount Carmel. and the proph.
| cts Of Baal four hundred and nifty. and the
prophets Of the groves four hundred. which
80. SO Ahab sent snto all the children Of
Israel. and gathered the prophets together
unto mount Carmel.
opinions II the Lord be God, follow him: but
| IL Baal be, then. follow him. And the people
"a. Then said elijah unto the people. /. even
/ only. remain . prophet OF the Lord: but
Baars prophets are four hundred and hfty
Is. Let them therefore give US two bull
locks; and let them choose one bullock for
themselves. and cut IL In pieces. and lay IL on
wood and p1t no ss rev under and I'm yin drsss nS
a. And call 70 on the name Of your gods,
and win call on the name Of the Lord: and
qod. And all the people answered. and said.
II is well spoken.
And Elijah said no unto tne ne prophets o.
and dress it first for ye are many: and call
on the names OF your gods. but put no fire
-. And they took the bullock which was
given them. and they dressed IL, and called
on the name Of Bsal from morning even un-
till noon. saying. o Baal, hear us. But there
they lsaped upon the altar which was made.
n. And It came to pass ct noon, that Elijah
mocked them. and said. CRY. aloud for he Is
he II In a journey. or peradvsnture he sleep
eth. and must be awaked.
2s. And they cried aloud. and cut them
iancets. till the blood gushed out upon them.
70. And It came TO pass, when midday was
past and they prophesied until the tir,e OF
there was neither voice. nor any to answer.
that regarded.
GoLpsN TEIr...-How long halt ye between
but & Basl. then follow him. iKiIss xviii.
IL.
TOPICAL OUTLINE.
The spirit of Ahab had been crushed by
the severity of the famine, and his consci-
ence must have been aroused by the ac-
cusation of Elijah. ". 1S. He was now conf
pletely humbled, and promptly obeyed the
command to summon the people and to
gather the prophets of Baal, to meet
Elijah on Mt. Carmel.
The prophets of Ashtoreth, however,
did not appear. Ii has been supposed that
they were shielded by Jezebel. 1t Is more
probable that they received from her
timely warning. and made their escape in
to Phenica, or renounced their priesthood
and mingled among the people. 1t Is pos
sible that Elijah did not intend to destroy
them, conceiving that the knowledge of
the fate Of their brethren would operate to
deter them from any attempt to renew the
practice of idolitry in the kingdom OF Is
rael. This accords with the fact that he
did not insist upon their presenc, nor eyed
allude to their absence. He was content
10 deal with the four hundred and fifty.
(verses 10 and 22.)
Elijah boldly and abruptly charged the
people with inconsistency. This he did by
the question, How long halt We between
two opinions?". These two opinions or
thoughts could not have been theoret-
ical, but practical judgments or purposes.
The people had not held that Jehovah was
not God. But while affirming this, they
also esteemed Baal to be god. or at least,
by acts Of worship directed TO the idol (see
XIX. 1877 had virtually proclaimed him to
be god. Elijah assumed the truth that
there Is but one God, and that worship and
service can be rendered to him only. The
truth the people had been taught from the
beginning. 1t was plainly written In their
law, and indeed formed the substance of
the very first of the commandments. To
recollection of it he appealed. and on their
conviction Of its verify he relied. And in
the light of il we must view the alternative
he proceeded to propose. If Jehovah be
God, follow him but IL Baal, then follow
him." This was put so as plainly to show
their inconsistency. and to bring them to
practical recognition of It,
He Is not to be understood as admitting
that Baal might be god; nor as consent
ing, much less epjolning, that worship and
service should be offered to him.
Elijah finally called them to witness the
test he was about to make, reminding them
that he stood alone on the side of Jehovah,
against the great company of the prophets
of Baal.
This seems to have been proposed to the
people first ". 23,) and afterward directly
TO the prophets Of Baal ". 24.)
The test presented was simple and sufflc.
tent. Itwas to be direct appeal to Je-
hovah and Baal, each to manifest himself
by token. The one who should respond
was to be acknowledged TO be God, the
other was to be regarded as having no ex.
istence.
II is to be remarked that Elijah assumed
no risk by inviting the prophets of Baal to
call on their god for q manifestation of
himself. de knew Baal to be myth. He
nevertheless did seem to assume a risk In
pledging himself to abide by the test Of an
appeal ofa similar nature to Jehovah. For
he knew Jehovah to be God, he
could not presume to prescribe to him that
he should manifest himself at any given