Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1891-03-20

Compiled from Lesson Helper Quarterly by per
mission of II. S. Hoffman, publisher, Philadel
phia.
s. "Then the king of Syria warred
against Israel, and took counsel with his
eervants, saying, In such and such a place
shall be my camp"
Between the story of Naaman and &c
hazi and this lesson the Holy Spirit has
written the record of house building near
Jordan by the sons of the prophets, and
the miraculous recovery of lost AK, from
which we see the need, humanity speaking,
of the money which Naaman offered Elisha
but the prophet prefers to rely wholly and
only upon the God of Israel
"And the man of God sent unto the
king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou
pass not such place, for thither the
| Syrians are come down.
How often we are reminded that "All
things are naked and opened unto the eyes
of Him with whom we have to do, " and that
The eyes of the Lord are in every place
beholding the evil and the good (Heb. iv,
10; Prov XIV, 81 But here is wondrous
grace and continued grace to wicked
man The king of Israel was Jehoran,
son of Ahab, and he wrought evil in the
sight of the Lord, cleaving unto the sins of
Ieroboam, the son of Nebat CHAP. iii, 1-3),
and yet this is not the first time that God
has shown him Kindness through Elisha.
10 "And the king of Israel sent to the
place which the man of God told him and
warned him of, and saved himself there,
not once, nor twice.
God hath spoken once: twice have |
heard this, that power belongeth unto
God" and this power is continually being
l.. I'll. Eel
back his soul from the pit, but though God
speaketh once-yea, twice-yet man per
ceveth it not ops. xii, II; Job xxXiii, IA,
90
H. Therefore the heart of the king Of
Syria was sore troubled for this thing"
1t was not his sins that troubled him,
but the fact that he could not catch his
prey, and that his enemy so successfully
eluded him.
II. elisha the prophet that is in Israel,
telleth the king of Israel the words that
thou speakest in thy bedchamber"
Like the servants of Naaman, these serv-
ants seem wiser than their master, for
Great men are not always wise" Job
xxi, 81
10. "And he said, Go and spy where he
is, that | may send and fetch him."
The Lord so elfectually hid Elijah that
Ahab and all his searchers could not find
him anywhere in all the land q Kings
xviii, 10) He also hid Baruch and Jere-
miah so that their enemies could not find
them der. Xxxvi, 26) Yet this unbeliever
thinks to capture one who could say of
God, Thou art my hiding place; Thou
shalt preserve me from trouble; Thou
shalt compass me about with songs of de-
liverance" ops. xxi, y. "The wicked
atfhat ha rif and alynth fn
Stay him, but the Lord will not leave him
in his hand" ops. xxxvii, 1888.
And it was told him saying, Behold, he
Is in Dothan."
, IA. "Therefore sent he thither horses and
. chariots and great host, and they came
by night and comprised the city about"
Surely they had their man now, and es-
cape was impossible. Thus it seemed to
human eyes
Is And when the servant of the man
of God was risen early, and gone forth, be-
hold, an host comprised the city both with
horses and chariots."
While Elisha slept the enemy encom-
passed him about, but Elishas God neither
slumbers nor sleeps, and Elisha rested in
Him, and feared no evil. His servant,
however, had not the faith of his MASTER
and we may imagine his fears as this sight
and formidable, and there was evidently
no way of deliverance.
And his servant said unto him, Alas
my master how shall we do?"
He probably felt something like Israe
when they saw the hosts of Pharaoh pur
suing them, the mountains on either side
of them and the sea before them lex. XIV
l6 And he answered, Fear not"
From Gen. XIV, |, to Rev. i, II how often
that precious word Fear not" has stilled
the troubled SOUL But before it can give
peace it must be spoken by one who has
some ground and authority for saying it.
"They that be with us are more thar
they that be with them"
What is it that Elisha sees that his serv
ant cannot seer Is he giving utterance tC
a hope orto the assurance of a reality? We
shall see that he means just what he says
and is fully persuaded of every word of it
II "And Elisha prayed and said, Lord
pray thee, open his eyes that he may see.
What a simple prayer, how Short how
comprehensive No preliminaries and NJ
conclusion, not even an amen; just singl,
petition, asking from familiar frent
for just what he wanted. My soul says
Lord Jesus, ask the Father for me tha
my eyes may by the Holy Spirit be openeC
to behold wondrous things out of Thy
word" And expect He will. Thanking
Him for what we have seen, let us expect
more light every time we open His Word
And the Lord opened the eyes of thu
young man, and he saw: and behold, tn
mountain was full of horses and chariot
of fire round about Elisha"
Now we know why Elisha said, Feal
not, and why he said to his servant tina
their helpers were more numerous thai
the enemy. Let no one dare to explain
away these unseen realities of Gods low
and care and power.
IS. And when they came down to hin
Elisha prayed unto the Lord and said
Smite this people. pray thee, with blind
ness"
Another brief prayer; a single petition
Can this man ask and receive anything h,
desiress A river divided, spring healed
oil multiplied, a Son given, life from tn
dead, food multiplied, a leper healed,
man made leprous, iron to swim, eye
opened to see angels, eyes dimmed to Sc
VI not at all or to see wrongly How has h
= obtained this poweri With whom is he il