Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1891-01-23
THE PROPHETS OF BAAL
LESSON w, FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, JAN. rs.

ID. NJ. stearns.
Compiled from Lesson Helper Quarterly by per-
mission of IL. S. Hoffman, publisher, Phiadel-
phia,l
25. "And Elijah said unto the prophets of
Baal, Choose you one bullock for your
selves, and dress it first, for We are many,
and call on the name oe your God, but put
no fire under"
At Cherith Cutting - Zarephath IRE
fning) Elijah had been cut off from all
human resources, and refined in the school
of poverty and close communion with God,
and thus qualified for the contest now be-
fore him. He who had been so much alone
with God had no fear of King Ahab nor
of the hundreds of prophets of Baal.
26. "Oh, Baal hear us. But there was
no voice nor any that answered"
Baal signifies lord or master, and is
found in Num- XIII Al, as the god of
the Moabites. Israel worshiped Baal-
peor, and $4,000 were slain by plague
(Num. XIV, 3, ~, In the days of the Judges
they again and again forsook the Lord and
worshiped Baal (Judg. ii, II, 10; iii, I; vi
81; viii, 80; X, 6, 100; but this King Ahab
had led them more astray than they had
ever been before Il Kings xvi, 30-33)
p. And it came to pass that at noon
Elijah Knocked them and said Cry aloud.
for he is IA God"
%. "And they cried aloud and cut them
selves, after their manner till the
blood gushed out upon them"
Fancy hundreds of men leaping up and
down Verse %, margin), and shouting and
cutting their bodies till the blood streamed
from them, and all to make the god whom
they worshiped hear them. Central Africa
could not produce anything worse.
%. There was neither voice nor any to
answer, nor any that regarded"
30. "And Elijah said unto all the people,
Come near unto me. And all the people
came near unto him."
In calmness he had waited, his soul
doubtless communing with his God, but
now the decisive moment had come; $50
men had failed-what could this one man
doH He was one of those of whom it is
written, zone shall chase thousand, and
two put ten thousand to flight"
"And he repaired the altar of the Lord
that was broken down"
One of the first acts of Noah on leaving
the ark was to build an altar unto the
Lord, and so also did Abram when he en-
tered the land of Canaan Gen. viii 20; xii,
S. From the days of Adam and Abel the
altar and the sacrifice were typical of Him
who was to come as the great sinbearer.
81. And Elijah took twelve stones. ac-
cording to the number of the tribes of the
sons of Jacob"
See twelve stones in the same connection
in Elk. xiv, 4: xviii, 81; Josh. iv, 3, s, 8,
go. Although the twelve tribes were di.
vided into ten and two, making two ma
tions, yet they were only one nation before
God, ana He has ever before Him the time
when they shall be reunited under one
king (Ezek. XXXvii, 81, 22). All Israel had
at this time become idolaters, and hence
the necessity of testimony to the twelve
tribes concerning the true God
80 And with the stones he built an
altar in the name of the Lord"
80. And he put the wood in order, and
cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on
the wood
A bullock was used both as sin offer
ing and as a burnt Offering Nev. and
iv), and in these chapters full instruc.
tions are found as to the manner of offer
ing. The sin Offering was type of Christ
bearing our sins; the burnt Offering was
type of Christ Offering himself without
spot to God.
"a, 49, 'The water ran round about the
altar, and he filled the trench also with
water"
Once, twice, thrice was the sacrifice, and
the wood and the altar drenched with
water. There was to be no deception here,
no fire hidden somewhere about, which
might be secretly used
81. Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and OF
Israel, let it be known this day that thou
art God in Israel and that | am thy serv
ant"
BY this title God revealed Himself tc
Moses at the burning bush and said, This
Is my name forever, and this is my memo
rial unto all generations" zen. iii, q, ID, lG).
Observe that the prophets whole aim is
that God may be magnifed.
"And that have done all these things
at thy word"
Then the altar and sacrifice and wood
and water and answer by fire were no mere
thoughts of Elijah, but simple commands
of God which he had only 10 obey, trusting
God for all results.
81 Hear me- o Lord, hear me; that this
people may know that Thou art the Lord
God, and that Thou hast turned their heart
back again"
If we know that He hear us, whatso
ever we ask, we know that we have the
petitions that we desired of Him" Il John
! V, lo). 30 that EllJan one desire now
was for God to hear him. "And this is the
confidence that we have in Him, that, il
we ask anything according to His will, lie
heareth us" q John V, IA. Elijah having
done just what God told him, must then
have had the assurance in his heart that
/ God heard him.
3S. Then the fire of the Lord fell"
Picture to yourself the multitude gazing
on this lone man as he stands calmly he.
fore them beside his drenched and dripping
altar and sacrifice and trench full of water
conscious of the presence and favor of the
| Lord God of Israel He does not cry aloud
nor leap up and down, but quietly looks
/ up to heaven, and with his whole heart ut
| tiers these few words Gust thirty-four in
the Hebrew unto his God in the hearing
/ of all the people.
And consumed the burnt sacrifice, and
| the wood, and the stones, and the dust
and licked up the water that was in the
| trench"
Just as at the dedication of the taber-
nacle, and the temple, and the offerings OF
Gideon and David, supernatural fire con
sumed the sacrifice LEV tx, "a; ii Chron.
vii, l; Judg. vi, 81; | Chron. xxi, 26), SO it
happened now. have no doubt but the
| Offering pf 4 hal yvaS acoanta6 in ba