The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-07-23
THE. SUNDAY-SCHOOL LESSON.


One of the most significant acts Of Elijah's life
is related in a single verse ..He ran before Ahab
to the entrance of Jezreel." He had rebuked the
King, but now he throws the full weight of his
personal and official character his side by act
ing as his herald. The Queen, from her lattice
saw the chariot coming and Elijah running before.
Though she knew what that generous and pa
trotc deed signifed. it failed to soften her heart
Jezebel gave Elijah his choice of exile or death.
1t dawned upon the prophets mind that race
cannot be reformed in a day. The scene on
Carmel had been grand. but it was an incident
merely in the reformation. The trend of three
generations of74deafy could mot be changed
simply by the people vociferating THE Lord He
is God!" Savonarola had to learn the same lesson
twenty-five centuries later in Florence. 1t was
human for Elijah to be shocked by the incom-
plete character of his reformation The cowardly
thing for him to have done, however, would have
been to have remained and died He did the
courageous thing when he put himself beyond the
reach of the murderous Queen
At length Elijah stood where Moses had stood
six centuries before. Jand, like him, witnessed
in the mount of God the majesty of jehovah
Nature in her various features. forces and moods,
is both nurse and medicine for the mind dis
tressed. In the tumut of the storm Elijah re-
gained his equilibrium But these phenomena
were not sedative merely. They were an al
legory ALSO Wind. earthquake and fire are after
all, not the best symbols of God. Professor
Moulton has well said: THE exquisite rendering
heard me servant knew. by long communion,
when his Lord passed by. He waited, and he
apostate Israel was doomed TO fail, for 1t was
not of God. And in the whisper whose vivid
in the, strife with might he knew that his God
was near BY this alIegory Elijah was taught
that fiery manifestation which made Carmel the
rival OF sinai there was to be silent, con-
tinuous and powerful operation; the final and ag-
more enduring than those of any moral cataclysm
MOSAIC FROM COMMENTARIES
Told Jezebel: That her idol-god Is dettroned
-MacdIff. fe,ssar ~ sH
Elijah had done: Not what God had done-com-
mentator's Commentary. o M
He Saw: Storm coming because OF Ahab's in
stability and lack Of moral courage and firm prin-
ciple to rule his house and silence the rage Of
JezebeL--.Whedon. sie.e
Into the wilderness: The smelter Of Israel must
be content to so down into the crucible.-Krum-
Junfper-tree: Most longed for, most welcome
bush Of the desert. Robinson.
That he might die: Only such man as Elijah
can measure the colossal dependency of Elijah
heart.
Word Of the Lords Elijah needed personal
to neglect their own spiritual culture. Ac-
quaintance with God Will give rest, refuge and
A still. small voice: Literally: sound of soft
stillnesS.-Cook. shT III @4Nn
The normal channel of divine revelation is spir-
itual, not material: its object mercy, not judg
THE TEACHERS CULVER
First-We view Elijah from new angle. Sight
is net pleasing or exhilarating. but may be
profitable. 1t may teach how to deport our
selves in defeat; how to make defeat serviceable
in the evolution of character.
Second-Had Elijah stood the shock of the dis
covery that his reformation incomplete, We
should be inclined to believe the Jewish legend,
that l.e was an angel incarnate. not a man. His
dependency proves the genuineness of his human
ity. He was as ST. James calls him. "a man of
our own nature"
Third-There is foregearn here of the Mes
sianic way OF dealing with minds distressed. Jesus
first made men comfortable in their bodies. So
the Lord gave Elijah food and Sleep Our Asso-
cated Charities and aFother humane work are
phlosophically correct in their methods
Fourth--To look up q Colorado canyon may be as
religious as to &c to a prayer meeting Nature is
Gods servant, to sooth and elevate No expensive
Journey need be taken to avail ourseR of her
offices. Look up, and the heavens will tell YOU
the glory of God.
Fffth-We discover defect in Elijah. But
George Eliot saws WE'LL THE blessed work OF
helping the world forward. happily does not wait
to be done by peffect men,
Sixth-To suqh as think there must always be
the wind earthquake and fire. or there Is no re-
ligion. this chapter is commended, THE kingdom
of heaven is eaven."