The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1898-07-06
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON n, THIRD QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES. JULY 10.
Text Of the Lesson, 1 Kings xviii. 1-10.
Memory Verses, 40 - Golden Text, I
Kings xvii, l6-Commentary by the Rev.
ID. M. Stearns.


1. "As the Lord God of Israel liveth, be-
fore whom stand" This is the first 10.
corded word from Elijah the prophet, AS
he comes to Ahab with his message from
God. This Is that Ahab who did more to
provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger
than all the kings of Israel that were be-
fore him (chapter xvi, 33).
2. And the word of the Lord came un-
to him, saying" A true man Of God re-
ceives his message from God and delivers
it for God, seeking only to please God.
While he must of necessity stand before
people to deliver his message, he does not
aim TO please people, but like Paul says,
"As we were allowed of God to be put in
trust with the gospel, even so we speak,
not as pleasing men, but God ['ho trieth
our hearts" I'll Thess. ii. 4; Gal. 1, 10).
3. Get thee hence and turn thee east
ward and hide thyself by the brook Cher
it'll, that is before Jordan" 1t Is a great
thing, perhaps the greatest thing, in the
life of a child of God to learn to live alone
with God. Our Lord Jesus was much
alone with His Father both in the humble
home in Nazareth and after He entered
upon His public work.
4. And it shall be that thou shalt drink
of the brook, and l have commanded tho
ravens Co feed thee there" When we are
on the Lord 5 business and just where He
would have us to be, all our temporal
needs are sure to be supplied (Math vi,
33). We shall always find THAT which we
have need of day by day without fail"
ezra vi, 81
5. $50 he went and did according unto
the word of the Lord. " Willing and obedi-
ent is always the way of blessing lisa. l,
19). Elijah asked no questions and made
no suggestions, but simply obeyed God
has rs clear a plan for each of Us as He
had for Elijah, and il we are only willing
and obedient lie will guide us in it,
q. And the ravens brought him bread
and flesh in the morning and bread and
flesh in the evening, and he drank of the
brook. We are not To have fellowship
with that which is in God 5 sight unclean
or seek help from the ungOdly, but if He
commands the unccan To minister unto
us we are TO accept all things as from Him
and be thankful | 1hess. " 49,.
z. And it came to pass after awhile
that the brook dried up because there had
been no rain in the land. If Elijah had
depended upon the brook, he would nat
urally feel discouraged as he saw it grow
ing less and less day by day, but depend
ing upon God he could say 'All my
springs are in Thee" ops. lxxxvii, y.
80 Christ, thou art my fountain ever
flowing, and my sweet wayside brook is
Thine and mine" He is FL Shaddai the
mighty God who is all sufficient (Gen.
xvii, d.
s. And the word of the Lord came IN
to him. saying. We need fresh word
from the Lord for every occasion What
He told Us 10 do last time may not be His
message for us next time, even though the
circumstances may be very similar. Zee III
Sam. V, 10. %. We must wait on our God
continually and trust in Him with all our
heart and lean not To our own under
standing, then we shall always be sure of
guidance (Hos. xii, 8; Prov. iii, 5 Isa.
xxx, 21). We must gather mamma fresh
every morning.
9. Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which
belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there. Be-
hold, l have commanded widow woman
there to sustain thee. " These are His new
orders God has been watching His child,
and doubtless Elijah had communion with
God every day.
10. $50 he arose and went to Zare-
phath. And there was the widow woman
at the gate of the city gathering sticks
and he asked her TO bring him "a drink of
water. Perhaps as the Lord whispered to
Samuel, Behold the man" Il Sam. tx,
10, He may have whispered to Elijah,
This is the woman of whom told thee. -
IL. And as she was going to fetch it he
called to her and said, Bring me, / pray
thee, morsel of bread in thine hand. "
His wants were not many, either in the
way of food or raiment. He did not live
to eat, but To do the will of God. Like our
| IN n In no u nf
Him that sent him, and no knew that
bread would be given him and his water
would be sure 1t is IA good thing to learn
to be content in any state whether full or
hungry phil. iv, IL, l2).
IL. And she said, As the Lord thy God
| liveth, l have not IA cake, but an handful
of meal in "a barrel and little oil in a
cruise. This is her pitiful story with the
added item that when she and her son had
eaten this she expected they would have to
die. Perhaps her poor heart was saying,
Hath God forgotten To be graciousl' and
she was wondering what some of His
promises could mean. IL was surely her
extremity and His opportunity, for God
helps those who cannot help themselves
(Ps. Xxi, l2).
ID. And Elijah said unto her: Fear
not. Go and do as thou hast said. But
make me thereof a little cake first and
bring it unto me, and after make for thee
and for thy son. 1t was not very
abundant welcome for the man of God,
and some would feel that there was great
mistake somewhere. But one who had
been ministered unto by ravens would not
be apt To faint in this emergency.
Ia For thus saith the Lord God Of Is
rael The barrel of meal shall not waste,
neither shall the cruise of oil fail, until the
day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the
earth. " The God of Israel had fed mil
lions of people for 40 years with bread from
heaven. He had brought water out of the
rock for them. He had divided the Red
sea and the Jordan. He is the Creator OF
heaven and earth and there is nothing too
wonderful for Him (Jer. xxi, IL, 27).
To- And she went and did according
to the saying of Elijah, and she and he
and her house did eat many days" The
margin says "a full year. Faith just
believes what God says without any other
evidence, or in spite of all seeming evil
dence to the contrary, and acts according
ly.
16 "And the barrel of meal wasted not,