Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1898-08-03
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON vi, AUG 7, 2 KINGS.
2: 6-I5.
1oiden Text-"BOw Much More Shall
-FOUR Heavenly Father Give the HOLY
spirit to Them That Ask u,m~,-
Luke IL: IS.

me section includes Kings 90 and
aA.hss l and 2, the history from Naboth'
,nieyard to the beginning of Elisha
90 NJ hilJah" is row fulfilling a par
| Si MISSION, and seeing some of tn,
| So, -, "a ms laoors. He needs a success
ditc, ealry ON his work; successor o.
| - III erent Kind from himself Time.-B
=. S92-S90, com. chron. or S5a-s5o rev
enron. The exact date is uncertain. but
~ Is inferred from Chron. 2l: u that il
"S aAter the accession of Jehoram az
CO. eSSnt with his father in Judah b. G..
90 VI ooJ; and from Kings 8: IL that IL
"as oeiore the death Of Jehoshaphat. Z.
Sn 90 or SoZ Place.-Elijah went from
- III Ephraim, to the eastern shore
-, 'oIuan, where he was translated.
'uici S'-Jehoram son of Ahab. king of
israel; Jehoram, son of Jehosbonhat was
co-regent with his father in Judah. BEN
haaad was King of Syria; Shalmaneser III.
VI ASsyrla Homer is supposed by many
~ ~ nave llved about this time. The Black
opelisk records events of about this time
py Shalmaneser H.
.. larry. 1 pray thee here" They
Meie at jericho, and Elijah was on the
"ay 70 the lords of the Jordan. where he
..,, .rosS over into his native country.
tho LUZ sons of the prophets" That is.
'1' young men attending the theological
seminaries first organized BIZ Samuel for
.le preparation of religious teachers for
we peorte-Taylor.
90, @n9 Elijah took his mantle" OF
su"epskin, The CLOAK, that outward sign
Oh the prophets Office. became the vehicle
OF the Spirits power,-Keil. And wrap
ped 1t togethey., ROLLED it up like
rod, for con-, cnience in handling. "SMote
the watts And Moses ''smote" the
Rive Nile dIx. I: 2O. Aaron the dust eek.
81 10. and Moses the rock (Nura. 20: ID
strongly, as one smites an enemy.-Cook.
5. On the farther shore "Elijah said
unto Elisha, Ask what 1 shall do for
thee, before be taken away from thee.
What is your last request, the one SUI
preme thing you desire me to do? He had
no money, 20 estates, no title to leave MS
friend but he well knew that such things
were not first in Elisha's mind. for he had
left all these when he chose the prophets
work. Let double portion of thy spirit
be upon me-" Not twice as much as Eli
jah had. but the portion of the eldest son
Deut~ q ID. The eldest son was the sue
cessor Of his father, the head OF the
household
TO- Thou hast asked hard thing" 1t
was hard because it was a spiritual gift
the hardest of all things to impart to
another II was hard because 1T depend
ed on the fitness of the receiver. 1t was
hard because ii was the greatest OF gifts.
worth more than riches or thrones. 1t
was hard because the granting OF this
request was not in Elijah's gift and he
knew not yet If God meant to bestow it:
yet he would seek it with the fervent
prayer Gas. 8: &c. 10 that brought abun-
dant showers from heaven u Kings Is:
42-40 IF thou see me when l am taken
from thee" The words when am are
not in the orignal.-Cook. If he was able
TO retain to the end the same devoted per-
severance, and keep his eye set and stead
fast on the departing prophet, the gift
would be his.-Stanley. If thou see me-
But how could he see him If he did not
watch? Ah that is the whole doctrine!
Look. expect, watch; keep your eyes open,
fixed intense-look as If you wanted the
blessing and you will get it."-Joseph
Parker.
IL. They still went on, and talked"
So did the two disciples on the way to
Emmaus talk together. Much of the
heavenly wisdom that has blessed the
world can be traced back to communion
with sanity men and women in the Dor
der-land" "There appeared a chariot Of
fire, and horses of fire. The Hebrew
word for "a chariot is usually collec-
tive noun. and means ''chariots." as in
the margin of the r. W. There was some
marvellous display of flame and fire. And
/ earthly means of carrying up his body.
before the transformation to the spiritual
body of heaven q Cor. Is: 42-4O. The
popular conception. which We see en-
bodied in such pictures as William Blake's
'Translation of Elijah" that the prophet
assembled to heaven in a fiery car drawn
by horses of fire is plainly read into.
rather than gathered from, the sacred
text."-Ellicott.
r. 1.-The chariot of Israel and the horse
men thereof By the words MY father.
my father" Elisha expresses what the
departing one was for himself; and by the
words, 1.-The chariot of Israel. and the
horsemen thereof" what he was for the
| whole nation. One such man as Elijah is
| more than equivalent to an entire army.
] Such was Luther for the German people,
I Lange.
| 10. "He took up also the mantle of Eli
| jah." AS his successor. and proceeded to
use IL as Elijah had done. 1t was test
and proof whether he had actually receiv-
ed the promised gift.
IA. where is the Lord God of Elijah? %
| 1t was a prayer to see If God had given
what Elijah had promised. However
strong his faith. 1t needed the proof OF
results. And he found the promise true
| and knew henceforth that he was Elijah
successor, and was to take up his work.
II. This proof was confirmed by his rec
| ignition as Elijahs successor by the sons
of the prophets.
1t was still further confirmed by his
correctness of insight as to finding Eli
| labs bndy TVS l6 I'D.