The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1904-09-22

roes he stands the peer of any for in
terpidity. Co.. And he VENT
is the brief record, but how much
must he read between the lines. He
was commanded to go into the teeth
of raging lion. Ahab felt that the
prestige of his kingship had been dis
counted by Elijah's opposition. He
had been Inundated in the eyes 0.
his subjects and neighboring mon
archs. His wife, inhamed with
religious zeal. goaded him on to
revenge. Every circumstance, per-
sonal, domestic, and national, con-
spired to make him the implacable
foe of the prophet who had brought
this whitening woe upon the nation.
Under circumstances like these the
premptory command came, 60,
show thyself to Ahabr' Without re-
monstrance or hesitation. taking his
very life in his hand, the prophet
started, The animals of war, explo-
ration, or rescue do not contain an in
stance which surpasses this in cool
and dauntless courage.
The lessons of Carmel are as clear
cut as the skyline of the mountain
itself. The commentary seemed to
come in advance of the text in this
instance. \ Thousand years before
st. Paul wrote the words IAN idol is
a nonenity in the world" this scene
illustrated and proved it. Not for six
hours on the mountain had Baal
been appealed to, but probably for
the whole three years of the famine.
Yet not whisper came in response.
| But Jehovah answered the prophets
prayer at once. The next we see of
Elijah he is not riding the crest of a
| popular reformation-its idolized he
ro-but ANONYMOUSLY stranded upon
the shore, where the receding tide
las left him. The picture may not
| be as pleasing and eXhilarating, but it
| may be quite as profitable or even
more so, than the other. How to de-
| port ones self in defeat; how to make
| defeat serviceable in the evolution of
! character-that is the prime lesson
/ for the universal human heart. And
| that lesson God teaches US in His I'M
iversal human heart. And that les
son God teaches us in His dealings
with His servant in the wilderness
and in Mount Horeb.
The splendid scenic parable of Sinai
cleared up Elijah's difficulties. By
means of it he caught again the clue
of Providence. He never again drop
| ped the thread until it led him to the
chariot of fire. The parable was for
him personally. He was to be like it.
In his case roar was to be sub sided
into whisper. After the cataclysms
OF his career, there was to be period
of blissful communion. Again the
! parable had meaning for the national
! lite. Storm and fire stands for the
initial means of reformation. They
made the nation susceptible to the
| oblil NOlOC VI duN UIuuu,
which breathed through the prophets
who succeeded. To the few isolated
events of Elijah's career one was to
be added which should surpass them
all, even in the quality of scenic effect.
But any attempt at minute descrip-
ton of Elijah's translation leads to
exaggerated rhetoric. Human Ian
guage can not depict the scene. The
Lords minister on this occasion, as
on so many others, was flaming fire.
Amos, to whose book attention is
drawn in the closing lesson of the
quarter, is the peer of any in the col
lege of the prophets. He has been
called the peasant-prophet. He lived
among the rough hills of Judea, near
the edge of the great desert. He was
unframed in the schools. 1t is the
surprise of the critics that from such
an unlikely source such an elaborate
and exalted work should come. Amos
has been compared to Dante. His
prophecy has been described as a
thunderstorm rolling over all the
surrounding Kingdoms, touching Ju-
dab, and finally setting down upon
Israel.
/