The Tupelo journal., 1904-10-28
THE SUNDAY BIBLE SCHOOL
Lesson in the International Series
for October 80, 19O4-"Elisha
at Dothan."

way" Preacher.)
Copyright, 1904, by j. M. Edson)
LESSON TEXT Kings 6:8-23; mem
CRY verses, 15-17. Read 2 Kings SO and
13:14-21 for the closing Incidents in the iifs
Of Elisha.
GOLDENTExT.-'The angel of the Lord
encampeth round about them that zeal
Him and delivereth them.'-Ps. 3A7.
TIME.-Probably in the closing years OF
Jehoram. king Of Israel.
PLACES.-Dothan and Samaria. The
former was about y miles north OF the
latter.
The Lesson Outline.
THEME:-Dangers and D~eliverances.
]. Israel's Danger and D~eliverance'-Vs'
$40.
/. The Plot.-v.& 8.
Z. The Plot Revealed.-v. 8.
3. The Plot Thwarted.-v. 10.
H.. Elisha's Danger and Delverahce.-
VS.. 11-17.
1. The Exasperated Enemy.-vs. II, II.
2. The Plot Against Elisha,-v. IL.
3. The Hosts Of the Enemy.-vs. IA. 10.
4. The Hosts Of the L6rd.-vs. l6-l1.
III. The Enemy's Danger and DENVER
ance.-vs. 1928.
/. Entrapped.-vs. 1878.
2. HelplesS.-v. 70.
3. Returning Good for Evil.-v. 2l-zs.
Comparing Scripture with Scripture.
l. Israel's Danger and Deliverance.
% The Plot v. 8. Took counsel with
his servants" The wicked plotting
| against Gods children. Ps. 37:12; l4O:5.
Syria in her persistent effort to en-
trap and crush Israel is typical OF the
devil. Paul speaks of the snares OF
the devil, / Tim. 3:7 and 2 Tim. 2:2o'
and Peter describes the devil as a
| roaring lion, 1 Pet. SIS. The prayer
of David, Ps. 27:11, should be our
prayer.
CD Ihe Plot Revealed, V. God,
from whom nothing can be hid (Jer'
23:24), Who seeth the things done in
| secret Cps. 44:21 and 94:11), Who
never slumbers or sleeps Cps. 12l:4),
revealed the plottings Of Syria's king
to Elisha, and the latter was thus
| able to preserve Israel against a mos
powerful and crafty enemy. THE
man Of Coda type of the Christ in
| His Matchcare and faithfulness to-
wards Israel. Christ in His relations
to His disciples performs even a more
| perfect service. Jesus knows all the
| perils hat threaten us, Heb. 4:l5.
.Sent unto the king of Israel" Eli
sha sent t the king, but Jesus comes
to His disciples. He warns us of danger.
| He opens doors of escape. l Cor. 1913;
Jude "a.
CD The Plot Thwarted, v. 1O.-The
king listened to Elisha's warning and
obeyed it, thus repeatedly escaping.
If we will but hear Jesus as He whis-
| pers warnings to us and will then
| obey, we shall escape, as did Israel,
the snares set for u feet. John
5:24. sWhen we are e%ntrapped it is
| our own fault, Jas. 1:14-15.
II. Elisha's Danger and Deliver
ance. "a The EXasperated Enemy,
VS.. II, 12.-What puppets the wicked
are in the hands of God, Ps. 1910:
37:13, and how impotent is their
rage. The powerful king of Syria, with
his vast army, his able generals, his I'M
mense resources, was utterly powerless
when God was reckoned into the ac-
count. 1t is always a troubled. and exas-
perated, and disappointed enemy that
fights against God. Ps. "a; Ps. 1910.
90 The Plot Against Elisha, V. 13.
The righteous when they take issue
with evil are always marked as spe-
cial objects of hatred and revenge,
2 Tim. 1912; Matt. SHIP. But Eli
sha was not the man to flee and hide
himself. cat Dothan" vas the place
of duty, and there Elisha stayed, al
though it was most easy of access for
the enemy. How little the servant
of the Lord has to fear when he is
standing true to God against the evil.
Ps. 1922.
60 The Hosts of the Enemy, VS.. IA,
15.-How strong the evil seems; how
firmly entrenched; how tremendous
the odds appear. One defenseless
prophet and his panic-stricken serv-
ant and a vast army come to take
them. Shall we belittle the enemy?
Shall we doubt their power for harm
and evil? No! But we need to see
the Lords hosts. 1t often seems as
If we were outnumbered, but we neve
are. Rom. 1871; 2 Chron. 1927, 8;
Matt. 1920.
Cd The Hosts of the Lord, VS.. 16,
lit takes the eye of faith to see.
The hosts of the Lord are there. We
need to pray, Lord, open mine eyes,"
A glimpse of Gods power and re-
sources will restore lost courage and
give strength. One with God is a
majority always. Phil. As. z; Heb.
1876.
III. The Enemy's Danger and De-
liverance. Cd Entrapped, VS.. IS, 10.
The Lord taketh the wise in their
own craftiness, Job 5:13; 1 Cor. 1913.
How repeatedly Jesus %entrapped His
enemies when they had carefully
planned to entrap Him.
(2) Helpless, v. 20.-No foe is so
powerful but that in the hands Of
God he is absolutely helpless. The
wicked are always blind, but some day
they are to come face to face with
God, then will they realize their
weakness and helplessness.
60 Good for Evil, VS.. 21-23.-"Shall
I smite them" Man wants revenge,
but God has better methods, Matt.
5:44,, Rom. 12:19-21.