The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1904-08-11
Obadiah and Elijah.

For sheer courage Elijah is unsur-
passed. Among the everything heroes
he stands the peer of any for inter
pidity, CO. And he vent" is
the brief record, but how much must
be read in betw cen the lines, He was
commanded to go into the teeth of
raging lion. Ahab felt that the pres
tige of his kingshlp had been humili-
ated in the eyes of his subjects and
neighbOring monarchs. His wife, in
famed with religious zeal, goaded
him on to revenge. Every circum-
stance, personal, domestic, and nat
ional, conspired to make him the i'm
placable foe of the prophet who had
brought this whitening woe upon the
nation, Under the circumstances
like these the preemptory command
came, go, show thyself to Ahab."
Without remonstrance or hesitation,
taking his very life in his hand, the
prophet stated. The annals of war,
exploration, or rescue do not contain
an instance which surpasses this in
cool and dauntless courage.
The AFFECT terror of Obadiah at
sight of Elijah presents marked
contrast to the fearlessness of the
latter. Ahab's lord high chamber
lain is, at the kings command, search
ing the drought-stricken land for the
last bit of pasture for the royal horses
and mules, when he meets the
swarthy, sheep-skin-clad prophet in
the highway. After the salutations
are exchanged, Elijah commands him,
Tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah!n
Obadiah's answer not only reveals his
apprehension Of personal harm, but
also the assiduity with which the
king had sought the prophet in
every kingdom and nation.
Obadiah's plea is pitiful. He
deprecates the danger in which the
prophet places him. If Elijah does
not make good his promise to appear
at court, then the king, in the rage
OF his disappointment, would kill
Obadiah. He feels that he does not
deserve such a cruel fate. He even
recites the things which he has done
which would indicate that he ought
not to suffer so ANONYMOUSLY. Prom
inent among these services was the
hiding of the hundred prophets.
When that first systematic religious
persecution of history broke out,
Obadiah, as mayor of the palace,
knowing it was impending, hurried
all the members of the prophetic
fraternity be could gather up to a
couple of caverns in the hill country,
and secretly provided for their
sustenance-of course at peril of his
own life. For this deed he felt that
he should not now be put again in
jeopardy.
With a solemn oath Elijah assures
Obadiah that he will not disappoint
him. LAS the Lord of host liveth, be-
fore whom | stand, | will surely show
myself unto Him today
This is one in a series of moving
pictures made three millenniums
before the modern mechanical device
was dreamed Of. Nothing in litera-
ture surpasses in pictorialness this
ancient record. The characters live
and move and have a being before
ones very eyes. Their black and
hideous vices, their radiant virtues.
their hopes and fears-all are ex-
posed.
That is a crude and hasty judg-
ment which relegates this incident to
the category of mere Old Testament
story-and to a faraway land. 1t
really is a cross-section of human life.
1t shows its motives-fair and foul,
its sufferings and successes, and pos
sibilities. Elijah and Obadiah, Ahab
and Jezebel, are alive today, and will
reappear in every age. They are
human types, and as such are the
chief study of mankind.
The Teachers Lantern.
Three distinct types of character
, appear. Ahab had abjectly surren-
dered to idolatry and to his idola-
trous queen. He may have had ami
able impulses, but these were rapidly
exchanged for cruel purposes. He
became an apostate and prosecutor.
He was obdurate and unreformed.
He was blusterer, shouting to the
I prophet on first sight of him, Art
: thou he that troubleth Israeli" AS
might have been expected he met a
I violent death, killed in battle at Ra-
moth by certain man who drew a
= bow at venture, and the dogs licked
q up his blood as servant washed his
, chariot. Ahab is type of the posi-
: lively evil.
e Obadiah's position, if not his char
acter, was equivocal He was out
e wardly complacent under the domi-
r nance of idolatry, but inwardly pro
: tastinp He aocepted Sarvina undar q