Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1904-09-29
commeat. by William T. Eth


was a secret follower of the truth. When
ever he could do a good turf for jehovah
by stealth, like hiding a hundred prophets
from Jezebe,'s fury. he did it. Eut was 4
timorous ain He feared the Lord. bul
he feared too many other persons he
sides. No wonder thai when the fearles
prophet wanted to send a message by hin
to the king he was scared still. He wa
not much of a man, was Obadiah. but Ii,
was better thar the times in which h,
lived. He might have bettered them hao
his piety been more largely mixed witt
pluck.
A HAIRY WILDERNESS MAN.
a dramatic. spectacular figure was this
prophet Elijah, who enters upon the sceno
u-nannounced and with startling directness
tells the powerful .Ahab to his teeth that
for his wickedncss. three years of faminc
will blight the land. So far as we know
Elijah was al unordained man. whose
school had been tho wilderness; but, like
Americas great unordaincd evangelist. he
became a founder of seminaries. Gaunt,
hairy, clad in a mantle of skins. girt about
with a leather thong. he little looked the
part of one who was destined to be tho
greatest national figure of his time.
After he had spoken his message to the
king he was sent into seclusion by the
brook Cherith. where the ravens fed him.
He went from this rigorous dwelling up ia
Zarcpath, in the ~neighborhood of Zidon,
where he shared a widows cruise of oil
and barrel of meal. after m~iraculously re-
plenishing both. In this retreat. contin-
ued for three years, he received further
schooling, for the climax of his life. the
contest with the priests of Baal on Mt
Carmel.
Boldly seeking out Ahab., now sore dis
traught by famine, he cowed the king,
who had sought his life, and through him
challenged the priests of Baal TO "a test
of gods. i'm the presence of all the nation.
The story is one of the most interesting
in the Old Testament. and the ecenc OF
Mt. Carmel, when IIlijah's God answered
by fire. is burned on the memory in child
hood. The slaughter of the priests of Baal
was but Indicative of the rOut of idolatrys
forces. for a time at least.
I;lation is commonly followed by depres-
sion. One night j saw "A Dowieite. in al
ccstacy of m~artyrdom. welcome arrest a.
a prize: but the next morning when l Wis
mortal. and full ready TO comply
with the police regulations and secure
his freedom. How different things seer
on the day after. Elijah had vindicated
Jehovah on Mt. CARMEL: he had prayed
for rain. and the three years drought wa
broken; but at the threat of a vengefu
woman he fled to the wilderness and under
a juniper tree prayed to die.
The Lord SEM him n square meal arc
gave him fresh orders. Then, on Sinai
He granted him a still further revelation
of himself and of his plans. With work
to do. and a vivid consciousness that Goo
lives and reigns. Elijah never again sue
cumbed to the blue devils of dependency
Thereafter. with n friend and pupil
Elisha, by his side. he continued his brave
service until he was needed on the Other
side of the veil. when God sent. as a pal
ace car, a whirlwind escorted by the fiery
chariotry of heaven. and so the rough ole
hero. whose work on earth had been east
amid severe circumstances. went to glory
in triumph, without passing through the
mysterious gates of death.