The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1904-10-28
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON v. FOURTH QUARTER, INTER
NATIONAL SERIES, OCT. 80.

Pc. xxxiv, documentary Prepared
ny Rev. ID. NJ. stearns.
TOopyy1gAt. l0oA by American Press Association
A good title for u large part OF the
Bible would be Tho Lord God, the
, God Of ISRAEL, who only doeth won
drous things" and every devout heart
should cry: blessed be His glorious
name forever, and let the whole earth
be filed with HIS glory. Amen and
amenr ops. lxxii. Is, 1O. From be-
ginning to end Ills name Is wonder
full, and lie Is ever doing wondrous
things In love and grace for and
through the sinful sons of men.
Elisha. the man of God. Is still before
us AZ a sample OF what man might and
ought to be. for while there Is but one
perfect pattern. the man Christ Jesus,
there are many who may be followed
as far as they follow God. but the very
blessed way Is to see no one but Jesus
only, to run with patience. looking I'M
to Jesus Mark tx, s; Heb. xii, l, p; to
cease from man. and behold the Lord
Qsa. ii, %; Ill, u.
The opening verses of our chapter
tell Of the new house by Jordan which
the sons OF the prophets started to
build because the place where they
dwelt with Elisha Was too strait for
them. Whether there Is hint here
| thot haI
narrow q way for them l cannot say,
but one cannot forget the incident Of
the search for Elijah, because they
were not in full fellowship. There is
many holy life today that Is too
great trial even for other believers
in the same household, and God does
not compel holiness. 50 Elisha let them
so and even went with them 10 help
them, for love is always kind even to
| those who cannot see as we do.
! Our lesson proper concerns the de-
liverance wrought by God through
Elisha for the king of Israel, and also
| Elisha's own deliverance from the
/ king Of Syria, reminding us Of Ps.
| ii, II; XXxiii. 10, IL. The child OF God
may well take real comfort from such
words as these: mo weapon that is
! formed against thee shall prosper"
They that war against thee shall be
as nothing and as a thing OF naught'
Qsa. liy, Il; xii, ~. The king Of
| Syria thought to entrap the king Of
Israel, but the latter being warned by
! Elisha, the man in fellowship with
! God, saved himself from the hands OF
| the king OF Syria more than once, so
| that the king of Syria thought that
there must surely be traitor in his
camp who in some way commun.cat I'd
his plans 10 the king Of Israel. When
one Of his servants assured him that
| it was not so, but that there was Il
| prophet in Israel who could tell the
king of Israel his most secret words,
then lie determined to lay hands on
| the prophet. and, hearing that he was
at Dothan, he sent thither a great host
of horses and chariots. which came By
night and compassed the city about,
that they might capture the man OF
God, but how vain are the thoughts
and purposes OF men who know not
God. The humble man OF God is per-
fectly quiet and unmoved, for he sees
another host of horses and chariots
which ordinary eyes cannot see. His
heart could truly sing, II will not
fear though an host should encamp
against me" ops. xvii, -. Behold,
God is my salvation; l will trust and
not be afraid" lisa. XII. p.
Not 30 his servant who cried, ALIAS,
my master; how shall we dor AS
Gehazi had become leper, 1t was
probably some one In his place, yet
even Gehazi might well have been
afraid, for he, too, II child Of God.
WINS also out OF fellowship. Elisha
did not reason or argue with his serv-
ant, but with these words assured and
comforted him, Fear not, for they
that be with us are more than they that
be with them" (verse 16), and then
he asked the Lord to open his servants
eyes that he might see, and he, too,
saw the mountain full of horses and
chariots OF fire roundabout ELISHA.
In Rom. will, %, 81, "a, we see God
for us, Christ for us, the Spirit for us,
and we have the beautiful assuring
words, "If God be for us who can
be against usY' Yet we are slow to
believe that all things are just as God
says, and we do well 10 pray that God
would enlighten the eyes of our under
standing that we may know what is
the hope of our calling and the riches
OF the glory Of His inheritance in us;
that He would open our understand
ings that we might understand the
Scriptures (Eph. 1, IS; Luke xiv, 40.
God can as easily blind as open eyes.
so, at Elisha's request. He blinded these
Syrians. and Elisha brought them to
Samaria, to the king of Israel, whom
they were really seeking. for they only
wanted Elisha because he kept them
from the king OF Israel. Again ut the
request of Elisha the Lord opened
their eyes and they found themselves
In the hands and ut the mercy of the
king of Israel, who, instead of shifting