The Yale expositor., 1904-10-14
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON III, FOURTH QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, OCT. 10.

|
have the name ''man of God" applied
TO Elisha. In 1 Kings Kill 1t is used ut
| least fourteen times in reference TO one
whose name we know not 1t is APP
piled to Moses and to others and to my
mind is a title much TO be coveted, or,
rather, thing much to be desireG-to
be wholly for God in communion with
Him always, set apart for Himself, all
Ills for His pleasure hearing His voice
only and doing His will, His messenger
with His message.
| AS Elisha passed to and fro through
Shunem a woman of wealth suggested
to her husband that they should pre-
pare a room in their house for this
holy man of God, who continually pass
ed by them, that he might feel at lib
erty to turn in thither as often us he
chose. This they did and furnished it
with bed, table, u seat and candle
stick, and the man of God was wont
to rest himself there. What Il contrast
even this, to our mind, humble room
and scanty furniture to the stable
where our Lord was born or to the
fact that He often had not where to
lay His head.
Elisha would fain recompense her
| for her kind care Of him and asked her
what he should do for her, but her re-
ply was to the effect that she needed
nothing. GehaZi having called Elisha's
attention to the fact that she had no
tn, ,1,1n
! time God would give her son. and so
it came TO pass. 1t was supernatural,
something like the giving of Isaac to
Sarah and Abraham; a real gift from
God, though in natural way. They
had frightened Ellshas life by this
rest chamber, and now God bright
ened their lives and home with this
dear child, whom lie spared to them
till he was old enough TO go with his
father to the field, and then suddenly
! God took him.
His mother laid his little body on the
/ bed of the man of God, shut the door
and hurried as fast as she could to
Mount Carmel to Elisha. The prophet,
when he saw her coming, sent Gehazl
I
we'll with herself and her husband and
the child. Her reply was, ut is We'll"
Yet she pressed on to Elisha and held
! him by the feet, and when GehaA
would have thrust her away Elisha
! forbade him, saying, LET her alone,
for her soul IS veXed within her, and
, the Lord hath not told me-" Then she
poured out her soul in these words
! Did / desire a son OF my Lord? Did
not say, DO not deceive meY
Elisha, seeing that the child was dead,
sent GehGzi with his (Elisha's) STAFF
/ TO lay it on the face Of the child but
/ the mother said TO him as he had said
to Elijah, "As the Lord liveth and as
thy soul liveth 1 will not leave thee
/ (verse 30). AS in the case of the poor
widow, here is a real heartfelt need
! and desire with the consciousness Of
utter heiplessness. Oh, for more Of IT,
and of this desperate clinging with a
persistence that takes no denial, the
persistence of Jacob, of Ruth, of Ittai,
OF Elisha and Of this woman! See
also our Lords own encouragement to
be persistent in Luke xi, s, 8; lisa. xii,
! 6, Z.
Elisha heeds the heart cry of distress
and hastens to the chamber where he
had often been refreshed, and he went
in and shut the door upon them twain
and prayed unto the Lord (verse 33).
See again the shut door, the secret of
His presence, alone with God. oh, the
power and the blessedness of it! And
it is the privilege Of every believer.
Now see the intense personal desire of
/ Elisha. Like Elijah he stretched him
self upon the child (verse 81; Kings
xvii, 2D. His mouth and hands and
J eyes are upon those of the child, sug-
: costing, as Mr.. Sturgeon used to say,
that to bring life to child dead in sin,
or to any one, we must come into the
closest possible personal contact, see
ing as they see and speaking of things
as they would, so that from what they
already see and know we may lead on
to what they as yet neither see or
know. Elisha stretched himself again
upon the child, and God sent the spirit
back to the little body, and soon he was
again in his mothers arms, and she
was once more happy woman.
She knew Him as the giver of life,
but now she knows Him as one who
can give life from the dead, as one to
whom nothing is impossible. Although
Paul knew HIM so well his prayer was
chat may know Him, and the power
of His resurrection and the fellowship
Of His sufferings" Phil. Ill, 10), and
Peter ends his second epistle with
these words: "Grow in grace and in
the knowledge Of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ" Our Lord Himself tells
us that to know God is life eternal
John xvii, 81. Our church and Bible
class motto is, "Eo know Him and to
make Him known" and we greatly re-
joice in the fellowship Of all who ear
nestly desire to be whole hearted for
Him.
Two other miracles are recorded in
this chapter which God wrought
through this nan of God-the healing
of the poisoned pottage and the multi