The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1904-09-01
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS
FOR SEPTEMBER 4.

Subject: Elijah Encouraged, Kings, xix,
9-1s-Golden Text, Isa. XIII, 10-Mem-
ory Verses, o, 1o-Commentary on the
Days Lesson.
I. Elijah receives instructions from God
Tvs. 9-l4). 9. Game thither" He came
| to Horeb, or Sinai. The relation OF the
two names is not clear. Horeb was either
"a mountain OF the Sinai range, or the
! range of which Sinai is mountain" prob
ably the latter. a cave" Hebrew, the
| cave" Stanley says there is nothing to
affirm or contradict the conjecture that
this may have been the same spot where
Moses stood (Exod. 33:22) when Jehovah
passed by. What dost thou here" The
Lord now gives the prchpet an opportunity
to open his heart and tell his grief. 1 he
question here must have a different force
| from that which it bears after the mani
testation OF Gods presence in verse H.
Here it must signify, why art thou cast
down. What is thy business here? Why
| hast thou left Israe., to whom l sent thee,
and come to these mountains? No doubt
there was il the words a gentle reproof.
He who is found out OF pace in Gods plan
mus: render an account OF himself. The
inquiry shou.d pursue others who have
fled to caves in which they would fain hide
themselves from responsibility. ID 1t
comes to the lmpeniten. i'll the cave of con-
| cea.ment OF their sin. (2) 1t comes to the
| penltent in the cave of dependency. 81
IT comes to the indolent i'll the cave of
s:oth. (4) II comes to the sorrowfu in
| the cave OF murmuring. Read this ques-
ton with the emphasis on the different
words in succession. What ''doesr' thou
here: ,Wha: doest "thou'' here? What
dcest thou here
10. Very jealous" Zca.o:s.y avenging
,!enorah's nono- Dy saying those who have
Drought ido!arry into lsraei, thus mitat-
,Eg the zeal C.: Pninehas Gum. 25:l-l3).
| lnerc lsno Lcasttu.ness in these words. Eli
.ah cny opens MS gr.ef and sets forth that
ne has dohe his utmost, but that, in spite
OF ai., Doth klng and peopie are still ulre-
Dentant. ''Forsaken Thy covenant" The
iirst stage OF apostasy. They lightly esti-
mated tue word OF the Lord Thrown
down Thine affairs" The second stage of
apo..aSy; deSertion from grew into enmity
to; the PAGES Of prayer were destroyed;
they were unwilling to have among them
.onger anything that reminded them of
| sage OF apostasy. " hen a man will not
Esren to the truth, he seeks to remove its
witnesses, either by power or cunning. Il
on.y, am left The same statement in /
klags lS::2, but the sense is different.
There Elijah merely said that he a.one re-
manned to execute the prophets office,
which was true; here he implies that he is
the on.y prophet left alive, whereas hun
dred had been saved by Obadiah, but none
OF them had stood by him at Carmel
and he ooes not count them. He felt him
self to be alone in an awful deso.ation.
ii. Go forth" 1t is not quite clear
whether Ethan went out of the cave now
o. after the wind and earthquake had
passed ". l3). The account seems to indi-
cate that at this time he went to the
Lord passed by" As He passed by Moses,
perhaps in this same cave. God was about
to teach Elijah great lesson and send
him back to IsraeI much wiser man.
Strong wind" a tornado. Rent" etc.
Literally. Tearing up the mountains and
shivering the rocks. Earthquake One
OF the most terrible manifestations of di-
vine power. u. Fire" Probably, light
ming: / myself stood for hours one night,
in Manitoba, watching a most vivid, con-
tinual and terrible display of lightning
Natural phenomena are calculated to i'm
press the. mind with Jehovah's power and
struction of His enemies. Was not in"
There was sense in which the Lord was
IN the wind, the earthquake and the fire;
they were symbols of His mighty power.
But there was a revelation of the divine
nature which God would no. give to
Elijah which these symbols could not con.
vey, and in this sense Jehovah was not in
them. Still small voice." "A sound of
gentle stiffness "-R. ", margin. We are
not told whether the sound was articu-
late or not, but when Elijah heard it he un-
derstood that the time had come for him
to present himself before the Lord, and
that some further revelation was about to
be given him.
l3. I'm his mantle" The skins of beasts
dressed with the hair on were formerly
worn by prophets and priests as the sim
pie insignia of their Office. He covered his
face to show his respect; so Moses hid his
face (Exod.. 800. Went out" Elijah
now leaves the cave and listens to the voice
OF God. God intended to display Himself
mercy; as the wind, earthquake and fire
were only the forerunners of the still
small voice, so the law and all its terrors
were only intended TO introduce the Cos
pei of Jesus. What doest thou bere?"
The Lords question and the prophets
answer are repeated. The repetition shows
that Elijah still justities his course. He
had, indeed, been very Jealous for the
Lord, but he had expected too much from
his triumph at Carmel"
III. Elijah sent on a special mission Tvs.
1913. II, l6. "The Lord said" Three
things God gave to Elijah in this inter.
view: /. A purpose in life--some definite
work to occupy his attention. 2. Compan.
ionship, by having disciple and success.
sor. 8. Assurance that he had not lived
in vain, since seven thousand were still
faithful. Go, return" Elijah's mission
is not yet ended.
II. Shall come to pass" God assures
Elijah that the Almighty is still ruling in
Israel and that idoiatry is to be over
thrown. Hazael, Jehu and Elisha are to
be "the ministers of divine vengeance
against the house of Ahab." "Shall Elisha
slay?" These words cannot be explained
literally, for we do not read of any who
were slain by the hand of Elisha, but "his
voice and his labors for the overthrow of
false worship were constant, and by the
sword of his mouth he overthrew the
foes of Jehovah" 1S. "Seven thousand" !"
In the judgment to come upon the people,
all Israel shall not be cut off. There will
be found seven thousand who have never
uor,b:pad Raal Hera Elijah laorns tha .