The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-02-17

The people had now made their
choice. but that choice must not emu
with words II Jehovah Is to he their
God. then away with Baai TAKE
these men, cried Elijah pointing t.
the prophets of 9aal standing near
'.and don't let cns Of them escape.
And tae multitude In their new en-
thuSiasm FOR Jehovah dragged them
down the mountain te the brook and,
81 the command OF Elijah, put them
10 death Ia accordance wlsh the las
Of Moses u was terrible, bat not
haF 50 terrible - the dCstruEuon tARt
had already been wrought by iuoIatry
IN the nation. Thea turning ~ King
Ahah. who had apparently locked ga
all the while iu silent wonder. bisJnh
safe. eco back up the mountain ana
enjoy the sacrlfcial feast: FOR Z near
the s1und IF great rain conf g.' 80
Shae went Up 10 eat and drink. aud
the prophet went up to pray. Far
aiaNc the fessging multitude he sat
down upon the ground and, dropping
his head between his knees. began to
pour oat his soul to God. Presently he
turned 10 has servant and rAde him
go VI TO the top of the mountain ana
lock toward the sea. The servant went
and returned. lie had seen nothing.
Again and again he went at the pro-
phet's command. and by and by he
returned with the news that little
cloud no bigger than Il mans hand
had risen out Of the sea The pro-
phet sprang 70 his feet. Go and
tell Ahab to yoke up his chariot ana
hurry home. that The rain stop him
not" he cried; and the servant hast
ened down the mountain. Meantime
the heavens grew black with CLOUDS.
There was mutter Of thunder, Il
- ma Al "a
upon the parched earth, and then
came a mighty downpour. Ahah was
1ust starting out when the prophet,
seized by a divine impulse, ran down
the mountain, and taking his place
ahead of the Ch~riot ran before the
king through tkS rain all the way to
JezreeL 1t was 10 an Oriental be-
coming act of loyalty and Of honor.
But when he reached the oitys gate
he stopped and stood aside while the
chariot of the king swept in. lie do
not care to trust himself within the
walls of city that held Ahab and
Jezehel
The Lesson Text In Everyday Dress.
The day after the wonderful event
on Mt. Carmel u royal servant came
to Elijah with "a message from The
queen. She had heard of the slaugn-
ter of the prophets of Baal and she
was In a blaze of wrath. Every word
Of her message flashed fire. The
gods do SO to me and more also IL
make not thy life as the life OF one
Of Baals prophets by this time to
morrow" Elijah listened and for the
first time In his life the co4or LETT AIS
cheeks. Another moment and he was
fleeing for his life. ON he fled toward
the south, past Samaria, past Jeru-
len 2t 81 RperAhA la.
the southernmost town Of Israel On
and on he went until all human habl-
taJ1on was left behind him and then
nc stopped. Utterly unhinged in body
mind and spirit, he dropped dowT
beneath a juniper tree ana there ht
begged God to take away his life
From the dizZiest height OF eAailatioT
On Carmel Elijah had fallen into The
deepest depths OF despair.
Happily he was too tired to CON
tinue his prayer for death and he
soon fell asleep. And then God. with
the pity of a father for his child
took him in hand to nurse him bach
to health again. An angel came ant
placed Is cruise of water and cake
of bread at his head. Then he aWak'
ened the prophet with touch anc
babe him eat and drink Elijah arose
and obeyea. and then lay down aSalt
and slept. by and by the angel came
again With isore sfsad" antf water
and the prophet was awakened ane
again he oUeyed and ate. The tooC
and sleep and the presence Of th'
comforting angel had now revived
him, and he who had been ready 4
die was able to take ID forty days
journey through the wilderness.
Al length he came to Sinai, forever
memorable as the scene of Jehovah
great" revelation Of himself to Israel
one uay as ne sat i'll cave he hearS
"a Voice which sshe ,recoS1al2ssd as akS
voice of Jehovah. wv hat doest thou
here, Elijah 2" II was a terrible eN
per4ence for a man 10 be thus sud
denly called upon to give account o.
himself H. GOD, but Elijah found
strength to answer. lie was there
he SAID. because the children of Israe
had turned against Jehovah and has
slain all the prophets except himself
:" and were now seeking his life beCaus'
he had been very jealous of Jehovah
honor. L.ater--perhaps ii was th'
,.ext dAy--tne voice came to hin
again commanding him to go forth
land stand upon the mount before
Jehovah" There WAS moment Of
silence and then d mighty tornado
swept down the mountain side, loosen
ing great raG4ss- tTeta- their t1taGcs ATTY
whirlng them into the valley below
Eat the Lord, says the sacred writer
was not IN the tornado Then came
a great earthquake which shook TIT
earth until the great peaks reeled like
drunken mGn- But the Lord was NOT
in the earthG uake. Then came sud
Gen flash and then d thousand fash es
of lightning that appeared like FIRE
raining from hea' en-. But the Lord
was not in the fire. Finally, after all
the noise had died away, there came
6 strange quiet, d Stiffness that seem
Ell a. speaH. AnG Elijah. who had
somehow understood THAI the L9ra
was mol In the tornado or the earth
quake or the ire. became console ua
that ne was now passing by; and he
arose, ana wrapped his face in his
oil the cave, w hat dOest thou here.
Elijah 2" came a voice out If the
stiffness. 1t was the same yoicc thai
had spoken to him the day before.
k.N5ah had but one answer. IL was
the answer of yesterday and he gave
IL again. He thought that he was
alone ia the world. that Jehovah =
canse had been uprCotcd ana cast
out of the world; that the great mani
festations Of the power Of God which
had been designed TO bring men to
their senses had proven a failure
tksat the, tire which fell from heaE en-
upon the altar on Carmel and the re-
turning q the rain had done no good
that all was over with JehoVan's king
dom la the world sna that there WIS
nothing left to be done. God wouio