Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1911-02-02

Receive stripes. punishments, II they
Az disobedient and forsook the Lord
~ their share of the Covenant. The
~ and half years famine described
his study was. therefore, in Israeps
IL specifically a rebuke from the Lord
Us is the Specification OF the Lords
l&nent through the Prophet, lis there
n In the city and the Lord hath not
D it?" Some have mistakenly inter
,Ved this to mean that God holds him
m responsible for all the moral evils of
tankind. Quite to the contrary, the Lord
lec iares respecting his own Government
hat Ellis way is perfect" The word
gf In this text is old style English. sig
lying any disaster or trouble or aftiic-
With the Israelites God wished II
De clearly understood that he was re-
fnsble, both for their blessings and for
cir tribulations, all of which were in
nded to purify them.
Elijah the Prophet
Under Divine guidance. Elijah. at the
,propriate time. presented himself to
ing Ahab, clothed according to his Gus
IN, in exceedingly plain garments. In
ie name of the Lord he reproved the
ing for the idolatries practised In his
lngdom and announced what the king
,ubtless considered a vain boast; name
that there would be neither rain nor
b the land OF Israel until Elijah
Hcommand II. And the drouth came
WProphet of the Lord predicted
months grew into years and the
l1h continued. the king caused search
made for Elijah, with view to
4 H entreating or threatening him. TO
W. intent that the drouth might be
tl6ken. But Elijah. under the Lords d.
Fection. secreted himself near the Brook
srherith, where the ravens brought him
Hood morning and evening until the brook
dried up and, under the Lords direction.
Elijah went elsewhere.
While this story that the ravens fed
Elijah sounds mythical. II has its paral-
lels. The raven Is a wise bird. A story
Is told Of a young man sick In prison, to
zAom a raven brought food Bishop STAN
iley's History OF Birds tells of another in
lcident thus: Coming into the inn yard
mn chaise ran over and bruised the leg
of favorite Newfoundland dog, and
while we were examining the injury,
RaBh the raven, looked on also. That
i4Ht the dog was tied up under the man
Ter with my horse and the raven not only
yisited him. but brought him bones and
attended him with particular marks OF
Kindness
Nor is Il a wonderful case,
The wonder is to be renewed;
And many can say, 10 MS praise,
He sends them by ravens their food.
Thus worldlings, though ravens indeed.
Though greedy and selfish their mind.
II God has a servant to feed,
Against their own Wills can be kind"
The Widow Of Zarephath
Divine providence guided Elijah to the
nome of a poor widow. to whom the
dronth and continued scarcity had proved
! treat trial She had little coarse flour
EFT. which alone stood between herself
and her son and starvation, so far as she
could discern The Prophet, meeting her,
as<ed for a drink of water and small
ca<o of bread. This was a severe test to
the |womans faith and generosity. She
exn1ained the situation, indicating her de-
sire TO accede to the Prophets wishes.
yet loath to part with her all. Elijah re-
ned Fear not. Bake for yourself and
- your son, but the first cake make for
- and bring to me. Then he explained
Wber the Lords message: THE barrel OF
al shall not waste. neither shall the
vIse of oil fail until the day that the
Lord sendeth rain upon the earth" The
word OF the Lord was fulfilled. Miracu-
lousy the supplies were increased little
by little, Just as required for USE
There Is a lesson for the Lords people
in this-a lesson that, even In our own
extremities, we should exercise sympathy
tom ada NHar L. lr a