Evening journal., 1911-02-11
0LBTE$fAmENTI IIriES
JBROKNN J
EIlkBERN!,lACLf
/ Kings Is: l-4O-February II
''ChOOSe you this day whom We Will
serYc.r- Joshua 2f:l5.
NV BIBLE STUDIES
THE PRAYER-ANswERING GOD

! Kings Is: l-40-Fehruary II
CHOOSE you this day whom We VIII
serrc."- Joshua 24:l5.
The word of the Lord came to Eli
jah i'm the third year instructing him
TO manifest himself to King Ahab,
with view to the termination Of the
drouth This may have been the third
year Of the Prophets sojOurn AZ Iare-
nhath. or II may have been the third
year after l3lijah's announcement TO
Ahab. The land of Israel may already
have been experiencing a six-monthH'
drOuth when Elijah announced to the
king that no rain was TO be expected
until he. as Gods servant, would an
nounce IL or bring IL. In any event
we have the assurance that the en-
tire pcriod Of drouth was three and
I half years.-Luke 4:25; James
5:17.
When The time was fulhlled God
directed Elijah to present himself TO
King Ahab, because the time had
come when God was willing to re-
lieve the drouth-When a suficiency
of punishment had come upon the
Israelites for their iniquities-when
az least some Of them had been called
TO their senses, reminded OF their
Covenant with the Lord and his en-
gagement to give them blessings or
adversities, according TO their obedi-
ence. On arriving at the palace Eli
iah called for the Royal Superinten-
dent. OF Prime Minister, Obadiah. He
was a godly man and. OF course. dis
tressed by the idolatrous course of
the King and Queen. II he was not
sufficiently courageous to protest
, openly, he was, nevertheless, cour-
! a geous. for in a time when the ser
wants OF Jehovah we're being perse-
cuted to death by Queen Jezebel. Oba-
| diah hid one hundred OF them and
supplied them with the necessities
of iife-evidently at the risk OF his
all. When Obadiah met Elijah and
was told TO tell the King that Elijah
was there TO see him, Obadiah feared
to do so. He declared that himself
and others had searched the entire
country over most carefully 20 find
Eliia and found him not He realized
that the Lord had hidden him. He
protested that II now he would de-
clare that Elijah was there 10 ses
the King. the probabilities we're that
by the time the King would get there
the spirit or power Of the Lord would
somehow carry Elijah away. Then tn
King, infuriated. would cause Oba
diah's death; but Elijah reassures
him.
When the King met Elijah his firs
word was, Art thou he that troubles
Israeli" This Is the worldly cusom
The fearless minister who tells tn
Truth and relates the Divine prophec.
respecting the rewards of evil-doinl
is held accountable, as though he hal
caused the trouble. But Elijah wa
not intimidated He promptly ans
wered, / have not troubled Israel
but thou and thy parents house.in tha
! We have fOrsaken the commandment
Of the Lord and followed Baal. Thre
years before the King would hav
probably ordered the execution o
Elijah: but the fulflllment of hi
word and the pahgs of hunger ha'
| humbled him. He was anxious tha
| The Slight should be removed and re
sponded to the demands Of Elijal
| that the eight hundred and fift,
! prophets OF idolatrous Baalism shoull
meet at Mt. Carmel and that thithe
ali the people OF Israel, representel
by their chief men, should also assem-
bic. The design, evidently, was
4 contest betweea Elijah, the represen
tative of God. and these murderou
priests of Baal, proteges Of Jeze
| bel.
aChOOse Ye This Day.
This gathering of the priests and {
4 the prophets required time, but wa
] finally accomplished. When the NEE
4 ing convened Elijah declared that
4 was time to have testing and show
Z ing as 10 who really was God. Jehova