The Williamson enterprise. [volume] (Williamson, W. Va.) 1907-1911, 1911-02-23
ELIJAH MEETS
AHAB

ware of covetousness."L Luke 12:16.
TlME-EOur or five years after the last
lesson. Prof Beecher puts this story in
the 10th year of Ahab, b. G. SOC Cor S6s.
Assyrian) between his Syrian campaign,
4 Kings 20 and the war described In /
Kings q
PLACE-Ahab's house in Samaria, and
Naboth's vineyard in Jezreel. 20 miles to
the north.
For four or five years Elijah seems
to have retired from public life. He
was practicing the lesson he had
learned on Horeb. He was at work,
but In different way. His stormy
work was not in vain. That plowed
the ground, and now was the time for
sowing the.seed. The seven thousand
hidden believers we're permitted to
come into the open. Persecution had
ceased, Others came out and Joined
them. The prophets had. no longer to
De hidden in cave by Obadiah.
Elijah encouraged and was at the
mead OF the organized communities or
schools of the prophets which existed
as Tar back as Samuel. In his last
Journey he visited the SONS of the
prophets" at Bethel and Jericho, and
IS spoken of as their head master.
From these centers and from the
schools at Gilgal, Ramah and Gibeah
they exerted strong influence and
their appearance at any particular
spot was often the signal for the out
break OF q contagious religious fervor.
Ihese settlements may be described
as training schools for religious pur-
poses Elijah was thus educating the
people in the true religious life. He
was working in accordance with the
still small voice Of God.
.Elijah's success was in finding and
training Elisha to be prophet in his
stead, training under these newer in
fuences and methods. The great
prophet, SO lonely hitherto, had found
friend. II there was one thing Eli
1ah needed to mellow him, it was that!
Naboth, native of Jezreel, had for
his vineyard an ancestral possession.
We learn that Naboth was a worship
er OF Jehovah, and in spite Of the per-
secut1on of the prophets did not
shrink from making it known to the
King by his language. Here was an
example OF one who had not bowed
the knee nor given a kiss to Baal.
Jezebef7coveted this vineyard.
Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take
possession Of the vineyard. And Ahab
went. The Septuagint adds, that he
rent his clothes and put on sackcloth,
as though shocked at his crime and
anxious to prove his innocence to his
own conscience and to the people. But
the hypocrisy Of the act was shown
by his willingness to accept the fruits
OF the crime. This mourning for the
means but acceptance of the fact
would not be in disaccord with Ahab's
moral weakness
Covetousness. is "a root Of all kinds
OF evil. It is the DESIRE the motive
that lies In the heart, the prolific
mother Of all sins, the cockatrice's egg
from which breaks forth the viper and
the fiery flying serpent It is not an
awful thought that the deadly sin Of
Judas and of Ananias sprang from
greed? Still as of old, man by him
self Is priced; for thirty pieces Judas
sold himself not Christi
Much of the sin and danger to our
land springs from covetousness. The
graft, the dishonesty. the liquor-sell-
ing. the bribery. the fraud Of every
kind, the letting abominable tene-
ments to the poor, selling honor and
uprightness to get rich, grinding the
faces OF the poor, dwarfing the chill
dren by overwork all these and many
more flow from the polluted fountain
of coyetous hearts.
a clear vision of the evil coyetous-
ness works in the covetous mans own
character and destiny. How 1t de-
grades him, shuts him up in a narrow
Ing prison like one described among
the fortunes Of the inquisition, where
the walls drew nearer together by one
notch each day. The doors Of oppor-
tunity are gradually shut against him,
and his part in the blessing of the
great world.
The one essential cure is change
OF heart that leads to a change Of
character. It is to give your heart to
God, to consecrate your whole being
to him, to love and obey him, to strive
with the whole soul to build up his
kingdom. Love is the cure Of covet-
business; love to God and love to man.
Use every opportunity Of giving and
serving others. Don't complain Of so
many calls, but rejoice in the oppor-
tunity;; search for opportunities as for
hid treasure. God loves the whole
souled hilarious giver Even the poor
est can give. They can say, as Peter
said to the lame man at the Beautiful
gate OF the temple, such as have
give I thee There is much more to
give than mere money; sympathy,
work, time, aid in sickness, feeding
the hungry, shelter, care and multi
tude of other things.
Elijah confronted the king IN his i'll
gotten property. The word Of the Lord
came to Elijah. In what form we do
not know, any more than we know all
the ways in which one spirit infiu-
ences another. But that it was Gods
word is a fact. It is implied that
Elijah found Ahab strode into his
presence in the vineyard. So had
Moses stood before Pharaoh and Sam
uel before Saul and Nathan before Da-
vid- So was Isaiah to stand hereafter
before Ahaz and jeremiah before Je-
hoiachim and John the Baptist before
Herod. So, too, tn later days, Savona-
rola could speak the bare, bold truth