The Tupelo journal., 1911-02-24
ELIJAH MEETS
AHAB
Sunday School Lesson for FEB. z6, 1911
Specially Arranged for Thi. Paper

verses 17-1s.
GOLDEN TExT-"Take heed. and be-
ware Of c~ovetousness Luke 12:1S.
TIME-Four or i've years after the last
lesson. Prof. Beecher puts this story In
the 10th year OF Ahab, B. G. 906 Tor 1888.
Assyrian) between his Syrian campaign.
I Kings 20 and the war described In I
Kings q.
PLACE-Ahab's house in Samaria, n
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 p%racticing the lesson he had
learned on Horeb. He was at work,
but in q 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 were permitted to
come into the open. Persecution had
ceased. Others came out and Joined
them. The prophets had no longer to
be hidden in a cave by Obadiah.
Elijah encouraged and was at the
head of the organized communities or
schools Of the prophets which existed
IS far 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 a strong influence and
their appearance at any particular
unnf uoc nffon Tho utrno1 fNp TIN ovSt.
break Of a contagious religious fervor.
These 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
huences and methods. The great
prophet, SO lonely hitherto, had found
a friend. II there was one thing Eli
jah needed to mellow him, 1t was that!
Naboth, a 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
%secution 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.
Jezehel coveted 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
W 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
e but acceptance of the fact
would not be in disaccord with Ahab's
moral weakness.
C~ovetousness is "a root Of all kinds
of evil" It is the desire, the motive
that lies in tne heart, the prolific
mother Of all siAgs the cockatrice's egg
from which bxSas forth the viper and
the fiery flying serpent" 1t 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 u
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
u~prightness 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 covetous hearts.
A clear vision of the evil covetous-
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 tortures of the inquisition, where
the walls drew nearer together by n
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 a change
of heart that leads to a change OF
character. 1t 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 DOOR
est can give. They can say, as Peter
said to the lame mar at the Beautiful
gate OF the temple, such as / have
give thee" There Is much more to
give than mere money; sympathy,
work, time, aid in sickness, feeding
the hungry, shelter. care and a multi
tude Of other things.
Elijah confronted the king in his ILL.,
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 infu-
ences another. But that 1t was Gods
word is q fact. 1T is implied that
Elijah found Ahab-strode into his
presence-in the vineyard. So had
49, s-