Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-09-03
(By william T. Ellis.)

/ the picture of Mt Carmel, scene of
the dramatic duel between Elijah
and the priests of Baal The place
| fits the story as a glove fits the hand.
God set a great stage for this drama
of the ages. The hospitable little
company of Carmelite monks, whose
simple and even poverty-stricken
| home is on the very site of the great
contest, seemed to me to be favored
| above most religious communities,
even though not score of travellers
in year climb to their monastery.
Tourists are content to drive from
| Haifa to the northern end of the
mountain, which is twelve miles from
| the scene of the historic contest.
Mt. Carmel, which is twelve miles
| long, is called, the mountain OF
| thousand valleys" Recalling the
night l spent on horseback. travelling
! the length of the mountain in the
/ dark, having been delayed by the hos
pitality of the monks and of a Druse,
/ can well believe that there are
thousand of those slopes which l as
| cended and descended. The mountain
| runs parallel to the sea, from Haifa,
where the placid and prosperous Ger
man pietists have colony, to the
south, ending in bold headland
which holds in review the historic
! plain of Esdraelon, and most of the
! land of Canaan. In all the land of
| Israel there is no other such natural
| platform for the enactment of a ma
| tional drama. Millions could have
witnessed the combat between Elijah
| and the heather priests, so far as nat
ural facilities were concerned.
Looking down the precipitous sides
| of the mountain to the east one sees
fertile valley, studded with groves of
| gray olive trees, where runs the brook
| kishon, which for part of the year is
| dry. Scrub oaks cover this end of
the mountain itself. Near the top,
under the southern brow of the noun
! tain. gushes a great and perennial
| spring, from which was obtained the
water to carry out Elijah's instruc-
| tions.
! Three of us stood one Sunday morn
/ ing on the roof of the monastery, at
! this place of burning" as 1t is called
| locally, and one, u minister from Aus
| tralia, whom we had picked up at
Haifa, drew from his pocket a Bible
! and read the sublime narrative which
| the Sunday Schools are this week
| studying. The experience was thrill
! ing. The whole scene lay unrolled
! before us like a scroll. There had
| stood the multitude, crowding to the
crest. Somewhere within a radius of
/ flfty yards, the altars had been built
| twenty-eight hundred years ago, al
| though the drama seemed to be staged
anew for us. Down below was Kishon,
whittier the false priests had been
sparkled the lovely Mediterranean,
and-yes, 1t was true, though we could
scarcely believe our eyes-out of the
sea, on cloudless sky, rose "a cloud
the size of mans hand" such as
the prophets servant saw. Small
wonder that Lawrence and Alice Oil
phant, the British authors, made this
mountain top their home; I saw the
| monument of Mrs. Oliphant in the
yard of a Druses home.
The Man of Mystery Reappears
Three years had elapsed between
the story of last weeks Sunday School
lesson and the present one. The
drought and the famine predicted by
Elijah had fallen. The hand of sor-
row was heavy on the land. People.s
hearts had been mellowed by suffer- |!
ing. Many pentent thoughts had
been directed to the old days and the |
old ways, when Israel was loyal to |
Jehovah. The news that this sorrow
had been sent as punishment for idol |
airy, had run to and fro over the land. |
Elijah had become an awesome fig !
ure in the popular mind
AS fors Ahab, ever prodded by his |
Vengeful queen, Jezebel. he had |
sought everywhere for Elijah. He
could not reason with him, but he
side, if right was not. The fate that !
he wanted to visit upon the elusive |
prophet fell upon the heads of other +
ministers of Jehovah. Jezebel vented /
her hate in hunting and harrying /
priests. Obadiah, the palace steward,
chancellor OF the household, a man
of God, had hidden a hundred in.
caves, so that their lives were saved.
This character of Obadiah is n studv
in itself there are always to be found
friends of righteousness and Justice
ever near the high places of wicked
household.
After three years, Elijah reap
peared, showing himself to Obadiah
when he, like Ahab, was searching for
water, The sort of glamor and mys-
terry that had invested the name OF
EilJah Is revealed by the panic that
seized Obadiah when he saw the
prophet. And when he was bidden
to tell the king Elijah is here" he fell
into abJect protest, for he feared that
the man of God would spirit himself
away, and thus he would incur pun
ishment. All up and down the land.
with his full royal resources. Ahab
had sought Elijah, to compel him TO
take off the spell" of drought: and
now to have him suddenly and fear
lessly present himself-it was really
unbelievable.
hlng anu trOpnet Clash
Yet so it was, and shortly the skin
girt, stern-visaged ascetic from the
wilderness was confronting the mon
arch, apparelled in royal state. De
spite the contrast in appearance. II
was easily apparent who was the
greater man. So Ahab tried TO assert
himself by bluster:-
Art thou he that troubleth Is
rael?"
Back to the kings teeth the nm
abashed prophet hurled the taunt. 1T
have not troubled Israel, but thou.
and thy fathers house, in that We
have forsaken the Lord, and thou hast
followed Baalim."
Diagnosis is the highest art of the
physician, and of the preacher and
statesman and social student. To tell |
what Is really the matter is most i'm |
portant. A lot of folk, like Ahab, are |
crying out against the prophets who /
tell them the real trouble, instead of !
seeking to remedy the root difficultv- |
Blaming Elijah is popular habit. II |
is easier to criticise the preacher of |
plain truth than IL Is to remedy the |
evil he points out. Some blind Ahabs |
would expel all social agitators'' from |
our universities and politics and pub |
lie prints and street corners. That will |
never end the difficulty Unjust con-
ditions must be remedied. Killing the |
physician does not stop the progress |
of the disease he has diagnosed. The |
Ahab state of mind merely aggravates |