The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-28

ana many a peak
Can tell how solitude with God breeds
souls that conquer time"
Out of such a wilderness school
perhaps the very Wilderness, east
of Galilee, to which Jesus Himself re-
tired eight hundred years -1ater-Eli-
jah came to arraign the corruption
of the Court of Israel. We have no
record of the full interview. 1t must
have been sizzling. With words that
punctured pride and purple state, this
incOngruous figure wearing an ami
mails skin for a robe, portrayed to the
arrogant king how little his treaties
and trade and alliances and glory
amounted to, alongside of the fact
that he had been recreant to Jehovah,
and to IsraeIs distinctive mission.
Thank God that in every time God
sends a voice to call men back to right
paths.
Royal thunderbolts were hurled at
the shaggy locks of the Tishbite. But
Gods man has mighter weapons than
any earthly king; and Elijah declared
to the enraged and impenitent Ahab
that God would send a drouth upon
Israel as a punishment for it's idola-
try. That word of disaster set all the
hounds of hate at the heels of the
stern prophet. He had to flee for his
life; and the Lord directed him to the
brook Cherith
The Raven COmmissariat.
travellers VINO nave gone
Jerusalem to Jericho cannot forget
the huge ravine, or gorge, at the bot
tom of which flows the brook Cherith.
The immensely of this rocky chasm
is surprise. AS 1 stood on the edge
of the precipice that forms one of it's
sides, and looked down to the dizzy
depths below, where the Monastery
of Elijah is perched on the lower
reaches of the opposite side, 1 saw
the huge, strong-winged ravens cir
before mi
ture the lonely prophet, in the fast
nesses of this majestic and well nigh
inaccessible solitude, fed by these
powerful far-faring birds. Hermits
and recluses have always made this a
favorite resort, and the cliffs are full
of caves.
A strange place and way for Gods
man to be kept? God always has
moved in mysterious way to care for
His own. The ravens that fed Elijah
are not any more marvellous than the
providences that are sustaining trust
full souls in this year of our Lord 1915.
There are pantries as empty as Eli
jah'S which are being replenished in
ways as wonderful. God still has His
ravens, running His errands. Shining
out from this old, old story is the
precious truth that God is concerned
in the welfare of His friends. He
will keep the feet of His saints The
experience of Elijah is re-enforced by
the teaching of Jesus concerning the
birds of the air and the flowers of the
field. The Highest is not above being
solicitous for the lowliest of mortals.
Peters word sums up the lesson,
Casting all your care upon Him, for
He careth for you That text could
be illustrated by countless experiences
from the recent hard times.
The Original Widows Cruise
Elijah the Tishbite is today preach
ing a sermon on the resourcefulness
of Jehovah. God has many ways of
caring for His own. The brook
Cherith dried up, and the prophet
who usually had to do considerable
travelling to speak or hear his mes
sages or to do his work, was sent
afoot, of course, on the long journey
across Judah and Israel to the coast
of Tyre and Sidon. There at the town
of Zarephath, he was to find a new
sort of providence awaiting him.
He accosted a widow at the gate,
asking for drink and food. She con-
fessed, in sorrow. that she was on her
way to gather firewood for the last
meal for her son. All she had left