The farmer and mechanic., 1915-09-28
(By William T. Ellisb.

I,le Of his own community is pretty
lLely to be told to stick to the sim
ME Gospel" Yet the Simple Cos
iev' has always been a social Gospel.
and q Gospel Of justice, whether
rreached by Paul, Peter, Jesus, John
a.. Baptist or the Old Hebrew proph-
Today's lesson shows us our old |
friend Elijah again confronting
wicked King Ahab, with Queen Jeze-
iel iu the background, making mis-
chief This time the incident is one |
OF social justice, when common
man was wronged by the mighty king |
and had Gods doom pronounced |
upon him for it. The timeliness of |
the message leads us to remark that if
the preacher of religion will only stick |
10 the Bible he can find the most per-
,inent truth for our own times. This
Book is book Of God, and so a book
of Justice and righteousness. There is
40 shelter behind it for the rich and
powerful defrauder of the people
\ WOnan's Plot and Crime.
few words suffice to tell the
story itself. Like the most modern Of
landowners, King Ahab coveted an
adjoining field. This belonged to
Naboth and was his family inhari-
lance. By the law of Moses he was
not permitted to let it go out Of his
peeved king threw himself down on
MS ivory couch and sulked like a
small boy who has been denied sweet
meats.
lpzebei. the heather wife who
ruined Ahab's career, took matters
in Ter own hand, and conspired with
officials to arrest and condemn Ma
both on the charges of treason and
sacrilege. Thus, after the most ap-
proved of modern high handed meth
DDS, big business wiped out the
small competitor who would not sell
out. and Ahab got his field. But he
never enjoyed it, for along came Eli
JAN with a clean-cut word as to what
the Ultimate Judge had to say about
that sort of thing. There is no cure
for the ills of the social and CONNER
oia order like the fear of God.
An Old Picture of Human Nature.
This page out of the court life Of
moro than twenty-five centuries ago
reads like the secret members of court
life. 1t is vivid and revealing. We
see behind the curtain, and find the
Great King Ahab just as covetous
and just as petty and just as suiky
as pampered palace figure today
Human nature is human nature, and
kings and queens Of old did not diff
fer greatly from men and women lr
our own land and time. The mar
sulkily accepting a decision which he
knew to be just, and the woman un
scrupulously encompass1ng the enc
sought by her husband through fOu
means, might be contemporary por
trait.
The rights Of tho case are clear
There is such a thing as the sacred
ness Of poperty. That principle
holds civilization together. All people
and courts have regarded it. Former
ly. property rights were deemed su
pcrior to human rights. Happily, W.
see more clearly now; the suprem
dred years has been to establish tn
supremacy Of human rights. Som
archaic minds have not yet learne
the relative value of the two, although
the Bible teaching is clear.
One danger, in our new socia
mood, is that we shall despise prop
erty rights. These have a sancit
that the demagogue does not ofte
see. One high purpose Of govern
mcnt is to protect people in the pos
session of their just property rights
while at the same time conservin
the welfare of the community;
When The King Sulked.
Elijah and Naboth are the onl
two creditable figures in this stor,
Ahab acted like spoiled boy, an
not like a king. He sulked in n
palace, and made all about him mis-
cradle by his selfishness. The pic
ture Of this royal crybaby on an 1vor
couch is not pretty one. AS Il
Jezebel she played the tigress par
woman without code will go
even greater lengths than ma
Her plot. in which the grating Oft
Gals had a part, was the same so
of misuse Of the courts Of justice
we sometimes see today. The Ii
OF Naboth was sworn away in II
same fashion as was the life Of j
sus. and on the same charges.
The covetousress of Ahab, II
ruthlessness of Jezebel, the coward
completely Of custodians of justice. 9
tonspired to create a condition tn
provoked the wrath of the Most Hie
himself.
Frederick the Great and the Miller.
| well remember the old mill tn