Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1915-08-25
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
LESSON FOR AUGUST 2s
SECURED EXCLUSIVELY BY THE
BANNER FOR ITS MANY
READERS
ACCORDING TO THE
INTERNATIONAL SERIES
Text OF the Lesson, Kings XVII, l.
Is. Memory Verses, 14-16-GoIden
Text, Peter V, documentary
Prepared by Rev. ID. NJ. Stearns.

g-4LIittee to consider the l.fe of an
re have heard the Lords message
trough several prophets, and now we
ire 10 have seven lessons on Elijah
I'D E,.Sha. two Of the greatest of the
PROPHETS. both of whom, as we'll as
Jonah, are mentioned by name by the
Lord Jesus duke iv, 25-27: Matt. xii
30-41. He spoke Of Daniel also by
name and said Of all the true prophets
that it was foolish not TO believe all
they said Matt. xiv, -; Luke xiv,
-, -, Al; Acts iii. 2D. There were
false prophets whom God never sent
as well us bad kings der. xiii 16, 21.
% 2Gl, but true prophet was the
Lords messenger with the Lords mes
sage CHag /, 49,. This is our first in
PRODUCTION TO Elijah, whose name sig
nifies Jehovah is my God" and his
watchword is The Lord God of Israel
liveth, before whom | stand" Verse
and chapter xviii, 10. We are remind
ed OF the angels reply to Zacharia's
How shall | know in Luke /, IS,
10. II am Gabriel, that stand in the
presence OF God" and also OF Paul's
words In Acts xvii, %, There stood
by me the angel of God, whose | am
and whom | serve"
A '~ue man Of God has to do. only
with God-take orders from Him only
and look 10 Him alone for supplies
Our Lord mentions the three and a
half years without rain, and James
says that 1t was in answer 10 the
earnest prayer of Elijah, although he
was Il man subject 10 like passions as
we are Duke ", %; Jas. Y, Il, 49,.
The reason of his prayer is found in
the fact that. Israel had become deS
perately wicked, and as TO Ahab it is
written of him that he did evil In the
sight OF the Lord above all that We're
before him q Kings xvi, 30-33l. Then
In the law Of Moses it was written
that If Israel sinned Sod would. among
other things. make the heaven as iron
or brass Q.ev. XVI, 10; Deut xviii.
23). Elijah therefore, in his jealousy
for the honor of Jehovah, asked God
to fulfill His threat In this matter that
Israel might be brought TO repentance
That Elijah might be out of the way
Of the wrath of Ahab the Lord sent
him for q time TO hide himself by the
brook Cherith. Contrast Get thee
hence and hide thyself" with Go shew
myself" xvii, 3; xviii, ID. The man
nf al hac ~ NJ al
ply to obey.
II God is to be seen and glorified self
must be out OF sight. Ii must be
Not /, but Christ" Not /, but the
grace OF God" Gal II, 20; ! Cor. XIV,
10. When the Lord sends us He will
provide all that we need in His own
way, and when He shall ask Us at
the end OF the Journey, Lacked We
anything?" we shall, no doubt, be able
to answer as did the disciples, Moth
ing" duke xxi, 35). In this case Eli
jah's food was to be water from the
him every morning and evening by
ravens, real, literal blackbirds, such
as the one Noah sent out Of the ark.
No other Interpretation of ravens will
stand. Notice that the Lord told Elijah
where TO go and then said, II have
commanded the ravens to feed thee
there To know the Lords care we
must be where the Lord wants us.
strength and gladness are In His
place" Il Chron. xvi, 20, but IL we are
not in His place for us we may miss
the strength and gladness. Both Eli
tah and the ravens were obedient TO
the word of the Lord, and this is all
that is required of us. After awhile
the brook dried up verse -, and some
day Elijah may tell us IL he had any
anxiety as he saw the brook growing
less and less-probably not.
If any who read this see their brook
drying up, let them remember the
Lord God of Elijah and Deut. XXI, 8;
Phil. Nv, 10. BY the word of the Lord
he is now commanded to go to the
home Of widow in Zaraphath or Sa-
repta, who has been commanded to
sustain him, and on his arrival there
he finds the widow gathering sticks
with which to prepare her last meal for
her son and herself, for she assured
Elijah that she had no provisions in
the house, but a handful of meal and
little oil. Now make this as literally
real as you can and say how you would
feel with such prospect. But Elijah
had the word Of the Lord to rest upon
and he boldly assured her that there
was no cause TO fear, and that there
would always be meal in the barrel
and oil in the cpuse, and so it came to
pass according to the word of the Lord,
which lie spake by Elijah. and she and
he and her house did eat many days,
or as In the margin, full year verses
1910. 1t was simple and somewhat
monotonous fare-meal and oil, oil and
meal-but we do not hear OF any one
complaining. The story of the death
and resurrection Of the widows son in
tho rest of our lesson cha rter fs tha