The farmer and mechanic., 1915-09-07

With a hearty meal under his
leather girdle, and with his frazzled
nerves soothed by long and repeated |
sleep, the prophet turned his back on !
the juniper tree and started on a
desert Journey. The desire to die had |
departed. Instead, he wanted to be |
up and doing. So he set forth to the !
southeast, for the mountains Of Sinai |
This transforming experience which |
he had undergone on Mount Carmel |
turned his thoughts to that other |
mountain Of Gods presence, Horeb,
or Sinai, where the law had been |
given. He would go and fellowship
in spirit with that other discouraged
servant of God, Moses.
Leisurely, and with many excur-
sions, Elijah Travelled to Horeb, spend
ing forty days in the trip. How he
could enjoy such dcSolate surround
ings only lovers of the desert know.
This was his native air. Here, rather
than in palaces, was his home. In
the wilderness, if anywhere, Elijah
must get his messages from God. To
him the sparse camel thorn, the f1inty
gray desert, the distant red rocks
| were beautiful. He was at home in
| the Businesses. With real relief he
| took up his lodging in a cave in the
holy mountain.
! All the while, Elijah was suffering
! with the familiar prophet malady,
| loneliness. He saw too much Of him.
self. Ingrowing self-consciousness
had attacked him. He needed a news
paper, and intercourse with fellow
servants of God. The prophet who
| keeps out of touch with his fellows
sins against his own soul. Sam Jones
| once said to an Ohio audience, "You
sisters are dear old things, but you
are not posted" That is what allied
| Elijah, as it ails a myriad lugu brious
and pharisaical saints in our own day,
he was not posted" He did not
know what God was doing, or what
forces the Lord had under His ban
ner. Many lonely Christians faith
would be rejuvenated by attendance
upon a religious convention or con-
ference. There can be too much Of
any good thing, and there was too
much of the wilderness for Elijah: for
he himself bulked too large in the
landscape.
An Object Lesson For Elijah.
There is implied rebuke in the sim
pie fact that the prophet, who had
himself been given an object lesson
Of Gods greatness, had himself to be
taught an object lesson. For Elijah
$ had no sooner settled comfortably in
his cave than the voice Of Jehovah
came to him, saying lovingly, as it
= were, 'Well how about it Elijah
S What now?"
Y WhereupOn hte unconscious egotism
S of strong man engrossed in himself
A and IN his work burst forth, II have
i been very jealous for the Lord Coo
s OF hosts: for the children Of Israe
e have forsaken Thy covenant, thrown
t down Thine affairs, and slain Thy
r prophets with the sword; and [, ever
- 1 only, am left; and they seek m!
e life, to take it away"
That sounds familiar. It seems t.
r me l have often heard that priggish
g pharisaical, II, even I only, am left,
g a good many times There are who'll
\ groups Of us Christians who have 81
- | little sense of prOpOrtiOn-Or of humo
= that we think the Lord would be il
. a sorry way If it were not for us. w
- are sure the Church as we'll as tn
20 times are decadent and that we fey
N are the saving remnant. Whicl
~ means that we are not 'posted"; ou
~ ego has got in front Of our eyesight
h hindering our vision"
Bidding the Self-entered prophe
. stand on the mount, God gave him q.
a object lesson, which has passed by
T. mighty wind, an earthquake and
N fire, but the Lord was not in any {
70 them. Then came the still, sma
20 voice, and 10, that was the voice c
ne God. Now, as then and ever, tn
o. mightiest influences are the quietest-
Nv the growth of the vegetable kingdom
h. the shining Of the sun, the rise
b. the tides, the development of tn
10 human will and mind. There are pu1
ed poses today forming, all unsuspecte,
I'd in individual human hearts whic
III may eventually mean more to tf
be world than this great war itself. II
re voice Of God in the spirit of man
let unheard by the nearest person, b'
lis it is the greatest force in the un
Ir- verse.
Of The knight Errant's Blunder.
Picturesque beyond most figures
,r- that of the knight errant, ridi1
re alone to champion whatever wron
I'LL he may encounter. Elijah was a so
% of knight errant of God He world,
no alone. A wilderness type, he felt ]