The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1915-08-26
The international Sunday school
Lesson for Aug % is Gods Care
Of EGJah."-l Kings t7:1-t6.
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS

Enter the hairy desertmarked
figure Of the most interesting man
In the ola Testament. Weltome, Eli
jah. champion OF righteousness, fear
les. foe Of corrupt king and queen,
lonely servant Of truth First OF the
long iuc Of prophets of social jus
ticc and national righteousness, who
arc only today coming 10 their own,
Elijah. son OF the wilderness, Is
figure Of absorbing interest The
tens OF millions OF members OF the
Sunday school viii study his life
for the next few weeka with more
than ordinary attention His career
has messages for little children, and
FOR strong men I'm the thick OF pub
lac affairs.
The background IS attestcd both
bv The Ola Testament record and by
the monuments Ahab a brilliant
statesman. had succeeded his great
father. Omri on the throne OF the
northern kingdom Ahad was amhi'
tious 20 make Israel a world power.
ITO made notable alliances with
Syria ON The east and Phoenicia on
the west As part of his diplomacy
BE had married tbo daughter OF th'
bloody king OF Tyre. and Jezeoel
herself was a brilliant bad woman.
a stronger personality than her hus
baHd Her name is today more wide
Is used as q synonym for wicked
womauhood than that of Cleopatra
herself
Contrasting sharply with the bril-
liant court OF Israel with us import
ed worldliness and heather usages.
is the personality Of the great
prophet. Elijah. whose character is
more clearly drawn than that OF any
Of Tho. other Old Testament proph-
cts He is "A vivid figure A Naza-
rite vowed 20 asceticism and dwell
ing I'm the wilderness of Gilcad, east
OF The Jordan. Eliiahs every gesture
and utterance spells personality.
clad IN skins. Ike his posttype
John the Baptist. and disdainlng the
polished speech and manners of the
city. he was all rugged virilty "A
man with the bark on >" In thar best
school Of soul greatness, the wilder
ness. he had learned independence
and foarlcssness. and a wholesome
degree of contempt for conventional
ity The voice Of God had spoken 10
him and that cmaucipated him from
sycophancy and seryility lie would
mover have made popular
preacher
A clash between shrewd, sophis-
tioated palacetraired le2ehel and
this voice from the desert was inev-
table. Israel was not big enough to
contain two such personalities in
peace. For they represented utterly
lrrecoucilable forces Jezehcl stood
for idolatry and all its attendant i'm
morality. Elijah stood for stern
LOYALTY to the one God who had call.
ed The Hebrews out from among tn"
nations. 10 be a peculiar people The
background OF All The studies affect
ing Elijah which follow is this fun
d,uental antagonism between tho
woman Jezebcl and the man Elijah
The Man Who Faced King
To soul. chat dwell apart. friends
or mo aoIiudes and sileuccs. God
sneal,s Ills messages. Apartnes
from men is often uearncss to God
HISTORY Is FUN of such experiences.
ri,ht down 10 our own time N.Y.
iade Of nroscpt.day Christians arc
LISTENING to the spoken and written
words Of 6. n Gordon an apostle of
Tho ufa hid with Christ FcV OF
them know that Gordon was
Young Mems Christian as ooi3tion
secretary of the sort who Is called
u-cu chiefly ~ load I'm merry max
ing and nonsense. AwaEnr to a
rocd ~ epirifuaI power. he went
apor, for two wears. and returned,
transformed tho messenger of mvs.
ticlsm whom five continents know.