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1.2 he watch tower blloojlyn y filled and tho e who llltl ed ntter that time ere neces arily tljrned away the plat of the honl;e shows 56.·0 senti be jles these six hundred seats hall been plnepd on the stag-e .md in the orchestra pit which wpre fjlled early all tandlti room was occupiecl and countin the~e and those eateo npproximately seyen thou llud people were in ide the buddmg no accurate knowlp lge i hall of how liiany werp turned ,1 ny but the management of the b lllcling belieyed that hont as many ought vainly to ~nm admittance as actually ~ot ill~jde the audience was pnrtlcul.u·ly attentl e and not infrequently ho ed rlecol on pnthn ln 1i1 hy npplan p at orne of the more welcome pomts of tilt lectnrp as i the ca e in :illy large nudlence ome fe were dl plell e,l but anwng those ho gn e c pi p i lil to thell vlew by fnr the mlljority were comforted lllhi en oljrag-ed hy the hope of nedr relief from the world s ~re:lt li t ess nnd perplexity ,j ust prior to the begilln 1iil of the lecture and before the ~peaker came onto the pl.ltlorlll ii carefully wonletl canva s in the form of an announcement was malle for tbe comhmation offer millioijs ijow living will :r eh i die can the liylng l alk with the den,l and tilt flllii herj my tery experienced hrelhl ell had carefully placed n hnndred and se enty ~ellel at ndvantllgelu poll1ts 111 the htj ience and 111 the lobble those in til alldlence were seated lind not known to be sellel s until the meetjiig was 0 1 1 iullilelll,ltely at the close cf the lectnre the wi,re busy in all nlloh tru~ive way merel.1 u 1i1g the pecl,li colll!linntlol1 n hllfloililcf d in the lohlm s ~liig le hook 1 1 p 11 ale alt1q;etll r :2uul colle ot tile hook ere old iilciudll1j eyel al hulldred dhl o ed ot iii 110nt of the illllldlllg to tll1 ho could not get ifl tn uildltlon 10 the~e nh l1l f1ln hllndred el l old 011 lilail onler dp]l ill fl olll t/ip >1,1 1 1 1 helllents allogelht r tile fl ii lld it tile.lter ew fork felt luuch eflcjuraged that ihe 1.01 d 11,id 11 iii to hie their ef1 i ts to speak for hllll 111 a place ilere f,lith iii go,l s voi li is vel small jehovah or baal [c01 t luljeil from decf lm:u j:l ue idolatry was not a mere sin into which pt jple gl nlhlh liy sunk hut it was a satanic device into lllch people ro e in older to gl ntif the lush of the fte~h lind thp cloak 01 1 11 1011 nnni illch meuns ory and i a oc ltpd i it ii tile 1elldol of iill un was else here called moloch baal 1 n 11101 1 ~1h ciilc and dl tlnctive namp of the ame deity :i is seell hy compnrlng ,jerelljlnh 7.31 and u g l hl con ideratwn helps us to ullderstllll l man place here the word baal is ui ed singly in the i t of the tort ears of wild l iless wandering israel jomed them~elves to baalpeor and ate the sacrifices of the dead p~alm log :28 ]n the seventh or inmost shrine of the 1iioloc.h temple n large brazen image of that calf-hended god was placed which was heated up on occasions to which were sacl lli ed and by which were consumed the children of devoteei connected with these otl ermgs of children were mmor acrifice which were eatell by the members of the family of the dead this was the terrible bill of israel l l t before entering canaan they sllcrificed their jiving sons to bual or moloch and celebrated the event by eating the associated ~acrifices solomon fell so far as to construct a temple to thi god on the mount of olives acro s the valley of l ophet from the city of his father toph means a dmm or tom-tom l1l/cll wos used in connection with tljese barjmrous sacri· tiel s to drown out the cries of the perishing c1llw l hese facts lend color to the incident befole u for baal ii not only the god of the sun or celestlu hre but fire as also used in the most illtimate of baalite sacntices from morlllng probably about nine o clock or the hour of the mormng sacrifice in the temple until noon the priests of baal mvoked their god durlllg this time elijah said not a word the wjld heathenish outcnes of the pagan prophets rang nlon the mountain side baal a hear us and ans er us rut the sad comment is made there was no voice nor any that an erell obtnining no response no file from heaven ihe ptollhets illcrensed the vigor of thell oll1cl ie and adlkl1 to them the hirlillg wirling dances hidl are stili li~el1 itl all heathen land they jumped ulj nnd down ahou tll :i1tnr until noon it all people coulll ellll ll e ncll ~trellunlh llllil wlent iei~es p:ic:an prophets even now in the 01 iellt are peunlly in trndcll in this sort of gj nilhl~tic theil bollies ate k pt lithe nnd upple by frequent anointlllg elijah s taunting at noon which was one of the seasons of pr,wet for de jut .lew t jo j daillel 6 10 p 111l1 55 17 eilllili !lpg,1i1 to t>lllnt til 1i1lil.l[l y ljrolllle1 of the de j1 11 1111 he louted 10 t1lelll ilint t/ipy hnd twtt 111 hllll louder ye iw i n od nil ile-ht and /i 10 n·i i atten t 1 e to your ple:l1i1l th.1 t i inll demon tl u tell hy the oulcome of ,youi 1i101 l1l1l e pl lion hut lion r l:ive up eithel baal is in iii hbt l1 tllllilung o er 11 allll ruean to hold iii influence i ith t]1c nation 01 he hll one aside 1 01 ome pin :ile mutter it mn lit al o that lie is givllll audlent to olhel in nn of the e ca es let him know that ihl l ,1il inlportant thlllt it will not do for 111m to be iii a profoulhl re erh no hen hi n:lme nnd prestige among the hole people uri at stake call him louder perhaps he i on on a huntllig trip but don t let that fact discourage you here is blggel tame than anythmg he could bag m heavell shont let him know that all i now in the balance he cannot art l to lose all hi credit and reverence on em·th merely to pursue ooubtlnl quarry m the happy huntlllg gi ouii above stung by thei e taunts uf ell i:lh the priests of baal ga i them elves nil the more ardently to the work of arou ln theil god thi time ga lung themseh es with klll p hnil da,ggers until the blood spurted out upon their half·ll,jk 1 bodies if baal would not take notice ot the bullock blood perhups he would of theirs but there wils neither olce nor any to answer nor any that paid attention but the dizzy orgy proceeded with more 01 ie of fervoi 11 l ii 1 ill was ready with ills sacrifice some time before three o clock elijah called foi ihe .1 piltion of the people who b this tlme would ije ell iearit ll of the senseless and fruitless raving of the hpii then prophets he invited them to draw lie.lr 10 the si jt here all ancient altar of jehovah lay in 11l1l1 it a mel ply nn earthen altar built during the tjme of tile .jill]ge 01 during the reign of saul elijah took twelye ~tolle to rplllilltl thp people of the fact that th chyme proml e l 1 ere li ocj:lled ith 11le twelve irilws and not merely /til the 11i11 llltol n ten 1 he e stones h us.ed ils a c.lll 01 cm cring to ihe earthen altar al olllhl tills aha i lie dll n trellch dc 1 ,enough to set a twn·~enh t en ··one· 11hii·ti meu ure iii then he placerl wooll hi propel ordl l ,il ii e the toih ,11111 hann cnt the bulll l 111 pi c llc i.lid it on 1lie 111111 then to demonstrnle pll lll cl limt noill of 1ii h lj ii ii l1eceptions were goin til ije pl:lctl~ell he i ll 1 ell ll of the ]ll~ople to draw foul i ite of ttel· 1rom iiii ~i 1 fell 1i10olc llenrby .lii/i to pollt tijp~e 011 lop of the iiii e ullll tile wood tllis orller as lelje.1tcl et u tlll1l1 lime,

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the watch tower 13 until the ~ncllhce the wood the nltar and even the trench round about were thoroughly drenched with water these minute pomt establish beyomi the possibility ot a doubt the miraculous nature of the subsequent fire jehovah invoked then follows the calm l.hgnified prayer ot the prophet 0 jehovah the gou of abraham of isaac and ot israel let it be kno n this day that thou art god in israel and that i am thy ~ervant and that i have done all these things nt thy word hear me 0 jehovah heal me that this people ma know that thou jehovah art god nnd that thou hni t turned then heart back agald from h.lolatry to a i ecognitlon of thee this formula comprising the names ot the three ancient patriarch v1i intended to turn the ili1i1d of the people back 1 ihi first time it was used herf nt the burnldg bu~h ihwnh angel manlt ted illm elf a l ii flume of fire -exodll 1 2 then tell the hre from heaven it consumed the burnt ~a l llice and even the altar itself rhe process of this con~ull1j1tll>n is very iem.lrkable ami calculated to remove the po lhiiity of n sl1 plcion that there was any concealed fire hntph r the fire rome down trom heaven the pieces ot thp ~acl lfice wer first consumed the wood next to how that it 1i ilot even by merils of the wood that the flesh a uui l1l d the twelve stones ere abo consumed to show t hat it d no colllmon fire but one whose agency nothldg could j ht the du t or earth of which the altar was con tructed wng burnt up ami the wrter that was in the trench a by the iictlon of this fire entirely evaporated the iictioil of the fire was in every respect downward collttary to tile nature of all earthly fiames nothing can be more simple and artiesb than this description and yet how amazingly tull and satisfactory is the whole nccount tills was a dramatic spectacle tor the people and their interest in it was heightened by the long bore~ome altlng of the day the prophets of baal were taken and slum by the brook rlshon either by eiijuh hand or by ius order this was in fulfillment of onp of the most terribly e pllcit of the statutes of mo es inw which condemned to death those ho ejlieavored to ~educe the people to idollltry deuteronomy 13 6-d and why was not ahub lain lllce he was the mo~t i p~pnllsihle of all in the gathering the prophet doubtless kne that he would be punished in a special manner it was not many years before he too was kllled 1 king 22 34-36 elijah heard the sound of approaching rain this was a miraculous hearmg foi no one else had perceived it as yet and the actual storm was many miles dlbtant at sea ahab went up the mountain to eat and drink but elijah went to the top of the mountnin to prn most men would have thought that they had done n day s work already but elijah was wilhng to be used as long ns the lord chose to use hun he prayed about the ralll anu sent his servant seven times to obsene the mediterranean only on the seventh observation was there a cloud 1~lble this wa the sign elijah looked tor he sent his servant to advise ahab to move with all haste in bis chariot to jezreel but hile ahab urove furlousl to outrun it possible the blackening storm the l>trength of the lord rested on elijah so that he was able on foot to outrun ahab in his charlot aod actually preceded him into the gates ot the city the distance was above eighteen miles elijah s flight and return nl ally 22 1 kings 19 1-21 earthql-ake fire oice of ge tle calmnebs h z.u;l jehu elisha h ihoubanv f ithfl l i nluterl [lotlellt/v fill eh01dllt and he tllchlled 1/i/to me allfl heald my cly alm 40:1 unde wn the ipflll mntion inch a]jprrenll iii oue jezebel the furious 11:1 rtillell the reli;noll of rhal l1e~troyerl his ahab :l1ll1 all l wael ~eemed to be quite humbleu at the pl i b re ly 1 til rellgloli of jehnnth and iil ljught outcome 01 the hre te~t on carmel anrl at the subbequent elllnil 1l10~r ilinllllllently hefnrc lsr.lel but :i before redownpour 01 ralll tlte water descended they drenched 1i1111kpl1 hlnlnlr 1i 1i no nlll thmg mto hlch thp lleople the parched gluunrl they gatheled iii pools ill the lollgj ll mel ely through 19 1i0t1wc idolatry as a y~tem of thir~ty hollo rhe formed first in rivulets thell in pl:l il11 to :lild 1i00~hlplllg th def-ire of the tle h under stream anll toi lp t · and rtl hed along to gladdell the th ~lliililntjorl 01 1 111 1011 theil wa 110 doubt about the ~ton beds willch had missed them so long il1ellle oil loul c.ll lnel as to tllp propl let of .jehovah s tint the ~tlrm outside as not greater in its wily than t liig iod but the p n[lle harl i-or~hlperl ~plt ~o iollg that the olle that rhged 111 the royal palnce mutterillgs of lisliley iil;eil it that n dam lit hel husuand weak comphance with the commallds but e ell ~uch ot the people us hlld com lctlolls lacked of .tehovah s prophet gusts of passion at having been the courage of them unu con equently ere easily brought scol lled and overlooked hot hlssings of hate .again t lijllh under the mlluellce of the corrupt national court in lllcll tor dnrmg to silly the priests of a rehgloll with which she jezebel wa the l10millant figure her evtl spirit and selfwas associated sporadlc spittings of spleen ligam~t the will ere courngeous enough to combat anything eyerypeople for allowing thelllse!ye to be collyincell -llashy thing flal ingf of 111 1 trom those sic10nian eyes as blnck ab hel hllmanly ~pe.lkill he wag on rclnti ely secure gloulll o h henrt was ilki d f-uch was the storm il1sic1e the l1:1 ii]g 110 coii upiiljou cruple he a not botllel l:d by pnlnce and m ide the vltal of .tezebel ha ylll to cnn j lei the mural .111jli priatplle of a and llle.iii ahnh li:ld ome con~ci nce out hh 11rlllcjpai bn ibut the yoman with the serpent tongue either did not ile as ill dodgll1g it rills en enetl him nnd malle him c1nre to end and ~iay ehjnh outl lght ~o soon after the fire iii 0 if a tool tli:ln :t certam ie idei and the r:lln 01 el~e ~lte l pel uadeu by hel husband to jp7pber fatller as tile po erful pihplliu:1il kll1 hlld try ~omptlllng p e fir~t there i ui lianger of civil nr if thl fact gave het· il sur:lnce for many illllny time ill too ra h method ere follo ed so the queen sent a special hnd been mnde upon one country lor upposed afflol1l to me%engel to the l ropl,pt ,nth hnt amounterl to an alterlllell foreign-horn quei ll iii the impoyerlbhell eoil itlon of natlve elhct-ba11l~hl ent 01 dellth lea l or tlie 111 3 countq after the thtee and n lialf year of dloughtl so eii,inli ro~e anll ent for 1]ls life he saw it ins best allah loultl not rell h fi clash ith ljis father-in-iu espeto give place to thlb st rm and to go to a place of snfety cially mce ills own fluui was not strong enough to seek mavbe lie 11.11l thoul!ht that the miracle at cnrmel ould jehovah s lielp be ~lie means of cflecting tile conversion of the whole court je7eiji i s thhe t .j ari nil eat wind s

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14 cfhewatch tower llnould,yn n y anfl ot the country but finding himself mistaken he was greai h 111~c ui ag 1 it has been a very popular pastime in christendom to poke j lin at elijah bec,lu~e he tied but there eems to be no in-oof that 11m i the pruper tiling to do elijah was uod 11ian nod pcchli ervant and he had been under spell,li ~llitlance and care for at least three years those three eal harl been more or less of a stmlll and especially harl the nenou tension of the day just passed been httle shon of terrific even baning the eighteen-mile run for which he a ~upernaturall tl engthened now he was in jezl 1 the ram had come the witness for jehovah had been l en a 3 thrected ha t llext ellph wns wenry he a weal he ,is t1i heartened at a lack of genuine re~pon e to the lllol11it tel1 power of the lord he was without defilllte rll lne in n lictions what to uo 01 where to go 01 stay uumanly peaking jezebel was not only his flueen but she was vastly his superior in resources and he was holle~t enough to know it vas not the lord s hanll 0 er davirl and et did he not flee and wander about for year 3 ye iioreover the lonl had not specifically told him to stay m ,tezreel and he had no right to ijlc ume un the lord pl otection as long as a way of escupe lias ovell the lorrl allo i d the situa tlon to be so that elijuh woult feel 111 0 own weakne s 0 that he would not be proud of him~elt and go cro mg arouihl about how he hud cleaned up the l ountry the eak-imeed lady ljelievers itke obadiah 1ll,lke me eary the way to do is to tick out your chest ann fo,how them ou are not afraid of them and ou will have the country at our feet but if elijah had been a man of that kind the lorrl would not have use<1 him in the first place and rather than run tile risk of muklllf him such a man the lord left elijah in a humillatlilg situation personal pride and pugnacity were not to be the outstanding part of the tory but the glory of the lord vas tho 3e who serve jehovah faithfully will 1mve no occasion to glory in the flesh in flight prophet could h:1rrlly illlle agalil in phlenlcia to the west nor in gilead hi 3 home to the east so he departed toward the south but not palllc-stricken so far as anything in the account shows but judah was in clo e affiliation ith israel at this ttme so elijah pasbed right on through to beersheba about a hundred miles from jezreel beersheba lay origlilally in the land allotted to simeon but that tribe had ljeen practically ab 3orbed by judah at beersheba the prophet left his disciple and body-servant and pressed on mto the wilderness about thirty mtles to the south it was early summer and the sands were scorching hot the long journey had fatigued elijah and the barrenness of the lanrhcape only burnt in the de 3ign of di 3heat·tenment which had been painted on his soul during the last few days he sat do n under a broom tree and told the lord just how he felt it is enough i have ltvi d long enough i can do 1i0 more good among this people let me now end my days there elijah struck bottom and incidentally let out the secret that he had been a little lilclined to preen himself on his superior faith and virtues but after all he saw that he was no better than his fathers he was no compliment to jehovah but jehovah s use of him was an ilwstlluable and unelicited favor he heavenly messenger to bring him hut was necessary so god has done or will do for all those who acknowledge their own undone state he has sent his own son to touch to awaken and to nourish all who look to him a cake b,lked on hot stones was supernaturally provided for the prophet as al o a cruse of water again be iept and wu 3 again awakened and miraculously fed this wne with the mtimatlon that a long journey was before 111in and after the second partalong of this heavell-pro illed bread the prophet was strengthened to go some one hundred fifty inile 3 through de ert and lulls to hoi eb the mount of god the time con umed in the journey seems to ha i heen the sallle as the tune of the t.tst-forty days so he fa~ted just the same time as mo es did at horeb and ag ,te 3us did m the wilderne 3 it should be remembered also that these three personages it was who were epresented in the vision in the holy mount moses the law-giver elias the hl -restorer ant je us the law-fulfiller so elijah is seen 1il our h 3son a 3 working his way slo iy buck to the place where the law was given the prophet lodgell iii a c.lve on the mountalll side wlllch is conjectured h ome to be the same cave into which god put l jo~es that he might give hlln a glimp p of ills glory exodus 33 22 what lloe~t thou here is this a reproach for unbelie ln fears perhajl iii a measul 1 but al o it is a way of remindmg him that he has nothing to flo and of thus preparing him fui the new conlll1ls ions to follo god was about to comfort elijah by glvlllg ilim woii to do he knew how discouraging it as for his pi uphet to feel usele ell]ah put jl1 a plea hieh is rlescnbed by the apo~tle paul a 3 belllg not so much tor hl1n~elf as i am~t israel hom lll 11 ~3 although he rlid comitil;llt allll justly upon his 0 n past zeal his charge agall1 3t israel nl threefold 1 i hey ha e for~aken thy covenant-they have cle lyed to and or lupeu otller gols 2 they iu1 e thrown down thine altars endea ored as much a 3 they po%lbly could to abolt 3h thy vorshljl pilll destroy it remembrance from the land not only hy fll1lttlll the ui hlll at .jerusalem but also by teanng llo n even the hq aithi s which rellre ented prh hte 01 1111 3 and they ha e 31ajl1 thy prophets-that thel e mi ltt be none to reprove their llllquity or teach the truth to those who de lrel1 to hear it i only am left they have succeeded in de troyiilf all the rest of the prophets and they are determinerl not to rest till they slay me a lesson in omnipotence elijah needed a little lesson in omnipotence and god gave it him he was told to stand upon the mount and the lord treated him in the same way that he treated 1iioses on a similar occasion and it is not unlikely that elijah stood upon the saide spot see exodus 19 9 16 the great show of divine power which followed may have been to impress elijah with the thought that god would look out after him the sequence of the display also contained the thought that while much of elijah s work in the past had been spectacular the work which he would do for the rest of his life would be of a smaller quieter more patient and plolllling kind there are not enouf,11 carmels to go around for every day iii the year fhe order of the phenomena at the mount is ju t the same as that connected with natural earthquakes of severity 1 previous to great earthquakes the atmo phere is much disturbed mighty winds and tempests taking place 2 this is followed by the actual agitation of the earth 3 in this agitation fire frequently escapes or a burning sleep and refreshment excessive anguish of mind frequently induces sleep as well as great fatigue of body eltjah slept until an angel woke him up he needed refreshment and god sent a

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