Elijah the Tishbite Part 20

Certainly not. Thank G.o.d, truth will be truth to the end. G.o.d will be G.o.d, though man should prove himself a thousandfold more imperfect than he is. Wherefore, instead of giving up in despair because men have failed to make a right use of G.o.d's truth, we should rather hold fast that truth as the only stay of our souls amid universal ruin and s.h.i.+pwreck. Had Elijah held fast the truth which filled his soul when he stood on mount Carmel, he would never have been found beneath the juniper tree, nor would he have given utterance to such words as "Take away my life, for I am not better than my fathers."

Yet the Lord can graciously meet his poor servant even asleep under a juniper tree. "He knoweth our frame, He remembers that we are dust,"

and therefore, instead of granting the petulant request of His harra.s.sed and disappointed servant, He rather seeks to feed and strengthen him for further exertion. This is not "the manner of man,"

but it is, blessed forever be His name, the manner of G.o.d, whose ways and thoughts are not as ours. Man would often deal roughly and harshly with his fellow, making no allowance for him, but acting towards him in haste and severity. Not so G.o.d. He ever deals in the deepest pity and tenderness. He understood Elijah, and He remembered the stand he had recently made for His name and truth, and therefore He would minister to him in the season of his depression. "And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto h.o.r.eb the mount of G.o.d" (chap. xix. 5, 8).

The Lord knows better than we do the demands that may be made on us, and He graciously strengthens us according to His estimate of those demands. The prophet wished to sleep for sorrow, but the Lord wished to strengthen and nerve him for future service. Like the disciples in the garden, who, overwhelmed with deep sorrow at the apparent failure of all their fondly cherished hopes, allowed themselves to sink into profound slumber while their blessed Master would have had them girding up their loins and nerving their arms for the trying scenes on which they were about to enter.

But Elijah did eat and drink; and being thus strengthened, he proceeded to mount h.o.r.eb. Here again we have to trace the sorrowful actings of an impatient spirit. Elijah seems determined to retire from his place of service and testimony altogether. If he cannot sleep under the juniper tree, he will hide himself in a cave. "He came thither unto a cave, and lodged there." When once a man allows himself to slip aside from the position in which faith would keep him, there is no accounting for the extremes into which he may run. Nothing but abiding faith in the word of G.o.d can maintain any one in the path of service, because _faith makes a man satisfied to wait for the end_, whereas unbelief, looking only at surrounding circ.u.mstances, sinks into complete despondency.

The Christian must make up his mind to meet with nothing but trial and disappointment here. We may often dream of rest and satisfaction in some condition or other here; but it is only a dream. Elijah had no doubt hoped to see a mighty moral change brought about by his instrumentality; and instead of that, his life was threatened. But he ought to have been prepared for this. The man who had fearlessly faced Ahab and all the prophets of Baal ought surely to have been able to bear a message from a woman. Yet no; his faith had given way. When a man's faith gives way, his own shadow will deter him. In contemplating the prophet's position on Mount h.o.r.eb, one is disposed to ask, Can it be the same man whom we saw so recently standing on Mount Carmel, at an altar of twelve stones, and there so blessedly vindicating the G.o.d of Israel in the presence of his brethren? Alas! what a powerless creature man is when not sustained by simple faith in the testimony of G.o.d! David could, at one time, meet Goliath in the power of faith, and afterwards say, "I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul."

Faith gets above circ.u.mstances and looks at G.o.d; unbelief loses sight of G.o.d, and looks only at circ.u.mstances. Unbelief says, "We were in our own sight as gra.s.shoppers, and so were we in their sight;" faith says, "We are well able to overcome them."

However, the Lord does not leave His servant in the cave; He still follows him, and seeks to bring him again and again back to that post which he had abandoned in his impatience and unbelief. "And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?" What a reproof! Why did Elijah thus bury himself in a cave? Why had he retreated from the honorable post of testimony?

Because of Jezebel's message, and because his ministry had not been as fully owned as he expected. He thought to have reaped a more cheering harvest from all his labor than a threatening message and apparent desertion, and therefore he had sought the retirement of a mountain cave, as a place suited to indulge his feelings.

Now, it must be admitted that there was much--very much to wound the prophet's spirit; he had come from his quiet retreat at Zarephath to face the whole nation, headed by Jezebel and a host of wicked priests and prophets. He had confounded the latter, through G.o.d's grace; G.o.d had sent down fire from heaven in answer to his prayer; all Israel had seemed to acknowledge the truth as proclaimed by him. All these things must have raised his expectations to no ordinary height; yet, after all, his life is threatened, he sees no one to stand by him, he is enveloped in a thick cloud, he abandons the field of conflict, and hides himself in a cave.

It is much easier to censure another than to act aright, and we must be exceedingly slow in p.r.o.nouncing judgment upon the actions of so honored a servant as Elijah the Tishbite. But though we should not deal much in censure, we may, at least, draw instruction and warning from this section of our prophet's history. We may learn a lesson of which we stand very much in need. "What doest thou here?" is a question which might justly be put to many of us from time to time, when, in impatience or unbelief, we leave our proper place of service amongst our brethren, to sleep under a juniper tree, or hide ourselves in a cave.

Are there not many at this moment who, aforetime, were powerful advocates of the principles connected with the unity and wors.h.i.+p of the people of G.o.d, to be found either asleep or hidden in caves? that is, they are doing nothing for the furtherance of those truths which they once advocated. This is a truly sorrowful reflection. To such the question, "What doest thou here?" should come with special force. Yes, what are such doing? or rather, what are they not doing in the way of positive mischief to the sheep of Christ? A man who thus retires is not merely harmless, he is noxious; he is really injuring his brethren. It would be far better never to have appeared as the advocates of important truth, than having done so to retire; to call special attention to some leading principles of divine truth, and then to abandon them, is most culpable. "If any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant." We can pity ignorance, or endeavor to instruct it; but the man, who, having professed to see truth, afterwards abandons it, can neither be looked upon as an object of pity, nor a subject for instruction.

But it is not merely unbelief and disappointment in reference to certain truths that drive men into unhappy isolation; apparent failure in ministry has the same effect. The latter was, perhaps, what more especially affected Elijah. The triumph on Mount Carmel had, doubtless, led to much elation of spirit in reference to the results of his ministry, and he was not prepared for the sad reverse.

Now, the sovereign remedy for both these maladies, that is, for unbelief in important truth and disappointment as regards our ministry, is to keep the eye simply and steadily fixed on Jesus. If, for example, we see men professing those two grand and all-important truths--the unity of the Church, and the abiding presence of the Holy Ghost in the Church--professing, I say, to see these things, and yet failing most sadly in carrying them out, shall we turn aside, and say there is no unity, and no abiding presence of the Holy Ghost? G.o.d forbid. This would be to make G.o.d's truth dependent upon man's faithfulness, which cannot be endured for a moment by the spiritual mind. No, let us rather look into the precious word of G.o.d, and see the Church as the body of Christ, each member thereof written in G.o.d's book from everlasting to everlasting.

And, in like manner, when we see Jesus at G.o.d's right hand in the heavens, we see the unfailing ground of the Spirit's presence in the Church. Thank G.o.d for the blessed stability of all this. "The gifts and calling of G.o.d are without repentance."

Finally, if any be tried in the matter of their ministry, if the enemy would endeavor to make them give up in chagrin or disappointment, let them try to keep their eyes more simply on Jesus, remembering that, however depressing the aspect of things here may be, the time is speedily approaching when all who have served the Lord simply, from love to Him, shall reap a full reward. We must take care, however, that we allow not our ministry, or the fruits thereof, to get between our souls and Christ. There is great danger of this. A man may set out in unaffected devotedness to his Master, and yet, through the craft of the enemy, and the weakness of his own heart, he may, ere long, give his work a more prominent place in his thoughts than Christ Himself.

Had Elijah kept the G.o.d of Israel more before him, he would not have given up in despair.

But we learn the real state of the prophet's soul from his reply to the divine challenge; "I have been very jealous," said he, "for the Lord G.o.d of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, thrown down Thine altars, and slain Thy prophets with the sword: and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life to take it away." How different is this language from that which dropped from his lips on Mount Carmel! There he vindicated G.o.d,--here he vindicates himself; there he endeavored to convert his brethren by presenting before them the truth of G.o.d,--here he accuses his brethren, and recounts their sins before G.o.d.[19]

[19] It is instructive to observe the order in which Elijah recounts the sins of Israel: 1st--"they have forsaken Thy covenant;" 2nd--"they have thrown down Thine altars;" 3rd--"they have slain Thy prophets with the sword." The ground of all this evil was their having forsaken the covenant of G.o.d, the natural consequence of which was the throwing down of G.o.d's altars, and the abandonment of His wors.h.i.+p, which latter was followed out by killing the prophets. We can understand this order.

"I have been very jealous;" but "they have forsaken," etc. This was the strain in which the disappointed prophet spoke from his cave on Mount h.o.r.eb. He seems to have looked upon himself as the only one that had done, or was doing, anything for G.o.d. "I only am left, and they seek my life to take it away." Now all this was the natural consequence of his position. The moment a man retires from his place of testimony and service among his brethren, he must begin to extol himself, and accuse them; yea, his very act expresses at once the a.s.sumption of his faithfulness, and their failure. But to all who thus separate from, and accuse their brethren, the searching question is, "What doest thou here?" "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."

Our prophet, however, is called forth from his isolated place. "Go forth," said Jehovah, "and stand upon the Mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord pa.s.sed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire _a still small voice_."

The Lord, by these solemn and varied exhibitions of Himself and His wondrous actings, would teach His servant most impressively that He was not to be confined to one agent in carrying out His designs. The wind was an agent, and a powerful one, yet it did not accomplish the end; and the same might be said of the earthquake and the fire. They, by their very terribleness, served but to pave the way for the last, and apparently the weakest agent, namely, the still small voice.

Thus the prophet was taught that he must be satisfied to be an agent, and one of many. He might have thought that all the work was to have been done by him. Coming, as he did, with all the terrible vehemence of the mighty wind, he supposed he should have carried off every obstacle, and brought the nation back to its place of happy allegiance to G.o.d. But ah! how little does even the most elevated instrument apprehend his own insignificance! The most devoted, the most gifted and the most elevated are but stones in the superstructure, screws in the vast machine; and whoever supposes he is _the_ instrument, will find himself much mistaken. "Paul may plant, and Apollos water, but G.o.d giveth the increase." And so Elijah had to learn that the Lord was not confined to him. He had other shafts in His quiver, which He would discharge in due time. The wind, the earthquake, and the fire must all do their work, and then the still small voice could be heard distinctly and effectually. It is the sole province of G.o.d to make Himself heard, even though He speak in "a still small voice." Elijah remained in the cave until this voice reached his ear, and then "he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave."

It is only "before the Lord" that we get into our right position. We may conceive high thoughts of ourselves and our ministry, until we are brought into the divine presence, and then we learn to wrap our face in a mantle; in other words, we learn, in reality, to hide ourselves.

When Moses found himself in the divine presence "he trembled, and durst not behold." When Job found himself there, "he abhorred himself, and repented in dust and ashes;" and so has it been with every one who has ever gotten a view of himself in the light of G.o.d's presence; he has learned his own thorough nothingness, he has been led to see that G.o.d could do without him. The Lord is ever ready to acknowledge the smallest act of service done to Him, but the moment a man makes a centre of his service, the Lord will teach him that He wants him no longer. Thus it was with Elijah. He had retired from the field of labor and conflict, and earnestly desired to be gone: he thought himself a solitary witness, a forsaken and disappointed servant, and Jehovah makes him stand forth before Him, and there, as it were, give up his commission, and hear the names of his successors in the field of labor. "The Lord said unto him, Go, return, on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus; and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: and Jehu the son of Nims.h.i.+ shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat, of Abel-meholah, shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. And it shall come to pa.s.s, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay; and him that escapeth the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. Yet I have left Me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him."

This statement must have thrown much light on the prophet's mind.

Seven thousand! although he had thought himself left alone. Jehovah will never be at a loss for instruments. If the wind will not do, He has the earthquake; and if the earthquake will not do, He has the fire; and last of all, He has "the still small voice." And so Elijah was taught that Israel had to be acted upon by other ministry besides his: Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha had yet to appear on the scene, and as the still small voice had proved effectual in drawing him forth from his mountain cave, so would the gracious ministry of Elisha prove effectual in drawing forth from their lurking-places the thousands of faithful ones whom he had altogether overlooked. Elijah was not to do all. He was but one agent. "The eye cannot say to the hand I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you."

Such, I believe, was the important lesson taught to our prophet by the impressive scenes on Mount h.o.r.eb. He had gone up thither full of thoughts of himself alone; he stood there filled with the idea that he was _the_ witness, the _only_ witness; he went down from thence with the humbling yet wholesome consciousness that _he was but one of seven thousand_. A very different view of the case indeed. None can teach like G.o.d. When He desires to teach a lesson He can teach it effectually, blessed be His name. He had so taught Elijah his own insignificance that he was satisfied to retrace his steps, to come forth from his cave and down from the Mount, to lay aside all his complaints and accusations, and humbly, silently, obediently, and willingly cast his prophetic mantle over the shoulders of another.

All this is most instructive. The silence of Elijah, after he hears of the seven thousand, is most remarkable. He had learnt a lesson which mount Carmel could not teach him--a lesson which neither Zarephath nor Cherith had taught him. In these places he had learnt much about G.o.d and His truth, but on h.o.r.eb he had learnt his own littleness, and as the result of that learning he comes down from the mount and gives up his office to another; and not merely this, but in so doing he says, "What have _I_ done?"

In a word, we see in this dear servant the most complete renunciation of self from the moment he learnt that he was but one of many. He delivers a message to Ahab in the vineyard of Naboth; a message to Ahaziah in his sick chamber; then he takes his departure from earth, leaving the work which he had begun to be finished by other hands.

Like John the Baptist, who, as we know, came in the spirit and power of Elias, he was satisfied to usher in another and then retire.

Oh that we all knew more of this humble, self-renouncing spirit--the spirit which leads a man to do the work and think nothing of it; or if it should be so, to see the work done by others and rejoice therein.

The Baptist had to learn this as well as the Tishbite; he had to learn to be content to end his brilliant career in the gloom of a prison while another was doing the work. John too thought it strange that it should be thus with him, and sent a message to Christ to inquire, "Art Thou He that should come, or look we for another?" As if he had said, Can it be possible that He to whom I have borne witness is indeed the Christ and yet I am left to perish, neglected, in Herod's dungeon?

Thus it was, and John had to learn to be content. He had said at the commencement of his ministerial course, "He must increase, but I must decrease;" but it may be he had not just counted upon such a mode of decreasing: yet such was the divine counsel concerning this honored servant. How different are G.o.d's thoughts from those of man! John, after having fulfilled a most important mission, even the mission of ushering in the Son of G.o.d, was destined to have his head cut off at the will of a wicked woman, and lest an unG.o.dly tyrant should break his oath.

Just so was it with Elijah the Tishbite. His course, no doubt, had been a most brilliant one; he had pa.s.sed before the eyes of Israel in all the dignity and majesty of a heavenly man--a heavenly messenger.

Divine truth had fallen from his lips, and G.o.d had abundantly honored him in his work; yet the moment he began to think of himself as anything; the moment he began to say, "_I_ have been very jealous, and _I_ only am left," the Lord taught him his mistake, and told him to appoint his successor.

May we learn from all this to be very humble and self-renouncing in our service, whatever it be. Let us not presume to survey ourselves as if we were anything, or our service as if we had achieved some great thing. And even though our ministry should be unproductive, and we ourselves despised and rejected, may we be able _to look forward to the end_, when everything shall be made manifest. This was what our blessed Master did. He kept His eye fixed on "the joy that was set before Him," and regarded not the thoughts of men as He pa.s.sed along.

Nor did He complain of or accuse those who rejected, despised, and crucified Him. No; His dying words were, "Father, forgive them."

Blessed Master, impart unto us more of Thy meek, loving, gracious and forgiving spirit! May we be like Thee, and tread in Thy steps across this dreary world!

_SECTION VI_

THE PROPHET'S RAPTURE

From the moment that Elijah had cast his mantle upon the shoulders of Elisha we may consider his prophetic career as almost ended. He delivered a message or two, as has already been noticed; but as regards his ministerial connection with Israel, it may be looked upon as closed from the moment that Elisha the son of Shaphat, of Abel-meholah, was anointed to be prophet in his room. Indeed, he abandoned the work himself. "He arose, and fled for his life;" so that it was, to speak after the manner of men, high time to think of appointing a successor.

But we must not confine our thoughts to Elijah's ministerial character when reflecting upon his life and times. We must not only look at him as a _prophet_, but also as a _man_; not only as a _servant_, but also as a _child_; not only _officially_, but also _personally_. As a prophet, the steady continuance and successful termination of his course would depend, in a great measure, on his own faithfulness.

Hence, when he allowed himself to be carried away by a spirit inconsistent with the character of a genuine servant, he had to resign his office into the hands of another.[20]

[20] It may be needful just to notice an objection which may be made to the view I have taken of the prophet's actings. It may be said that he was raised up at a special era of Israel's history, and for a special purpose, and that when that purpose had been effected another kind of instrument was needed. All this is most true. Yet we can have no difficulty in perceiving the haste and impatience of Elijah in desiring to resign his post because things had not turned out as he had expected. G.o.d's counsels and man's actings are very distinct. The ministry of Elijah had filled its proper place in the nation's history, no doubt; and moreover, another kind of instrument might be needed; yet this leaves quite untouched the question of his spirit and actings in the matter. Joshua might be needed to succeed Moses; and yet it was for hastiness of spirit that Moses was refused permission to go over Jordan.

There were, however, better things in store for Elijah. He might be hasty; he might hide himself in a cave, and from thence make intercession against Israel; he might impatiently long to depart from the trying scene in which he had been called to move; he might do all this, and in consequence thereof be called to resign his place: still the blessed G.o.d had thoughts of grace about him which never could have entered into his heart.

How truly blessed to allow G.o.d to adopt His own manner in dealing with us! We are sure to sustain loss when we interfere with the divine method of proceeding; and yet it has ever been man's tendency thus to interfere. Man will not allow G.o.d to adopt His own method of justifying him, but will ever be intruding into the wondrous plan of redemption: and even when he has submitted himself, through the operation of the Holy Ghost, to G.o.d's righteousness, he will again and again, notwithstanding repeated experience of G.o.d's superior wisdom, seek to interfere with the divine method of training and leading him; as if he could make better arrangements for himself than G.o.d! Presumptuous folly!--the fruits of which, to some, will be eternal perdition; to others, present forfeiture of blessing in the way of enlarged knowledge and experience of G.o.d's character and ways.

Had Elijah received his request, how much he would have lost! How much better to be carried up to heaven in a chariot of fire, than to be taken away in a fit of impatience! Elijah asked for the latter, but G.o.d gave him the former. "And it came to pa.s.s, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal" (2 Kings ii. 1).

It would be foreign to my present design to dwell upon the circ.u.mstances of Elisha's introduction into the prophetic office, his slowness at first in accompanying Elijah, and his unwillingness afterward to leave him. We find him in this chapter accompanying Elijah from Gilgal to Bethel, and from Bethel to Jericho, and from Jericho to Jordan. All these places were famous in Israel's history.

Bethel, or the house of G.o.d, was the spot where Jacob of old had seen the mystic ladder stretching from earth to heaven, the apt expression of G.o.d's future purposes concerning the heavenly and earthly families.

To this same place did Jacob return, by the express command of G.o.d, after he had cleansed himself from the defilement of Shechem (Gen.

x.x.xv. 1).

Bethel, therefore, was a spot of deep interest to the heart of an Israelite. But alas, it had become polluted! Jeroboam's calf had effectually obliterated the sacred principles of truth taught by Jacob's ladder. The latter conducted the spirit from earth to heaven--it led upward and onward; upward to G.o.d's eternal purpose of _grace_; onward to the display of that purpose in _glory_. The former, on the contrary, bound the heart down to a degrading system of political religion--a system in which the _names_ of things heavenly were used to secure for self the things earthly. Jeroboam made use of _the house of G.o.d_ to secure for himself _the kingdom of Israel_. He was well content to remain at the bottom of the ladder, and cared not to look upward. His earthly heart desired not to scale those sublime heights to which Jacob's ladder led; earth and its glory were all he wanted; and provided he obtained these, he cared not whether he wors.h.i.+ped before Baal's calf at Bethel, or Jehovah's altar at Jerusalem. What was it to him? Jerusalem, Bethel, or Dan, was but a name in the estimate of this politico-religious man--yea, and in the estimate of every other such man. Religion is but an instrument in the hands of the children of this world--an instrument by which they dig into the bowels of the earth; not a ladder by which they mount from earth to heaven. Man pollutes everything sacred. Place in his hands the purest, the most heavenly truth, and ere long he will defile it: commit to his guardians.h.i.+p the most precious, the most impressive ordinance, and he will ere long convert it into a lifeless form, and lose therein the principles sought to be conveyed. So was it with Bethel. So was it with everything sacred that man had anything to do with.

Then as to Gilgal, the place from whence the two prophets started: it too was a place of interest. It was there the Lord rolled away the reproach of Egypt from His people; there Israel kept their first pa.s.sover in the land of Canaan, and were refreshed by the old corn of the land. Gilgal was the rallying-point for Joshua and his men of war; from thence they went forth in the strength of the Lord to obtain glorious triumphs over the uncirc.u.mcised, and thither they returned to enjoy the spoils. Thus was Gilgal a place round which the affections of a Jew might well entwine themselves--a place of many hallowed recollections. Yet it too had lost all its reality. The reproach of Egypt had rolled back upon Israel. The principles which once stood connected with Gilgal had lost their sway over the hearts of G.o.d's professing people. Bochim (the place of weepers) had long since taken the place of Gilgal in reference to Israel, and Gilgal had become an empty form--ancient, no doubt, but powerless, for Israel had ceased to walk in the power of the truth taught at Gilgal.

Again, as to Jericho. There it was that the hosts of the Lord, under their mighty Captain, gained their first victory in the land of promise, and exhibited the power of faith. And lastly, at Jordan it was that Israel had had such an impressive manifestation of Jehovah's power in connection with the ark of His presence. Jordan was the place where death had been, in type, overcome by the power of life; and in its midst, and on its banks, it presented the trophies of victory over the foe.