I KINGS XIX. II, 12 441
earthquake and the fire have been only like a pageant when it is past.
Hi. Nature is often a Preparation for the Voice of God.
The Lord was not in the hurricane; the Lord was not in the earthquake, the Lord was not in the fire : but the wind, the earthquake, the fire went before the Lord. And so our third point is that the ivind, the earthquake, and the fire may he a preparation for the still small voice.
1. It very often pleases God to make use of external displays of His power to make way for the working of His grace ; only, we say, He is jealous to show that these external circumstances are never themselves the grace. Let us not despise them. The most earnest sermon that was ever preached, cannot convert; but, if God pleases, it can awaken the slumbering feelings in a man's heart. The grandeur of the most awful scenery can never declare the Gospel to the beholder ; but it may humble him into a deep sense of his own insignificance. We would not under- rate the wild prelude that ushers in the harmony. God delights to write out His love in the background of His terrors.
2. We see this clearly in the case of Israel at this time. Before Elijah left the land of Israel manifestations of God's power had been given fitted to awe the minds of men, but these were the mere forerunners of His kingdom of grace, and of its great power — the word of life ; and because they had not done what the word of God alone can do, Elijah fled. Elijah, to whom the word of the Lord was committed, fled, instead of carrying that word forth among the people.
And not only had he overlooked the power of God's word, but he had overlooked also the favourable circumstances which had occurred for its going forth in might. The Lord is not in the wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the devouring fire ; yet these may and do prepare the way for His still small voice. These awe men's minds and make them attentive to the voice of God. It was thus God had roused the attention of Israel in that very wilderness to which Elijah had fled. He first impressed the minds of the people with a deep sense of His majesty, and then He spake to them. He made the earth to tremble, and the
442 A STILL SMALL VOICE
mountain to quake, and the thunder to roll, and then He spake to the awestruck tribes the words of His law. It was thus He had dealt with His servant Job. Provoked by the miserable comforters who had gathered round him, Job had spoken un- advisedly with his lips, and bad been ready to justify himself, when suddenly the sky darkened and the lightnings began to flash from cloud to cloud, and the tempest came sweeping around them ; and out of the whirlwind God called to Job and spake to him, and reproved him for darkening counsel by words without knowledge; and "Job answered the Lord, and said. Behold, I am vile ; what shall I answer thee ? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth." Thus humbled he waited for the voice of God, the still small voice. It came, and he was enlightened and comforted. It was thus God dealt with Isaiah. He saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and he cried, " Woe is me ! for I am undone ; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts " ; and then he heard the voice of the Lord, the still small voice, and gave ear to it. It was thus the Lord dealt with Saul of Tarsus. On his way to Damascus he was overwhelmed by the glory which shone around him, and fell to the earth, and then a voice spake to him — the still small voice of the Lord of glory. All these had a manifestation of the power and majesty of the Lord preparatory to the coming of the still small voice ; and when their minds were awed and they were attentive to hear, the word of the Lord came. Now, before Elijah fled from the land of Israel, God had been rousing the nation and impressing their minds. The prophets of Baal had been confounded and then cut off; the land had been afflicted, grievously afflicted, and then delivered ; and surely the minds of many must have been opened to conviction; but the means of conviction did not come to them, for the prophet fled. The still small voice came not.
3. We know it in our own experience. There are times when we need, as Elijah needed, the rebuke of the storm, the terror of the earthquake, the purification of the fire, that, by having im- planted within us the hardy virtues that outbrave the tempest, we may be fitted for the still small voice of God. Eobertson puts it thus : " The storm struggle must precede the still small voice. There are hearts which must be broken with disappointment
I KINGS XIX. II, 12 443
before they can rise into hope. Blessed is the man who, when the tempest has spent its fury, recognizes his Father's voice in its undertone, and bares his head and bows his knee, as Elijah did." To such spirits it seems as if God had said, In the still sunshine and ordinary ways of life you cannot meet Me ; but, like Job in the desolation of the tempest, you shall see My form and hear My voice, and know that your Eedeemer liveth.