There arc few more sublime stories in history than this. On the one hand the solitary servant of Jeho- vah, accompanied b}' his one attendant, with his wild shaggy hair, his scanty garb, and sheepskin cloak, but with calm dignity of demeanor, and the minutest reg- ularit}' of procedure ; on the other hand, the prophets of Baal and Ashtaroth, doubtless in all the splendor of their vestments (2 Kings x, 22), with the wild din of their "vain repetitions" and the maddened fury of their disa])pointed ho])es, and the silent jjcojde sur- rounding all — these things form a picture which bright- ens into fresh distinctness every time we consider it. Having reconstructed an altar which had once belong- ed to God, with twelve stones — as if to declave that the twelve tribes of Israel should again be united in the service of.Ieliovah — and having laid thereon bis liul- lock, and filled the trench by which it was surrounded witl) large quantities of water, lest any suspicion of deceit might occur to any mind, the prophet gives place to the Baalites — allows them to make trial first. In vain did these deceived and deceiving men call, from morning till evening, upon Baal — in vain did the}' now mingle their own blood with that of the sac- rifice : no answer was given — no fire descended. Eli- jah ha^ ing rebuked tlieir folly and wicke'dness with the sharpest iron}', and it being at last evident to all
that their efforts to ohtaiii the wished-for fire were vain, now, at the time of the evening sacrifice, offered up his prayer. The Baalites' prayer was long, that of the prophet is short — charging God with the care of his covenant, of his truth, and of his glory — when, " behold, the fire came down, licked up the water, and consumed not only the bullock, but the very stones of the altar also." The effect of this on the mind of the people was what the prophet desired : acknowledging the awful presence of the Godhead, they exclaim, as with one voice, " The Lord, he is God ; the Lord, he is God!" Seizing the opportunity while the people's hearts were warm with the fresh conviction of this miracle, he bade them take those juggling priests and kill them at Kishon, that their blood might helj) to fill that river which their idolatry had provoked (iod to empty by drought. All this Elijah might lawfully do at God's direction, and under the sanction of his law (Deut. xiii, 5 ; xviii, 20). Ahab having now publicly vindicated God's violated law liy giving his royal sanction to the execution of Baal's ]iriests, Elijah in- formed him that he may go up to his tent on Carmel to take refreshment, for God will send the desired rain. In the mean time he prayed earnestly (James v, 17, 18) for this blessing : God hears and answers : a little cloud arises out of the ISIediterranean Sea, in sight of which the prophet now was, diffuses itself gradually over the entire face of the heavens, and now empties its refreshing waters upon the whole land of Israel ! Here was another proof of the divine mission of the prophet, from which, we should imagine, the whole na- tion must have profited ; but subsequent events would seem to prove that the impression produced by these dealings of God was of a very partial and temiioraiy character. Impressed with the hope that the report of God's miraculous actings at Carmel might not only reach the ear, but also penetrate and soften the hard heart of Jezebel, and anxious that the reformation of his country should spread in and about Jezrcel also, Elijah, strengthened, as we are told, from on high, now accompanies Ahab thither on foot. The ride across the plain to Jezreel was a distance of at least 16 miles ; the prophet, with true Arab endurance, running before the chariot, but also, with true Arab instinct, stopping short of the city, and going no further than the "en- trance of Jezreel."
So fiir the triumph had been complete ; but the spir- it of Jezebel was not to be so easily overcome, and her first act is a vow of vengeance against the author of this destruction. " God do so to me, and more also," so ran her exclamation, " if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to-morrow al)Out this time." It was no duty of Elijah to expose himself to unnecessary dangers, and, as at his first introduction, so now, he takes refuge in flight. The danger was great, and the refuge must be distant. The first stage on the journey was Beersheba — " Beersheba which bolongeth to Judah," says the nan-ative, with a touch Itetraying its Israelitish origin. Here, at the ancient haunt of those fathers of his nation whose memory was so dear to him, and on the very confines of cultivated country, Elijah halted. His servant — according to Jewish tra- dition, the boy of Zarephath — he left in the town, while he himself set out alone into the wilderness — the waste uninhabited region which surrounds the south of Pal- estine. The labors, anxieties, and excitement of the last few days had jiroved too much even for that iron frame and that stern resolution. His spirit is quite broken, and he wanders forth over the dreary sweeps of those rocky hills wishing for death — " It is enough ! Lord, let me die, for I am not better than my fathers." The man whose prayer had raised the dead, had shut and opened heaven, he who had been so wonderfully ))reserved by God at Cherith and Zarephath, and who dared to tax Ahab to his face with being Israel's trouliler, is now terrided and disconsolate, thus aflord- ing a practical evidence of what the apostle James