The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 387

from some l,illden source, 6tlcb ae the snows of Hermon, or springing from the roots of the hills of Gilea.d, and the prophet must seek it, n,nd take np his abode nen,r it. V{hn(. do we learn from this but thn.t G6d "will have our endeavours concur to our preservn.tion,'' n, truth somewhat roughly, but strikingly, put in the Pw·ito.n mol ifordrc, " TrnsL in God, and keep yom- powder dry.'' It is no reo.l kindness to do for Elijah what he can do for himself. There are lands where dn.ily bread is to be Imel without ea.re or lo.hour; where a man bas but to put forth his he.nd and take the bread-t.ree fruit and eat and be satisfied, but that is said to be 11, doubtful boon. It is found that the natives of those lands will not work, o.nd their life, which should 1,e full of high endeavour, which should aim, if at nothing more, at "making two blades of grass grow where only one grew before," is wasted in be.eking in the eternal sunshine. The primreval le.w, "In the sweat of thy brow thou shu.lt eat bread," though we c11,ll it 11 curse, is really a blessing. "Six days shalt thou labour" is as much a Divine command as the command to rest on the sev.enth. It is God ?ecrees, "If any man will not work, neither shall he ent" (2 Thess. iii. 10). The imperious necessity to provide our daily bread is one of the springs which keeps the world in motion: it is the salt which keeps our life from stagnation and c01TUption. It is in vain we ory to Jupiter for help. God has given us fields and seed. He gives us rain and sunshine ; it is for our good that we should do the rest. 2. Tha.t then God will 8Upply what is lacking. When we have done our best we may justly look to Him to give what we co.nnot get. And this He will do. " Thy bread shall be given thee, and thy waters shall be sure" (Isa. xxxiii 16). "Never have I seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging tlieir bread" (Psa. xxxvii. 25). In the barren wilderness, He gave bread from heaven. "In the days of famine, they shall be satisfied" (Psn.. xxxvii. 19). What a commentary on these words does this history furnish I Elijah had "called for o. fa.mine on the land" (eh. xvi.ii. 2; Luke iv. 25), and had "broken the whole sto.fi' of bread" (Psa.. cv. 16); but he himself had enough and to spare. God spreads for him" a table in the wilderness" (Pse. lxxviii. 16), and almost ".in the presence of his enemies" (Psa. xxiii. 5). The stars shall fall from their courses, but he shall have enough. It has been thought by some that the ravens brought him bread and flesh from Ahab's own table. It would have been so, had it been necessary. If he was supplied with food by hun:an instrumentality, it was none the less by God's command. And this is God'i; ordinary way of hearing " the prayer of the po.or destitute;" he puts it into the hearts of others to help. "God works by means, and tlle chief means is man" (Bossuet). 8. That God gives us our bread daily. Elijah only received a small supply of food at once. Though he had no lack, he had no profusion. He bad " daily bread "-for " morning l pd evening are one day" (Gen. i. 5)-e.nd no more. Evfil~ be must walk by faith and learn to '' take no thought for the morrow." A.ncl daily bread is all that is promised us ; all that we are taught to pray for (Matt. vi. 11). And tliat, perhaps, because a day is a life in miniature ; each day is rounded by dawn and dusk, by sleep and darkness, into o. perfect little life. Whether the birds brought him food or not, he and they received it alike, rov imova,ov aprov, the bread of a day in its day. The lesson of the manna (Exod. xvi. 20) is taught us a.go.in by the brook Cherith. 4. That God guarantees us necessaries, not luzuriea. Elijo.h's fare wo.s frugal. "Water, bread, and flesh'' (cf. Isa. xxxiii. 16). As e. rule, He gives us food " exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think.'' How prodigious is tlie variety of our food, how lavish its supply I What rich provision has the Eterna.l Goodness made for the gratification of our tastes. Fish, flesh, fowl, fruits, -the list is end.Iese. And of the flesh or fruits, again, how many genera, and in the genera how many apeciea, and in the species wha.t countless VOIYietiea. Lavish profusion marks Hie gifts. But all the same he covenants to give us less than the fare of Cherith, even bread and water. "God gives order for competency, not for wantonness" (Hall). • II. SPIRITUAL FOOD. But we are now to consider that " man doth not live by bread e.lone, but by every word," &o. (Deut. viii 8; Matt. iv. 4). The saints have  en. xvn. 1-24,l TIIE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. ------------------- -------- mo11,t to eat of which the world knows nothing (John iv. 34). Elijah had other footl tlmn the.t whioh the re.vans brought him. In giving" daily bread," God doeR not forgot mo.n's spiritual part, even if he forgets it in his pmyer for bread. And God supplies the soul's needs by le.we not unlike those which govern the supply of materio.l food. 1. We must use Ow meanB of g"l'ace. The treasury of the Church contains an aLundant provision. There are" living waters," there is" super-substantial brea.d," there is word and se.crament, prayer and psalm. But we must come to the waters and drink (John vii 87; Rev. xxii. 17). Our faith needs something to feed upon, and it is in vu.in we ask for miracles, so long as we do not use means. If we want to love God more, we must seek to know God, through His word and works, better. If we want to be more like Christ, we must be more with Christ, in His word and ordinances, for it is" association produces assimilation." There is a tendency to decry the means of grace. There is a religion which is wholly subjective, which seeks its growth and expe.nsion in everlasting self-introspection or mystical contem- plntion of the Divine perfections. But "Thou shalt drink of the brook." True, the che.nnel is nothing-Annl!U8 non ager, facit fructum-but a channel. It is God • must fill it, but if God has dug it, it is presumption to discard it. "The mee.ns that Heaven yields must be embraced, And not neglected ; else if Heaven would And we will not, Heaven's offers we refuse." 2. If 'WI! are debarred from the means of grace, God will give grace without means. It is a blessed truth, gratia non ligatur mediis. We mn.y not ilispeuse with them, but God can, and does. He did so in the oft-cited instance of the dying thief. He was saved without sacra.ments, but St. Paul was not (A.cts =ii. 16). A.nd how often he.ve the saints and martyrs, cut off, amid fierce persecutions, from the communion of the saints, found their deserts or their cells glorified by direct communion with God. Matthew Henry quaintly says that " if we cannot go to the house of the Lord, we can go to the Lord of t.he house." The Church of Engln.nd proclaims that there me.y be a true Eucharist without the elements (vide The Communion of the Sick, 3rd Rubric). But it is only when we are deprived of the means that we can justly expect God to dispense with them. He has commanded His ministers to feed His Church (A.cts x:x. 28 ; 1 Peter v. 2) ; He has given them word and sacrament, bree.d and wine, wherewith to nourish it ; but He is indepen- dent both of means and ministers. 8. Supplies of grace are granted day by day. Our soul's bread is a daily bread. Every day we ask for forgiveness, for grace (Matt. vi. 11); and as our days, so our strength she.11 be (Deut. xxx.ili. 25). If we have not morning and evening pre.yer in the Church, we may have it in the house. And morning and evening may be so.notified by the Word of God and prayer, in private. Each may find a Cherith in the closet; each receive there his portion of meat in due season. 4. Grace ia given without measure. God does not promise luxuries, bece.use they are ofien hurtful. But there is no over-indulgence here. It is significant how excess in wine is contrasted with being filled with the Spirit (Ephes. v. 18). One oe.nnot drink too deep of the living waters (John vii. 88). They are given freely (Rev. x:xii. 17). Vere. 8-16.-The Furnace of Trial. The village of Zarephath appears to have borrowed its name from the furnace or furnaces created there for the smelting of metals. See note on ver. 9. A great lexicographer interprets the word to mean, a "workshop for the melting and refining of meta.ls." But that name might with scarcely less propriety have been bestowed upon it from the oircumste.nces recorded in this section. It was a veritable fume.ea for men ; u place of assay and refining both for the prophet and the widow with whom he lodged. " Surely •.. there is a. place for gold where they fine it" (Job xxviii. 1). I. IT WAS A PLACE OF TRllL FOR ELIJA.B. In connexion with it hf' was subjected to the following trio.ls of his faith and courage- 896 THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. [011. :i.\ll, 1--24.