The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 458

"How o!t do they their silver bowers lenve To come to saccoar as th!lt succour wnnt I How oft do they with golden pinions cleave The flitting skyes, like flying pursuivant, Age.inst fowle fiendea to 11,yd us militant I They for us fight, they watch, o.nd dewly ward, And their bright squadrons round about ua plant; And all for love o.nd nothing for reward. O why should heavenly God to men have such regard?" Ver. 8.-" A cake baken on the coals," &c. Not only was the prophet protected, he was provided for by the angel. Wha.t a commentary on that verse, "He giveth it to his beloved while they sleep" (Psa. cxxvii. 2, Heb.) And does not God give us all food in like manner 'I While the farmer sleeps, the seed springs and grows up, he knoweth not how (Mark iv. 27). Our Keeper n_either s~umbers nor ~Jeeps (Paa. cxxi 4). Observe also how God prepares a table in the wilderness. It 1s not the :first time He has given angels' food in the desert (Psa. 1.xxviii. 25; Neh. ix. 21; Deut. viii. 16). Ver. 7.-" Arise and eat." Though this was ropema.tural food, so far as we can see miraculously provided, and in any case of preternatural efficacy, yet it must be taken and eaten in the ordinary way. Elijah might have been endued with strength for his desert journey without the aid of any material elements. The angel's touch or even the word of the Lord would surely have sufficed (Judg. vi. 21 ; Ezck. ii. 2; iii. 24; Luke vii. 7), Instead of which a cake is ha.ken on the coals, and he must rise and eat thereof, eat thereof twice. God works by means, and it is for ma.n to use them. It is presumption to expect God t.o dispense with them because He can do so. Ver. 8.-" Went in the strength of that meat,'' &c. It is very noticeable how many miraculous feedings we have in Holy Scripture. Not only does the New Testament record o. feecling, now of :five thousand with five loaves, now of four thousand with seven loaves (hlatt. xv. 9, 10); not only is one or other of these mentioned by all four evangelists (Matt. xiv. 17; Mark vi. 88; Luke ix. 18; John vi. 9; Matt. xv. 86; Mark viii. 6); but the Old TestamEint, in addition to such narratives as those of 1 Kings xvii. 14 sqq.; 2 Kings iv. 1-6, 42 sqq., tells_ of a miraculous supply of food which extended over forty years (Exod. xvi. 14--85; Dent. viii. 8, 4, 16), Is not all this to tench us that man doth not live by bread alone 'I (Deut. viii 3.) A:re they not rehenrsnls, adumbrations of the great mystery of our religion, of the true " bread from honvon which giveth life unto the world"? (John vi. 82 sqq.) We too are journeying to Horeb, the mount of God. The home of our souls is the "mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense'' (Cant. iv. O). And the journey is too groat for us. Without Divine aid, without soul food, we shall "faint by the wny." But God hns provided for us a gracious viaticum, e, meat which the world knows not of, flesh which is meat indeed, blood which is drink indeed (John vi. 55). Ver. !J.-" The word of the Lord came to him." Though he had not merited such a favour, for he had acted without that word when he tied. True, he fled to the desert, so for as we can see, that he might hear what God would say concerning him, but he hnd no right to presume that He who had not spokeu at J ezroel would spoak at Sinai. But God never deals with us ns we deserve, or as we deal with one another. "If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, 0 Lord, who shall stand 'I" (Psa. cxxx. 8.) " If they break my statues . . . then will I visit their transgression with the rod . . . nevertheless, my loving-kindness will I not utterly tnke from him," &c. (Paa. lxxxix. 81-88). "Thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the Lord" (J er. iii. 1). If the word did not come to us when we stray, how could we be reclaimed 'I God must take the first step (John vi. 44). " What doest thou here, Elijah 1" It is more than doubtful whether there wns any audible voice (sec ver. 12). God spoke through the conscumce. And this is still the organ used by the Holy Ghost. Have we never heard this question in our secret souls 'I perhaps when we stood in the way of sinners. or eat in the seat of the 468 THE FffiST BOOK OF KINGS, [oa. nx. 1-21.