The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 467

eervant. And scanty as the materials of the narre.tive may be, there is enough to show how deep and tender e.n affection existed between them. Note in reference to this call- I. THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE DIVINE CIIOIOE. No indication is given as to why Elisha particularly should have been called to this office. So it has generally been in the case of those who, in the olden times, were raised up to occupy distinguished positions in the development of the Divine plan. (A.braham, Moses, Saul, David, &c.) So was it in Christ's choice of the inner circle of His disciples; as when to the sons of Zebedee mending their nets, and to Matthew at the receipt of custom, He said, '' Follow me." Bu~ the electioJ?-S of God are ne~er arbitrary and capriciousi ~e chooses whom H~ w~ to_be the mstr:a.ments ~~ His purpose, "taking one of e, city and two of a family e.s 1t pleases Hun (J er. m. 14). But there is always some deep and sufficient reason for this, though we may not be able to trace it. Every man who has done any great work for God in the world has been more or less deeply lll,lpressed with this sense of a special Divine call and commission. And it has given e. dignity to his bearing and strength and courage to his sphit that nothing else could give. Every true Christian finds highest inspiration in the thought that God has singled him out from the crowd and summoned him to the service of a consecrated life. "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you," &c. (John xv. 16). II. THE SACRED PERSONAL RELATION IT ESTABLISHED BETWEEN THE PROPHET AND ms SERVA.NT. Elijah's throwing bis "mantle'' upon him as he passed by was a symbolic act indicative of this. It we.a the sign of their common prophetic voca- tion, the seal and bond of the new relation existing between them. It betokened- (!) some kind of adoption to sonsbip. "My Father, my Father'' (2 Kings ii. 12). (2) A transference of the responsibility of the prophetic work. (8) The imparta- tion of the same spirit, even the '' double portion" of the first-born (2 Kings iii. 9, 10). We see here something dimly typical of the relation Christ sustained towards His chosen apostles. "As thou hast sent me into the world, even so also have I sent them," &c. (John xvii. 18, 19). Some such relation subsisted between Paul and his "dearly beloved son" Timothy. "As a son with the father he bath served with me in the gospel" (Phil. ii. 22). " Wherefore I put thee in remem- brance," &c. '' Hold fast the form of sound words," &c. (2 Tim. i. 6, 18). The thought becomes proverbial when we speak of the "mantle" of a great leader falling upon his successors. One of the chief ends of a noble life is answered when others take up the work that it left unfinished, and catch the spirit of its example ; nothing more sacred than the sphitual bond thus established. III. THE COMPLETENESS OF ELISHA'S SELF-SURRENDER, Natural feeling for a moment throws an obstacle in the way. "Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother." It was a hard task for him at once to loosen himself from family ties, and relinquish the comforts of what was probably a prosperous pastoral life, and cast in his lot with the wandering prophet. Elijah's answer seems to disown the exercise of any undue constraint upon him, and simply leaves him free to choose. But the loyalty of his spirit to the Divine authority soon settles the alternative, and after an act expressive of his entire abandonment of the associations of his former llie, "he arose and went after Elijah and ministered unto him." We are reminded of the way in which Christ called on men to surrender their nll and follow Hirn (Luke ix. 57-62). Fidelity to Him demands complete self-sacrifice. The strongest fascinations, and eve:ra. the dearest ties of earth, will give w0,y to the realized sovereignty of His claims. '' He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me '' (Matt. x. 87).-W. Ver. 4.-The Causes of Despondency. Human character is more complex than many imagine. Its elements are so diverse, and sometimes so contradictory, that only God can fairly judge it. The biographies of Scripture and the subtleties of our own hearts combine to enforce the lesson, '' Judge not, that ye be not judged." We should have placed in the foi:emost rank the disciple who first acknowledged the divinity of our Lord, and we should have cast him out of the Church who dewed CJB, XIX, 1-21.] THE FIRST BOOK OF RINGS. 477