THE MEANING OF THE STORY
301. In the beautiful city of Florence in Italy there was once a great prince named Lorenzo, whose reign was very splendid, but who oppressed the people and lived an evil life. The people followed his bad example and there was great immorality in Florence. But a fearless preacher came to the city who told the prince and the people plainly of their sins. Great crowds went to hear him and he became the most influential man in Florence. By his stirring words he compelled the government to give back the liberties to the people, and he led the citizens to promise to serve God with good lives. His enemies finally proved too strong for him and killed him, but this noble Italian preacher, Savonarola, left an influence that has lasted to this day.
Among the heroes of Israel were some bold preachers, called prophets, who did not hesitate to denounce the sins of kings and people. One of the greatest of these was Elijah.
302 (§81A). Ahab was a very wicked king who married a princess from Sidon. Locate the city on the coast of Palestine. The Sidonians worshipped a god called Baal, and so the king built a temple for this idol in his capital. He thought he could go on serving the Lord and serve Baal also. Suddenly a man appeared in the court. He was roughly clad, not a man of the city. What startling message did he bring?
303 (§81B). While the drought came upon Israel the prophet was taken care of. Tell the story of Elijah at the brook. What happened to the brook at last?
304 (§81C). Elijah was east of the Jordan. He was sent to Zarephath near Sidon. Locate it. Tell the story of his conversation with the widow. The "cruse" was a flask or small jug for holding liquids.
305 (§81D). Many wonderful stories were told of this great prophet. Tell the story of the widow's son. Think of the prophet waiting all this time till he should be sent back to the king.
306 (§82A). At last Elijah's message came. How long had he waited? Meantime what was the condition in Israel, and Samaria the capital? Who was Obadiah? What had he done? What did the king and Obadiah undertake?
307 (§82B). Tell the story of Elijah's conversation with the timid Obadiah. This man was good, but he was having a hard time as the servant of a bad king. What bold answer did Elijah make to the king? What is a challenge? What challenge did Elijah make?
308 (§82C). This is the important part of the story. Find Mt. Carmel on the coast. Imagine the scene: the king, the prophets of Baal, and Elijah, as the actors, and the great crowd as an audience. What was Elijah's first question to the people? We have a saying that no one can be on the fence: everyone must be on one side or the other. Whenever there is a right and wrong, people must take sides.
309 (§82C). What test did Elijah propose? Who prepared the bullock for the sacrifice first? How did they try to gain the attention of their god? Could Baal hear them? How did Elijah mock them? What was the result of all the excitement?
310 (§82C). Notice how serious Elijah was. How did he prepare for the sacrifice? How did he arrange so that nobody could say there was a trick? What prayer did Elijah offer? Learn this noble prayer so that you can recite it. What happened? How did it affect the people?
311 (§82C). Those were days when men were very stern. What awful punishment did Elijah inflict on the false prophets?
312 (§82D). Elijah was sure that the drought would now be over. What did he say to Ahab? They had eaten nothing all day, so everyone went eagerly to the food. But Elijah went back to the mountain. Who went with him? What happened? What message did the prophet send to Ahab? Notice how quickly the storm came up. Elijah was a man of the desert, hardy and strong; he was also under great excitement from the events of the day. It was sixteen miles from Carmel to Jezreel. Locate these places on the map. The king drove his horses hard in the storm. What did Elijah do?