Elijah makes his appearance. Jehu had already prophesied against Baasha; he was a minor star in the field of prophecy. Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, “said unto Ahab,” etc., says [1 Kings xvii, 1]. Ahab was king of Israel 918.
No miracles are reported to have occurred after Moses. Joshua did not perform any, except that incident about the sun. During all these centuries from 1443, the date of Joshua’s death, up to the reign of Ahab, not a miracle-maker appears. There are strong men, bad men, fighting men, priests, brave generals, very wicked men, etc., but none performs a miracle.
Another class of men are soon to appear. They, however, do not make their appearance until a century later, or so. I mean the nervous men, the visionary dreamers and prophets of the type of Isaiah. In addition, any number of soothsayers, necromancers, fortune-tellers, and quacks had entered into the business of miracle-making on a small scale. And a new school of skeptics and philosophic speculators slowly developed.
Civilization had not advanced much, but it nevertheless was progressing. The minds of men had undergone an evolution. The Jehova of Moses, or the simple abstract form of the Chaldean idol of Abraham, had lost its force, prestige, and importance. The ark, that sacred box, is completely lost sight of in these stirring times of revolution, rebellion, dissension, and fighting.
The high priest since the time of Saul had to take a subordinate position. He was the minor oracle, the fault-finder, sometimes the counselor, but never the leader. There was also great competition among the prophets. The trade had grown profitable, consequently false prophets, as they were termed, were trying to gain royal favor. The ideas about God and Jehova had increased and multiplied. Disputes and confusion swayed the people. Idolatry flourished, and the Gods of Abraham and Moses were to some extent still sustained by the relatives of the man who created Jehova, Moses.
Man’s progress in thought, the evolution of the human brain, is slow and uncertain, especially when the line of advance is of a speculative and problematic character. It is not like a scientific question, that can be demonstrated; accompanied by actual proof and absolute certainty; with no discussion or equivocation, no denial or speculation; which once established remains forever the same. Euclid’s geometry has never been disputed. Hippocrates in medicine—whatever he said that was known and true, remains unchanged. Everything that is based upon facts lasts forever.
CHAPTER XIII.
JEHOVA TAKES A REST.
God rests and lets the Hebrews take care of themselves for a period of four hundred and seventy-six years.