6. This conclusion is confirmed by the relation, in the next contest between the God of Elijah and the God of the prophets of Baal: We are told that Elijah's God could kindle a fire upon the altar, while theirs could not. Here is admitted the existence of other Gods. The only difference between them is, Elijah's God was a little smarter. The same thing is aimed to be shown in numerous other contests between Jehovah and other Gods. It is merely a trial of skill, strength, and knowledge.
7. And because the God of the prophets of Baal fell a little behind, and could not quite equal the achievements of Jehovah, we are told that Elijah put the prophets all to death. Here is another circumstance tending to show that Elijah could not have been a true servant of a lust God; for such a God would not sanction such cruelty. But the story carries an absurdity upon the face of it. To suppose that four hundred and fifty men would stand quietly, and submit to be slain by one man single-handed and alone, without any resistance, is altogether too incredible to be entertained for a moment.
8. The next achievement of Elijah, after eating a barley cake, baked on the coals, and drinking a cruse of water (1 Kings xix. 8), was to walk forty days and forty nights, without stopping to eat or sleep. This performance was almost equal to that of the Hindoo, Yalpa, who walked round the sun in eleven hours. One story is just as credible as the other.
9. We are told that, when Ahaziah, who succeeded his father making war on other nations: it was simply because Ahab upon the throne, got crippled by falling, and sent to consult the God of Ekron, Elijah, on hearing of it, asked why he did not consult the God of Israel (2 Kings i. G); and, when the king's messengers reported to him what the prophet Elijah had said, he sent fifty messengers to the prophet to invite him to come and see him, that he might consult with him. These messengers treated him very respectfully, and called him "the man of God;" but the prophet, we are told, instead of complying with the king's request, called down fire from heaven, which consumed the whole number. When the king heard of the circumstance, he sent fifty more messengers, who shared the same fate, and were likewise consumed by fire from heaven. An uncivil and very wicked thing for a righteous prophet to do.
10. We are told that Elijah, in the course of his travels, came to a stream of water, and took off his mantle, and smote it. The water parted hither and thither, and permitted him to walk in the bottom of the stream. Another display of his great miraculous power; but it is void of truth.
11. The last astounding feat reported of this miraculous prophet was that of ascending to heaven in a chariot of fire, with horses made of the same material. Rather a hazardous mode of traveling. This story is contradicted both by the laws of nature, and the express declaration of the Bible itself. The former teaches us that the fire would have been extinguished for want of oxygen before he had ascended many miles from the earth; and the latter declares, "Flesh and blood can not enter the kingdom of heaven;" and also that "no man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven,"—Christ Jesus (John iii. 13). There are several circumstances which render these marvelous achievements of Elijah wholly incredible, in addition to their setting aside the laws of nature. We can not learn that any good was accomplished by it. It does not appear that anybody was converted to a life of practical righteousness; while we must assume that God must have had some great purpose in view to cause him to thus set aside and trample under foot his own laws. On the other hand, a great deal of bad feeling was engendered, and a great many lives destroyed. And then there is no allusion whatever to these astonishing miracles in any other history. All these circumstances and considerations warrant us in discarding the whole affair, though Christian writers attach great importance to it.
THE FEATS OR ELISHA.
The marvelous deeds of Elisha appear to be, to a considerable extent, a mere repetition of those of Elijah. Like his predecessor, he raised a dead child to life, increased the supply of oil for a widow after it had run short, and also increased the quantity of good water for the people by a supernatural process, though not by a shower of rain, as Elijah did, after a three years drought. There is evidently a disposition to imitate and outdo his predecessor: hence he brings water without the process of rain. There are two or three incidents in his history worthy of notice:—
1. When Elijah took his perilous flight heavenward, and left him alone, we are told he rent his garments. This act, although customary among "the Lord's holy people," was rather an insane way of manifesting his grief. A man in this age doing so would be taken to the insane asylum.
2. The second performance of Elisha, deserving particular notice, was an act of malignant revenge upon some frolicsome boys reminding him that he was bald-headed. For this simple, childish, though rude, act of calling him "bald-head," we are told he caused "two bears to come out of the woods, and tear forty-two of them to pieces." Why the other children escaped this fate, we are not told. This conduct on the part of the prophet evinces a morose, cruel, and revengeful disposition, instead of a philanthropic and benevolent one, as we should have expected the Lord's chosen prophet to manifest. If the story were a credible one, it would be a stigma upon his character while it stands on the page of history.