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THE MAN WHO DID NOT DIE



ALTEMUS' BEAUTIFUL STORIES SERIES


THE MAN WHO DID NOT DIE

THE STORY OF ELIJAH

BY

J. H. WILLARD.


ILLUSTRATED

PHILADELPHIA
HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY


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         The Story of the Jubilee
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FIVE KINGS IN A CAVE.
         The Story of a Great Battle
THE WISEST MAN.
         The Story of Solomon
A FARMER'S WIFE.
         The Story of Ruth
THE MAN WHO DID NOT DIE.
         The Story of Elijah
WHEN IRON DID SWIM.
         The Story of Elisha
WHAT IS SWEETER THAN HONEY.
         The Story of Samson

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By Henry Altemus



THE MAN WHO DID NOT DIE.

AFTER the death of King Solomon, his son Rehoboam became ruler
of the Israelites. The prodigality and magnificence of
Solomon's court, and his lavish way of living had been met by
heavy taxation. Seeing the vast revenues of the kingdom
employed in this way, the people had grown discontented, and
then disloyal.

After Rehoboam had become king, the Israelites appealed to him
to lighten the taxes and other heavy burdens which oppressed
the poor. Instead of following the advice of his older
counsellors, and releasing the people from some of their
burdens, the new king hearkened to the counsel of the younger
men who had grown up with him and scornfully rejected the
petition of his subjects.

[Image: THE KING SCORNFULLY REJECTED THEIR PETITION.]

A very ambitious man named Jeroboam presented the petition to
Rehoboam, and upon its rejection, ten tribes revolted and made
Jeroboam their ruler under the title of King of Israel.

The remainder of the Israelitish nation from this time were
known as the Kingdom of Judah. Jerusalem remained its capital,
and God was worshipped in the magnificent temple built by King
Solomon. It also maintained the regular priesthood, its
officers descending as formerly from father to son.

Among the twenty sovereigns of Judah, there were a few who
served God sincerely. The best four of the kings were Asa,
Jehosaphat, Hezekiah and Josiah. Asa fought against the
worship of idols which had corrupted the people, yet he made
an alliance with the King of Syria, who was an idolater.
Jehosaphat, his son, ruled the kingdom of Judah for
twenty-five years, and, although he did not always do right,
his reign was a quiet one.

[Image: ASA READ THE LAW OF GOD TO THE PEOPLE.]

Hezekiah waged a vigorous war against the worship of idols,
and, as far as he was able, restored the worship of God in the
temple. The Bible says of everything he undertook for the
glory of God that _"he did it with all his heart, and
prospered."_

[Image: HEZEKIAH DESTROYED THE IDOLS IN THE TEMPLE.]

Hezekiah was a very brave man, and when Sennacherib, the King
of Assyria, sent an army against Jerusalem, his speech to the
people, telling them to be strong and courageous, for God
would help them and fight for them, was not unlike that of
Joshua when he exhorted the Israelites to trust in God, at the
time when they were about to enter the land of Canaan.

[Image: SENNACHERIB, KING OF ASSYRIA.]

The prophet Isaiah lived during the reign of Hezekiah. At one
time when the king was very sick he prayed to God that his
life might be spared. God told Isaiah to tell him that He had
heard his prayer, and that He would heal him, and prolong his
life for fifteen years.

When Isaiah had delivered God's message, Hezekiah asked for a
sign that these things should be done, and Isaiah said that he
might decide whether the shadow upon the sundial should go
forward ten degrees or go backward ten degrees.

Hezekiah replied that it was an easy thing for the shadow to
go forward ten degrees, and asked that it might go backwards.
God moved the shadow as the king had asked, and he accepted it
as a sign that his life was to be spared and his days
lengthened.

[Image: GOD MOVED THE SHADOW BACKWARDS.]

Josiah was only eight years old when he came to the throne of
Judah. He served God while yet a child, and devoted his life
to His service. He reigned for more than thirty years, and was
killed at last by an arrow while defending his kingdom against
Necho, King of Egypt.

[Image: "JOSIAH WAS ONLY EIGHT YEARS OLD."]

[Image: JOSIAH WAS KILLED BY AN ARROW.]

In spite of the repeated warnings of God's prophets, the
people continued to worship idols, until as a punishment the
kingdom was entirely broken up. After a siege lasting sixteen
months, Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, took the city of
Jerusalem, burned the Temple, and carried away as prisoners
all the inhabitants who had survived the horrors of the siege.
This was the end of the Kingdom of Judah, and the beginning of
the period known as "the captivity."

For some time after the separation of Israel from Judah, there
was war between the two kingdoms, but later they formed an
alliance to prevent the King of Syria from encroaching upon
them. Still later the old enmity broke out again. There were
nineteen Kings of Israel in all, and city after city became
the capital of the kingdom, until in the time of its sixth
king Samaria became the seat of government.

Omri was the King who built Samaria, The monarchs who preceded
him were conspicuous for evil doing, but Omri exceeded them in
wickedness. The reign of his son Ahab was still worse, and of
this King of Israel the Bible says, _"Ahab did more to provoke
the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the Kings of Israel
that were before him."_

[Image: RUINS OF SAMARIA. From a photograph.]

Ahab married Jezebel, a Phœnician princess, and this was the
crowning point of his sinful career. Jezebel was unprincipled
and intolerant, and as Ahab was a weak man, he became little
more than a tool in her hands. She introduced at once the
worship of Baal and Ashtoroth, the male and female gods of her
own country. She caused a great temple to be built on the brow
of a hill, and there the worship of these idols was carried
on. Four hundred and fifty priests and attendants administered
the services of Baal, and four hundred those of Ashtoroth.

Not content with introducing this heathen worship, Jezebel
persecuted the few among the nation who remained faithful to
the worship of God. She caused their altars to be destroyed,
and to save their lives they fled to the wildest solitudes,
and hid in caves, as their forefathers had done in the days of
the Judges.

While all this was taking place, and while Ahab was occupying
himself with the building of a splendid palace at Jezreel, a
new and startling figure appeared upon the scene. None knew
whence the mysterious stranger came, as, wrapped in a rough
cape, or mantle, of sheepskin, he confronted the astonished
king.

The name of this strange visitor was Elijah, a man of whom it
has been said that he was "the grandest and most romantic
character that Israel ever produced." His long, thick hair
indicated remarkable powers of endurance, and in addition to
his sheepskin mantle he wore a girdle made from the skin of
some animal, which in the fashion of the day he tightened when
about to move quickly.

[Image: THE NAME OF THIS STRANGE VISITOR WAS ELIJAH.]

Elijah was one of God's prophets, and his mission was to
announce to Ahab that a judgment was about to fall upon the
land, because the people had forsaken the worship of God, and
bowed down to idols instead. This punishment was to be in the
shape of a drought, at all times a terrible infliction, but
especially so in Eastern countries where all vegetation
quickly dries up when there is a scarcity of water.

[Image: RESULT OF DROUGHT IN PALESTINE. From a photograph.]

Elijah's message was very brief, and before the king had
recovered from his astonishment, the prophet had departed as
abruptly as he had appeared.

We have no record that Elijah had any settled home. The wild
paths of the wilderness and the mountains were familiar to
him, and he dwelt where some spreading tree would afford him a
leafy shelter. He moved from place to place, according to
God's commands. Now, as he left the presence of Ahab, God's
word came to him, directing him to turn to the eastward, and
hide by the brook Cherith.

Elijah stayed in this retreat as long as the falling stream
afforded water to quench his thirst, and during this time he
was fed by ravens, who, twice each day, brought him bread and
meat. After a while the brook dried up, and the leaves which
had protected him from the fierce sun shriveled and fell to
the ground, for the promised drought was upon the land.

[Image: "ELIJAH WAS FED TWICE EACH DAY BY RAVENS."]

Again the word of God came upon Elijah, telling him what road
to take to his next shelter. Across the mountains of Lebanon,
where the brooks were as dry as that of Cherith, the prophet
made his way. Descending their further slopes, he crossed the
plains at their feet, and with his face still towards the sea,
approached the village or town of Zarephath. The modern
village of Sura-flud is supposed to occupy its site, and the
ruins of the ancient town are to be seen there.

[Image: THE SITE OF ZAREPHATH. From a photograph.]

Elijah was now in Phœnicia, the native country of Jezebel, the
wife of King Ahab. It would seem to be the last place in which
an enemy of Baal would seek refuge, but Elijah knew that God
had a purpose in sending him there. Ethbaal, the father of
Jezebel, was the King of Phœnicia, and the famine which
followed the drought had reached that country, and was causing
terrible suffering.

Just outside Zarephath, Elijah found a woman gathering sticks
for firewood. She was a widow, and in such poverty that all
the food she had in the world was a handful of meal and a
little oil in a bottle or jar. Consumed with thirst, Elijah
asked her for water, and, as she turned to bring it, he asked
her also for a piece of bread.

Sadly the woman told him she had no bread. She was gathering
sticks to make a fire over which she would cook the handful of
meal and the little oil remaining in the bottle. When she and
her son had eaten this, they would have no more food, and in
consequence would die of hunger.

[Image: "A WOMAN GATHERING STICKS FOR FIREWOOD."]

It is probable that this woman was an Israelite, and not a
worshipper of Baal, for, when Elijah told her to mix the meal
and oil into a cake and bake it for him, adding, _"For thus
saith the Lord God of Israel, the barrel of meal shall not
waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that
the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth,"_ the woman did as she
was told, evidently recognizing him as a prophet of God. She
fed him before she and her son tasted of food, and gave him
the shelter of her house as well; and during all the time of
drought and famine, the supply of meal and oil never failed.

After a while, trouble came upon the little household. The
widow's son suddenly became very sick and then died. The
heart-broken mother demanded of Elijah why he had come to them
only to slay her son. The prophet replied, _"Give me thy
son,"_ and taking the boy from his mother's arms, carried him
into his own chamber and laid him on the bed.

Then Elijah called upon God, and prayed that the child might
be made alive again, and God heard his prayer, for the boy sat
up alive and well. Taking him in his arms, the prophet carried
the child to his mother, who was so happy that she exclaimed,
_"Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the
word of the Lord is in thy mouth."_

[Image: "ELIJAH CARRIED THE CHILD TO HIS MOTHER."]

The drought continued, and the horrors of famine caused by the
failure of all crops, was felt in Samaria. Ahab was in
despair. Everywhere horses and other animals were dying, for
there was not the scantiest grass or herbage of any kind for
them to eat, and everywhere the streams were dry.

The chief officer of Ahab's household was a man named Obadiah.
He was a faithful servant of God, and during the bitter
persecutions of Jezebel, had hidden an hundred persons who
worshipped God, in a cave and fed them there. Ahab now took
Obadiah, and set out on a desperate search for pasturage and
water for the animals, the king going one way and his servant
the other, on what seemed a hopeless errand.

Before Obadiah had gone very far, Elijah suddenly stood before
him. Quickly the prophet told him to go to Ahab and tell him
_"Elijah is here."_ Obadiah feared that Elijah would disappear
before he could bring the king to him, but, reassured by
Elijah, he set forth to find Ahab.

[Image: A FIELD IN PALESTINE TO-DAY. From a photograph.]

Now Ahab had been searching throughout his kingdom for the
mysterious stranger who had warned him of the coming drought,
three years before; so, as soon as he learned from Obadiah
that the stranger had reappeared, he went to meet him. When he
saw the prophet, he asked him, _"Art thou he that troubleth
Israel?"_ Elijah answered that he had not troubled Israel, but
that Ahab's evil reign, and that of his father before him, had
been the cause of the drought.

Then Elijah denounced the idolatry of Ahab, and followed this
with a command to assemble his people on Mount Carmel, and
bring also all the priests and attendants of Baal and
Ashtoroth. Ahab did not dare to disobey, and a great, weary,
listless crowd assembled on the sun-burned slopes of the
mountain. The priests were there in gorgeous vestments, and
the king, himself, all eager and expectant. A spring of water,
apparently undiscovered before, flowed not far away.

Elijah appeared with only one attendant, and soon his voice
rang out. _"How long halt you between two opinions? If the
Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him."_

The amazed people stood speechless. Then Elijah spoke again,
saying he was hut one prophet, while before him were four
hundred and fifty of Baal's prophets. Then he proposed a test
of powers.

[Image: CULTIVATING THE LAND IN PALESTINE TO-DAY. From a
photograph.]

He asked that two bullocks might be provided. The priests of
Baal should take one, and prepare it for sacrifice by laying
it on the wood upon the altar to their god, but they were to
put no fire tinder it. The other bullock he would prepare in
the same way.

Then the priests of Baal were to call upon their god, and he
would call upon his God, and the God, that answered by sending
fire to consume the sacrifice offered to him, was to be the
God of the people. The answer of the people, dejected with
long endurance of misery, was ready, and as one man they
shouted, "It is well spoken."

The altar to Baal was prepared, with the sacrifice arranged
upon it in proper form. Only fire was lacking. Loudly the
priests of Baal prayed. Wildly they leaped around the altar,
crying again and again, _"O Baal, hear us."_ The morning wore
away, and there was no response; no fire appeared to consume
the sacrifice.

About noon, Elijah mocked the frantic priests, saying to them,
_"Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is
pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth,
and must be awakened."_

The priests of Baal accepted this advice in earnest. They
supplicated and raved more wildly, and wounded themselves in
their frenzy, continually calling on Baal to hear them. And so
the afternoon passed.

[Image: SUMMIT OF MOUNT CARMEL TO-DAY. From a photograph.]

As the sun was sinking, Elijah came near the altar which he
had built with twelve stones--one for each of the tribes of
Israel. The sacrifice, carefully prepared, lay upon the wood.
All around the altar a trench had been dug, and it was now
filled with the water which had been poured upon the
sacrifice.

Then Elijah prayed to God, asking him to let the people know
that day that He was the God of Israel, and that it was by His
command that he had done these things. At the close of his
prayer, fire unkindled by mortal hands broke out. Unchecked by
the water, it wrapped sacrifice and altar in flames and
consumed them, even licking up the water in the trench with
its heated breath. At this sight the people prostrated
themselves as they cried out, _"The Lord, he is the God, the
Lord, he is the God."_

[Image: ELIJAH'S SACRIFICE ON MOUNT CARMEL.]

The priests of Baal, who were largely responsible for the
idolatry of the nation, stood trembling and confounded.
Quickly Elijah ordered them to be destroyed, and this was
done. Next he turned to Ahab, and told him to eat and drink in
haste, for the long deferred rain was at hand, although no
sign of its approach was in sight.

Attended only by his servant, Elijah then went to the top of
Mount Carmel, and crouched upon the ground in the position of
meditation commonly assumed in Eastern countries. He sent his
servant to a spot which commanded a view of the Mediterranean
Sea, bade him look around, and bring him word of what he saw.

Six times the servant returned with the word that he saw
nothing. The seventh time his report was that he could see a
little cloud, not larger than a man's hand, coming out of the
sea. Sending the man to warn Ahab that the rain was fast
approaching, and that he must start at once for home, Elijah
then hastened down the mountain to meet the king at its foot.

[Image: A LITTLE CLOUD COMING OUT OF THE SEA.]

With all the speed he could command, Ahab barely reached his
palace at Jezreel in time to escape the fury of the storm.
Elijah ran before the royal chariot the entire distance of
sixteen miles, but he did not enter the palace.

Thus far the triumph was with Elijah. The people were
convinced, the priests of Baal were dead, the king was
awe-struck. But Jezebel was relentless in her hatred of the
prophet. So furious was she when Ahab told her what had been
done that day, that she sent a message to Elijah, telling him
that before another day had passed she would have his life.
Prophet though he was, Elijah quailed before the threat of the
idolatrous queen, and fled for his life.

Leaving his servant at Beer-sheba, Elijah went a day's journey
into the wilderness, threw himself down under a solitary bush,
and in a fit of despair, prayed that he might die. Worn out
with excitement and fatigue, he fell asleep, but woke to find
food and water beside him, and an angel who told him to
refresh himself with the provisions God had sent him.

[Image: ELIJAH WOKE TO FIND AN ANGEL BESIDE HIM.]

Twice Elijah ate and drank of the miraculous food, and then in
its strength traveled forty days and forty nights until he
came to Mount Horeb, the place where Moses received the divine
command to rescue the Israelites from Pharaoh.

Elijah found shelter in a cave, and there he heard the voice
of God, asking, _"What doest thou here, Elijah?"_ The answer
of the prophet was one of bitterness and depression, but his
complaints were cut short by a command to come out of the
cave, and behold the wonderful works of God. Drawing his
mantle about him, Elijah went out on the mountain side to
watch.

As he stood there, a mighty wind roared among the rocks and
rent them to pieces. Then an earthquake shook the desert,
until the mountain itself trembled under the shock. Then fire
as mysterious as that which illuminated the bush in the days
of Moses, played about the lonely heights. After a pause, _"a
still, small voice"_ whispered in the ear of the solitary
watcher a revelation conveying comfort, and pointing out
further duty. Strengthened and comforted, Elijah left the
lonely mountain behind him, and shortly came across the man
who was to cheer him as a companion, and succeed him as a
prophet.

[Image: A STORM IN PALESTINE. From a photograph.]

This man was Elisha, the son of Shaphat. He was ploughing the
fields around his home with twelve yoke of oxen. As he passed
him, Elijah cast his well-known mantle upon Elisha, who
recognized in the action that from that time he was to be the
attendant and friend of the prophet. Bidding his father and
mother goodbye, Elisha followed Elijah, thus beginning a long
period of service and intercourse with him.

[Image: ELISHA WAS PLOUGHING HIS FIELDS.]

The disappearance of Elijah after his triumph over the priests
of Baal, probably caused Ahab and Jezebel to believe that they
had seen the last of the prophet. They certainly went on in
their wicked ways, for soon we read that Ahab coveted the
vineyard of a man named Naboth. This vineyard was quite near
the walls of Ahab's palace, and he wished to turn it into a
garden.

But Naboth would not sell his vineyard or exchange it for
another, because it had belonged to his family for a very long
time. His refusal made Ahab so angry and disappointed that he
threw himself upon his bed, and refused to eat or even to
speak. In this state Jezebel found him, and at once began to
comfort him, telling him he should have his vineyard.

The first thing this wicked woman did was to bribe witnesses
to say that Naboth had spoken evil of God and also of the
king. Naboth was condemned and stoned to death. Ahab then
took possession of the vineyard, and as he was walking in it
one day, he saw Elijah coming towards him. Tremblingly the
wicked king exclaimed, _"Hast thou found me, O my enemy?"_
Elijah replied that he had sought him, not because he was his
enemy, but to tell him he was to be punished, because all his
life he had done wrong.

[Image: FALSE WITNESSES TESTIFIED AGAINST NABOTH.]

Ahab was killed in battle three years afterwards, and later,
Jezebel met with a terrible death, for she was thrown from a
window by her own servants, and crushed to death on the stones
below.

[Image: THE DEATH OF JEZEBEL.]

When the time came for Elijah's work on earth to cease, he
took Elisha with him to a place called Gilgal. They crossed
the River Jordan in a manner as wonderful as that of the
passage of the Israelites into Canaan, many years before.
Elijah struck the waters with his mantle and they parted,
leaving; a pathway over which the two walked in safety.

[Image: "ELIJAH STRUCK THE WATERS WITH HIS MANTLE."]

There, while these two men of God were talking together, a
chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared, and parted them.
Elijah was swept up into the chariot, and was carried away
into heaven. But before he disappeared, his mantle fell from
him. Elisha took it up, and with it received the power of
performing miracles which God had given to Elijah, the man who
did not die.

[Image: "ELIJAH WAS SWEPT UP INTO THE CHARIOT."]





End of Project Gutenberg's The Man Who Did Not Die, by J. H. Willard