  ELIJAH AND AHAB. FIRST READING.
YOU heard last Sunday how sadly the Israelites were behaving when they prayed to a golden calf. They had a still worse idol afterwards. His name was Baal; and they wanted to worship him instead of the true God. To-day there is a beautiful chapter that I hardly like to put into my own poor words. Listen to it well in church, and you will hear how wonderful it is. There were four hundred prophets, as they called themselves, who worshipped Baal, and only one real prophet who worshipped the Lord God. This prophet was named Elijah. He called all the people to a high mountain, and said they should see who was the true God. He said he would build one altar, and that the four hundred prophets should build another; they should each offer a sacrifice, and each should pray to his god, and the God that sent fire to burn the sacrifice would be the true God. The prophets of Baal tried first. They built their altar and put wood on it, and killed a bullock and cut it up, and they prayed to their god Baal to send fire down. But he was no god—he was nothing at all; and though they cried and shouted, and leaped about, and even cut their own flesh in their rage, not a spark of fire came. Then Elijah made his sacrifice. And he did a strange thing; for he had water poured all over it, till all the wood was streaming wet—and you know water always put out fire—so how was it ever to be burnt? He even made a trench round, and filled that with water too. Then he knelt down, and prayed that the Lord God in heaven would show His power, and make the people know that no one else was God. ELIJAH SLAYING THE PROPHETS OF BAAL.—1 Kings 18:39, 40. And down from heaven came the fire! It was not stopped by the water! No, it dried that up in a moment, and burnt the wood, and consumed the sacrifice! And all the Israelites fell on their faces, and cried out, "The Lord, He is the God; the Lord, He is the God!" For only the Lord God is Almighty, and can do wonders. QUESTIONS.
SECOND READING.
AFTER the Israelites had called out, "The Lord, He is the God!" and owned that Baal was nothing but an idol, God had mercy on them, and sent them rain again; and their famine was over. But King Ahab's wife, whose name was Jezebel, was a heathen woman, and she would worship Baal, and did not choose to believe in the true God. And she was very angry with Elijah, and sent men out everywhere to put him to death. Elijah was obliged to flee far away for fear of her; and he went out into the wilderness, and sat down under a juniper tree; and there he was so sad, to think that all he had done was of no use, that he requested for himself that he might die, for he could do no more good with these wicked people. Then he went to sleep; and when he woke an angel was by him, with a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water; and the angel bade him rise and eat, for the journey was too great for him. It was a great journey, for he was to go all the way to the Mount of God, where God had spoken to Moses. And there he stood in a cave; and a voice came and asked, "What doest thou here, Elijah?" Then he told how the Israelites had forsaken their God, and killed the prophets, and "I, even I only, am left," he said; "and they seek my life to take it away." Then God showed him His wonders. First a great strong wind came rushing by—but the Lord was not in the wind. Then there was an earthquake, that broke the rocks in pieces—but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire—but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, a still small Voice. Then Elijah wrapped his face in his mantle, and stood in the entrance of the cave, to hear what God would say to him. And God told him he was not all alone, as he thought; for there were many good men still left who had never bowed the knee to Baal, nor deserted the God of their fathers. And God sent him back to return to his work among the people of Israel, and not to think that there was no hope because he could not see it; nor to think he was left alone because he had no friends near him that he could see. QUESTIONS.
THIRD READING.
YOU learn in the Catechism to say, "Thou shalt not covet." Coveting means wishing very much for what we ought not to have; and God tells us not to covet, because all faults begin in bad wishes. Now you shall hear what shocking sin one wish led to. King Ahab had a grand garden, and he wanted to make it bigger; but the next piece of ground belonged to a poor man named Naboth. Ahab asked Naboth to sell him his ground; but Now Ahab had a cruel, wicked wife; and when she saw her husband grieving about Naboth's ground she was determined to get it for him. So she had two very bad men set on to say that poor Naboth had been wicked, and must be put to death. They bore false witness against him, and broke the Ninth Commandment when they did so; and then, worst of all, this poor innocent man was really put to death for the crime he had never done—and that was murder, which breaks the Sixth Commandment. Then Jezebel called Ahab, and told him he might go and take possession of the ground that he wanted: there was nobody to hinder him. But he never had any pleasure in it. When he went to it, there stood God's great Prophet Elijah, ready to meet him. And Elijah told him how very angry God was with him and with Jezebel, and that they should be terribly punished for their cruel behavior to this innocent man. Then Ahab was sorry, and wept and grieved for the cruel thing that had been done; but all his sorrow could not bring Naboth back to life again. And oh! how grieved he must have been that he had not kept his wishes in order!—for almost all our faults begin in a wish. QUESTIONS.
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