21 



by Him in whose hands are the forces of the universe. The 

 prophets of Baal in vain called upon their god from morning 

 till noon, and till evening approached, and cried and cut 

 themselves, and leaped in desperation on their sacrifice, but 

 no answer came, and no fire descended. But, when Elijah 

 appealed to the Lord, to show all the people that he had done 

 all in obedience to His word, and thus turn their heart back 

 again to Himself, " then the fire of the Lord fell and con- 

 sumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and 

 the dust, and licked up the water in the trench." Here was 

 a work which only the Supreme Ruler could have done ; and, 

 like all which He did in the government of His people, it 

 was done under circumstances which rendered mistake or 

 deception impossible. A public challenge had been given, 

 the prophets of Baal and of the groves, 850 in all, had been 

 summoned, and all Israel had been collected to witness the 

 result of the contest. Most important national interests were 

 involved ; an entirely new departure, or a return to the old 

 paths, must be the result of that day's trial; their eyes were 

 open, their interest was excited, their attention fixed, and the 

 result was a national cry, " The Lord he is the God ! The Lord 

 he is the God ! " If any transaction ever was real, and certain, 

 and unmistakable, this was, up to the unanimous and 

 universal verdict. 



Another act of direct divine rule occurred a few years after 

 the above, in the kingdom of Judah, which demands considera- 

 tion for our present argument. Jehoshaphat was informed 

 that a great multitude of Moabites, Ammonites, and others 

 was coming against him in Jerusalem. He knew that his 

 force was insufficient to meet them, but he believed in the 

 Lord his God, proclaimed a fast, and gathered all Judah to 

 ask help of the Lord. Then, as the voice of the whole con- 

 gregation, he uttered the following prayer : " Lord God of 

 our fathers, art not Thou God in heaven ? and rulest not Thou 

 over all the kingdoms of the heathen ? and in Thine hand is 

 there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand 

 Thee ? Art not Thou our God, who didst drive out the jn- 

 habitants of this land before Thy people Israel, and gavest it 

 to the seed of Abraham Thy friend for ever ? .... If 

 when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pesti- 

 lence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in Thy pre- 

 sence (for Thy name is in this house), and cry unto Thee in our 

 affliction, then thou wilt hear and help. And now behold the 

 children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir whom Thou 

 wouldst not let Israel invade when they came out of the land 

 of Egypt, but they turned from them and destroyed them 



