Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/313

 He then  poured  water  upon  the  victim  till  it  ran  down  on every  side  and  filled  the  trench  around  the  altar. This being done, he  said:  “O  Lord  God,  show  this  day  that  Thou  art  the God of  Israel,  and  I Thy  servant,  and  that  according  to  Thy commandment I have  done  all  these  things. Hear me,  O Lord, hear me;  that  this  Thy  people  may  learn  that  Thou  art  the  Lord God, and  that  Thou  hast  turned  their  hearts  again.”

That instant  fire  came  down  from  heaven  and  consumed the holocaust,  the  wood,  the  stones  and  the  water  in  the  trench. The people,  having  witnessed  this  prodigy,  fell  on  their  faces , exclaiming: “The  Lord  He  is  God! The Lord  He  is  God!”  And the prophet,  retiring  from  the  multitude,  went  up  alone  to  the top of  the  mountain  where  he  prostrated  himself  before  the  Lord in praise  and  thanksgiving.

Then he  besought  the  Lord  to  refresh  the  earth  with  water. And behold,  a little  cloud  arose  from  the  sea,  no  bigger  than the foot  of  a man,  and  it  spread  itself  gradually  over  the  heavens, and rain  fell  in  abundance.

The object  of  miracles. The  extraordinary  drought,  lasting  for  three years and  a half,  was  the  effect  of  God’s  interrupting  by  miracle  the law which  He  Himself  gave  to  nature. The drought  was  sent  both  as a punishment  to  Achab  and  the  people  for  their  idolatry,  and  as  a means  of  their  conversion. The silence  however  of  the  people,  when Elias demanded  of  them  a confession  of  faith,  shows  that  pagan  opinions were still  dominant  among  them. The priests  of  the  true  God  had been killed,  so  that  there  was  no  one  to  teach  the  truth  to  the  poor people; and  the  priests  of  Baal,  whom  the  king  upheld,  taught  them that the  famine  had  been  sent  by  Baal  as  a punishment  for  their  lack of staunchness  in  the  pagan  belief. But God  in  His  mercy  worked new and  startling  miracles  to  convince  the  deluded  people  of  the  folly of idolatry  and  to  help  them  to  return  to  the  true  faith. It was  in