{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_30899/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_30899","id":"gutenberg_30899","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30899","summary":null,"tags":["Bible -- Juvenile literature","Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Elijah -- (Biblical prophet) -- Juvenile literature"],"text":"Produced by Michael Gray\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAN WHO DID NOT DIE\n\n\n\nALTEMUS' BEAUTIFUL STORIES SERIES\n\n\nTHE MAN WHO DID NOT DIE\n\nTHE STORY OF ELIJAH\n\nBY\n\nJ. H. WILLARD.\n\n\nILLUSTRATED\n\nPHILADELPHIA\nHENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY\n\n\nAltemus' Illustrated\nBeautiful Stories Series\n\nTHE FIRST CHRISTMAS.\nTHE FIRST EASTER.\nONCE IN SEVEN YEARS.\n         The Story of the Jubilee\nWITH HAMMER AND NAIL.\n          The Story of Jael and Sisera\nFIVE KINGS IN A CAVE.\n         The Story of a Great Battle\nTHE WISEST MAN.\n         The Story of Solomon\nA FARMER'S WIFE.\n         The Story of Ruth\nTHE MAN WHO DID NOT DIE.\n         The Story of Elijah\nWHEN IRON DID SWIM.\n         The Story of Elisha\nWHAT IS SWEETER THAN HONEY.\n         The Story of Samson\n\nTwenty-five Cents Each\n\nCopyright, 1906\nBy Henry Altemus\n\n\n\nTHE MAN WHO DID NOT DIE.\n\nAFTER the death of King Solomon, his son Rehoboam became ruler\nof the Israelites. The prodigality and magnificence of\nSolomon's court, and his lavish way of living had been met by\nheavy taxation. Seeing the vast revenues of the kingdom\nemployed in this way, the people had grown discontented, and\nthen disloyal.\n\nAfter Rehoboam had become king, the Israelites appealed to him\nto lighten the taxes and other heavy burdens which oppressed\nthe poor. Instead of following the advice of his older\ncounsellors, and releasing the people from some of their\nburdens, the new king hearkened to the counsel of the younger\nmen who had grown up with him and scornfully rejected the\npetition of his subjects.\n\n[Image: THE KING SCORNFULLY REJECTED THEIR PETITION.]\n\nA very ambitious man named Jeroboam presented the petition to\nRehoboam, and upon its rejection, ten tribes revolted and made\nJeroboam their ruler under the title of King of Israel.\n\nThe remainder of the Israelitish nation from this time were\nknown as the Kingdom of Judah. Jerusalem remained its capital,\nand God was worshipped in the magnificent temple built by King\nSolomon. It also maintained the regular priesthood, its\nofficers descending as formerly from father to son.\n\nAmong the twenty sovereigns of Judah, there were a few who\nserved God sincerely. The best four of the kings were Asa,\nJehosaphat, Hezekiah and Josiah. Asa fought against the\nworship of idols which had corrupted the people, yet he made\nan alliance with the King of Syria, who was an idolater.\nJehosaphat, his son, ruled the kingdom of Judah for\ntwenty-five years, and, although he did not always do right,\nhis reign was a quiet one.\n\n[Image: ASA READ THE LAW OF GOD TO THE PEOPLE.]\n\nHezekiah waged a vigorous war against the worship of idols,\nand, as far as he was able, restored the worship of God in the\ntemple. The Bible says of everything he undertook for the\nglory of God that _\"he did it with all his heart, and\nprospered.\"_\n\n[Image: HEZEKIAH DESTROYED THE IDOLS IN THE TEMPLE.]\n\nHezekiah was a very brave man, and when Sennacherib, the King\nof Assyria, sent an army against Jerusalem, his speech to the\npeople, telling them to be strong and courageous, for God\nwould help them and fight for them, was not unlike that of\nJoshua when he exhorted the Israelites to trust in God, at the\ntime when they were about to enter the land of Canaan.\n\n[Image: SENNACHERIB, KING OF ASSYRIA.]\n\nThe prophet Isaiah lived during the reign of Hezekiah. At one\ntime when the king was very sick he prayed to God that his\nlife might be spared. God told Isaiah to tell him that He had\nheard his prayer, and that He would heal him, and prolong his\nlife for fifteen years.\n\nWhen Isaiah had delivered God's message, Hezekiah asked for a\nsign that these things should be done, and Isaiah said that he\nmight decide whether the shadow upon the sundial should go\nforward ten degrees or go backward ten degrees.\n\nHezekiah replied that it was an easy thing for the shadow to\ngo forward ten degrees, and asked that it might go backwards.\nGod moved the shadow as the king had asked, and he accepted it\nas a sign that his life was to be spared and his days\nlengthened.\n\n[Image: GOD MOVED THE SHADOW BACKWARDS.]\n\nJosiah was only eight years old when he came to the throne of\nJudah. He served God while yet a child, and devoted his life\nto His service. He reigned for more than thirty years, and was\nkilled at last by an arrow while defending his kingdom against\nNecho, King of Egypt.\n\n[Image: \"JOSIAH WAS ONLY EIGHT YEARS OLD.\"]\n\n[Image: JOSIAH WAS KILLED BY AN ARROW.]\n\nIn spite of the repeated warnings of God's prophets, the\npeople continued to worship idols, until as a punishment the\nkingdom was entirely broken up. After a siege lasting sixteen\nmonths, Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, took the city of\nJerusalem, burned the Temple, and carried away as prisoners\nall the inhabitants who had survived the horrors of the siege.\nThis was the end of the Kingdom of Judah, and the beginning of\nthe period known as \"the captivity.\"\n\nFor some time after the separation of Israel from Judah, there\nwas war between the two kingdoms, but later they formed an\nalliance to prevent the King of Syria from encroaching upon\nthem. Still later the old enmity broke out again. There were\nnineteen Kings of Israel in all, and city after city became\nthe capital of the kingdom, until in the time of its sixth\nking Samaria became the seat of government.\n\nOmri was the King who built Samaria, The monarchs who preceded\nhim were conspicuous for evil doing, but Omri exceeded them in\nwickedness. The reign of his son Ahab was still worse, and of\nthis King of Israel the Bible says, _\"Ahab did more to provoke\nthe Lord God of Israel to anger than all the Kings of Israel\nthat were before him.\"_\n\n[Image: RUINS OF SAMARIA. From a photograph.]\n\nAhab married Jezebel, a Phoenician princess, and this was the\ncrowning point of his sinful career. Jezebel was unprincipled\nand intolerant, and as Ahab was a weak man, he became little\nmore than a tool in her hands. She introduced at once the\nworship of Baal and Ashtoroth, the male and female gods of her\nown country. She caused a great temple to be built on the brow\nof a hill, and there the worship of these idols was carried\non. Four hundred and fifty priests and attendants administered\nthe services of Baal, and four hundred those of Ashtoroth.\n\nNot content with introducing this heathen worship, Jezebel\npersecuted the few among the nation who remained faithful to\nthe worship of God. She caused their altars to be destroyed,\nand to save their lives they fled to the wildest solitudes,\nand hid in caves, as their forefathers had done in the days of\nthe Judges.\n\nWhile all this was taking place, and while Ahab was occupying\nhimself with the building of a splendid palace at Jezreel, a\nnew and startling figure appeared upon the scene. None knew\nwhence the mysterious stranger came, as, wrapped in a rough\ncape, or mantle, of sheepskin, he confronted the astonished\nking.\n\nThe name of this strange visitor was Elijah, a man of whom it\nhas been said that he was \"the grandest and most romantic\ncharacter that Israel ever produced.\" His long, thick hair\nindicated remarkable powers of endurance, and in addition to\nhis sheepskin mantle he wore a girdle made from the skin of\nsome animal, which in the fashion of the day he tightened when\nabout to move quickly.\n\n[Image: THE NAME OF THIS STRANGE VISITOR WAS ELIJAH.]\n\nElijah was one of God's prophets, and his mission was to\nannounce to Ahab that a judgment was about to fall upon the\nland, because the people had forsaken the worship of God, and\nbowed down to idols instead. This punishment was to be in the\nshape of a drought, at all times a terrible infliction, but\nespecially so in Eastern countries where all vegetation\nquickly dries up when there is a scarcity of water.\n\n[Image: RESULT OF DROUGHT IN PALESTINE. From a photograph.]\n\nElijah's message was very brief, and before the king had\nrecovered from his astonishment, the prophet had departed as\nabruptly as he had appeared.\n\nWe have no record that Elijah had any settled home. The wild\npaths of the wilderness and the mountains were familiar to\nhim, and he dwelt where some spreading tree would afford him a\nleafy shelter. He moved from place to place, according to\nGod's commands. Now, as he left the presence of Ahab, God's\nword came to him, directing him to turn to the eastward, and\nhide by the brook Cherith.\n\nElijah stayed in this retreat as long as the falling stream\nafforded water to quench his thirst, and during this time he\nwas fed by ravens, who, twice each day, brought him bread and\nmeat. After a while the brook dried up, and the leaves which\nhad protected him from the fierce sun shriveled and fell to\nthe ground, for the promised drought was upon the land.\n\n[Image: \"ELIJAH WAS FED TWICE EACH DAY BY RAVENS.\"]\n\nAgain the word of God came upon Elijah, telling him what road\nto take to his next shelter. Across the mountains of Lebanon,\nwhere the brooks were as dry as that of Cherith, the prophet\nmade his way. Descending their further slopes, he crossed the\nplains at their feet, and with his face still towards the sea,\napproached the village or town of Zarephath. The modern\nvillage of Sura-flud is supposed to occupy its site, and the\nruins of the ancient town are to be seen there.\n\n[Image: THE SITE OF ZAREPHATH. From a photograph.]\n\nElijah was now in Phoenicia, the native country of Jezebel, the\nwife of King Ahab. It would seem to be the last place in which\nan enemy of Baal would seek refuge, but Elijah knew that God\nhad a purpose in sending him there. Ethbaal, the father of\nJezebel, was the King of Phoenicia, and the famine which\nfollowed the drought had reached that country, and was causing\nterrible suffering.\n\nJust outside Zarephath, Elijah found a woman gathering sticks\nfor firewood. She was a widow, and in such poverty that all\nthe food she had in the world was a handful of meal and a\nlittle oil in a bottle or jar. Consumed with thirst, Elijah\nasked her for water, and, as she turned to bring it, he asked\nher also for a piece of bread.\n\nSadly the woman told him she had no bread. She was gathering\nsticks to make a fire over which she would cook the handful of\nmeal and the little oil remaining in the bottle. When she and\nher son had eaten this, they would have no more food, and in\nconsequence would die of hunger.\n\n[Image: \"A WOMAN GATHERING STICKS FOR FIREWOOD.\"]\n\nIt is probable that this woman was an Israelite, and not a\nworshipper of Baal, for, when Elijah told her to mix the meal\nand oil into a cake and bake it for him, adding, _\"For thus\nsaith the Lord God of Israel, the barrel of meal shall not\nwaste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that\nthe Lord sendeth rain upon the earth,\"_ the woman did as she\nwas told, evidently recognizing him as a prophet of God. She\nfed him before she and her son tasted of food, and gave him\nthe shelter of her house as well; and during all the time of\ndrought and famine, the supply of meal and oil never failed.\n\nAfter a while, trouble came upon the little household. The\nwidow's son suddenly became very sick and then died. The\nheart-broken mother demanded of Elijah why he had come to them\nonly to slay her son. The prophet replied, _\"Give me thy\nson,\"_ and taking the boy from his mother's arms, carried him\ninto his own chamber and laid him on the bed.\n\nThen Elijah called upon God, and prayed that the child might\nbe made alive again, and God heard his prayer, for the boy sat\nup alive and well. Taking him in his arms, the prophet carried\nthe child to his mother, who was so happy that she exclaimed,\n_\"Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the\nword of the Lord is in thy mouth.\"_\n\n[Image: \"ELIJAH CARRIED THE CHILD TO HIS MOTHER.\"]\n\nThe drought continued, and the horrors of famine caused by the\nfailure of all crops, was felt in Samaria. Ahab was in\ndespair. Everywhere horses and other animals were dying, for\nthere was not the scantiest grass or herbage of any kind for\nthem to eat, and everywhere the streams were dry.\n\nThe chief officer of Ahab's household was a man named Obadiah.\nHe was a faithful servant of God, and during the bitter\npersecutions of Jezebel, had hidden an hundred persons who\nworshipped God, in a cave and fed them there. Ahab now took\nObadiah, and set out on a desperate search for pasturage and\nwater for the animals, the king going one way and his servant\nthe other, on what seemed a hopeless errand.\n\nBefore Obadiah had gone very far, Elijah suddenly stood before\nhim. Quickly the prophet told him to go to Ahab and tell him\n_\"Elijah is here.\"_ Obadiah feared that Elijah would disappear\nbefore he could bring the king to him, but, reassured by\nElijah, he set forth to find Ahab.\n\n[Image: A FIELD IN PALESTINE TO-DAY. From a photograph.]\n\nNow Ahab had been searching throughout his kingdom for the\nmysterious stranger who had warned him of the coming drought,\nthree years before; so, as soon as he learned from Obadiah\nthat the stranger had reappeared, he went to meet him. When he\nsaw the prophet, he asked him, _\"Art thou he that troubleth\nIsrael?\"_ Elijah answered that he had not troubled Israel, but\nthat Ahab's evil reign, and that of his father before him, had\nbeen the cause of the drought.\n\nThen Elijah denounced the idolatry of Ahab, and followed this\nwith a command to assemble his people on Mount Carmel, and\nbring also all the priests and attendants of Baal and\nAshtoroth. Ahab did not dare to disobey, and a great, weary,\nlistless crowd assembled on the sun-burned slopes of the\nmountain. The priests were there in gorgeous vestments, and\nthe king, himself, all eager and expectant. A spring of water,\napparently undiscovered before, flowed not far away.\n\nElijah appeared with only one attendant, and soon his voice\nrang out. _\"How long halt you between two opinions? If the\nLord be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.\"_\n\nThe amazed people stood speechless. Then Elijah spoke again,\nsaying he was hut one prophet, while before him were four\nhundred and fifty of Baal's prophets. Then he proposed a test\nof powers.\n\n[Image: CULTIVATING THE LAND IN PALESTINE TO-DAY. From a\nphotograph.]\n\nHe asked that two bullocks might be provided. The priests of\nBaal should take one, and prepare it for sacrifice by laying\nit on the wood upon the altar to their god, but they were to\nput no fire tinder it. The other bullock he would prepare in\nthe same way.\n\nThen the priests of Baal were to call upon their god, and he\nwould call upon his God, and the God, that answered by sending\nfire to consume the sacrifice offered to him, was to be the\nGod of the people. The answer of the people, dejected with\nlong endurance of misery, was ready, and as one man they\nshouted, \"It is well spoken.\"\n\nThe altar to Baal was prepared, with the sacrifice arranged\nupon it in proper form. Only fire was lacking. Loudly the\npriests of Baal prayed. Wildly they leaped around the altar,\ncrying again and again, _\"O Baal, hear us.\"_ The morning wore\naway, and there was no response; no fire appeared to consume\nthe sacrifice.\n\nAbout noon, Elijah mocked the frantic priests, saying to them,\n_\"Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is\npursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth,\nand must be awakened.\"_\n\nThe priests of Baal accepted this advice in earnest. They\nsupplicated and raved more wildly, and wounded themselves in\ntheir frenzy, continually calling on Baal to hear them. And so\nthe afternoon passed.\n\n[Image: SUMMIT OF MOUNT CARMEL TO-DAY. From a photograph.]\n\nAs the sun was sinking, Elijah came near the altar which he\nhad built with twelve stones--one for each of the tribes of\nIsrael. The sacrifice, carefully prepared, lay upon the wood.\nAll around the altar a trench had been dug, and it was now\nfilled with the water which had been poured upon the\nsacrifice.\n\nThen Elijah prayed to God, asking him to let the people know\nthat day that He was the God of Israel, and that it was by His\ncommand that he had done these things. At the close of his\nprayer, fire unkindled by mortal hands broke out. Unchecked by\nthe water, it wrapped sacrifice and altar in flames and\nconsumed them, even licking up the water in the trench with\nits heated breath. At this sight the people prostrated\nthemselves as they cried out, _\"The Lord, he is the God, the\nLord, he is the God.\"_\n\n[Image: ELIJAH'S SACRIFICE ON MOUNT CARMEL.]\n\nThe priests of Baal, who were largely responsible for the\nidolatry of the nation, stood trembling and confounded.\nQuickly Elijah ordered them to be destroyed, and this was\ndone. Next he turned to Ahab, and told him to eat and drink in\nhaste, for the long deferred rain was at hand, although no\nsign of its approach was in sight.\n\nAttended only by his servant, Elijah then went to the top of\nMount Carmel, and crouched upon the ground in the position of\nmeditation commonly assumed in Eastern countries. He sent his\nservant to a spot which commanded a view of the Mediterranean\nSea, bade him look around, and bring him word of what he saw.\n\nSix times the servant returned with the word that he saw\nnothing. The seventh time his report was that he could see a\nlittle cloud, not larger than a man's hand, coming out of the\nsea. Sending the man to warn Ahab that the rain was fast\napproaching, and that he must start at once for home, Elijah\nthen hastened down the mountain to meet the king at its foot.\n\n[Image: A LITTLE CLOUD COMING OUT OF THE SEA.]\n\nWith all the speed he could command, Ahab barely reached his\npalace at Jezreel in time to escape the fury of the storm.\nElijah ran before the royal chariot the entire distance of\nsixteen miles, but he did not enter the palace.\n\nThus far the triumph was with Elijah. The people were\nconvinced, the priests of Baal were dead, the king was\nawe-struck. But Jezebel was relentless in her hatred of the\nprophet. So furious was she when Ahab told her what had been\ndone that day, that she sent a message to Elijah, telling him\nthat before another day had passed she would have his life.\nProphet though he was, Elijah quailed before the threat of the\nidolatrous queen, and fled for his life.\n\nLeaving his servant at Beer-sheba, Elijah went a day's journey\ninto the wilderness, threw himself down under a solitary bush,\nand in a fit of despair, prayed that he might die. Worn out\nwith excitement and fatigue, he fell asleep, but woke to find\nfood and water beside him, and an angel who told him to\nrefresh himself with the provisions God had sent him.\n\n[Image: ELIJAH WOKE TO FIND AN ANGEL BESIDE HIM.]\n\nTwice Elijah ate and drank of the miraculous food, and then in\nits strength traveled forty days and forty nights until he\ncame to Mount Horeb, the place where Moses received the divine\ncommand to rescue the Israelites from Pharaoh.\n\nElijah found shelter in a cave, and there he heard the voice\nof God, asking, _\"What doest thou here, Elijah?\"_ The answer\nof the prophet was one of bitterness and depression, but his\ncomplaints were cut short by a command to come out of the\ncave, and behold the wonderful works of God. Drawing his\nmantle about him, Elijah went out on the mountain side to\nwatch.\n\nAs he stood there, a mighty wind roared among the rocks and\nrent them to pieces. Then an earthquake shook the desert,\nuntil the mountain itself trembled under the shock. Then fire\nas mysterious as that which illuminated the bush in the days\nof Moses, played about the lonely heights. After a pause, _\"a\nstill, small voice\"_ whispered in the ear of the solitary\nwatcher a revelation conveying comfort, and pointing out\nfurther duty. Strengthened and comforted, Elijah left the\nlonely mountain behind him, and shortly came across the man\nwho was to cheer him as a companion, and succeed him as a\nprophet.\n\n[Image: A STORM IN PALESTINE. From a photograph.]\n\nThis man was Elisha, the son of Shaphat. He was ploughing the\nfields around his home with twelve yoke of oxen. As he passed\nhim, Elijah cast his well-known mantle upon Elisha, who\nrecognized in the action that from that time he was to be the\nattendant and friend of the prophet. Bidding his father and\nmother goodbye, Elisha followed Elijah, thus beginning a long\nperiod of service and intercourse with him.\n\n[Image: ELISHA WAS PLOUGHING HIS FIELDS.]\n\nThe disappearance of Elijah after his triumph over the priests\nof Baal, probably caused Ahab and Jezebel to believe that they\nhad seen the last of the prophet. They certainly went on in\ntheir wicked ways, for soon we read that Ahab coveted the\nvineyard of a man named Naboth. This vineyard was quite near\nthe walls of Ahab's palace, and he wished to turn it into a\ngarden.\n\nBut Naboth would not sell his vineyard or exchange it for\nanother, because it had belonged to his family for a very long\ntime. His refusal made Ahab so angry and disappointed that he\nthrew himself upon his bed, and refused to eat or even to\nspeak. In this state Jezebel found him, and at once began to\ncomfort him, telling him he should have his vineyard.\n\nThe first thing this wicked woman did was to bribe witnesses\nto say that Naboth had spoken evil of God and also of the\nking. Naboth was condemned and stoned to death. Ahab then\ntook possession of the vineyard, and as he was walking in it\none day, he saw Elijah coming towards him. Tremblingly the\nwicked king exclaimed, _\"Hast thou found me, O my enemy?\"_\nElijah replied that he had sought him, not because he was his\nenemy, but to tell him he was to be punished, because all his\nlife he had done wrong.\n\n[Image: FALSE WITNESSES TESTIFIED AGAINST NABOTH.]\n\nAhab was killed in battle three years afterwards, and later,\nJezebel met with a terrible death, for she was thrown from a\nwindow by her own servants, and crushed to death on the stones\nbelow.\n\n[Image: THE DEATH OF JEZEBEL.]\n\nWhen the time came for Elijah's work on earth to cease, he\ntook Elisha with him to a place called Gilgal. They crossed\nthe River Jordan in a manner as wonderful as that of the\npassage of the Israelites into Canaan, many years before.\nElijah struck the waters with his mantle and they parted,\nleaving; a pathway over which the two walked in safety.\n\n[Image: \"ELIJAH STRUCK THE WATERS WITH HIS MANTLE.\"]\n\nThere, while these two men of God were talking together, a\nchariot of fire and horses of fire appeared, and parted them.\nElijah was swept up into the chariot, and was carried away\ninto heaven. But before he disappeared, his mantle fell from\nhim. Elisha took it up, and with it received the power of\nperforming miracles which God had given to Elijah, the man who\ndid not die.\n\n[Image: \"ELIJAH WAS SWEPT UP INTO THE CHARIOT.\"]","title":"The Man Who Did Not Die: The Story of Elijah","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":4024}