Monday 25 May 2015

Read any Good Books Recently?


This is an article by my father (Rev John J Murray) which appeared in the Banner of Truth Magazine in April 2015 entitled 'Profiting from Good Books'.  The article is also available as a separate leaflet.



How many pastors today have to acknowledge that their people are not readers of good books? In the same way as there is not a great desire for sound preaching, so likewise there is not a hunger for good books. There was a time in the 1960s and 1970s when congregations seemed eager to have bookstalls, and publishers readily complied. It was not unusual even to see a queue forming when a newly published title reached a Christian bookshop.

What has gone wrong? The spiritual appetite seems to have decayed.  Judging by the front window displays in many Christian Bookshops the literature in popular demand is of a very light character. We are also living in a visual age. The overhead is taking over in our churches. Items of praise and Scripture passages are projected on to a screen in front of us. Bibles are being set aside.  The ‘download’ is being used more and more. It is a rare sight to see a Christian home with a bookshelf of Christian classics.

The testimony of history
We have only to look back in history to see the important place that books have played in the progress of the Christian Church.

There are many instances of books being used in the conversion of sinners, who subsequently became mighty instruments in God’s hands. There is one oft-quoted chain of effect in this area. The ‘heavenly’ Richard Sibbes produced The Bruised Reed in 1630 and it was used in the conversion of Richard Baxter. The ‘saintly’ Baxter wrote  A Call to the Unconverted (1657). Many years later, the book was blessed to the conversion of Philip Doddridge. His Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul (1745) was used to bring light into the soul of William Wilberforce.  Then years later Wilberforce’s Practical View of Christianity (1797) helped to bring from death into light and life the soul of the ‘Moderate’ churchman, Thomas Chalmers, who became  the instrument under God of the Revival of 1839-42. We could also think of Henry Scougal’s The Life of God in the Soul of Man being the means of the conversion of George Whitefield.

There are also instances of books that have had an influence in producing a new era in spiritual life.  At the time of the first Awakening in New England,  Jonathan Edwards gave an account of it in  A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God (1737).  Iain Murray notes:  ‘Edwards’ Faithful Narrative was possibly the most significant book to precede the great evangelical Awakening on both sides of the Atlantic’. (Iain Murray, Jonathan Edwards, Edinburgh: Banner, 1987, p 122). We have also to think of the effect that Edwards’s An Humble Attempt to Promote Extraordinary Prayer had on the Baptists in England and the subsequent rise of the  worldwide missionary movement. Dr John Macleod gives an interesting example of the power of a book when he tells us of what happened in Kilbrandon (Argyll). The minister, Rev John Smith, was invited by Lady Glenorchy to translate Joseph Alleine’s Alarm to the Unconverted into Gaelic. ‘As he advanced with the work he used what he translated as pulpit matter, and when the people of Kilbrandon came thus in touch with the bones of the Puritan prophet, an awakening began, the memory of which has not yet passed away.’ (John Macleod, Some Favourite Books, Edinburgh: Banner, 1974,p 90).

We could also recall the way in which good books shaped the lives of generations of Christians in, for example, Puritan England and Presbyterian Scotland. Family religion encompassed regular family worship, the keeping of the Sabbath and the reading of good books. Most Christian homes would have a shelf or more of books some of which were ‘thumbed out of existence’ There were the classic writings of such men as Rutherford, Guthrie, Bunyan, Boston, Brown, Henry, M’Cheyne and Spurgeon. The books would be passed on through the generations. Of Boston’s Fourfold State it could be said,  ‘It did more to mould the thought of a generation than anything except the Westminster Shorter Catechism’.  The farm labourer had more knowledge of Scripture and a greater grasp of doctrine than many a learned scholar.

The need of the present hour
The effect of a renewed hunger for reading would do much to rectify some of the failings of modern evangelicalism:

1 Ignorance of doctrine, ‘children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine’ (Ephesians 4.14). In the words of Dr Robert Reymond, ‘a theological illiteracy which invites the rise of wholesale heresy pervades the Church’. The great lack of discernment, even among leaders in the Church, is alarming.

2 Lack of depth in Christian experience,  ‘even as unto babes in Christ’  (1 Corinthians 3.1). We have an anaemic version of faith that signs up to the benefits purchased by Christ with no evidence of a radical change in relationship and lifestyle.

3 Neglect of Church history, ‘There arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord nor yet the works which he had done for Israel’ (Judges 2.10). As Dr Lloyd-Jones observed many modern evangelicals think that evangelism began with D L Moody. Others think the blessings of Pentecost were only re- discovered in the 20th century! The love and promotion of good books could provide an antidote to these ills.

1 The Reformers knew that ignorance, not learning, was the breeding ground for heresy and superstition. Luther, Calvin and Knox flooded the market with instruction in the Christian faith.  They saw the need for producing catechisms, confessions and manuals of doctrine. A solid foundation was laid in the minds of the young. How desperately our generation stands in need of that foundation!

2  The more genuine and deep the conversion experience the  more likely our people are to go back to the books that came out of ‘white hot’ soul experience and have an unction attending them. George Whitefield, writing of the Puritans, said:  ‘Though dead, by their writings they yet speak, a peculiar unction attends them to this hour, and for  these thirty years past I have remarked, that the more true and vital religion hath revived either at home or abroad, the more the good old Puritanical writings have been called for’. (Whitefield’s Works, Vol 4, p 306).  A modern preacher presents a vivid picture of what we mean: ‘As furnaces burn with ancient coal and not with leaves that fall from today’s trees so my heart is kindled with the fiery substance I find in the old Scripture-steeped sermons of Puritan pastors.’ (John Piper, in a recommendation for Meet the Puritans by Beeke and Pederson).

3 It is by reading the history of the Church and the biographies of men and women of God in the great eras of the Christian Church that we come to be convicted of what we are lacking in our day, individually and corporately.  It gives the longing in our hearts to identify with the spirituality of those days and to recapture something of it for ourselves.  C H Spurgeon speaks of his discovery of Puritan classics in the room in the old manse at Stambourne. ‘Out of that darkened room I fetched those old authors when I was yet a youth, and never was I happier than when in their company’. (Autobiography of C H Spurgeon, vol. 1:The Early Years, London: Banner, p 11). Happily, they had the effect of producing a God-centred, Christ-exalting, Spirit-empowered ministry, the effects of which continue with us to this day.
May we respond with Augustine to the voice which cried ‘Take up and read’!




Friday 22 May 2015

The Men of Lewis (1924 reprint)

This volume, first published in 1924, under the title The ‘Men’ of the Lews, consists of articles which originally appeared as a series in the Stornoway Gazette. They present  sketches of some of the Lewis worthies of the 19th and 20th centuries, some of whom were known to the author himself. Norman C Macfarlane was a native of Lewis and after studies at Glasgow University and the New College, Edinburgh he was ordained and inducted to the ministry, serving congregations in Cruden and Juniper Green, Edinburgh. With the help of Dr John Macleod he has provided an invaluable collection of material well worth bringing to the attention of a new generation. Apart from the lives of the men themselves, there is interesting sidelights on church life in Lewis in past years, including Communion Seasons, Question meetings and such like.
Published by William Murray, Dornoch £5.00 (p&p £1.50)
John J Murray, 7 Greenacres Way, Glasgow G53 7BG

Tuesday 12 May 2015

Dr Guthrie on true Christianity - doing good and being good

What is true Christianity?  There are so many churches and so much confusion today that we desperately need to answer this question.  Knowing and understanding what constitutes true Christianity is critical not only for our own salvation but also so we can preach and defend true Christianity against false Christianity.  It shouldn't really surprise us that there are people claiming to preach Christ when they are preaching error.  Christ said that 'many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many' Matthew 24 v 11.  Many

So what is real, genuine Christianity?  Dr Guthrie, in his book 'Man and the Gospel', entitles his sermon on James 1 v 26, 27 'Doing Good and Being Good'.  In it he gives a helpful summary of true Christianity.  Christianity is about truth and love, faith and practice.  As Dr Guthrie says;

'It is not, therefore, what we profess, but practise; it is not what a man says with his tongue, or signs with his hand, but what he does with his heart, that settles his religion in the sight of God, and on that great day of judgement shall settle his fate.'

Later on in the sermon he also says;
'Still it should not be forgotten, lest any deceive themselves, that to talk about religion, ministers and sermons, missions and missionaries, religious schemes and books, revivalists and revivals, in not religion.  Some have been the most fluent talkers about things who felt them least.  Shallow rivers are commonly noisy rivers; and the drum is loud because it is hollow.  Fluency and feeling don't always go together.  On the contrary, some men are most sparing of speech when their feelings are most deeply engaged.'


James was probably the earliest New Testament book written after the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ.  The fledgling church was struggling with all sorts of issues; their founder was dead and had ascended into heaven, they were impatient, there was bitterness amongst them, some had become materialistic, there was spiritual apathy, they lacked focus, purpose, direction and vision.  Sound familiar?  James was seeking to teach these early Christians what the true characteristics of the faith were.  At the end of chapter 1 he gives them what can only be described a sort of early 'mission statement' of the early church.  How does James define true Christianity?  Well in keeping with this incredibly practical book, often described as the 'Proverbs of the New Testament',  James seeks to define true Christianity as more than just belief in God and a range of doctrines.  Faith in Christ, according to James, is connected to;
  • What we say

  • Who we love and,

  • What we seek

1. True Christianity is directly related to what we say
James 1 v 26 is a powerful verse against hypocrisy.  It says that our words betray our hearts.  The 19th century United Presbyterian minister Robert Johnstone translates the verse like this; 'If any man among you think himself to be observant of religious service, whilst at the same time bridling not his tongue, but deceiving his own heart, that mans religious service is vain.' 

Why the strong emphasis on our words?  Well surely it is because our words reveal what is in hearts and it is our hearts that is the source of sin.  This is very much in keeping with Christ's teaching in Matthew 15 v 17-20.  It is not our surroundings, our background, our social class or even peer pressure that makes us sin.  Some of these problems may make our lives more challenging but we can't blame anything except our own hearts when we sin against God.  What is the evidence of what is in our hearts?  The stuff that comes out of our mouths.  We see this connection between the heart and the mouth again and again in the bible; 'The heart of the righteous weighs its answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil' Proverbs 15 v 28.  James (in chapter 3) describes the tongue as a forest fire, corrupting the whole person, set on fire by hell and just like the rudder on a ship, small but incredibly influential in terms of our direction.

Somebody has said 'the tongue is the hinge on which the whole personality turns.'  James tells us that if we can't bridle out tongue our religion is vain, useless, devoid of power, of no purpose.

2.  True Christianity is connected to who we love
In James 1 v 27 we read that true religion is also connected to who we love.  One of the main characteristics of Christianity is love for the needy.  If we claim to be followers of Jesus we need to follow his example of loving the marginalised.  If Christ loved with no strings attached we need to do the same.

The Bible often mentions our duty to love and care for the widow, the orphan and the stranger.  In Deuteronomy 10 v 17,18 we are told 'He administers justice for the fatherless and widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing.'  Time and time again God was identifying himself with the three groups of people who were most marginalised and often despised in society.

Why are these groups of people mentioned again and again?  Well it is because these groups have nothing and the little they have is often swept away in a moment.  None of these groups have anything to repay if we show them kindness and generosity.  If we love God we must love those who God loves; the marginalised, the rejected, the unloved and the unlovely.   We must love with no strings attached.  Christian love is active, risky and costly.  As Dr Guthrie says;

Religion does not consist in doctrinal or prophetical speculations; nor lie like a corpse entombed in old dusty confessions.  She lives in action, and walks abroad among mankind - calling us to leave our books to shut our Bibles, to rise from our knees and go forth with hearts full of love and hands full of charities.

3.  True Christianity is connected to what we seek
It is not good enough to do good - the bible commands us to be good, to seek holiness.  Goodness and righteousness are bound together in scripture.  As Thomas Manton says 'let the hand be open and the heart pure'. As Micah 6 v 8 commands us; do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God. James 2 v 27 tells us to keep ourselves unspotted from the world. We are literally to guard our hearts like a fortress.  The 'world' is the sinful system around us that includes what we see and hear every day. As Christians know only too well the world can defile or stain us.

The extent to which we seek the world is an evidence of true religion.  We are called to be in the world but not of it. Just like certain toxic paint that can cause brain damage Christians need to use a filter as we live in this world. We need to view sin as a deadly viper rather than as a house pet that we welcome in and feed.  Holiness can be an incredible witness.  As Manton says 'a holy life and a bounteous heart are ornaments of the gospel.'

Conclusion
So what do these two verses teach us about true Christianity?

Well we see that true faith is active. Visible obedience testifies to inner commitment.  A good tree bears good fruit.

We also see that the Christian who wants to bring glory to God needs to bridle their tongue.  We need to pray that the Lord would set a guard over our mouths (Psalm 141 v 3).  It is in the multitude of words that sin is not lacking (Proverbs 10 v 19).

We also see from these verses that God loves the needy and therefore it should be part of our DNA. Do we love the lonely?  Do we care for the old?  Do we support the sick?  This is the calling of the true Christian.

This passage also show us that true faith involves crucifying the world.  Always remember that the world is a dangerous place for the Christian.  Let's not have a legacy like Demas who forsook the godly because he loved this present world (2 Timothy 4 v 10).

Lastly true Christianity is about seeking Christ.  None of us can display pure and faultless religion without grace. We need to receive Christ by faith if we want to display that religion that God is pleased with.  God calls us to a high standard but not as a tyrant but as a father.  As Manton says;

'We serve God most comfortably when we consider him as a father in Christ.  Duty in the covenant of grace is far more comfortable, not only as we have more help, but because it is done in a sweeter relation.'

True religion is more than Sunday religion, it is a love and obedience from day to day.  Are we fit for Christ's service?  Are we pure?  Are we loving?  Are we guarding out mouths?  Let's remember it is grace that saves but it is also grace that enables us to serve him. Let's seek more of that grace and pray for greater fruit in his service.









Tuesday 5 May 2015

David - A Man after God's own Heart


We read in Acts chapter 13 v 22 ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.’  It is incredible when we think of David and his moral failings that his Biblical legacy is that he was a man after God’s own heart.  

David lived a remarkable life; he was born into a rural farming family the youngest of 8 sons, he was athletic and brave as a shepherd boy, he was divinely chosen to be King and anointed by Samuel, he was a great harpist and played for King Saul, he defeats Goliath and becomes a national hero,  he is hated by Saul who pursues him on a murderous campaign, the tribe of Judah anoints him as King eventually followed by the tribe of Israel, David captures Jerusalem, he sleeps with another man’s wife and then murders him, his son Absolom rebels against him and David once again becomes a fugitive.  Finally he anoints his son Solomon his successor who goes on to build the temple.  He also writes some of the most famous songs in history.  What a life!  What can we learn from it?

1.  David is an example that the life of faith is full of ups and downs.  David was possibly the world’s greatest poet and song writer.  The Psalms are read and sung by millions of people around the world.  God used David’s incredible life to forge these amazing ‘songs of experience’ that are still being blessed to millions centuries later.  Psalm 51 is a gut wrenching poem written after he grasped the extent of his moral failings.  It gives us hope that even after we sin we can find grace and mercy.  David gives us hope that God can use us even in our mistakes and failings to bring glory to him. 

2.  David helps us to see that a nobody can become a somebody.  Samuel was sent to the house of Jesse to find the future King of Israel.  He took one look at David’s brother Eliab and thought he must be the chosen one.  But God has a very different set of assessment criteria from us – God looks at the heart (I Sam 16 v 7).  We may sometimes feel insignificant and undervalued.  David was a simple shepherd boy working in an isolated part of Bethlehem.  But God had great plans for him because his heart was right.  Sometimes we are called to work in obscurity and in challenging situations, but God knows the ultimate plan.

3.  Whenever God calls he equips.  We read that after David was anointed the spirit rushed on him (1 Sam 16 v 13).  God calls us to some big challenges but he gives us the Holy Spirit to empower us, guide us and comfort us.  The spirit empowered David to be the most incredible leader of Israel and gave him boldness and wisdom.  The same spirit is available to us today.

David, the wee shepherd boy from Bethlehem, pointed to the great shepherd who was to come in the Lord Jesus Christ. David wrote about him in Psalm 2, 45, 68, 110, 118 and 132.  The New Testament opens with three names; Abraham, David and Jesus.  David, with all his faults and failings, was used in a remarkable way to usher in a new and radical kingdom.  While Saul was consumed with hatred and died a tragic death, David stands as a giant in Biblical history because he was a man after God’s own heart.  Let’s follow his example.

If you want to read more of David's incredible life buy Walter Chantry's fantastic book 'David: Man of Prayer Man of War published by the Banner of Truth.

Sunday 3 May 2015

Dr Thomas Guthrie on politics


Dr Thomas Guthrie (1803-1873), as I've said in previous articles on this blog, was one of the last great Christian polymaths of the Victorian era.  He was a preacher, a writer and a social reformer with great influence in the areas of education and politics.  Dr Guthrie did not stray into writing and politics with some guilty notion that he was going 'off piste'. His Christianity was a theology for life and informed every area of society.  Christ is not just the head of the church but he is also King of the nation and his teaching and commands needed to be applied to poverty relief, education and politics.  It is the compartmentalisation of our Christianity into sacred and secular that has led the the Scottish church having a diminishing influence over the last 100 years.

So where did Guthrie stand politically?  Well he was never a party political man despite being on friendly terms with some of the most powerful men and women in the country; Lord Jeffrey, the Duke of Argyll, Lord Southesk, the Right Hon. Fox Maule (Earl of Dalhousie), the Duchess of Sutherland, Dr Tait the Bishop of London and Mr Gladstone.  In 1871 Guthrie was the only dissenting Scottish minister to be invited to the marriage of Princess Louise and the Marquis of Lorne where he was presented to the Queen.  During one of his Ragged School speeches Guthrie spoke of his political views;

'I am a Conservative in conserving all that is good; I am a Liberal in advocating a wise liberality as regards Government funds towards all institutions that aim to make men better, soberer and wiser; and I am a red-hot Radical in seeking to uproot everything tending to disgrace the grand old name of Britain.'

Guthrie was familiar with politics and politicians and made frequent visits to Westminster in the cause of the Ragged Schools.  But Guthrie never had faith in politics to transform a nation as so many people do today.  Indeed he was badly let down by government despite his many powerful friends and great influence.  After giving evidence to a Parliamentary Committee in 1856 the Privy Council decided to provide 50 shillings per year for children from Ragged Schools.  In 1857 this decision was reversed and the funding was reduced to 5 shillings.  Guthrie was understandably angry and said;

'I do not wish to speak evil of dignities, but there are some things in respect of which it is difficult to keep one's temper, and this is one of them.  We have leaned on a broken reed.  For a brief period, in answer to importunity like the widow's, we got fifty shillings a year for every child of the abandoned classes trained within our school - only one third of the cost....It's injustice and folly are still more plainly brought out by the contrast between the liberality shown to those institutions which attempt to reform the child who has committed crime, and the meanness dealt out to such institutions  as ours, that, reckoning prevention better than cure, seek to destroy crime in the very bud.  What a monstrous state of matters!'  (Autobiography and Memoirs, Guthrie and Sons, 1896)

After this there was a deputation to the Privy Council to reconsider in 1859.  Guthrie talks vividly of leading this delegation to London and walking up the street like 'a column of soldiers'.  They met with Mr Adderly in the Treasury building who Guthrie described as 'fighting shy'.  It must have been quite a sight to see Guthrie in full flow and he says he got 'quite animated'!!  The only outcome was the passing of the Industrial School Act in 1860 which gave state assistance to children in ragged schools committed there by magistrates.  A Privy Council report from 1861 recorded that of 6172 children in ragged schools across the UK, only 242 had been committed by magistrates thus the vast majority were supported by voluntary contributions.


At a public meeting convened in Edinburgh in 1860 to consider what steps should be taken to rectify the huge deficit of £700 caused by the withdrawal of the government grant, Dr Norman Macleod said;

'It is monstrous that Government, who would not give sixpence to save a man's leg, would quite willingly give twenty pounds for a wooden one after the leg was taken off.'

Dr Guthrie himself let the government have it with both barrels;

'What I wish the public to understand, is this - you must either help us in our present extremity, or we must cast seventy of these poor children overboard. Now, who is to select these victims?  I will not do it.  I sympathise with Hagar, when after her doing her utmost to sustain her son, she withdrew, not choosing to see him die.  It will be a black day for Edinburgh when these children are cast into the streets.  God says 'Room in heaven for the guilty:'  here they cry, 'Room in the prison for the innocent;' and when these poor creatures have gone their horrid march from our blessed school to yon dreary cells, let them put upon the door of the prison, "Under the patronage of the Privy Council".' 

Guthrie left his most stinging rebuke to the end;  

'I have been three times at Downing Street, and it is a shocking cold place. I have seen a bunch of grapes put into a well, and you took it out, instead of a bunch of grapes it was a bunch of stones.  There are such things as petrifying wells, and I have seen a kind and good hearted man go into office in Downing Street, and the next time I saw him he was as hard as stone.'

He had been to Westminster and pleaded for help with the poor ragged children of Edinburgh.  He had eloquently argued in his 'Plea for Ragged Schools' the value of prevention rather than cure.  But it had all fallen on deaf ears. Thankfully at the meeting in question rather than the £700 that was needed from the good people of Edinburgh they raised a staggering £2200.  One donation of £157 was from domestic servants in Edinburgh.  Another donation came from a farm servant who said; 'I am a poor farm servant, and it is all I can spare at present as I have a widow mother to support and I am the one son.  I do not want my name down in any of the records.'

Dr Guthrie engaged with the government of the day.  He realised the power and influence of politics but he also saw how it could crush the local, and at times more informal compassion that was making a huge difference.  During his evidence to a Commons Committee in 1852 that was set up to enquire into the 'condition of criminal and destitute juveniles in this country', Guthrie made this famous statement which in many ways predicted the next 150 years of welfare provision; 'the practical suggestion that I would make is not that the government should come forward and supersede our local efforts; I should look upon that as a great calamity; I do not wish the government to supersede our efforts but I wish the state to do this, to supplement them.'  It is the superseding of all local and voluntary efforts that have led to so many of the problems we have today.  God's primary welfare state was and is the nuclear and extended family and only as we once again support and encourage God's institution of the family will we see stronger communities.

Guthrie also realised how limited politics was.  It was not the government that was the great motivating power that assisted thousands of desperate and destitute ragged children, it was the power of Christian love and compassion in men like Dr Thomas Guthrie.  Just as in Victorian Scotland, Guthrie's faith was not in politics but in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and its power to bring spiritual and moral reformation.  Of course we need to engage in politics and more Christians need to stand for parliament.  But what we need most is a spiritual revival in our country and reformation of the church.  We need a radical and yet winsome Christianity best summed up in my favourite Guthrie quote;

'We want a religion that, not dressed for Sundays and walking on stilts, descends into common and everyday life; is friendly, not selfish; courteous, not boorish; generous, not miserly; sanctified, not sour; that loves justice more than gain; and fears God more than man; to quote another's words - "a religion that keeps husbands from being spiteful, or wives fretful; that keeps mothers patient, and children pleasant; that bears heavily not only on the 'exceeding sinfulness of sin,' but on the exceeding rascality of lying and stealing; that banishes small measures from counters, sand from sugar, and water from milk-cans - the faith, in short, whose root is in Christ, and whose fruit is works ." '

Thomas Guthrie, Faith and Works, Man and the Gospel.



Saturday 2 May 2015

Elijah and Elisha (1) law and grace



There is very little preaching on Elijah and Elisha today.  You will struggle to find almost any material on Elisha apart from Rev Alexander Stewart's excellent little book 'Elisha: Prophet of Grace'. I'm genuinely not sure where you can get this book today although the Free Church Bookshop in Edinburgh is probably your best option.

The ministry of Elijah and Elisha was during a pretty bleak period in the history of Israel.  Elijah ministered during the reign of Ahab and his infamous wife Jezebel.  Alexander Stewart's description of Jezebel is well worth quoting; 'Jezebel was a woman of tremendous force of character, savage, vindictive, unscrupulous, indomitable.  To the energy of a proud and insatiable nature she united the zeal of a religious fanatic.'

Through her weak willed husband, Jezebel set up Baal worship throughout Israel with all the associated immorality and fanatically drove out the true worship of Jehovah.   These were Israel's 'killing times'.  Prophets were cut off without mercy.  Those who survived lived as fugitives in dens and caves. The supremacy of God seemed completely overthrown and Baal seemed to reign supreme.

Elijah's name means 'Jehovah is God'.  His ministry was to vindicate God's supremacy and call Israel back to fidelity to their covenant God.  Elijah was the messenger of judgement.  The authority of God had been disowned. His majesty had been insulted. The claims of his covenant had been denied.  The disease was desperate and it called for a desperate remedy.  Elijah's ministry brought down judgement after judgement on Israel's unfaithfulness and sin.

At Horeb God spoke to Elijah through a mighty wind, an earthquake a fire and finally through a still small voice. Elijah was asked to pass the mantle on to Elisha in the wilderness of Damascus.

While Elijah had been the prophet of law and judgement, Elisha was primarily a prophet of grace. Elijah's ministry had been characterised by the wind, the earthquake and the fire but Elisha's ministry was more like the still small voice.  It was gentler, filled with love and the overtures of grace.  Instead of crushing the people with judgement he responded to their backsliding with gentleness and grace. Of course judgement and law is just as necessary as grace and love.  As Stewart says; 'Before Elisha could have sown the seeds of grace, Elijah must have ploughed the fields of judgement.' Indeed Elisha means 'God is salvation' and in many ways as Elijah is a figure of John the Baptist so Elisha is a type of Christ.  

It is sad so little is known of Elijah and Elisha.  So much in their ministry was taught by symbols and parables, by deeds rather than words.  It was the age of prophetic action rather than prophetic speech. Whatever work we put in to studying these incredible prophets will be richly rewarded   As Stewart says; 'On every hand we find ourselves in a field that, on the devout and diligent gleaner, yields a harvest of vital truth.'