Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadJohn Kitto Morning Bible Devotions: November 17
Today is: Thursday, April 25th, 2024 (Show Today's Devotion)
Select a Day for a Devotion in the Month of November: (Show All Months)
1Ki_18:22-40
The sign given to manifest the Lord’s presence and power, by the descent of fire upon the altar to consume the victim, must be allowed to have been in the highest degree appropriate—probably the most appropriate that could be suggested—for it was an old and venerable form in which in old time he manifested his presence and made known his favor. Perhaps it was so in respect of the sacrifice of Abel; certainly it was so in the covenant sacrifice with Abraham, Note: Gen_15:17. and at the consecration of the tabernacle by Moses, Note: Lev_9:24. and at the dedication of the temple by Solomon. Note: 2Ch_7:1. The historical knowledge which the people possessed of the previous use of this symbol, rendered its adoption in the present instance peculiarly striking and appropriate.
But the idea itself, of such a trial of strength between the gods, is less obvious to us, and somewhat shocking. It was, however, familiar to the ancient mind. Judaism was the only religion that denied the existence of all other gods than the one it worshipped. Polytheism admitted the existence of the diverse gods worshipped among different nations. The only questions, therefore, that could arise among them, were respecting the comparative power and strength of the different gods, as—Whether the god we serve is greater or not than the god you serve? This was sometimes tried by actual experiment, the result of which was usually held to be conclusive. Some reports of such contests have come down to us, and are usually of a nature that seems to us exceedingly whimsical. Such is that of the fire-worshipping Chaldeans, who believed their god to be superior to all others, and bore him in solemn assemblage to various nations. The story runs, that this fire-god baffled the power of the gods of gold, silver, brass, stone, wood, and of every other material, by melting their images out of all form, by calcining them, or by reducing them to ashes. The arrival of this conquering god in Egypt filled the priests of that country with dismay, till a cunning old priest of Canopus thought of a device for securing the victory to the god he served. The jars in which the Egyptians were wont to purify the waters of the Nile, being perforated with imperceptible holes, he took one of them, and stopping the holes with wax, and after filling the jar with water, he fitted to the top the dog’s head of Canopus. The unsuspecting Chaldeans, rendered confident by past victories, subjected this fresh idol to their fiery proof. But presently the heat melted the wax, and then a strange commotion in the fire was witnessed, as if it had got something it did not like. There was a hissing, a spitting, a fizzing, a fuming, and at length the fire went out, and the jar-god stood triumphant over the steaming embers. This story is in Rufinus. How far it may be true we cannot say. The form of the Canopic jars gives it the semblance of truth; and it at least shows, that the idea of such contests for power among the gods was familiar to the ancient mind.
The cutting of their flesh by the excited priests of Baal, is not the only or first intimation of the existence of this practice among the nations of Canaan. The law expressly forbade the adoption of this practice. “Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead.” Lev_19:28. This shows that it was chiefly used as an act of mourning, an act of deep and affectionate grief; and to this effect are all the allusions to it in Scripture. But occasionally, as in the present instance, it was an act of strongly excited feeling—whether of love, of grief, or of devotion, and as such acceptable to gods and men. This is easily intelligible to one who has had occasion to witness the strong demonstrative emotions of the East, where there seems to be a general impression that nothing is true that cannot be evinced to the senses. Cutting the flesh is therefore a common mode of demonstrating strong feeling in the pagan East; and although the spirit of Islamism is less favorable to such displays than that of Paganism, it has not been able wholly to eradicate them, as may be readily apparent to one who has witnessed the furious gashes which the Persians inflict upon themselves in their frantic annual lamentations for Hossein; or the bloody smitings by which the young Turkish gallants seek to demonstrate the depth of their affection. There are also, as in the remoter East, devotees who seek to gain credit before men, and merit before God, by self-inflicted tortures. Such are often mentioned by the older travellers in Palestine, one of whom gives an illustrative figure, of which a copy has already been given in this work. Note: See Seventeenth Week—Saturday. There are many notices of this custom in ancient writings, most of which show, that in the religious point of view the gods were pacified and rendered propitious by human blood, on which was also founded the idea of human sacrifice. Herodotus relates, that when the Persian fleet (of Xerxes) was near ruin from a storm on the coast of Magnesia, the magi, by making cuttings in their flesh, and by performing incantations to the wind, succeeded in allaying the storm—“or it may be,” adds the sagacious old Greek, “that the storm subsided of its own accord.” We are also told, that the priests of the Syrian goddess (who was nearly allied to Baal) were wont to cut and gash themselves with knives until the blood gushed out, when they carried her about in procession. The priests of Bellona, also, in their service to that sanguinary goddess, were accustomed to mingle their own blood with that of their sacrifices.
The question may occur, and has often been asked, Whether Elijah did not make himself a transgressor of the law by offering sacrifice to the Lord, which was the function of the priests? This question may have been suggested in other instances, posterior to the law by which this priestly function was limited, as in some of the judges, and in Samuel, who though a Levite was not a priest.
But it is to be recollected that the priest, as a priest, was simply and solely a minister of the temple service; the prophets—through whom God gave his law, announced his purposes, inculcated truth, gave his specific commands, uttered his promises or his threatenings, and disclosed the future—were quite a distinct class of men. It is a remarkable fact, that the whole of the Hebrew Scripture, at least all that is didactic and prophetic, was, with the exception of the books of Ezra, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, written by men who were not of the priestly order—Moses, Samuel, David, Solomon, Isaiah, and Daniel, were not priests. Priests were indeed sometimes called to the prophetic office, as in the case of Jeremiah and Ezekiel; but it was evidently as to a new and additional office. The prophetic office was undoubtedly the higher one of the two. It was special, and only men of extraordinary gifts and piety were called to it. Those endowed with it were sent directly from God, and were admitted into a near and most peculiar intimacy. God spoke to them, and showed to them the symbols of his most ineffable glory. They were the great inspired teachers of the world; and while the priest could not as of right be a prophet, the prophet could, by virtue of his direct commission and his higher function, act as a priest. Hence it is, that we find Elijah here, and Samuel there, offering sacrifices. Before the Mosaical economy, the priest and prophet were the same. Upon the introduction of this economy, the priesthood became a distinct class; but the prophet lost none of his original official capacities.