John Kitto Morning Bible Devotions: November 18

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John Kitto Morning Bible Devotions: November 18


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The Little Cloud

1Ki_18:41-46

One would think that Elijah was the king, and Ahab his subject. It is not Ahab who says to Elijah, but Elijah to Ahab—“Go, and he goeth; and, Come, and he cometh.” So now the prophet tells the king to withdraw and refresh himself after the fatigues of the day; and Ahab, glad to be relieved, retires to eat and to drink. But Elijah’s “meat was to do the will of Him that sent him, and to finish his work.” He then went to the top of the mountain, and cast himself down upon the earth, with his face between his knees—thus remaining in earnest prayer. He then desired his servant to go to the top of the promontory, and look towards the sea. The man went, and returned to report that he observed nothing. Seven times the prophet bent down in prayer and six times the servant returned without the report of coming rain. But the seventh time he announced, with quickened words, that he saw on the horizon a little cloud, not larger than a man’s hand, arising out of the sea. On hearing this, the prophet sent the man to tell Ahab to betake himself to his chariot, and hasten home, lest the rain should prevent him. The king caught the precious meaning of this message. Never was the prospect of a journey being hindered by rain so gladly received by mortal man. He hastened to his chariot. It was full time. The heavens were already black with clouds; the wind arose; and presently the rain fell down in mighty streams. The king, meanwhile, was scouring the great plain of Esdraelon for Jezreel. But who is that strong man, with tightly girded loins, who flees swifter than the horses, and runs before the chariot of his king? It is Elijah. The great prophet chose, in this remarkable and characteristic way, to evince that, after all the great deeds he had done—after all the stern things he had spoken—he forgot not that Ahab was his sovereign; for the part he took was that off a servant, whose duty it is to run before the chariot of his master. It is seen by the Egyptian monuments that the princes and nobles of that country had attendants who ran before their chariots. Such vehicles are not now used in Egypt, or in western Asia; but in Persia it is at this day regarded as a piece of necessary state for the king and great nobles to have several men to run before and behind them as they ride out on horseback. This they do even when the rider puts his horse to a gallop; and, as a general rule, it is understood that a well-trained footman ought to remain untired fully as long, if not longer, than the horse ridden by the master. The men are of course trained to this arduous service; and it is astonishing to observe the apparent ease with which they keep their relative distance from the master’s horse, in all its paces, even the most rapid. These men are called shatirs; and the reported feats of some of them would be incredible, were they not well authenticated. One is known to have accomplished about 120 miles in fourteen hours’ unremitted running; and instead of finding praise for this, was rather censured for not having accomplished the task in twelve hours.

These men are, like Elijah, tightly girded; so tightly that to stoop were death, and to fall were to rise no more. There is near Ispahan a monument called the Shatir’s Tower (Meel e Skatir), the story connected with which is, that a king of Persia promised his daughter in marriage to any one who would run before his horse all the way from Shiraz to Ispalran. One of the shatirs had so nearly accomplished the task as to gain the height on which the tower stands, and where the city comes full into view, when the monarch, alarmed lest he should be forced to fulfil his engagement, dropped his whip. The shatir aware that, owing to the ligatures around his body, it would cost him his life to stoop, contrive to pick it up with his feet. This trick having failed, the royal rider dropped his ring: the shatir then saw that his fate was decided, and exclaiming, “O king, you have broken your word, but I am true to the last!” he stooped; picked up the ring, and expired.

There is something remarkable to us in the sign by which the prophet knew that the rain was coming. A little cloud in the horizon would to us be of small significance; but it is not so in the East. The clearness of the sky renders the slightest appearance of the kind distinctly visible, and it is known to be a sign of an immediate storm with violent rain. Of several instances that occur to us, one of the most graphic is that given by Mr. Emerson in his “Letters from the Aegean.” He is at sea in a Greek vessel in the Levant. One morning, which had opened clear and beautiful, it was announced that a squall might be expected. No sign recognizable by European landsmen appeared; but on attention being properly directed, “a little black cloud” was seen on the verge of the horizon towards the south, which was every instant spreading rapidly over the face of the sky, and drawing nearer to the vessel. Order was immediately given to strike sail, and to prepare the vessel for scudding before the hurricane. “But scarcely an instant had elapsed ere the squall was upon us, and all grew black around; the wind came rushing and crisping over the water, and in a moment the ship was running almost gunwale down, while the rain was dashing in torrents on the decks. As quick as thought the foresail was torn from the yards, and as the gust rushed through the rigging, the sheets and ropes were snapping and cackling with a fearful noise. The crew, however, accustomed to such sudden visitants, were not slow in reefing the necessary sails, trimming the rigging, and bringing back the vessel to her proper course; and in about a quarter of an hour, or even less, the hurricane had all passed away; the sun burst out again through the clouds that swept in its impetuous train; the wind sunk to its former gentleness, and all was once more at peace, with the exception of the agitated sea, that continued for the remainder of the day rough and billowy.”

To this Mr. Emerson adds the interesting fact, that it is mainly the dread of such sudden bourasques. as the present, that compels almost every vessel in the Levant to shorten sail at the close of day, since in cloudy weather it would be next to impossible, during the night, to discern the cloud which announces the approach of the tempest, in time to prepare for its reception; and to a ship with all her canvas spread, the effect might be terrific.