. The training of the Chosen people. primary interest ofElijah was the loyalty of Israel to Jehovah in orderthat the knowledge and worship of the true God mightbe firmly established in the earth. The antagonismbetween the prophet and the king was the perpetualantagonism between those whose main object is thekingdom of God and His righteousness and thosewhose main object is all those things which the Gen-tiles seek (Mt. 6:32, 33). In the eyes of Ahab, Eli-jah, like many another in every age who has put thedictates of righteousness above those of apparent polit-ical or commercial expediency, was
. The training of the Chosen people. primary interest ofElijah was the loyalty of Israel to Jehovah in orderthat the knowledge and worship of the true God mightbe firmly established in the earth. The antagonismbetween the prophet and the king was the perpetualantagonism between those whose main object is thekingdom of God and His righteousness and thosewhose main object is all those things which the Gen-tiles seek (Mt. 6:32, 33). In the eyes of Ahab, Eli-jah, like many another in every age who has put thedictates of righteousness above those of apparent polit-ical or commercial expediency, was unpatriotic. In theeyes of Elijah, Ahab, in subordinating the moral vir-tues and the spiritual welfare of Israel to material ad-vantage, was guilty of supreme disloyalty to every-thing that was noblest and best in the life of thenation. Elijahs challenge, If Jehovah be God, follow him,was the sharp summons of king and people to theirspiritual allegiance. Elijah sees that the fundamental Chapter 28. The Folly of Moral Compromise 101. issue is whether Jehovah is a reality or a fiction. IfJehovah is a reality, all these attempts of Ahab tosecure the welfare of Israel by compromises withheathen customs and worship thwart the very endat which they aim, for ifJehovah is actually GodHe will not permit Ahaband Israel to succeedwhile rejecting allegianceto Him. If Jehovah isGod, the supreme duty,reinforced not only byconscience, but by politi-cal expediency, is to fol-low Him. If Baal is God,the duty is equally im-perative to follow the fact of the ex-istence and character ofGod has been settled, allpolicies must adjust them-selves to it (Mt. 21:44).There is no possible com-promise between onesconviction as to God, and the things of which Goddisapproves. The moral significance of the dramatic episodes ofthe famine (1 Ki. 18:1-6), that fulfilled Elijahsprophecy (17: 1), and of the lightning flash at Carmel(18:31-39), lies in the demonstration they affordedof the reality of Jeho
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