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Prophets and Kings
in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s
sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”
2 Corinthians 12:9, 10
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Did God forsake Elijah in his hour of trial? Oh, no! He loved His
servant no less when Elijah felt himself forsaken of God and man than
when, in answer to his prayer, fire flashed from heaven and illuminated
the mountaintop. And now, as Elijah slept, a soft touch and a pleasant
voice awoke him. He started up in terror, as if to flee, fearing that the
enemy had discovered him. But the pitying face bending over him
was not the face of an enemy, but of a friend. God had sent an angel
from heaven with food for His servant. “Arise and eat,” the angel said.
“And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and
a cruse of water at his head.”
After Elijah had partaken of the refreshment prepared for him, he
slept again. A second time the angel came. Touching the exhausted
man, he said with pitying tenderness, “Arise and eat; because the
journey is too great for thee.” “And he arose, and did eat and drink;”
and in the strength of that food he was able to journey “forty days and
forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God,” where he found refuge in
a cave.
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