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Bible Biographies
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holy law, have perverted their noble gifts into a lure to sin. Genius,
talent, sympathy, even generous and kindly deeds, may thus become
decoys of Satan to entice souls over the precipice of ruin.
This is why God has given so many examples showing the results
of even one wrong act. From the sad story of that one sin which
“brought death into the world and all our woe, with loss of Eden,”
to the record of him who for thirty pieces of silver sold the Lord of
glory, Bible biography abounds in these examples that are set up as
beacons of warning.
Elijah’s Failure of Faith
There is warning also in noting the results of yielding even once
to human weakness and error, the fruit of letting go of faith.
By one failure of his faith, Elijah cut short his lifework. Heavy
was the burden that he had borne in behalf of Israel, faithful had
been his warnings against the national idolatry, and deep was his
solicitude as during three-and-a-half years of famine he watched and
waited for some token of repentance. Alone he stood for God on
Mount Carmel. Through the power of faith, idolatry was cast down
and the blessed rain testified to the showers of blessing waiting to
be poured upon Israel. Then in his weariness and weakness he fled
before the threats of Jezebel, and alone in the desert prayed that he
might die. His faith had failed. He was not to complete the work he
had begun. God told him to anoint another as prophet in his stead.
But God had marked the heart service of His servant. Elijah was
not to perish in discouragement and solitude in the wilderness. Not
for him the descent to the tomb, but the ascent with God’s angels to
the presence of His glory.
These life records declare what every human being will one day
understand—that sin can bring only shame and loss; that unbelief
means failure; but that God’s mercy reaches to the deepest depths,
and that faith lifts up the repenting soul to share adoption as a son
or daughter of God.