For he was in evil case that day, as were all souls, rich and poor,
throughout that hapless land. For three weary years, there had been
no drop of rain: the earth beneath their feet had been like iron,
and the heavens above them brass; and Obadiah had found poverty,
want, and misery, come on him in the midst of all his riches: he
had seen his fair gardens wither, and his olives and his vines burnt
up with drought;--his cattle had perished on the hills, and his
servants, too, perhaps, in his house. Perhaps his children at home
were even then crying for food and water, and crying in vain, in
spite of all their father's greatness.
What was the use of wealth? He could not eat gold, nor drink
jewels. What was the use of his power? He could not command the
smallest cloud to rise up off the sea, and pour down one drop of
water to quench their thirst. Yes, Obadiah was in bitter misery
that day, no doubt; and all the more, because he felt that all was
God's judgment on the people's sins. They had served Baalim and
Ashtaroth, the sun and moon and stars, and prayed to them for rain
and fruitful seasons, as if they were the rulers of the weather and
the soil, instead of serving the true God who made heaven and earth,
and all therein: and now God had _judged_ them: he had given his
sentence and verdict about that matter, and told them, by a sign
which could not be mistaken, that he, and not the sun and moon, was
master of the sky and the sea, and the rain and the soil.
Pages:
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81