Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but theLord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.12After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.13When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
15The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. 16Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. 17Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. 18Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” (1 Kings 19)
Thoughts: Elijah ran from Mt. Carmel to the desert- in fear of Queen Jezebel, the worshiper of Baal and Ashtoreth, who threatened him after he had the Israelites kill the prophets of Baal. He prayed that he would die there. He was exhausted and lonely. He felt he was the only one left- the only one with any zeal for God. Everyone else seemed to be apathetic to the Lord and His way and were willing to synchretize the faith with the fertility and false gods and goddesses of Baal worship. Along with Baal worship, went sexual immorality and the visiting of prostitute-priestesses of Baal. The temptation was just to pick the easy way and merge the religion of Canaan with the religion of Israel. Why would God care? It would help everyone to get along better. But Elijah knew the Lord was a jealous God and that He cared that people not fall into sexual immorality or make up their own ways of worship.
God appeared and saved Elijah and helped the weary Elijah make a plan-- anointing Jehu, Elisha and Hazael to help with His work. But there was also a remnant- 7,000-- that Elijah was to keep, lead and mold into a revival of the true faith. Seven thousand is not meany. My little presbytery has about twice that many. But God can change the world with seven thousand really devoted followers who are willing to risk everything for the purity of the faith- and for the truth. There are many today who say there is no truth, and that those who uphold the idea of truth are narrow minded and are intolerant of others. There is some truth. If everyone if jumping off a cliff, truth holders refuse to jump too. Getting along while we are going over the cliff doesn't work well. Saying that there is no danger when the cliff is there doesn't work well either.
But neither did Elijah seek (nor was he told to seek by the Lord) to start a new nation- or to leave the worship of Israel. Even in the face of being the only one left or only having 7,000 Elijah stayed true to his people. The Bible does not encourage going out and starting new denominations and churches. Instead we are called to stay in and work so that life may begin again. The history of the church is the story of a thousand resurrections.
God appeared and saved Elijah and helped the weary Elijah make a plan-- anointing Jehu, Elisha and Hazael to help with His work. But there was also a remnant- 7,000-- that Elijah was to keep, lead and mold into a revival of the true faith. Seven thousand is not meany. My little presbytery has about twice that many. But God can change the world with seven thousand really devoted followers who are willing to risk everything for the purity of the faith- and for the truth. There are many today who say there is no truth, and that those who uphold the idea of truth are narrow minded and are intolerant of others. There is some truth. If everyone if jumping off a cliff, truth holders refuse to jump too. Getting along while we are going over the cliff doesn't work well. Saying that there is no danger when the cliff is there doesn't work well either.
But neither did Elijah seek (nor was he told to seek by the Lord) to start a new nation- or to leave the worship of Israel. Even in the face of being the only one left or only having 7,000 Elijah stayed true to his people. The Bible does not encourage going out and starting new denominations and churches. Instead we are called to stay in and work so that life may begin again. The history of the church is the story of a thousand resurrections.
Prayer: Lord, help me to stay true. Help me to stay true to you, your way and your truth but also to your people- where you have placed me.
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