Not Alone
1 Kings 19:9–18
Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him. 1 Kings 19:18
Have you ever felt that you have seriously tried to serve God and have done so for many years, but that it is difficult? Have you felt that, although everything may not be against you, at least no one is standing with you or serving with you to share the burden?
Elijah felt that. He had stood against the wickedness of King Ahab. He had been used of God to declare a rainless period of three years. He had confronted the Baal priests, calling down fire upon an altar. After this the prophets of Baal were killed, and the period of drought in Israel ended.
We would expect that the triumph would have left Elijah thankful and exhilarated. But this was not the case. Like so many of us after the end of some great struggle of our lives, Elijah felt let down and discouraged. Ahab and his evil wife, Jezebel, threatened to kill him for having killed the false priests, and Elijah had to flee. The next time we see him, he is in a cave at Mount Horeb in Sinai, where he had fled for his life.
Elijah prayed to God: “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away” (v. 10).
He repeated the same self-pitying complaint: “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away” (v. 14).
At this point God revealed that he had chosen another king to replace Ahab: Jehu the son of Nimshi. He had chosen another man to help and eventually succeed Elijah as Israel’s prophet: Elisha the son of Shaphat. Elijah was to anoint both to these roles. Then God said: “Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him” (v. 18).
Today you may seem to be alone in your determination to live for God in this wicked, spiritually hostile world. You may believe that everything and everyone is against you. But this is not the case. You are not alone. God is with you—he alone is greater than any opponent you may face—and in addition to God himself there are also thousands who have not and will not bow their knees to the pagan gods of our culture. Let that encourage and lift your spirits.
Taken from Come to the Waters by James Boice ISBN 9798887790954 used with permission from P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg NJ 08865
Scripture quotations are from the ESV (the Holy Bible English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.