So You Think You’re the Only One Left
And what was God’s answer to [Elijah]? “I have reserved for myself
seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” Rom. 11:4, NIV.
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Paul continues to deal with his assertion that God had not rejected
Israel (Rom. 11:1). As we saw yesterday, he supplied two reasons for
God’s nonrejection in verses 1 and 2. Then in verses 2 through 4 he
provides a third, this time from history.
“Don’t you know,” the apostle asks, “what the Scripture says in the
passage about Elijah-how he appealed to God against Israel: ‘Lord, they
have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one
left, and they are trying to kill me’?” (verse 3, NIV).
The context of Elijah’s complaint to God is the victory he had just had
over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. Immediately afterward he had
fled from Queen Jezebel in a state of absolute panic. Eventually he
took refuge in a cave on Mount Horeb. God found the prophet there and
asked why he was hiding. That is when he reminded the Lord of Israel’s
apostasy and that he was the only faithful one left (1 Kings 19:1-14).
God told Elijah that the prophet didn’t know much about arithmetic.
“And,” asks Paul, “what was God’s answer to him? ‘I have reserved
for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.'”
So Israel’s apostasy had not been complete. God had a remnant still
faithful to Him. He had not rejected His people. To the contrary, He
had “reserved” for Himself those who were faithful.
Yet Elijah felt all alone and discouraged. I can identify with that. At
times it seems as though the church is a real mess. Why, did you hear
about pastor so-and-so? Or do you know what the church voted to do?
Such rumors fill the very air all too often. The real problem, though,
is that they are not always rumors but sometimes realities.
In such times it is easy to despair. We identify with Elijah and think
we are the only one left who is truly faithful to God. But at such
times we need to recognize that we don’t see the big picture that God
does. Just as in Elijah’s day God has a remnant in every situation,
even though we might not be able to identify them from our limited and
often discouraged situation. God is alive and at work in the church in
spite of its problems.