7000 knees that have not bowed to Baal

1 Ki. 19; Rom. 11:2-4

The priests of Baal and Elijah has a contest at Carmel. The priests of Baal could not call down fire in Baal’s name. Elijah then called upon the LORD and the LORD answered in fire. Then the people came to believe in the LORD. Elijah then slaughtered all the priests of Baal.

When Jezebel heard of this, she was angry and sought the life of Elijah. This Elijah, who was a direct witness to all the powers of God fled to Horeb and hid himself there. The LORD called Ellijah, but Elijah began to grumble and said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away” (1 Ki. 19:14).

The LORD then asked him to anoint Hazael as king of Aram, Jehu as king of Israel and Elisha as his successor. Then, the LORD said, “I have kept for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal” (Rom. 11:4).

From here, let us look at four things:

1. Our foe always plants the seed of doubts and unbelief in our minds even when we see all the powers and glories of God. Look at Elijah, he defeated more than 400 priests of Baal in the name of the LORD, but ran away at the first hint of danger. He believed that he was the only one left! But we see that the LORD was always with him, even at Horeb! In fact, Elijah was trying to hide from God, rather than Jezebel. How can we hide from the LORD? The Psalmist knew and said, “Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence” (Ps. 139:7). It might be possible to hide from men, but it is impossible to hide from the LORD. Let us therefore have courage as we follow the LORD and move forward.
2. Elijah was not alone, the LORD had always prepared remnants to serve him. The LOD is never short of people to serve Him. He said so, after Elijah laid down his dismay. We should also remember that there are always people who follow the LORD righteously, unbeknownst to others. They may not receive accolades or praises for their faithfulness from men, but the LORD remembers them and knows them. If one of them is you, remember, the LORD knows.
3. It is never a burden to follow the LORD. In fact, it is our privilege, our honour to serve Him. Elijah thought that it was all a burden. He was dead wrong. The thing is that, it was Elijah’s honour to serve the LORD, because the LORD had never been in want of people to serve Him. The LORD could have used any of the 7000 people that HE has kept for Himself. Remember, the Lord Jesus Christ said, “If these were silent, the stones would shout out” (Lk. 19:40). If you are used by the LORD, think of it as a privilege. The LORD has many more people to serve Him – people who might be more wealthy than you, people who are brighter than you, people who have better personalities and weight than you… If the LORD is using us, we ought to jump in joy and eagerly serve Him.
4. It is dangerous to grumble to the LORD. Elijah grumbled before the LORD and see what happened. The LORD asked him to anoint Elisha who would do the works of the LORD after Elijah. The days of Elijah came to be numbered and ended soon after this incident. Let us serve the LORD in all earnest while we still can, and while we are still privileged to serve Him.

“Serve the LORD with gladness”

Psalm 100:2