But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Romans 11:4
Our text is referring to a very interesting account from 1 Kings 19 involving God’s faithful prophet Elijah. It was not an easy day for a prophet to be faithful, because many good people had already died for daring to stand up against the wicked king Ahab and his vile wife Jezebel and their campaign to replace the worship of God with the worship of Baal. Elijah had dared to do so, and had slain many of the false prophets of the false gods. But he came under the wrath of the queen, and had fled to the wilderness. Explaining to God why he had run away, he said he was the only one left who was on God’s side. God’s answer must have astonished him. He must have wondered where the seven thousand were and why he had not encountered them. But he must have also been encouraged, to know that a goodly number of people were still faithful to God. Such knowledge should be a cheer to us today when we find ourselves alone in our testimony for the Lord Jesus.
If we watch for them, we will bump into other Christians just about anywhere. When we are vacationing far from home, or when we are surrounded by godless hordes as we carry out our daily work, we may often feel that we are the only Christians there. But we are usually wrong. We often feel that we are alone as we stand against the false doctrines and gross immorality around us. But we are usually wrong. If we take a stand against the lies of evolution, for example, we will find most people will laugh at us. But we will also find one or two other Christians who also don’t believe the lies. They may not dress as we usually think it appropriate to dress for Assembly meetings, and they may not quote their Scriptures from the King James Version, but they are born again by the grace of God and are brothers or sisters in Christ. People like them will always be there, because God always has His seven thousand faithful even when we think we are alone.
I am sure that Elijah wondered where these seven thousand were hiding. Why had he never encountered them before? Why did they not come forward when he was challenging the false prophets of Baal? While these were valid questions, Elijah should simply have taken this news as a great encouragement and a rebuke to his lack of faith. He should have simply rejoiced at their refusal to bow to Baal. We wonder too at how some Christians can remain silent or idle when the devil seems to be having his way all around us. But we can’t answer for them; that is between them and God. But we can appreciate them and give thanks that God has preserved them for Himself.
No, we are not alone or as isolated as we sometimes feel. God’s seven thousand are all around us. -Jim MacIntosh