November 12, 2022

I Kings 19: 13-18 (NIV)

He [Elijah] 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?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken 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.” The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came . . . Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel – all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him.”

We ultimately belong to a kingdom, not a congregation.*

This is Elijah’s third pity-party. First, he sat down and prayed to die. God sent an angel to feed him and send him to a safe place. From the safety of his cave, he whined that he was not getting the treatment he thought his zeal for the Lord deserved, so God gave him a breath-taking demonstration of how his presence is not in the wind, an earthquake, or fire, but in a gentle whisper. Not satisfied, Elijah whined again about being in danger and being all alone. God is less nurturing and dramatic this time. He just tells Elijah what he wants him to do when he goes back the way he came. But he also addresses Elijah’s complaint that he was the “only one left” of God’s prophets, assuring him that he is not alone. Elijah was one of 7,000 prophets remaining in the land!

I would hope that we are not guilty of being such cry-babies as Elijah was in this passage. On the other hand, how many of us have served God faithfully under the conditions that Elijah experienced? Perhaps that explains God’s patience with his whining. We may not face death for our faith, but every Christian in this world has probably felt alone – or at least outnumbered – upon occasion. But look around you on Sunday morning.  Whether you attend a small congregation or a large one, you are in the company of others who believe in and worship the same God as you. Every hour of the day on Sunday – and perhaps every other day as well – around the world, people are gathered with unity of purpose. Satan may have more numbers on his side but nowhere in the world do large groups of people assemble for the sole purpose of honoring and serving him.

Brothers and sisters, we are not alone. We are armed with the power of God’s Holy Spirit, and if we are united in our purpose, we are mighty. Satan is doomed.

Jesus calls us to engage the world in spiritual battle, not retreat from it in fear.*