The Hope of God’s Sovereign Election: Exposition

By Adam Nesmith | November 15, 2021

Much has been written lately about how the world around us is getting darker. Sin is accepted and celebrated. Our culture is sowing rebellion against Scripture and is reaping the effects of rejecting God. This post, however, is focused on a different danger: the Church falling into hopelessness. Despair. A sense of cynicism or of being defeated. And the only antidote to these is reminding yourself of God’s sovereign election.

To understand this topic of hope in a dark culture, I want to go back to the Old Testament to a prophet who fell into hopelessness: Elijah. God’s answer to Elijah when he felt alone and hopeless in a godless culture is exactly the reminder the Church needs today. The main verses I want to focus on are 1 Kings 19:14 & 18.

He said, “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.”And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He said, “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.”
And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. 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 19:12-18, ESV emphasis added

Initial Analysis

Context of 1 & 2 Kings: The Destruction Sin Brings

The goal of 1 & 2 Kings is to present a causal relationship between Israel and their Kings failure to obey God’s covenant and the exile. Their rebellion leads to exile, in fulfillment of God’s word in Deuteronomy 28. So 1 & 2 Kings are books that focus on sin and it’s consequences. You can see this in the structure of 1 & 2 Kings:

1 Kings starts with Solomon building the Temple and other rulers coming to see Solomon’s great wealth and wisdom
2 Kings ends with the destruction of Jerusalem (including Solomons’ temple) and Judah’s King eating from the table of Babylon’s Ling

1 & 2 Kings highlights the sinfulness of sin and the destruction it brought upon the nation of Israel. In fact, each King listed in these books is evaluated by whether he broke the covenant and led Israel into sin or whether they brought about repentance in the land. But also integral to 1 & 2 Kings are “prophets”: messengers of God who pronounce judgment on Israel because of their behavior and who call for repentance. Elijah is one of those prophets and is the main prophet in 1 Kings.

Context Proceeding 1 Kings 19: From Victory to Despair

1 Kings 19 is a low point in the prophet Elijah’s life and ministry, and it comes right after one of his most memorable victories. Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal and God demonstrated His power over the false idols Israel was worshiping. Additionally, the false prophets of Baal are killed in judgment because God exposes them as frauds.

What happens after this amazing victory? Queen Jezebel promises to kill Elijah just like he had killed her prophets. Elijah’s reaction? 1 Kings 19:3 says Elijah became afraid and immediately ran for his life. Some manuscripts are translated Elijah “saw” and ran for his life. In other words, the most powerful woman in the land is promising to kill Elijah and his life is in immanent danger.

This sends Elijah into despair and depression. In fact, he actually prays to the Lord that he would die.

But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
1 Kings 19:4, ESV

But, God answers Elijah’s request by providing food and water for him until he makes it to mount Horeb. So now Elijah is physically safe, but Jezebel has essential driven this prophet of God out of Israel and he is in complete despair. This sad state is where we find Elijah: alone, in cave, seemingly defeated

And this is when God comes to Him and asks “what are you doing here?”

Exposition

Point 1: Observe the Darkness of the God-hating Culture

In his answer, Elijah gives three summary sins that characterized Israel at that time.

Israel had broken God’s covenant

This is no small thing. You know from reading through the Pentateuch that God called Israel out of bondage and slavery to enter into a covenant with them. In this covenant, God promises Israel blessing if they obey but promises judgement and curses if they disobey.

Now if you (Israel) faithfully and obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all His commands I am giving you today, the Lord your God will put you far above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come and overtake you, because you obey the Lord your God

Notice this promise of blessing is build on an “if-then” statement: if Israel keeps their end of the covenant, then God will bless them. This begs the question of what will happen if Israel does not keep God’s covenant:

But if you do not obey the Lord your God by carefully following all His commands and statues I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overtake you…

So, when Elijah says Israel has forsaken God’s covenant, he is putting Israel in the latter category. Israel in Elijah’s time was not obeying the commandments of the Lord. They were being unfaithful to the God who had covenanted with them and living in active, unrepentant sin. And remember: Israel was doing all this even though they had access to the truth of God’s word.

Idolatry was rampant amongst Israel at the time

Elijah describes this sin in terms of Israel throwing down God’s alters. Israel was forsaking the true worship of God and instead going to worship idols, specifically in the context of Ahab’s rule, Baal. By saying Israel was engaged in idolatry, Elijah wasn’t just listing a particular sin. He was accusing Israel of the most fundamental violation of their relationship with God.

Why is idolatry such an heinous sin in scripture? The answer lies in the attributes of God Himself. Exodus 20 says:

Do not have other gods besides me. Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. Do not bow in worship to them, and do not serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me”

God is a jealous God, therefore Israel was not to worship or serve idols. This prohibition is repeated in Exodus 34 where God actually says his name is jealous.

God, as revealed in Scripture, by His very nature demands exclusive worship and glory and honor.

Therefore, idolatry is not just “a” sin: it is a rejection of God. Rather than loving and serving the true God, you create something in His place.

God’s messengers were being killed

In the Old Testament, Prophets brought the word of God to the people. They would begin their messages with “thus saith the Lord.” So, killing the prophets of God does not merely represent the sin of murder. Rather, it shows that the nation of Israel was rejecting the word of the Lord.

Jeremiah is a great example of this. Jeremiah brought convicting words to Israel, but the nation preferred to listen to false prophets who said “Peace peace” when there was no peace. And what did Israel do with Jeremiah the true prophet? They silenced him and when Jeremiah’s scroll was read to the king, the king tore it up piece by piece.

The same thing is happening here: the Israelite culture in Elijah’s time hated hearing the word of God convicting their behavior, so they silenced God’s prophets by killing them.

From a human perspective, the situation in Israel could not be more hopeless. And that is exactly what you see with Elijah’s answer to God’s question “What are you doing here?”

Point 2: Notice Elijah’s wrong perspective

Elijah is hiding on the mount of God afraid for his life

Even thought he had just seen God grant him a decisive victory against the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18, Elijah now is in a state of utter fear and despair. In the face of the sins of Israel and the active animosity towards the prophets of God, Elijah has withdrawn himself from the situation.

He left. Retreated. He is done with it all.

Elijah is faced with a culture that has completely rejected God and is actively killing those who would worship the true God. But God doesn’t just leave Elijah hanging out afraid in a cave. He comes to Elijah and asks “what are you doing here?” And here we get to hear more fully Elijah’s perspective and see the nature of his hopelessness.

Elijah is questioning the effect of his zeal for the Lord

Elijah tells God that He has been exceedingly zealous for the Lord of host and then contrasts this zeal with the culture around him. By saying “I have been zealous, but look at how bad Israel is” Elijah is expressing an attitude of “What is the point? I have been faithfully serving the Lord but what effect has it had on those around me?”

You could summarize Elijah’s attitude as ”what is the point of being exceedingly zealous for the Lord in a culture that is so adamantly against God?” This shows the depth of Elijah’s hopelessness. Every day he is suffering in a sinful culture even though he has been zealous for God.

Is this not a natural human reaction? Beneath this attitude is the assumption that if you are zealous enough, you really can make a difference in the culture and help bring it back to God. In other words, it is the assumption that God will necessarily reward your zeal with the results you want to see

But Elijah is seeing no “results” so to speak. And that leads us to the final aspect of his attitude:

Elijah views himself as completely alone

Elijah says “I alone am left”. That word means “left over.” Elijah thinks he is the one leftover prophet of God and, since Jezebel has a death sentence on his head, Elijah is sure his own life will be over soon.

I think Elijah is implying here that because he alone is left and he has a death sentence on his head, that soon all those who are faithful to God will be wiped out. If Elijah is the last true follower of God and he thinks he is going to die, then it makes sense for Elijah to think that there is about to be no one left who truly worships God.

Elijah sees himself as the last. It is him against all the forces of wickedness in Israel at the time.

So stepping back, Elijah has a completely understandable perspective from a human point of view. In light of the sinful culture around him, he has withdrawn himself, he is questioning the effectiveness of his ministry, and he is sure that there is no one left like him.

It is a very human perspective and a completely wrong perspective. How does God correct Elijah’s perspective?

Point 3: Meditate on God’s response

God does not spend any time joining in Elijah’s depression or self pity. He hears Elijah’s complaint and issues a command: Elijah is to go anoint two kings and also anoint Elisha, his successor. What is going on here? Why is God responding to Elijah’s depression and discouragement in this way?

God is promising Elijah that he will have victory in the end

God will use those Elijah is called to anoint to bring judgment on those disobedient in Israel. What I find most interesting is if you read through Kings, the promise God gives is fulfilled, but after Elijah is taken up to heaven. In the beginning chapters of 2 Kings, Elijah passes the prophetic baton to Elisha and then goes up to heaven. The in chapter 9, Jehu is anointed king and almost immediately starts destroying Ahab and Ahab’s household.

At the end of Chapter 9, Jezebel is killed and the text makes a point to call out that her death is in direct fulfillment with a prophecy Elijah made. In 2 Kings 10, Jehu kills the house of Ahab and then kills the Baal worshipers in Israel. So in the end, God is going to judge all the wickedness that we see in Elijah’s day, even if Elijah never gets to see it.

Elijah is called to labor in faith that God will fulfill His promises.

God answers Elijah’s complaints by saying He will preserve a remnant of Israel who will not fall into idolatry

“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.”

What a powerful verse! God has just announced that He will judge Israel but now God announces that there is a sub-section of Israel who will not be judged. Why? Because they will be true worshipers. God uses the same root word that Elijah used when he said “I alone am left!” God says “No, I have left 7000 who have not fallen into the sins of the nation!”

By saying He has preserved 7000 as a remnant in Israel, God is not saying He has preserved everyone. God isn’t even saying He has preserved the majority of the nation. But He also hasn’t preserved a small number: 7000 is not everyone, but it also isn’t just Elijah and one or two other people.

Additionally, implicit in the text is that these 7000 are known by God even if they are not known by Elijah or anyone else. Elijah’s depression was based off of simply observing the situation around him. But God is saying to Elijah in effect “you don’t have all the information because you don’t have all the knowledge.”

God in His omniscience knows who are His and He knows that there will be a remnant of true worshipers. God graciously reveals this to Elijah to encourage him, but whether Elijah knew about these 7000 or not, God knew and preserved this remnant.

The final thing to notice here is God describes the 7000 to Elijah in teams of what they do not do. They do not bow their knee to Baal and they have not kissed Baal. Both of these are signs of allegiance and worship. God is saying that these 7000 have not allied themself with the rest of idolatrous Israel.

This remnant has not compromised. They have not rejected the Lord. They are not joining in the sins of the nation.

Is this enough to get Elijah out of his depression and fear? The answer is given in the next verse: “Elijah left there and found Elisha…” After being reminded of God’s promises and sovereign election, Elijah leaves his place of hiding and goes to obey the Lord in faith.

What a glorious response to God’s promises! And remember: from an earthly perspective nothing has changed. Jezebel still wants Elijah dead, Israel is still deep in Baal worship, and Elijah still does not have many allies around him that he knows of. So what has changed? Elijah’s mind has been renewed by the Lord and he has faith in what God has just told him.

Elijah was not told who the 7000 true worshipers were, or where they were. But was enough for Elijah to know that God was preserving a remnant.

The reminder of God’s sovereign election within the sinful culture turned Elijah’s discouragement into confident obedience. The culture didn’t change, but Elijah’s perspective changed.

In the next post in this series, I will give you some implications of this text for your life and the life of your Church.

This mini-series is based on sermon I recently preached. To read other expositions, go to the Teachings page. If you found this post helpful, share on social media and subscribe below.