The RemnantSample

On Mount Carmel, the prophets of Baal begged and bled for their god to answer them. Leaning against a rock with his arms crossed, Elijah watched, waited, and mocked them. “Maybe you should cry a little louder. Could it be your god can’t hear you because he’s relieving himself, is asleep, or away on a journey?”

Hours later, Elijah set to work rebuilding the altar. He dug a trench, laid wood on top, cut a bull into pieces, and doused it with water until the trench overflowed.

What happened next is the stuff of legends and myths. But where those veer into unbelievable fantasy, these events were all gloriously real and true.

Elijah prayed for God to answer him so that the people’s hearts would turn back to God. Then the Lord sent fire down from the sky, that consumed everything around the altar, and every last drop of water in the trench. There was no question about who was God! Elijah commanded Israel to “Seize the prophets of Baal!” and they executed all 450 of them at the brook Kishon.

But with the false prophets dead, Elijah expected Ahab and Jezebel to repent or be ousted from power. When that didn’t happen, and Jezebel sought to kill Elijah, he instead had a crisis of faith.

He cried out to God and said, “I alone am left! There’s no one else, Lord! She’s killed them all.”

The Lord’s response was a reminder to Elijah (and us) that he always preserves a remnant. He said, “I have seven thousand in Israel who’ve not bowed a knee before Baal” (1 Kings 19:18). Elijah was never alone. God knows everyone who belongs to him and even their exact number.

Elijah’s mountaintop experience was followed by a whirlwind. God showed him that Mount Carmel was the exception, not the rule. If we want to know God, we don’t need to look for him in the majestic, but more often in the mundane. He can rain down fire from heaven, but he also speaks to us in a still small voice.

The next time you want to see signs and wonders, open up God’s Word and meet with him there. The God who thunders over creation also whispers in your ear.

Could anything be more majestic than that?

Questions to Consider:

1. Sometimes God uses the spectacular, but more often than not, he speaks to us through the still small voice we hear as we study God’s Word. Are you looking for God to speak to you through the majestic or the mundane?
2. We might wonder how Elijah could be so afraid of Jezebel after seeing God do such amazing things on Mount Carmel. Now consider your own life. How are you lacking trust in God after his record of faithfulness to you?