Our scripture reading for this evening is from 1 Kings 19, verses 1 through 18, and that's page 404 in the Pew Bible. Before we read the scripture, let us pray. Holy Spirit, read the Bible with us and guide us into the truth of God. Please. In Jesus' name, amen. I think you all know very well the story of Elijah, the servant of God, confronting Ahab, the servant of Baal, the servant of Jezebel on Mount Carmel. So we're not going to read that wonderful story. It's very dramatic. If you are not familiar with it, by all means, read it. What we'll look at today is some of the aftermath, starting with verse 1 of 1 Kings 19. Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, so may the gods do to me and more also. If I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow, Then he was afraid. He got up and fled for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah. He left his servant there, but he went himself a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die. It's enough now, O Lord, take away my life, for I'm no better than my ancestors. Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, get up and eat. He looked and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. He ate and drank and laid down again. The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him and said, get up and eat. Otherwise the journey will be too much for you. He got up and ate and drank, and then he went in the strength of that food for forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the Mount of God. And some scholars say that that's also Mount Sinai, and I think that's probably correct. At that place, he came to a cave and spent the night there. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, What are you doing here, Elijah? And he answered, I've been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant. They've thrown down your altars. They've killed your prophets with a sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life to take it away. He said, go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by. Now there was a great wind. so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake. But the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, the sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, What are you doing here, Elijah? And he answered, I've been very zealous for the Lord, for the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant and thrown down your altars and killed your prophets with a sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life to take it away. Then the Lord said to him, Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive, you shall anoint Hazel, king over Aram. Also, you shall anoint Jehu, son of Nimshi, as king over Israel. And you shall anoint Elisha, son of Shaphat, of Abel Meloha, as prophet in your place. Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazel, Jehu shall kill. And whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Israel, and every mouth that has not kissed Him. This is the word of the Lord. The times that we live in are hard. I know it's been true in most of history, but let's think a little bit about today. Many things are discouraging. We could immediately begin with war and I'm thinking of Ukraine and other places. I'm thinking of the domination of the Russians and so on. But let's think about some trends besides warfare. Trends in the US and Canada and in the Christian Reform denomination. I observe people insisting that the government take care of all problems. I am upset by those, even in our denomination, who try to defend abortion because it seems to be the right of women to protect their bodies. I see the confusion on gender and sexuality. Sex without marriage seems to be acceptable regardless of what God has said. I notice the inability to determine what really is racism. I'm not surprised that we see these trends. these trends towards selfishness in secular society. What I find deeply disturbing is that I see these trends creeping into our own Christian circles. Honestly, I fear that too often the church is following culture rather than confronting or leading culture. Leading culture with the principles from the Word of God. Our calling is to be prophets who announce the Word of God the truth of God in our time. We're not talking about the future here. Prophets announce the truth of God for us now. But when it seems no one listens to us, we are tempted, like Elijah, to give up. Let's bring this home. What do you do when it seems that your adult children do not follow in the way of the Lord? It's a very hard question. Listen to the parent who says, I tried so hard to be faithful with my children, and it seems to have turned to ashes. How can you speak to them when they do not want to hear what you say? When you see your friends leave the church, what do you say? When good Christian folks operate under the principle that business is business to justify financial gain at the expense of others, are you willing to confront them? No, most of us say nothing. Just like the Israelites on Mount Carmel when the people said nothing when Elijah asked them who they would serve. It is so much easier to say nothing than it is to speak the word of the Lord. Here's what I imagine some parents saying. I'm scared, you know, that my children will no longer want to come over for Sunday dinner if I criticize anything about their lifestyle. Or if I speak up, my grandchildren will write me out of their life. If I speak up what I honestly believe, will my friends and family still care for me? Maybe not. The challenge is high. You may lose, at least so it seems. For now, it seems that you may lose your family if you speak the truth of God. When all these challenges come, we're tempted to give up. Let's listen to the story of God and Elijah. I think you will find Elijah to be a brother to us in our pain, but most of all, we'll see how God works. Much has been written about Elijah's running away. Two books have been very helpful to me in understanding this whole story. First is M. B. Van Fiers' My God is Yahweh, written decades ago, and also S. G. DeGrasse's Promise and Deliverance, which was also written a long time ago. I highly recommend both books. I do think Elijah was being disobedient in this case, and his faith faltered. I may not be right about that. But the beauty of the story is that God did not falter. He did not let Elijah slip away. I love the way God fed him, put him to sleep, and fed him again before he confronted. You see very clearly here what God's covenant is. And you notice in the Bible that the Lord is capitalized throughout this passage that refers to Yahweh. I think that covenant is one of the most beautiful words in the Bible because it means marriage. God marries himself to his people, and he will not divorce us. Keep that in mind. Covenant is not really a contract. It's a marriage. Many stories in the Bible demonstrate this covenant. Let me give you some quick examples. Genesis 15, where God moves as a smoking pot between the pieces. the book of Hosea about marriage, the 16th chapter of Ezekiel where God keeps coming back for his bride, and of course, the wonderful picture of Revelation 21. How can you miss that? God cares. And so here, he does not let Elijah get his wish to just die. Let's take a closer look. The story of Elijah's confrontation with the prophets of Baal and Mount Carmel It's fantastic. Our children know the story. Things have been going wrong for a long time in Israel. Sadly, Ahab married Jezebel, who led him down wrong paths in rejecting the Lord in favor of worthless idol gods. She was a mean woman who insisted on her own way, regardless of what God had said. But God responded in a very powerful way with fire from heaven. After Elijah had those 450 prophets of Baal killed, Jezebel was intensely angry. She threatened to kill Elijah the next day, and she meant it. So Elijah was afraid and ran. Let me insert here that we see the same kind of scenario true today. Notice how angry people were when Roe versus Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court. Even the majority of the leader of the U.S. Senate threatened the justices, Supreme Court justices. Let's put it this way. Whether it's Jezebel versus Elijah or the forces of God against his opponents, this battle is for real. The battle between good and evil, that is the antithesis. It's a word we don't use too much anymore, but we should. This antithesis, division between good and evil, will continue until Jesus comes back again. But even in our own denomination, and I read a fair amount of materials that are published, I see people trying to make excuses, saying, well, we ought to allow abortion at least up to a certain number of weeks and so on, and then maybe we'll favor the woman on the other side. I'm talking about leaders in our own denomination. Now, let's go back to Elijah. God did not throw the Israelites away when they served Baal and other worthless idols. He brought them to that dramatic confrontation on Mount Carmel. Whom will you serve? He asked them point blank. Surely that demonstrates God's love for His bride. Who will you serve? Only with Him is blessing. When God confronts Elijah now in our story, what are you doing here? Imagine hearing that from God. He is scared, that is, Elijah is scared, and he says he's the only one left, but God does not let him get by with that answer. He says, go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by. Elijah did the wrong thing by running away, but who are we to say we would have done better? At least I think about myself. While Elijah foresaw failure, God's cause never fails because of Jesus. Thank him for that. Here's what de Graaf says. Only in Christ's case was every comfort, every basis for rest taken away by God himself. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? I think it's understandable that Elijah was scared. Jezebel would stop at nothing. Esther Graf says she even dared to take on the living God in a contest. Well, apparently Elijah forgot that God does not always follow our desires in the ways we think best. We despair, but God does not leave us alone when we are deeply discouraged. Verse 12 talks about a still, small voice or a whisper. De Graaf describes this as the stillness of God. He says, Elijah took another step forward and wrapped his coat around him and enjoyed the stillness. Being quiet before God assures us that his grace will triumph and save the world. In other words, ultimately this Ours is a kingdom of peace. Notice, God quietly comes and provides his kingdom of peace. A huge mistake, it seems to me, when we read these stories is to focus on Elijah. This is not a story of Elijah. This is a story of God. Elijah is not the hero of Mount Carmel. God is. Notice how weak Elijah is when he runs as fast as he can when Jezebel threatens him. Did he forget God? Well, God demonstrates His control over the entire situation here as He does with us today. I wonder sometimes what His response would be when I complain to Him in prayer about our situation today. I'm afraid He'd be just as firm with me as He was with Elijah. Listen to what he says to Elijah in verses 15 through 17. Get out of here and finish the work to which I called you. And by the way, anoint your successor whom I have appointed. In other words, Elijah, you may not lay down your life. Not now. I have things for you to do. I'm reminded of a friend of ours who said, I just wish the Lord would take me home. Well, we had to say no. No, as long as we are alive on this earth, God has things for us to do. So we should pray each day, Lord, equip me for what you want me to do. We may feel like giving up, but that is not what God wants. As the story of Elijah goes on, I remain fascinated by the details. God's love for his bride continues as he asks Elijah to appoint three men to carry out his judgment. He is asked to appoint Hazel king over Syria, Jehu king over Israel, and Elisha to be prophet in his place. In verse 17, we see that these men will carry out the judgment of God. Punishment included, of course, the death of all those prophets of Baal. But as Pastor Mark Van Bruggen used to say once in a while from this pulpit, God is not safe when you do not follow in his way. God is not safe. So when the Israelites said nothing to Elijah's question, they demonstrated terrible unfaithfulness, and they incurred the judgment from God. So God grants Elijah's request that he be replaced, and then Elisha comes into the picture. And that's a whole story on its own. It'd be fun to write a whole series of things on Elisha. But we come to verse 18, which I think is quite encouraging. Yet I reserve 7,000 in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him." That's a powerful statement. It seems to be a slam at Elijah who failed to see that he was not alone in worshiping God. We might think of a parallel to today. Too often we think we are so powerless because we are so few. Let me give you a couple of examples where that's not true. As Marlene and I have done some traveling, for example, a year and a half ago, we were in Athens, Greece, and we went to a little restaurant for supper. And we sat down, before we got our food, we prayed. The lady next to us said, you're a believer, aren't you? And we had a wonderful conversation, and she was as well. And there are not many people outside of the Greek Orthodox Church in Greece that would pray like that. Well, when we got up to pay for our food, the owner said, no, no, that's all taken care of. She already paid for your food. Another example, that God keeps encouraging us in this world. I'll give you two more examples. In Palestine, we were served chicken, which is a specialty in Palestinian Christian homes. Wonderful, wonderful. And we could hear them speak about their belief in the Lord Jesus. The last example, I can say very quickly, before I was married, I lived with an immigrant family in Chicago, and they had a daughter who was a junior or senior in high school at that time. I had her in class. Later, she turned away from the faith and gave no evidence that she loved the Lord. She did not visit her parents anymore. Her mother was dying, and Marlene and I went to Chicago to be there at that particular time, and the daughter never came. What sadness. Then a year ago, or something like that, we found on the internet, this lady was a missionary, the one that had turned away from the Lord, a missionary in Kenya, and was very thankful for her adoption into that family. God's arm is not short. Let's go back to the 7,000. When God mentions that, he is saying more than just mentioning the number of faithful. 7,000 is a full number. Not all of Israel would fall to judgment. A remnant would be saved, even though Israel in a national political sense would not remain the limit of his covenant people. In all these instructions to Elijah, God is saying he will fight for his bride. That lesson remains true today. Far too often we see the dividing line between good and evil, that is the antithesis. We are amazed, even scared, how mean and angry people can become. Let me again give you some examples. I mentioned the one about standing for the unborn. We're accused of being out of step with society and the world. We watch the news and we wonder how long such nonsense can persist. It doesn't make sense to us. Surely the days of Jezebel are long gone, right? No, they're not. Satan's at war with God until the end of the age. And this is for real. He will use whatever tools he has, all the way from those mean and angry threats from Jezebel to the sweet talk. The sweet talk in our society that says, that's not so bad. You just have to understand where people are these days. or another one. People say, well, I don't really want to talk about religion. Why not? In the case that I'm thinking of, the person who said that to me was a friend of mine, is a friend of mine, and said, well, we have different views, and maybe let's just not talk about it. And that's about as far as we could go. Now, if we don't take a stand against that, we let that kind of attitude persist. If we say, oh, that's not so bad, you notice that is deadly. That is deadly to living the Christian faith. We have to take a stand. We cannot just let it be quiet. If we do not take a stand, we're like the Israelites who wouldn't respond to God on Mount Carmel when they said nothing. God saved us through Jesus Christ. He wants us to stand up for his kingdom. We may not give up. Hear once again the good news from God in verse 18 of our text. Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees who have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him. That means God calls all of us to be prophets, priests, and kings in his service. He calls us to be faithful in speaking his word, praying for the world, and taking his place, and I want to focus on that just for a moment, taking his place as his representatives in his kingdom to promote righteousness and peace. Think about that. Parents stand in the place of God before their children. When your children look at the parents, they see the face of God. Teachers stand in God's place to teach the students, to teach his students. And you know what James 3, verse 1 says about that. Or farmers. You can't just do with the land what you want. This is God's land. And you're his representative to take care of that particular land. What an honor. We could go on and on about being God's representatives. The conclusion of the matter is, hold on. Hold on to Jesus Christ. Hold on to his promise that he will not let his bride, that is the church, fall into Satan's hands. Pray that we may remain on the righteousness side of the antithesis. Ask for courage to speak the truth and then rest in his promises. Do not fear the hard times. God loves his people and he will rescue them. Just read Revelation 21 and 22 for a beautiful climax to the story. Let's pray. Our Father, give us your Holy Spirit to see that yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. In his name, amen.