Thank you for listening to this sermon from Seven Springs Presbyterian Church. If you want to learn more about us, please find us on Facebook or visit us at sevenspringspresbyterian.com. Like I said, we'll be in First Kings chapter 19. We began looking at this last time and really wanted to lay the foundation and introduce it a little bit differently than how many of us have come to read this. It's not some really complaint of the prophet per se but as a covenant not necessarily a crisis. And mainly that Elijah now is here at Mount Horeb, Mount Sinai, the mountain of God really for a specific reason and not for a sinful reason. It is not that he ran away and really God finds him there. He goes to this specific mountain for a specific reason. And I think that really helps us understand what happens in this passage as we see hopefully by the end this clear conversation that we have between God and the prophet. And so it's not then just a passage about Elijah feeling alone, a bit depressed, a bit worn out, and him merely just complaining to God, but Elijah is there as the covenant prosecutor. And that's what a couple of people I've heard have called prophets. They're prosecuting, covenant prosecutors. They stand before God and tell God of what has happened to His people. represent their case before God. Sometimes in mediation of seeking for God to be able to avert His judgment and show justice through grace and mercy. And other times they represent God to the people what God is going to do. And so the prophet really stands there as a mediator between God and His people. And so that is a Elijah is doing here, he is making his covenant case before God. And so we saw this in many ways. I think one that I really will come back to time and time again is Romans chapter 11 where Paul begins and he explains, I ask then has God rejected His people? By no means for I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Do you not know that the Scripture says of Elijah how he appeals to God against Israel? And so here we see Elijah is there and what is Elijah doing? He is not complaining to God against himself or where he finds himself but he is appealing to God against Israel. And so Elijah is the one who then intercedes for him. The word appeals is the same word that we see throughout the Greek New Testament of intercession. In Romans chapter 8 as we speak about the one who searches hearts and knows the mind of the spirit because the spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. So here we see the spirit standing between God and appealing to God for His people. And same too later on in the chapter in verse 34, who is to condemn Christ Jesus is the one who died, more than that who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. That is the exact same word there that is used in Romans chapter 11 to speak of Elijah interceding to God against the people. And we see this also in Hebrews chapter Seven, consequently he is able to save to the outermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. And that's the exact same word there Paul uses in Romans chapter 11 of Elijah appealing to God against Israel. So we see Elijah here is in his covenant capacities of covenant prosecutor as prophet. And so he's standing there and he's doing so against Israel. So we see, if we think this merely is a passage between God and Elijah and Elijah having a little bit of a disappointing day and he really just doesn't feel like He's all alone, and he's just there, and he just doesn't know what he's doing in his life, and God's there to be able to comfort him. We can see that aspect there, that God meets him where he's at, but if that's the focus, if that's the main point, then we miss the main drive of what is happening, and the conclusion to this passage is we'll get to there. Elijah is standing there between God and his people as the prophet. This helps us then to be able to see that this passage isn't about him being lonely or depressed. The solution of anointing three people as judges who are going to execute God's judgment and also God's remnant being saved through grace. If we read that merely as the solution to God's problem of Elijah being alone and lonely, upset, and depressed, then it doesn't seem that comforting, does it? That he's there, what's the deal with the sword? So I think it's helpful for us to be able to see this as a covenant passage, not a crisis. And I think Dale Ralph David is a helpful commentator on this topic. I think he is one of the only ones that really takes this view. But he maps out as we looked at last time these helpful reminders, as we looked at more in detail last week in the first eight verses. But he says there the map. The map shows us where Elijah is going to. That he is deliberately going to a certain place. He is going to a mountain. That journey that he sent right at the end in verse 8. rose he drank, and he went with strength in that food forty days, forty nights to Horeb the mountain of God." The food that is given is given that Elijah may move on his journey to be able to go as he is fed there because at the end of verse 7 the journey was too great for him. This angel comes and sustains him, encourages him, tells him to be able to rise and he gives him sleep. And then he stands there as a prophet, as I mentioned before. But also the context helps us with this. So what do we see here? Well, we see really two parts in this passage. This passage is filled with dualism of things happening. Elijah falls asleep. He eats twice in the first opening stages. The angel speaks twice. You see that kind of repetition happening here. So, what do we see? Well, first we see Elijah speaking to God and then God speaking to Elijah. So, we'll begin there in verses 9 and 10 and see Elijah speaking to God. God speaking to Elijah and then Elijah returning his response there but in verse 9, there he came to a cave and lodged in it and behold the word of the Lord came to him and he 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 so this refrain here, Elijah says the exact same thing twice here. And so he says, you know, God asked him, what are you doing here on the mountain of God? The mountain of God where God's people made the covenant in Sinai, the mountain where God spoke to Moses. What are you doing at this particular mountain, Elijah? And Elijah responds and explains that he has been very jealous for Lord, the God of hosts. And he explains here that he's been jealous at the very opening and at the end focus about on Elijah and then at the end and I even I am left and they seek my life to take it away. So here he represents the covenant and his role as a prophet that he has been jealous and jealous for the Lord in this role. Standing before Ahab and praying before the Lord that it would not rain for three years, six months. Fleeing Jezebel and all of that serves. And so here the focus is really upon his role as a prophet. what he is doing to be able to serve here, that he is serving and he explains that he has been jealous for the Lord. Now this is a very interesting phrase for us to be able to use because most of the time when this phrase is used the jealousy and the Lord kind of go hand in hand. It is used sometimes of a husband and a wife, a husband being jealous for his wife and that nature of the marriage of two becoming one flesh. And interesting, because often it's used of God being jealous for himself. And that jealousy leads to God's anger and wrath when people turn away to others. We've spoken about this in the second commandment as we've gone through first Kings, as we've gone through the second commandment. the morning service in our series of Exodus. But here in Ezekiel chapter 36 I think it shows this well. Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains, and the hills, and the ravines, and the valleys. Thus says the Lord God, behold I have spoken with my jealous wrath. because you have suffered the reproach of nations." And so here God's jealousy is connected heavily with His wrath. And so here Elijah kind of hints at this. The interesting part is Elijah speaking of himself, not God's jealousy for himself. Paul uses it somewhat in a couple of times speaking about his zeal as a prosecutor, as a zeal of, as a Pharisee against those who are blaspheming as he understood it. incorrectly. But he says it in Galatians chapter 1 verse 11 that he is advancing the Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people. So extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. So here Paul used his zealousness for wrong reasons there. A zeal as a persecutor of the church and as righteousness under law, blameless. So we need to see that here Elijah sees himself as an active role of being Jealous for God in his official capacity as that covenant prosecutor, as the prophet. And often again, it's use of God actually avenging himself, that he is jealous for himself and it fuels then his jealousy, it leads to his godly wrath towards those who are pursuing other gods, particularly through idolatry. And so I think there it's helpful for us to understand this, but I think that the closest way that we can understand this passage in the clearest sense is that here Elijah I think is referencing Numbers chapter 25. Numbers chapter 25 is one of those big pinnacle stories throughout the Old Testament where here is spoken of covenantal terms and it is not God who is called jealous, it is actually Phineas who is called jealous. for the Lord in Numbers chapter 25. And in Numbers chapter 25, this is the worship of Baal Peor, a place where the people of God worship Baal at this place called Peor. This is where Balaam, the false, the prophet who seeks to be a prophet for his own selfish gain and eager desires and goes in and prophesies, but he cannot help himself prophesy blessings upon God's people and curses upon those who curse the Lord. Now every Sunday school I think should continue the story of Balaam because it is actually, we often think that Balaam's a good guy. He's not. He's actually, we often tell the story of the donkey talking and then that's where we cut off our Sunday school, but we need to go to Numbers chapter 25, because Numbers chapter 25 is actually, Balaam actually leads all, well not all, the people of God astray to be able to worship all at Peor. And so, and here Phineas comes in, and Phineas is the hero. There's this great plague that comes across, 25,000 people die. But here Phineas who is the son of Eliezer, the son of Aaron, Moses' brother. But here in Numbers chapter 25 verse 7-9 we see, When Phineas the son of Eliezer, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation, took a spear in his hand, and went after the man of Israel into the chamber, and pierced both of them, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague of the people of Israel was stopped. Nevertheless, those who died in the plague were 24,000. Then he continues in verses 10 and 11, And the Lord said to Moses, Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous for my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel with my jealousy. And so here Elijah is you see the connections here that Elijah is a prophet set apart to be able to serve God as His covenant prosecutor and he is jealous like Phinehas was jealous. Now we see these connections what are the people of Israel doing in the times of first kings? Well they are going after other gods specifically Baal. and they're worshiping God. And so here, Elijah is jealous for God, jealousy with God's jealousy for them. And so he sought to be able to serve them. And so then God makes a promise to Phinehas, because of this jealousy that he serves God with, This is known as the covenant of peace that is this perpetual priesthood which carries on through Phinehas and the line of Aaron. is perpetual priesthood. So I don't think what we see here is that Elijah here is standing as a priest. We don't see that connection. I think chapter 19 of 1 Kings, I think you see prophets, I think you see kings, priests are somewhat absent, although Elijah does make a sacrifice in the earlier chapters. I don't think we need to see that as a priest. He really clearly is a prophet. And the focus here is Elijah is like Phineas. He's been serving God jealously with the jealousy of God. Baal worshiping is happening all around. And so we saw this earlier in chapter number 25, and these invited the people to sacrifice to their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel yoked himself to Baal at Peor, and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. This is exactly what's happening in the time, in the period of time where Elijah is living. So here Elijah is, he's jealous from the Lord, seeking to be able to serve God, but what has been the response? Now, he sought to be killed. They were seeking to be able to take him out and destroy him. Phineas was jealous for the Lord and he destroyed those who were practicing these abominations and now the one who is not practicing these abominations is the one who they're trying to kill. It should be the other way, but that's not the case. And I think this is helpful because we then see that the focus is not so much on Elijah being concerned or him feeling, again, lonely, that he feels like he needs friends. He's just merely depressed. I think if we see this, concerned not with himself, he is concerned about the people of God, specifically Israel. That no one follows God, everyone wants him dead. They are seeking to be able to destroy the one who stands there trying to point them to God. And God's promises really look to be hanging by a thread. That Elijah seems like the last person of God's covenant people. And so again, this helps us understand the question then Paul asks in Romans 11, chapter one, has God rejected his people? Romans is a very good book and for many different reasons, but one of the great reasons is it's very, very logical that we can see exactly Paul's train of thought as we think through it. And so Paul, as he's thinking, has God rejected his people? He first, he uses two examples. He uses his example of his life, that God has not rejected Paul. Paul is one of Israel. He's a descendant of Abraham. He's a member of the tribe of Benjamin, and God hasn't rejected him. So we see that personal, but we also then see the application then of Elijah. And Paul's question then helps us understand what Elijah is thinking and what's happening during this passage. If Paul merely took this story and distorted it and said, well, I need a passage to be able to show something to this effect, where could I go? He goes to Google or whatever and types it in and Google pops up this passage about Elijah. But that's not what Paul is doing. Paul's going to this story and saying, this is a story about God not rejecting his people. God preserving His people. So it's then not about one person. It's about God's people. Again, that covenant aspect that helps us. And you back up in Romans, you see that logical progression in Romans chapter 10 in that previous thing. Faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. But I ask, have they not heard? Who are they in this time? Israel, right? Indeed they have, for the voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, I will make you jealous for those who are not a nation. With a foolish nation I will make you angry. Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, I have been found by those who did not seek me. I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me. But of Israel, he says, all day long, I have held out my hands to the disobedient and the contrary people. What is happening in the nation of Israel? They've been disobedient. They're not living according to God's word. They've turned their backs on God. And so that helps us understand. Israel has not listened. God's wrath is upon his people. Has God rejected his people? Well, we'll see the answer is no. And this is where Elijah gets to his main point. Again, if we focus on the first ends of it, the focus is on Elijah and not his role as a prophet, then we miss the middle part, which I think is the most important part. And that is that, what is Elijah doing here? Again, Paul's helpful for us in Romans chapter 11, verse two. Do we not know what the scripture says of Elijah? Well, what does it say? How he appeals to God against Israel. So here he is, he's appealing, he's interceding to God against Israel. So what is his appeal? His appeal is found in verse 10, as we read before. He's 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. So again, we see these three charges that Elijah levels to God against Israel. Three charges specifically. And we need to see that, again, if we focus on Elijah, we're taking it off the point that Elijah is pointing out that it's the people of Israel. And the people of Israel and their relationship to God. What have they done? Well, they've forsaken whose covenant? Not Elijah's covenant. They're forsaking God's covenant with his people. What have they done? They've thrown down not their own altars, not Elijah's altars, they've thrown down God's altars. And they've killed who? Not just Elijah's people, but God's people. Again, we see that relationship, God and His people. First, they've forsaken God's covenant, that here this covenant is made between God and His people. We'll see this clearly in Exodus chapter 24. You see it throughout all of our passages that we read as we'll continue to look at this. But here's some examples, Deuteronomy chapter 31. Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, for I will forsake them and hide my face from them. And they will be devoured, and many evils and troubles will come on them. So they will say in that day, Have not the evils come upon us, because God is not among us." That here is what happens when people forsake God, they turn their backs and reject God, then his anger is kindled against them. has God rejected His people? And that's the question Paul asks in Romans chapter 11. In Deuteronomy chapter 29, just prior to this, and the people will say, it is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and He made with them as He brought them out of the land of Egypt. you see that Exodus 20 passage with the Ten Commandments and the covenant ceremony there we see in Exodus chapter 24. We see this language there that what have they done? They have abandoned the covenant as God rejected His people. See it earlier even before this in Deuteronomy chapter 28. Here you have that image of two mountains. The mountains where six tribes stand on one side, six tribes stand on the others. There's a mountain of obedience where these are the blessings that will flow if you obey God and His word and His covenant. Then on the other side you have the mountain of disobedience, which is filled with curses. What's going to happen? Deuteronomy chapter 28. But if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God and be careful to do all his commandments, his statute that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. Has God rejected his people? Well, Elijah is saying God has not rejected them. They have rejected God. They have abandoned God. They've gone to other gods, specifically Baal. The second charge that Elijah brings is that they've thrown down his altars. In Exodus chapter 20 again this central passage as we think about covenant and covenant with God's people. In an altar of the earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you. Here you see that blessing of what happens when the covenant and the altar happens as they worship God. In 2 Kings chapter 23 we'll see quite clearly there King Elijah. He aggressively goes through Judah purging all of the idolatry that's found throughout all the land of Judah. Altars that are built up, sacred objects, high places dedicated to pagan gods, Asherah, Baal. And he turns back, he reinstates that godly worship as prescribed in his word. He reestablishes true worship as he destroys false worship. He reforms that commitment, restoring the proper religious practices in line with the covenant which God had made with his people. We saw this somewhat earlier in chapter 18, as Elijah comes and he repairs the altar. What had the people done? They had destroyed the altar of God. Here Elijah rebuilds it. And then the third charge that he says is they killed the prophets with the sword. Again, this accusation is not against one person, it's against all of God's people, Israel, who bears God's name. It's exactly what Jezebel did, as we saw earlier in chapter 18. He cut off the prophets. Now Obadiah takes 100, he hides them in two different caves. feeding them bread and water, but we see here's the realistic nature of what's happening in the time of Elijah. Here, not only they've taken the lives of prophets away, what are they doing? They're going to try and take the life of Elijah, the prophet, away as well. That it continues, even after the great height of the end of chapter 18, they're still pursuing to be able to destroy Elijah. This godly man has been punished. Then what does God say? How does God say it? That's what we see next in verses 11 and 13. And he said, Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks 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 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. Behold, there came a voice to him and said, What are you doing here, Elijah? So we see here God tells him to be able to go stand at the cave and here the Lord passes by. Again we'll come back to this shortly. But here there are three things, whirlwind, earthquake and fire. And so again we need to think about how this happens in the covenant of Sinai. These are displays of God's power. that as we looked at in chapter 19, as we'll get to at the end of chapter 20, that here God comes in all of these things before the people. And what did they say at the end? We want you to speak to a prophet for us. We need a mediator. We need a covenant mediator. And so again, we see those connections there. And so God's presence was there with them at the Mount Horeb, Mount Sinai, the mountain of God. But he's not in any of these things, the whirlwind, the earthquake, the fire. Now it's not in silence that then God speaks. but it's in a low whisper. The King James Version says a still calm voice. That here Elijah hears something. Now there's three different interpretations of why does God do it this way. The first is it is didactic. It is somewhat of a rebuke. That God is here rebuking Elijah for his sin that he has run in the opposite direction of where God has called him. Somewhat of a Jonah situation. And God is rebuking him. And I think this is a common interpretation when you think of this passage is here Elijah is here because he sinned. He is not here for a specific reason. He is here for a sinful reason. I don't believe that that's true, but the second is that it's a polemic view, that it's somewhat of a contrastive view, that here, these methods, wind, earth, and fire, not some RB soul, funk, disco, pop band, but these three ways that God was not in, But this is how other gods would speak, specifically Baal. And we saw this contrastive view throughout all the previous chapters of here them establishing the house of Baal, the house of the Lord, in contrast to the house of the Lord. We saw all these different practices that have crept in. Now it might be true here that here this is the contrast of what's happening in this passage. But really God has already defeated Baal. There's no need for this there, although it could be true. I think the third view is the most helpful and it is a revelatory view. And that here is that God is revealing Himself to Moses through His Word. And mainly that it comes in terms of grace and not in judgment. When you think of this passage, we'll get to it shortly, but again we are seeing this connections between the mountain of God, God appearing and Moses and Elijah being together at Mount Transfiguration. And here we see those similarities here. Lord passed by. What happens in Exodus chapter 33-34 after the people have committed this great atrocious sin of building the golden calf, turning to idolatry and worshiping God in the false way. And the prophet goes to the mountain and the God doesn't speak through wind, fire, or earthquake but He speaks as He passes by and He utters that famous verse which we will look at shortly. And we see that even here, that here the Lord passes by. But again in verse 13, You see Elijah heard it. He wrapped his face with 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? And so again, we see these similarities between Moses and Elijah. Moses in chapter 33, and I will take away my hand and you shall see my back and my face shall not be seen. So you see his face is covered. What he does when he descends down from the mountain, his face is glowing. They put a veil over his face. But can you remember what God said to Moses as his goodness would pass by? As we saw before, go out to the front of the cave where I'm going to pass you by. And specifically, he was not in the earthquake. He was not in the fire. He was not in the whirlwind. But here, God passes by. goodness pass by you proclaim to you the Lord who is gracious to whom you will be gracious and so mercy on whom you will show mercy." And again in 34, Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, bounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the father who's on the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation. And this is exactly what we see God do. And what he says and he utters to Elijah, what's gonna come about, that he shows grace and mercy, but he by no means will clear the guilty. Elijah then repeats what he said before. He's jealous for God, the three charges that are laid out, they're seeking to be able to take his life. In verse 14, that he's the only one left, so has God rejected his people. Then God tells Elijah, and this is the climax, this is the thing that I think really helps drive the movement in the passage. Again, if he's merely alone, depressed, whatever, then this outcome doesn't really seem like too much of a solution to him. But God tells Elijah two pieces of information, the solution again, not that you're gonna have a better life, but here's judgment and grace. verse 15 to 17, And the Lord said to him, Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael the king of Assyria, and Jehu the son of Nimshi. And you shall anoint him anoint to be king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat, of Abel, you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. And the one who escapes the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death. And the one who escapes the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. So three charges are brought against them. What Israel has done, so three judges are brought about through the Lord. Two kings, one prophet. Hazael, we'll see him introduced here, but really we see him in 1 Kings chapter eight, 2 Kings chapter eight. as God's tool of judgment upon Israel and his people. You see Jehu in 2 Kings chapter 9, again God's tool of judgment. He is the one that brings the sword into the house of Ahab and those in his family. And then you see Elisha. Now we'll meet him very soon, but ultimately he really comes to predominance in 2 Kings 2 and then following. So we see these three charges brought against them and three judges raised up. And what are they raised up for? To be able to bear the sword, to be able to use and punish God. Each of these men are anointed to be able to carry the sword of judgment against God's people. That you see that he's slow to anger, but by no means will clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the children and the father's fathers for third and fourth generation. That's exactly what he's going to do. Elijah appeals to God against Israel. But it also helps us understand Paul's question. Has God abandoned His people? Has God rejected His people? It appears that Israel, who had made a covenant with God, has forsaken God. And Israel will be wiped out for breaking this covenant. For forsaking the covenant, for tearing down the altars, for killing the prophets. But it's not just a message of judgment, it's also a message of grace. Specifically, a grace shown to those who are chosen by God. But again, aren't we happy that the Bible doesn't end where most of the passages end? That there's often another verse more. And so too in this, we see that it's glorious that it doesn't end in verse 17, but it ends in verse 18 with the glorious word yet. Three letters that create a whole different view. Judgment is coming for those who have broken God's covenant, yet God will leave 7,000 in Israel. Who is God? He's gracious and merciful, slow to anger, bounding in steadfast love, showing steadfast love to thousands. that he shows mercy to whom he shows mercy, and grace to whom he shows grace. God is going to leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed, the knee to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him." So now we see it's more than merely just Elijah being a little bit upset. Not lonely, he's isolated. It's not that he needs more friends, and here God says, well, we've got 7,000 friends for you. Paul actually explains that this is God's grace and glory. In verse five and six, he explains this in Romans chapter 11. So too, at the present time, there is a remnant chosen by grace. How is there a remnant in the time of Elijah when all the people of God have abandoned him, forsaken his covenant, torn down his altars? And so Paul makes the connection, there were 7,000 back then, why were they there? Romans 11, verse two explains that he does not forsake, God does not reject those whom he has chosen. And specifically here, he then connects those 7,000 to the remnant that are left there at that present time. You see that with that connection there, so too, just as there was then, so too there is now. There's a remnant. Why is it a remnant? Because it's chosen by grace. What did God promise that he would do? I will leave 7,000. Not 7,000 will come, I will leave, God will leave his remnant there. In verse six of Romans chapter 11. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace. How are they left there? It's because of grace. Those who are in the remnant are because of grace. They're chosen by God. That's Paul's definition of grace. Grace would no longer be grace. Because they have to be chosen for it to be grace. God's people might reject him, but God will not reject them. Has God rejected his people? By no means, Paul says. This is Paul's major argument in Romans chapter 11. He continues down in verse 25, lest you be wise in your own sight, or do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers. A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles have come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written, the deliverer will come from Zion. He will banish ungodliness from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them that when I take away their sins. So Paul is very, very clever how he writes this. He almost uses Israel in two different terms. Israel is the nation descendants of Abraham, but Israel is God's chosen people elected before the foundation of the world that God will never forsake, that he will always leave on this earth And so we see a great passage, not merely about how God comforts us when we feel isolated or alone, but a great passage about how God does not reject his people because he chose his people. His people are chosen by grace. And if it's chosen by works, then there would not be 7,000. What does God do? Well, he shows his steadfast love to thousands. Well, that's exactly what we see in Elijah's day, that he shows his steadfast love to thousands, chosen by grace. set apart. He says quite clearly at the beginning of verse 2, God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. That He has not rejected His people in whom He foreknew. And here we see out of all the downward spiral that's happening in Israel, that God continues to keep His promise. Again, as Moses is there and the people who have bowed down to this golden calf deserve complete judgment as those in Baal Peor who have turned their backs and deserve complete judgment. God always preserves those whom he has chosen and saved, showing them grace. And that's why we move, we might not understand Romans chapter 11, but it drives us then to be able to understand the end where Paul says, oh, the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments, how inscrutable his ways. who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor, or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid. For from him, and through him, and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen. Thank you for listening to this sermon from Seven Springs Presbyterian Church. If you want to learn more about us, please find us on Facebook or visit us at sevenspringspresbyterian.com. Seven Springs Presbyterian Church began in 1874 and is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America located in Glade Spring, Virginia. Please join us for worship on Sunday at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. for His glory and His gospel.