And he said, I have been very jealous for Jehovah the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I am left, I alone, and they seek my life, to take it away.
God has just spoken to Elijah in a gentle whisper, and now He asks a second time what the prophet is doing there. Elijah gives back the same complaint, word for word — and that answer, which sounds so faithful, is the problem.
God asks, and gets the same words back. One writer weighs what that gentle voice was, and what the reply exposed.
This soft gentle voice was that of grace. It is in grace that God has revealed Himself in the fullness of His being to poor sinners like ourselves. The God who reveals Himself this way asks His question again, to probe the prophet to the very depth: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" Elijah makes the same reply. He had had time to reflect; he lays bare what is in his heart. Whom does he credit with good? Himself. Whom does he accuse? The people of God. In a word it is an orderly accusation, a case pleaded against Israel, and a speech in praise of Elijah.
One writer counts three faults in the complaint. Watch the second one — these same people had just helped Elijah kill the priests of Baal.
Does he humble himself, confessing his lack of faithfulness, courage and faith? No. His language is that of self-elevation and accusing others. That is always the case when a believer leaves the path of obedience and refuses to judge himself and confess his sin. These words betrayed his unhappy state of soul in three ways. First, self-exaltation. Second, unjust accusation against God's people, whom he charges with idolatry and with persecuting God's prophets. Why, they had just turned away from their idols and returned to the true and living God, and helped the prophet kill the priests of Baal. Third, a complete lack of fellowship with God's faithful remnant in Israel. There were seven thousand in Israel who had not bowed their knees to Baal, and Elijah did not know one of them.
The New Testament looks back at this moment. One writer sets Elijah's words beside those of Moses.
Being taken up with himself led Elijah to hold very improper feelings toward the erring people of God around him. "Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel?" (Rom. 11:2). Intercession against Israel! Speaking well of himself and ill of God's people! Is this the true role of God's witness?… Moses spoke very differently. It is refreshing to listen to his moving prayer to God for Israel after they worshipped the golden calf (Ex. 32, 33). He kept reminding the Lord that they were His people, despite their grave sin, and that the honour of His great name was bound up with their blessing. Rather than see them overthrown, he was willing that God should blot him out of the book He had written.
Not seeing them was itself a failure. One writer links Elijah's blindness to his self-focus — and then turns it on us.
Elijah failed there, and in failing there he failed God. These seven thousand were very precious to God. Yet Elijah had not seen one of them, did not know one of them, did not suspect that one of them existed. If Elijah had not thought so much about himself, he would have seen some of these seven thousand before. It is the same with ourselves… We must not forget that there are those we do not see, those we do not meet. We must leave room for them in our hearts, in our faith. We must carry them on our soul before God.
God holds Elijah up and hands his post to another. Grace and government run side by side.
Grace would strengthen the prophet. Government accepted the resignation that Elijah handed in to God. The prophet feared death at the hands of a wicked woman. Grace would take him to heaven in a whirlwind — chariot and horsemen of fire — without dying at all… Government directed Elijah to anoint Elisha in his place.
The same mistake returns whenever a few faithful people look like the last ones left.
Our own day grows more corrupt, and our outlook is small. How often we imagine that the work of God depends on one or two devoted and faithful servants of the Lord! We think that once they are gone all testimony for the Lord will cease. We have to learn that though servants pass, God remains. He has other servants in preparation for His service. And, unknown to us, God has His hidden ones who have not bowed down to prevailing evils.
- "Left" alone. Elijah's whole case rests on one word — he says he is the only one left. God answers with the same word and a number: seven thousand.
- Left, so accusing. Taken up with himself, he praises himself and blames God's people. He prays against Israel, not for it — the opposite of Moses.
- Left, so blind. The seven thousand were real and precious to God. Elijah knew none of them, because he was watching himself.
- Left, so replaced. Grace strengthens him and takes him to heaven. God's government hands his place to Elisha.
- Never left alone. Servants pass, God remains — and He always has hidden ones who have not bowed to the evils around them.
And Jehovah said to him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus; and when thou comest, anoint Hazael king over Syria;
After the wind, the earthquake and the fire, God does not comfort Elijah with sympathy. He sends the prophet back the way he came, with an errand that answers every word of his complaint.
Elijah had fled from Jezebel and left his work behind. The command to return shows that God has not finished with him.
The Lord recommissions him for service. Having restored His servant's soul, He sends him back to his work.
The order of the three appointments is not random. Each one matches something Elijah had just said about himself and about Israel.
First the Lord says, "Go, return on your way." The prophet must retrace his steps. Then he is to appoint other instruments to carry on the work of the Lord. Had Elijah complained of the evil of the people of God? Now it shall be his sorrowful mission to appoint Hazael king over Syria — an instrument to chastise the people of God. Had Elijah fled from before the threat of the wicked Jezebel? Then he must appoint Jehu to be king over Israel — the instrument to execute judgment upon Jezebel. Had Elijah spoken well of himself, and thought that he only remained? Then he must appoint Elisha to be prophet in his place.
Elijah had accused his own nation before God. The journey north to Damascus is the shape that answer takes.
The Lord did not openly rebuke Elijah, but the instructions He gave were a serious rebuke. He told Elijah to leave that place and go to the wilderness of Damascus, far to the north of where he was, and there anoint Hazael king over Syria (v.15). Why this? Because Elijah had prayed against Israel, and his prayer could be answered by Hazael's vicious cruelty against Israel!
The same writer draws the lesson plainly. Elijah "would have been wiser to intercede for Israel rather than against them!"
The two kings are two different instruments. Hazael rules a foreign power; Jehu rises inside Israel.
The judgements that Elijah seemed to feel were necessary would be carried out. The broken covenant, the altars that had been defiled, and the murdered prophets would all be avenged. The judgements would match the whirlwind, the earthquake and the fire. A ruthless destroyer from outside and a fierce reformer within would be let loose on the guilty nation.
Of the three names, the third touches Elijah himself. Notice which one he carries out first.
He returns by the way by which he had come (v. 15). He finds Elisha the son of Shaphat and casts his mantle on him — the mark of identification as a prophet. If he had stuck to the bare letter of God's word, he would have had to begin by anointing Hazael and Jehu (vv. 15, 16). Instead he hurries to do the act that would reduce himself to nothing. He, the great prophet, hands his authority to another. So the man who had said, "I, even I only, am left," shows that from now on he is nothing in his own eyes.
Yet losing the office was not losing God's favour. One writer sets grace and government side by side:
Grace would strengthen the prophet. Government accepted the resignation that Elijah handed in to God. The prophet had feared death at the hands of a wicked woman. Grace would take him to heaven in a whirlwind — chariot and horsemen of fire — without his dying at all. Government directed Elijah to anoint Elisha in his place.
The account never shows Elijah anointing these two kings. One writer explains why:
What happened was that Elijah met Elisha first, since the Lord brought him onto his path. He threw his prophet's cloak over him for the first time. In doing so he gave up his commission, so to speak, and passed it to Elisha, though his own work as a prophet was not yet over. From the moment Elisha was marked out as his successor, the other two anointings fell to him.
- Go — the first word of the answer is a direction, not a discussion. Restoration ends with the servant back at the post he abandoned.
- Granted — Elijah had prayed against Israel; Hazael is that prayer coming true. Interceding for people would have been the wiser prayer.
- Government — one judgment comes from outside Israel (Hazael), one from within (Jehu). Together they carry out what Elijah felt was needed.
- Given away — handing his office to Elisha ended Elijah's own commission. He rushed to do that one first, and reduced himself to nothing.
- Grace — the same God who accepted his resignation still took him to heaven without dying. Losing a role is not losing His favour.
and Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint prophet in thy stead.
Elijah has run to Horeb. He has told God that he alone is left, and he has asked to die. God does not answer with comfort. He gives orders. Elijah must mark out three men, and the last of them takes his own place as prophet.
The three commands answer, one by one, the three things Elijah had said. God takes each complaint and turns it into an assignment.
Did He want the people of God punished for their sin? He Himself should anoint the men who carry out God's judgment — certainly painful work for someone who truly loved the people. Did he think no one could replace him as a witness? Then he must go and anoint his successor — Elisha the son of Shaphat. Did he regard himself as the only faithful man left in the land? Then he must learn his mistake. Jehovah startled him with the news that He still had 7000 loyal hearts among Israel's tribes.
Discipline and grace meet in one command.
God, who is as faithful in discipline as in grace, bids him anoint another in his place.
Elijah has three tasks. He does the third one first — the one that costs him most.
He goes back the way he had come (v. 15). He finds Elisha the son of Shaphat and throws his cloak over him — the sign that marks him out as a prophet. If he had kept to the bare letter of God's word, he would have had to start with Hazael and Jehu (vv. 15, 16). Instead he hurries to do the act that reduces himself to nothing. He, the great prophet, hands his authority over to another man. So the man who had said, "I, even I only, am left," shows that from now on he is nothing in his own eyes. As for Hazael and Jehu, it would not be Elijah, but Elisha who would anoint them.
Anointing was a familiar act in Israel. This one has no parallel.
"And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place" (1 Kings 19:16). This last one is striking. It is the only case where Scripture speaks of anointing a prophet. Elisha was Elijah's successor, so he had to be formally marked out for the post. As a rule a prophet had no successor. God called him for one specific purpose, and no one else could take his place.
Hazael and Jehu carry weapons of war. The third name in the list carries something else, and it reaches further than the other two.
God does not forget Ahab's wickedness while He gives Elijah the discipline he needs. Hazael is to be anointed king of Syria and Jehu king of Israel, and in due time both will carry out God's judgments on the house of Ahab. There was still another sword to be drawn, the most terrible of all... No one escaped Elisha's sword, and it cut far wider than the swords of Hazael and Jehu. Elisha's sword was the word of God. Its judgment caught up with the guilty house of Ahab and with the idolatrous nation, after the swords of Hazael and Jehu had been broken. "Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth." (Hosea 6:5)
Of the three men named, Elisha came first. The order matters.
Of the three, Elisha came first, with his wonderful ministry of grace. This is so like our God. If Israel had eyes to see it, Elisha's service among them was the divine pause between the sentence and the carrying out of the judgement. It was for Israel to say whether the sentence would take effect. Jehovah is always willing to turn aside the threatened blow when men truly humble themselves before Him. This is the principle He declares in Jeremiah 18:7-8, and we see it illustrated in His dealings with the city of Nineveh in the time of Jonah.
The verse ends with a short phrase: "in your place." It shapes everything Elisha becomes.
But God valued his faithful service, and would soon give him a unique and splendid honour: He would take him up into heaven. Yet in grace He planned that Elijah's faithful testimony would carry on in Elisha. So Elijah goes to heaven, and Elisha stays on earth in the same position to represent him — "in his place," as the verse says. The anointing was to fit him and equip him for this, so that he could represent the man whom God took into heaven.
- Complaint answered. God meets Elijah's three claims — punish them, I am needed, I am alone — with three commands and the news of seven thousand.
- Place surrendered. He hurries past the two kings to the one act that empties him of standing, and from then on he is nothing in his own eyes.
- Prophet anointed. This is the one anointing of a prophet in Scripture, because this is the one prophet with a successor.
- Sword named. Hazael and Jehu strike with steel; Elisha strikes with the word of God, and his sword reaches furthest.
- Grace first. The sentence stands, but mercy goes ahead of it — leaving Israel room to repent.
And it shall come to pass, [that] him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay; and him that escapeth the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.
Elijah had just told God that Israel broke the covenant, tore down the altars and killed the prophets, and that he was the only one left. God answers with three names linked in a chain of swords — and the puzzle is the third sword, since Elisha never killed anyone with a blade.
Elijah had asked God to act against Israel. The three swords give him what he asked for — and one writer reads that as a rebuke.
The words of verse 17 are also a serious reproof to Elijah's criticism of Israel. God told him that Jehu would kill whoever escaped the sword of Hazael, and that Elisha would kill whoever escaped the sword of Jehu. God only speaks of judgment against Israel by these three men, and says not a word of the grace that Elisha would minister. God spoke in this way because Elijah had inferred that Israel deserved judgment.
Wind, earthquake and fire had just passed by Elijah's cave. The judgments God now announces match that pattern, and one writer sums up two of the men in a phrase each.
The judgments which Elijah seemed to feel were necessary would happen. The abandoned covenant, the desecrated altars, and the murdered prophets would all be avenged. The judgments would come in ways that matched the whirlwind, the earthquake, and the fire. A ruthless destroyer from outside and a fierce reformer within would be let loose upon the guilty nation.
Hazael and Jehu strike with steel. One writer reads the third sword as something else — and as the one nobody escapes.
There was another sword still in its sheath, the most terrible of all. Nobody escaped Elisha's sword, and it reached far wider than those of Hazael and of Jehu. Elisha's sword was the word of God. Its judgment overtook the guilty house of Ahab and the idol-worshipping nation, after the swords of Hazael and of Jehu had broken. "Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth." (Hosea 6:5)
Years later King Jehoram of Israel fled from Jehu. One writer stops there and points back to this verse.
Jehoram cries while fleeing, "Treachery, Ahaziah!" Not treachery, but judgment! God's word to Elijah comes true to the letter. "And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death" (1 Kings 19:17).
Not everyone reads the third sword the same way. Another writer finds no real killing by Elisha at all — only a figure of it, in the last moments of his life.
Notice too that the word spoken to Elijah — "the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death" — is fulfilled only in these last moments of the prophet's life, and even then only in prophecy. He is so little a prophet of judgment that he carries out judgment only in figure. And even this judgment is nothing other than the salvation of Israel and its deliverance from the yoke of Syria.
Elijah thought he was the last faithful man in Israel. God's answer names three other servants, and one writer says the gentlest of them would reach people Elijah never saw.
And so Elijah learned that other ministry besides his own had to work on Israel. Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha had yet to appear on the scene. The still small voice had worked to draw him out of his mountain cave. In the same way, the gracious ministry of Elisha would work to draw out of their hiding places the thousands of faithful ones he had completely overlooked. Elijah was not to do everything. He was only one servant.
- Complaint. Elijah asked God to act against Israel; the three swords are his own prayer handed back to him as a reproof.
- Chain. Hazael strikes from outside, Jehu from inside, Elisha last. Each sword catches whoever slipped past the one before.
- Word. Commentators differ on the third sword. One makes it the word of God, cutting further than either blade of steel. Another says Elisha killed only in figure, at the end of his life, and even that for Israel's rescue.
- Fulfilment. When Jehoram fell to Jehu he called it treachery; it was this verse coming true to the letter.
- Remnant. The swords are not the last word. Elisha's gentler ministry would draw out thousands of faithful people Elijah never knew were there.
Yet I have left [myself] seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth that hath not kissed him.
Elijah had just told God twice that he alone was left. God's reply names a number he never suspected, and raises two questions: how could a faithful servant be so wrong about God's people, and what does God count as faithfulness?
One writer explains how a faithful man could be so mistaken about the people around him.
Elijah had seen the terrible evils covering the land. But somehow he had overlooked the good that was there. Had he known that the LORD still had thousands of true hearts in Ahab's land, he would hardly have said, "I, even I only, am left!" Being taken up with self is spiritually ruinous, whatever form it takes. It is especially wrong when it leads a servant of God to imagine he is the last true man on earth! The testimony of God has never yet hung on the slender thread of a human life, and it never will. God Himself will take care of the testimony. In His infinite wisdom He always knows where to find those through whom He can speak to the consciences and hearts of the people.
Older translations read, "I have left Me seven thousand in Israel." One writer presses that pronoun.
"But what does the answer of God say to him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal." God does not say that they reserved or preserved themselves. No — He says, "I have reserved."
The same working of God did not stop with Ahab's day.
In the days of Ahab Israel had all but abandoned God. Even then He reserved to Himself no less than seven thousand who were true to Him at heart, though Elijah was the only one who stood out in public testimony. This was the fruit of His grace, and the same grace still works. The result is "a remnant, chosen by grace" (Romans 11:5).
God describes them by two refusals: the knee and the mouth. One writer reads the second as a matter of the heart.
To the prophet the position appeared beyond repair — no one left but himself. Again God has His reserves: seven thousand in Israel. Not only did they refuse to acknowledge the authority of Baal, they did not allow their affections to move towards him.
What is not said about them is as striking as what is.
The seven thousand faithful were not all prophets of the LORD, though some of them may have been. They are not commended for standing beside Elijah in his faithful witness, nor for any outstanding deeds of courage in defence of the true worship of God. But God takes account of their refusal to bow before the false god of the king, or to give it the kiss of allegiance.
Commentators differ on how to weigh their silence. One writer feels the loss in it.
It was a great encouragement to learn that there were seven thousand who had never bowed the knee. But it was very sad that not one of them ever came out in public witness to support Elijah. Here we have a picture of 2 Timothy where it says "the Lord knows those who are his" (2:19). It is a very sad thing when only the Lord knows them.
The verse leaves a duty behind it. If God counts people we have never met, our thinking about His people has to stretch to fit His.
If Elijah had not thought so much about himself, he would have seen some of these seven thousand before. And so it is with us… We must not forget that there are people we do not see, do not meet, and are not used to dealing with. We must leave room for them in our hearts, in our faith. We must bear them on our soul before God.
- Reserved. God's answer begins with Himself: He did not say they kept themselves, He said He kept them.
- Refused. He counts them by two refusals: the knee that never bowed to Baal, and the mouth that never kissed him. They withheld both submission and affection.
- Unrecorded. God credits them with no sermons, no exploits, no public stand. He takes account of the refusal alone.
- Unseen. Elijah was so taken up with himself that he had met none of the seven thousand. God's testimony never hung on one man's life.
- Repeated. The same grace that reserved seven thousand under Ahab still keeps a remnant today. So leave room in your heart for those you have never seen.