7,000 WHO HAVE NOT BOWED DOWN – 1 Kings 19:18
I Kings 19:18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.
Elijah had just seen God answer his prayers to bring fire from heaven. Elijah had just seen God answer his persistent prayer of brining rain back to the earth again. Elijah had just seen the power of God in his life in a very special way. However, when Elijah spoke with God, he told him that “I, even I only, am left” (1 Kings 19:10).
Elijah had just seen God use him in a mighty way and God led Elijah on a long journey. For forty days, Elijah did not eat. At the end of the forty days, God came to Elijah. God did not come to Elijah in the form of a strong wind, an earthquake, nor a fire. God came to Elijah and spoke to him in a still small voice. When Elijah heard the still small voice of God, he had to take his mantle and wrap his face. Elijah was in the presence of God. It did not matter all the good things Elijah had done for the Lord, they were not enough for him to stand in the presence of the Lord.
God spoke to Elijah that day and HE gave Elijah vision for what he was to do next. However, God did not want to just show Elijah what to do next, God used this mountaintop experience to transform Elijah’s life to take care of the issue of pride. God did not want Elijah to think that he was the only righteous person in all of Israel. After God gave Elijah the vision, God told Elijah that there were 7,000 in Israel who had kept their hearts and mind right before God.
Elijah may have been the only one who challenged Ahab and Jezebel to do what is right in the eyes of God, but he was not the only one who refused to obey their wicked laws and violate God’s perfect law. As long as Elijah thought he was the only true servant of God, pride would dwell in his heart and he would not be in a position to properly lead the nation of Israel back to God. God dealt with Elijah by transforming his mind to cause him to see the truth that he was not the only servant of God.
If you were in Israel during the time of Elijah, would you have been one of the 7,000 who had refused to bow down before Baal? There were 7,000 who refused to be conformed by the things of their world but instead insisted at being pure in the sight of God. It was more important to these 7,000 that they live their lives pleasing to God then it was that they live comfortable lives where they were accepted by their neighbors. You can imagine the pressure these 7,000 had from their neighbors because they were not obeying the king’s commands.
You have an obligation to God to live your life so that HE might be glorified. You have a duty to God to put the things of God first so that when the world pressures you to conform to it, you are able to have the boldness to live for Christ and not like the devil.
You can never be one of the 7,000 as long as you fill your life with the things of this world. If the most important things is what the world thinks, you will never be strong enough to withstand the temptations of Satan. God is looking for those who are willing to allow HIM to transform their minds and fill them with HIS virtue so that they might be a testimony to the world of HIS power. Are you going to stand up and be counted by God?