WHAT IF ELIJAH HAD BEEN RIGHT?

Elijah was wrong. In I Kings 19:10 & I Kings 19:14, just after his great victory over the prophets of Baal, he claims he is the only faithful servant of God left. He was wrong. God told Elijah that he had more than 7,000 who had not bowed the knee to Baal (I Kings 19:18). 

But what if Elijah had been right? Did that give him the right to sit in that cave and do nothing? If Elijah had been right, would he have been justified in joining the worshipers of Baal? If Elijah had been right, would he have been justified in his failure to oppose all those who were wrong? 

If Elijah had been right, if he was the only one left, then he still should have stood up against the wrongdoers. Being in the minority does not give us the right to quit or to give in.

If we miss this point, then we miss the point of the "still small voice" described in I Kings 19:11-13. God wasn't in the strong wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire. God was in the still small voice. Let the change agents make noise. Let others follow the fanfare and hoopla. We still must stand for truth and realize that God can work through our still small voices. 

If we miss this point, the next few years in the Lord's church will be very discouraging ones. Many are leaving the old paths and refusing to stand in the good way. Whole houses and whole congregations are being carried away with the innovations and departures from God's holy pattern. Faithful congregations of the Lord's church who will not follow, use, or endorse false teachers are few and far between. And, it appears that it may get worse before it gets better. 

If we fail to understand that God works through the still small voice, we will be tempted to join the blind, unthinking masses. Or, just as bad, we will be tempted to hide in a cave and be quiet about the problem. 

We must not be fearful to cry out against sin just because it is in the majority. We must be willing to cry out against sin even when we feel we are all alone. 

For all those who have been hiding in the cave, voices silent while the Lord's church is being desecrated, we ask the same question God asked of Elijah in I kings 19:9 and I Kings 19:13, "What doest thou here?" And we point out God's admonition to Elijah in I Kings 19:15-17. God told Elijah to get up and get busy. And so must we. 

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