LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
You Are Not Alone
"I will cause seven thousand to remain in Israel, whose knees have not bowed before Baal, and whose mouths have not kissed him" (1 Kings 19:18).
Remnant is what is left over, the remainder. It is usually a small remnant, that which is saved from the widespread debacle. In spiritual terms, the remnant is what remains with God when the majority is gone. It is the spiritual reserve that maintains the truth that all once professed.
The remnant has been with God in every period of history, in every crisis. From the days of Enoch to the present, God has had a witness upon the earth. Noah and his family constituted a remnant, Abraham and his were a remnant. The tribe of Levi was a remnant on that vandal night at the golden calf. Even in the days of the judges, God reserved some who held high His torch.
In Elijah's day, when the prophet flees from Jezebel, God brings him out of error and shows him the remnant. Elijah says: "I alone am left", but God tells him: "I will cause seven thousand to remain in Israel, whose knees have not bowed before Baal, and whose mouths have not kissed him" (1 Kings 19:14, 18). When Baal sweeps through the hosts of God, subjugating them to a doctrine of demons, there are a few who are not seduced.
The news of God encourages the prophet, for Elijah has fallen into discouragement. It seems to him that the struggle is fierce, and that his shoulders alone bear the whole burden. Then God comforts him, and says to him: "There are seven thousand".
In evil days, the remnant goes through times of oppression, persecution and death. To the pain of misunderstanding is added the pain of loneliness. Then God says to him these precious words: "You are not alone".
Today, evil is on the rise, apostasy is on the increase. The Christian religion has turned away from the person of Christ. It may still have the doctrine of Christ, and it may try to profess it with zeal; however, to have the doctrine is not necessarily to have the person of Christ. The Lord, who is outside, says today: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock" (Rev. 3:20).
The days are evil, and the remnant suffers. The name of Christ has become for them a source of ignominy and discrimination. Their non-ascription to the fashionable movements and doctrines earns them the distrust of the religious milieu. But Christ is enough for them.
In the midst of this panorama, God encourages his little people saying: "You are not alone, there are seven thousand". And when a weak voice arises from the other end of the world, saying: "I alone am left", another voice responds from the other end: "You are not alone, there are seven thousand". Many voices intertwine from the most surprising points of the globe with the same word, with the same breath.
Global communications today are not just for the worst. The Internet is not only a cesspool of darkness and decay: it is also the vehicle God is using for the voice of his little ones to be heard far away. It is the voice of God to his remnant, saying: "You are not alone; I have seven thousand".