We know that all through the Bible, the number seven is associated with God’s eternal purpose. Therefore, I believe that when God said to one of his prophets, “Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him” (1 Kings 19:18, NKJV), he was simply denoting everyone who made up his remnant. The people he sets aside for himself could number 70 or 7 million. What matters is that they are wholly given to him.
So, what are the characteristics of this remnant? Here are three defining marks.
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An unchangeable commitment to cling to the Lord. Every remnant believer has made a single-minded choice to swim against the tide of evil. At some point, you have to make a commitment, declaring, “I don’t care what others say or do. I am the Lord’s. I won’t give in to the wicked spirit of this age.”
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A willingness to identify with the poor. While society’s trend is to associate with the rich and successful, you align yourself with the suffering class. Scripture clearly states, “Whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:17-18)
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A reliance on hope. The 7,000 mentioned in 1 Kings endured because of their hope in a coming day of deliverance. Likewise, the church’s blessed hope is the soon return of Jesus. With one trumpet blast, all wickedness will end. Our Lord will do away with all killing of babies, all blatant perversions and all ethnic genocide.
Do these three marks characterize you as a part of God’s holy remnant? If so, God boasts of you, “This one has given his heart to me. He is focused on me. He is wholly mine!”
We are to evangelize, minister and work while it is still day. We are also to live in the hope that King Jesus is coming and that he’s bringing a new world with him. One day, he will rule from his eternal throne. This is the great hope of the 7,000.