Elijah in Romans

1 KINGS 19 AND ROMANS 11
I want to examine, in an exploratory fashion, a Pauline passages that has links to 1 Kings 19. 1 Kings 19 is quoted in Romans 11:2-4, where Paul writes, �God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in Elijah, how he intercedes with God against Israel? �Lord, they have killed thy prophets, they have torn down thine altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.�EBut what is the divine response to him? �I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.�EIn the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to the election.�E

In the context, Paul is questioning God�s righteousness in the history of Israel. If God is faithful to His promises, as Paul insists He is, why is it that Israel, which received the promises, seems to be losing out. Chapter 11 begins with the question of whether God has rejected His people. In answer, Paul first points to his own experience: A son of Abraham and a Benjamite, he is a follower of Jesus, included in the consummation of the covenant. Then he quotes from 1 Kings 19. The clear surface meaning of this is that, just as the Lord preserved a remnant during the days of Elijah, when most of Israel was following the Baals, so the Lord will preserve a remnant of the Seed of Abraham in the days of Paul, when most of Israel is rejecting Jesus and the gospel.

But there appears to be another depth to the connection as well. Elijah states that he is alone a prophet of Yahweh, and receives Yahweh�s answer, while he�s accusing Israel on Mount Sinai. Part of Yahweh�s answer is that the Lord is going to raise up three �swords�Eagainst Israel, but that He will yet preserve a remnant of 7000 who will survive the judgment. Paul is facing the same reality: There is a looming judgment over Israel, the coming Roman attack on Jerusalem. That judgment is coming because Israel is devoted to false gods, to pursuing the way of zealotry. Just as Jehu came to destroy Ahab�s house and to destroy the temple of Baal in Samaria, so the Romans are coming to destroy Israel and to topple the temple in Jerusalem, which has become infested with demons. The same sort of scenario is in view in Paul�s other reference to the �remnant�Ein Romans 9:27-29.

There is also a direct parallel between Elijah and Paul. This is not the only place where Paul describes himself in terms of the Elijah model. Paul�s mysterious trip to Arabia (Galatians 1:17) might well mean that Paul followed the route of Elijah. Arabia is the location of Sinai (Galatians 4:25), so that Paul�s trip to Arabia could well be a journey to Sinai. Likewise, Paul�s postconverion itinerary �EIsrael to Arabia to Damascus �Erepeats the itinerary of Elijah in 1 Kings 19. Overall, Paul is right to discern that his ministry is like that of Elijah, the first prophet to the Gentiles. Paul, rejected by Israel, turns to the Gentiles to take good news to them. Paul�s anguish over Israel�s lack of faith (Romans 9:1-2), and even his desire that he could die for his brothers (9:3-4) might reflect Elijah�s anguish over Israel�s failure to repent after the events of Mount Carmel.

If Paul is indeed understanding his own ministry according to an Elijah typology (as he does sometimes with Moses, 2 Corinthians 3), then the sequence of his argument in Romans 11 becomes clearer. Verses 1-5 are chiastically arranged:

A. God has not rejected His people: Paul is a Jewish Christian, 11:1-2a
B. Elijah alone was a prophet, 11:2b-3
B�E But Yahweh preserved a remnant in Elijah�s time, 11:4
A�E In the same way, the Lord preserves a remnant by grace in Paul�s day, 11:5

Paul alone parallels Elijah alone; and the remnant of Elijah�s time parallels the remnant of Paul�s day. In both cases, further, the lone prophet/apostle is God�s means for preserving the remnant. Specifically, both help to preserve the remnant by ministering to Gentiles, rather than exclusively within Israel. Elijah goes to Zarephath, a sign of the gospel going to the Gentiles, as Jesus said (Luke 4), and Paul sees his mission to the Gentiles as a provocation to jealousy for Jews (Romans 11:13-14).

Paul also, no doubt, wants to insist on the �I have kept�Eof verse 4. If there is a remnant, it is not because some Jews have been able to remain sufficiently faithful to Torah to win God�s favor. The remnant is �according to the election,�Eand is preserved as a sheer act of mercy on God�s part. All Israel deserves death, but the Lord will preserve a portion for later restoration.

posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, February 27, 2005 at 08:38 AM

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