15 And Jehovah said to him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus; and when thou comest, anoint Hazael king over Syria; 16 and Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint prophet in thy stead. 17 And it shall come to pass, [that] him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay; and him that escapeth the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. 18 Yet I have left [myself] seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth that hath not kissed him.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Kings 19:15-18
Commentary on 1 Kings 19:14-18
(Read 1 Kings 19:14-18)
God repeated the question, What doest thou here? Then he complained of his discouragement; and whither should God's prophets go with their complaints of that kind, but to their Master? The Lord gave him an answer. He declares that the wicked house of Ahab shall be rooted out, that the people of Israel shall be punished for their sins; and he shows that Elijah was not left alone as he had supposed, and also that a helper should at once be raised up for him. Thus all his complaints are answered and provided for. God's faithful ones are often his hidden ones, Psalm 83:3, and the visible church is scarcely to be seen: the wheat is lost in chaff, and the gold in dross, till the sifting, refining, separating day comes. The Lord knows them that are his, though we do not; he sees in secret. When we come to heaven we shall miss many whom we thought to have met there; we shall meet many whom we little thought to have met there. God's love often proves larger than man's charity, and far more extended.