The word of Jehovah came to Elijah, asking him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" (1 Kings 19:9b). Elijah answered, saying, "I have been very jealous for Jehovah, the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and slain Your prophets with the sword; and I alone am left, and they seek to take my life" (v. 10).
God charged Elijah to go out and stand upon the mountain before Jehovah (v. 11a). Elijah waited for the word of commission, thinking that it must be in the big windstorm or in the earthquake or in the fire, but Jehovah was not in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire (vv. 11b-12a). When Elijah became fully disappointed, a gentle, quiet voice came (v. 12b). This is the New Testament principle. The fact that God spoke to Elijah in a gentle, quiet voice indicates that God was ushering Elijah into the New Testament age. Today God does not speak to us by thundering. God always speaks to us gently and quietly.
In this commission God charged Elijah to anoint three persons (vv. 15-16). First, God commissioned him to anoint Hazael as king over Syria. This indicates the New Testament principle of taking care of the Gentiles. Second, Elijah was to anoint Jehu as king over Israel. Third, Elijah was charged to anoint Elisha, who is a type of the gracious Christ, as his successor.
Elijah had told God that the children of Israel had forsaken His covenant, thrown down His altars, and slain His prophets and that he alone was left (v. 14). God told Elijah that He had left Himself seven thousand faithful ones in Israel who had not bowed down their knees to Baal and had not kissed him with their mouth (v. 18). These faithful ones, the overcomers, were still standing on God's side. Eventually, God punished Israel by sending them away from their fathers' house as captives. It was the overcomers who brought them back. One of the overcomers, Daniel, prayed with his window open toward Jerusalem. Through his gracious prayer God brought Israel back to their fathers' land.
God does not accomplish His economy in the Old Testament way. All the realities concerning God's economy are in the way of God the Father's love, the Son's grace, and the Spirit's fellowship (2 Cor. 13:14). When the church in Corinth defamed Paul (12:16-18), he did not curse them or accuse them; he prayed for them. After the church in Corinth repented a little, Paul wrote a second letter to them, telling them that the people of God should be transformed into His image (3:18) by enjoying Him as the source, the course, and the flow of the Triune God's love in grace through fellowship.
Finally, according to 1 Kings 19:19-21, Elijah found Elisha and gained him to follow him and replace him.