Romans 11:3

But lest it should seem a small thing that he taught by his own example that the people of God had not been cast off, the Apostle seeks stronger examples, and says: "Or do you not know what the Scripture says in Elijah? How he pleads with God against Israel? Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have dug down your altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what does the divine answer say to him?" In these words we are taught that the prophet, once filled with zeal for God, laid before God his complaint of the transgressing people, who had not only killed the prophets and overthrown the altars, but were also trying to destroy Elijah, who seemed to be the only one left of the prophets of the Lord.

Paul takes these words of Elijah and applies them by analogy to the Savior, in that only a remnant obtained the grace of the promise.

"He hath not cast off His people, whom He foreknew."

As though he said, I have with me three, five, or ten thousand. What then? has the people come to be three, five, or ten thousand? that seed that compared with the stars of heaven for multitude, or the sand of the sea? Is this the way you deceive us and put a cheat upon us, by making the whole people thyself and the few that are with thee; and didst thou inflate us with idle hopes, and say that the promise has been fulfilled, when all are lost, and the salvation comes down to a few? This is all bombast and vanity! we cannot away with such sophistry as this. Now, that they may not say this, see how in the sequel he proceeds to the answer, not giving the objection indeed, but before it grounding the answer to it upon ancient history. What then is the answer?

"Wot ye not," he says, "what the Scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed Thy prophets, and digged down Thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to Myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at this present time also, there is a remnant according to the election of grace."

What he means is nearly this. "God hath not cast off His people." For had He done so, He would have admitted none of them. But if He did admit some, He hath not cast them off. Still it is said, if He had not cast off, He would have admitted all. This does not follow; since in Elijah's time the part to be saved had come down to "seven thousand:" and now also there are probably many that believe. But if you do not know who they are, this is no wonder, for that prophet, who was so great and good a man, did not know. But God ordered things for Himself when even the prophet knew them not. But consider his judgment. Now in proving what was before him, he covertly augments the charge against them. For this is why he gave the whole passage, that he might parade before them their untowardness, and show that they had been so from of old. For if he had not wished this, but had directed his whole attention to prove that the people lay in the few, he would have said that even in Elijah's time, seven thousand were left. But now he reads to them the passage further back, as having been throughout at pains to show that it was no strange thing that they did with Christ, and the Apostles, but their habitual practice. For to prevent their saying that it was as a deceiver we put Christ to death, and as impostors that we persecute the Apostles, he brings forward the text which says, "Lord, they have killed Thy prophets, and digged down thine altars." Then in order not to make his discourse galling to them, he attaches another reason to the bringing forward of the text. For he quotes it not as if it was on purpose to accuse them, but as if intent upon showing some other things. And he leaves them without any excuse even by what had before been done.

The prophets knew only the things which had been revealed to them by the Lord. That is why the king, uncertain of mind, asked Jeremiah if, at the time at which he spoke with him, a word of the Lord had come to him. … Elijah was unaware that there were others besides himself who worshiped God.

The Apostle could have been objected to: what are you saying, Paul? Do you really consider the people who are likened to sand and stars to consist of three thousand, five thousand, a great multitude of people? Therefore he says: even in the time of Elijah no more than seven thousand were saved; and even Elijah did not know them. And now, probably, there are many who have believed. If you do not know them, this is nothing new: Elijah too did not know those. At the same time, imperceptibly touching upon another subject with his words, he shows that the murder they committed was long ago foretold from above. Namely: lest they should say, we killed Christ as a deceiver, he asks: then how did your forefathers kill the Old Testament prophets? Were they too deceivers? They boldly caused grief? But how then did your forefathers dig up the altars? Did the altars too give offense? And how did they seek to kill Elijah himself, who was zealous for the Jews and renowned for his miracles? But if in those times, when there were so many wicked people, the Lord chose for Himself only seven thousand, as Scripture shows, that is, the revelation and word of God, then there is nothing at all new if He now too chooses only the worthy. He explains this further as well.

In this intervention Isaiah alleges two things against them.

First, the impiety they committed against the worship of God. In one way, by persecuting his ministers, to which he refers when he says: Lord, they have slain your prophets: has it not been told my Lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord? (1 Kgs 18:13); which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? (Acts 7:52). In another way, they committed impiety against God's holy places, as it says: they set the sanctuary on fire (Ps 74:7). In regard to this he says: they have dug down your altars.

Here it should be noted what the Lord commanded, saying: you shall seek the place which the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there; thither you shall go, and thither you shall bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices (Deut 12:5). However, before the temple was built, the people were allowed to build altars in various places for divine worship; but because this became illegal after the temple had been built, the pious king Hezekiah destroyed all such altars. And that is what it says in 2 Kings: is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem: you shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem? (2 Kgs 18:22). Therefore, what Hezekiah did in a spirit of piety, Achab and Jezebel did in a spirit of impiety in their desire to root out the worship of God entirely.

Third, he alleges against them the impiety they intended to do, saying: and I am left alone, namely, to worship the one God, because the rest did not show very clearly that they were God's worshippers. For it says of him: and Elijah the prophet stood up, as a fire, and his word burnt like a torch (Sir 48:1). And they seek my life, namely that they might carry him away. For Jezebel had sent word to Elijah, saying: so may the gods do to me, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them (1 Kgs 19:2), namely of the prophets of Baal whom Elijah had killed.