The 7000

Oh, that there were even one among you who would shut the gates, so that you would not kindle fire on My altar uselessly…Malachi 1:10, Amplified. An altar can be false, and Scripture show us this in Elijah's battle of the altars against the prophet's of Baal. The instruction for a false altar is never ambiguous — Elijah does not negotiate with Baal's altar on Carmel, he repairs the ancient altar and reasserts covenant, then the altar of Baal is destroyed. A gate is different