The Remnant

Remnant is a term that is not uncommon for Israel. Here are some of the times it was used:

 1.      It was first used by Joseph when he stated that God allowed him to save a remnant of Jacob’s family (Gn 45:7).

 2.      It was used of Israel being preserved from the ravages of Assyria (2Ki 19:4).

 3.      It was used by God to state that the remnant of Judah that was saved from the sword would be taken captive (2Ch 36:20).

 4.      It was a term Ezra used to describe those that returned from Persia back to Jerusalem (Er 9:8).

 5.      It was used by Paul to state the Jews who would turn to Christ during the time of the Gentiles (Ro 9:27, 11:15).

The term has also been applied to Gentiles as well: It is also a term used by the prophets to state Gentiles who would accept Christ during the Tribulation (Is 11:16).

We can see from this that the righteous have always been the minority. In broad strokes, the righteous minority prior to Christ were the Gentiles, and the righteous minority after the time of Christ are the Jews. Even within Israel, though, were both righteous and unrighteous. We know of people like Moses, Joshua and David were righteous and followed both the spirit and intent of the Law. However, we know there were many ordinary people who did the same. We have an example with Elijah, who after killing the prophets of Baal felt he was alone in his serving God; however, God told him there were over 7,000 who had not bowed to Baal (1Ki 19:18). We also know there were many who did not serve the Lord and is the reason for the prophets’ announcements of doom and captivity.

As we stated in previous posts, the Jews were the Christian majority in the beginning of the Church Age but became the minority as more and more Gentiles became Christians. When many Christians became anti-Semitic, it caused a big rift between Christians and Jews which isolated more and more Jews from Christian contact and influence. Today, many Jews are pretty much agnostic when it comes to their relationship with God. They are strongly tied to tradition but necessarily to God Himself. Therefore, although the Jews are the Christian minority today, that will not always be the case. We read that one day, it will again be the Jews who will lead the world in the worship of God (Zc 8:23). This will occur after Jesus Christ returns. Although Israel as a nation rejected Jesus Christ the first time, they will accept him when he returns; their sins will be forgiven, and Israel will once again be righteous before God (Zc 12:10). Then they will fulfill their original charge to lead to world in the worship of God (Ex 19:6). It is good to know that God always fulfills his promises no matter how long it takes.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens