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The Remnant in Scripture
Posted : 6 Jun, 2012 08:51 AM
The Remnant in Scripture
The remnant in scripture is a big subject. To do justice to it, the
topic cannot be dealt with by byte speak, that is, in one or a few
short paragraphs. The remnant in the Bible is an important topic,
and this is especially true at times in the history of God's people
when the large majority has gone off into worship of other gods and/or
into false doctrines.
"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is
the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in
thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which
leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false
prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are
ravening wolves." Matthew 7 13-15
Christ adds "beware of false prophets" right after he warns about
walking on the broad way, because false prophets lead Christians off
the narrow road to truth, love of the truth (II Thessalonians 2:
10-12), obedience and salvation.
In times of apostasy, either under the Old Covenant, or in the New
Covenant, the big majority are on the broad way, not on the narrow
way. In such times of being in false doctrines, in having another
Gospel and another Jesus (II Corinthians 11: 4, Galatians 1: 6-9), the
remnant stays on the narrow way. And in historical eras of apostasy,
the majority on the broad way think that they cannot be wrong because
so many others believe like them. Those on the broad way may ridicule
the idea that a small group might have the truth while the majority
operates on the basis of false teachings.
Actually, the concept of a remnant in scripture begins in Genesis
45:7, where the King James Version translates shehayreeth as
posterity. "And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity
in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance."
Posterity is Strong's Exhaustive Concordance number 7611, shehayreeth,
from 7604, "shawar, leave, be left, remain, remnant, reserve, the
rest." the definition continues for 7611: "surviving, that which has
escaped, be left, posterity, remain, remnant, residue."
The New Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible and the
American Standard Version have remnant for shehayreeth.
But the Hebrew word shehayreeth or similar words like shawar, do not
always refer to the faithful remnant. I Kings 22: 46 talks about the
remnant of the sodomites, and Amos 1: 8 mentions the remnant of the
Philistines. You don't want to belong to the remnant of the sodomites
or of the Philistines. You want to belong to the remnant of Israel.
And sometimes the word remnant is not used, but is implied in a text.
"Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have
not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him." I
Kings 19: 18.
In this verse those who have not bowed down to Baal are a faithful remnant.
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel,
and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again
stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy
One of Israel, in truth.
21. The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.
22. For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a
remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow
with righteousness." Isaiah 10: 20-22
Paul quotes Isaiah 10: 22 in Romans 9: 27 - on the remnant of Israel.
"Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel:
thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in
the dances of them that make merry.
5. Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the
planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things.
6. For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount
Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD
our God.
7. For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout
among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O
LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel."
Jeremiah 31: 4-7
In Jeremiah 18: 1-6 the prophet shows us a parable of the potter who
first makes a pot which was marred, and then used that same lump of
clay to make another pot which seemed good to the potter who made it,
that is, to God. This is a parable of the transformation of Israel in
Christ, born again as John 3: 1-6 requires of Jews or Gentiles in
Christ as a spiritual house (I Peter 2: 5-9) and as a chosen
generation of people.
In Jeremiah 31: 4-7 he says God will build Israel again, as the
remnant of Israel. In this same chapter Jeremiah in verses 31-33
tells about the coming of the New Covenant which is to be with Israel as a
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spiritual house whose members have the moral law of God written in
their hearts.
Ezekiel 11: 9-13 talks about God's judgment upon the vast majority
of physical Israel and of the remnant of Israel: "Ye have feared the
sword; and I will bring a sword upon you, saith the Lord GOD.
9. And I will bring you out of the midst thereof, and deliver you
into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you.
10. Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of
Israel; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
11. This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the
flesh in the midst thereof; but I will judge you in the border of
Israel:
12. And ye shall know that I am the LORD: for ye have not walked in
my statutes, neither executed my judgments, but have done after the
manners of the heathen that are round about you.
13. And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of
Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud
voice, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant
of Israel?"
The answer is in Ezekiel 11: 19-20: " And I will give them one heart,
and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony
heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
20. That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and
do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God."
God puts a new heart in the remnant of Israel.
Zephaniah 3: 11-13 is an important statement about the remnant of
Israel. "In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings,
wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away
out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou
shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain.
12. I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor
people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD.
13. The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies;
neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they
shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid."
God says here that he will take away those of Israel who have
transgressed against him in their pride, and then says of the remnant
of Israel that he will leave and not take away an afflicted and poor
people, who trust in the Lord, the remnant of Israel who have no
deception, do not speak lies and are not afraid.
In the New Testament remnant appears six times. Matthew 22: 6 is
not necessarily about a remnant faithful to God.
Romans 9: 27 says "Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the
number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant
shall be saved:" In Romans 9: 31-32 Paul says that Israel, but not
the remnant, "...which followed after the law of righteousness, hath
not attained to the law of righteousness.
32. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were
by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;"
The large majority of physical Israel sought righteousness and
salvation by the works of the law and not by faith, but a remnant,
Paul says, shall be saved, and from other New Testament texts we know
that remnant was saved because of their faith in Christ.
Romans 11: 5 says "Even so then at this present time also there is a
remnant according to the election of grace." In Romans 11 a remnant
of physical Israel became the elect and were saved. They accepted
Christ and became part of Israel reborn in Christ in Paul's parable of
the olive tree.
Now we get to the use of remnant in the Book of Revelation.
Chapter 11is about those who witness, and their witness must be to Jesus
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Christ. Remember that the Greek word, witnesses in Revelation 11: 3,
Strong's number 3144, martus, is said to mean a witness, by analogy,a
martyr.".
Revelation 11: 7-3 says "And when they shall have finished their
testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall
make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
8. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city,
which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was
crucified.
9. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall
see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer
their dead bodies to be put in graves.
10. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and
make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two
prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
11. And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God
entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell
upon them which saw them.
12. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come
up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their
enemies beheld them.
13. And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth
part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven
thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God
of heaven."
The remnant were affrighted by these events, but the remnant gave
glory of the God of heaven, indicating this is describing the faithful
remnant of God, the remnant of Israel in the last days. However, the
witnesses to Christ in the last days can be seen as a group who
has also come out of false doctrines and worship the real Christ in
truth.
The next use of remnant in the Book of Revelation appears in Chapter
12: 17. This chapter is full of metaphoric language. The background
to the statement about the remnant says that: "And there appeared
another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven
heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
4. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did
cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which
was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was
born.
5. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations
with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his
throne.
6. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place
prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two
hundred and threescore days.
7. And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought
against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8. And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the
Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out
into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10. And I
heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and
strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for
the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before
our God day and night.
11. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word
of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
12. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to
the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down
unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a
short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth,
he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
14. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she
might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished
for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
15. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the
woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.."
Revelation 12: 3-15
The woman, a metaphor, and not necessarily a particular literal women in the
Bible. gives birth to Christ, the devil is cast out of heaven to
earth, the devil comes after the woman, and casts a flood of lies from
his mouth after the faithful people of God, and the woman flees to
the metaphoric wilderness.
Finally, in the last verse, Revelation 12: 17 the dragon "...was wroth
with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed,
which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus
Christ."
The "remnant of her seed" is the remnant of Israel in the last days,
who keep he commandments of God and have the testimony, or witness to,
the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the remnant who remain faithful to
the Gospel once delivered to the saints while the vast majority of
those who claim to be the people of God are in false teachings.
The use of remnant in Revelation 19: 21 which were killed by the sword
of Christ's words out of his mouth is not the faithful remnant, but
part of the group who follows false prophets and the spirit of
anti-Christ.
The 144,000 of Revelation 7: 1-8 and 14: 1-5 are a remnant, and the
list of the tribes of physical Israel in verses 5 to 8 is
metaphorically saying that the 144,000 are the remnant of Israel, that
is, Israel as a spiritual house, reborn in Jesus Christ. There are
New Testament texts which can be used to interpret Revelation 7: 5-8,
the list of the tribes of Israel, as not being members of physical
Israel, but Israel as a spiritual house under the New Covenant.
Paul in Romans 2; 28-29 says "For he is not a Jew, which is one
outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the
flesh:
29. But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that
of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is
not of men, but of God."
Romans 9: 6-8 and Galatians 4: 25-26 support Romans 2: 28-29. So does
Hebrews 10: 9, saying God took away the Old Covenant that he could
establish the New Covenant.
Revelation 2: 8-9 says "And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna
write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and
is alive;
9. I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art
rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and
are not, but are the synagogue of Satan."
Following Romans 2: 28-29, saying the true Jew is one who is a Jew
inwardly and one who is a Jew outwardly is not a real Jew, that is,
they who are the children of the flesh are not the children of God
(Romans 9: 8). Anyone who
teaches that a true Jew is one who only claims physical descent from
Abraham can blaspheme.
But the Catholics and most of the Calvinists have overly allegorized
the 144,000, saying they are the saved people of all ages. And the
dispensationalists have used a too literal interpretation of the
144,000, saying they are all male Jews and some have said the male
Jews are all virgins because of the metaphoric statement in Revelation
14: 4, that the 144,000 are not defiled with woman. But this refers to
not being defiled by false doctrines of religion. Could it be that at
the times when these interpretations of the 144,000 were created, it was
not given to them to fully understand this remnant group?
For years Harold Camping, whose theology came out of Dutch Calvinism,
alone hosted a call-in radio program
over Family Radio called Open Forum. Here is Camping's response to a
question about the 144,000 of Revelation 7: 1-8.
621A OPEN FORUM With Harold Camping
Who are the 144,000 of Revelation 7?
Here is Camping's answer to who are the 144,000: "When we look at
this number 12, however (or the number 144, which, is
12 times 12), we find that particularly in Revelation (although it
could be in other parts of the Bible, also). God is using it as a
symbolical number to illustrate the wonderful truth of the fullness
of whatever God has in view. And because it's talking about people
here, it would be the fullness of all believers....It's the
totality of all the believers that will ever believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ"
And here is the dispensationalist view of the 144,000: "At some point
in history - very soon, I believe - God's special focus
and blessing is going to shift back to the Jews. At that moment, the
Jews will once again be responsible, as God's representatives, to take
His message to the whole world. This mission - incomplete and
seemingly impossible for the last 2,000 years - will be accomplished
by the 144,000 Jewish Billy Graham's in seven years.".
Hal Lindsey, The Apocalypse Code (Palos Verdes, California, Western
Front, 1997, p. 121.
There are two Old Testament prophecies which deal with the remnant of
Israel. Zechariah 13: 8-9 says "And it shall come to pass, that in
all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and
die; but the third shall be left therein.
9. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine
them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they
shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my
people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God."
Two parts of those who claim to be the people of God will be cut off,
and one part, a remnant, is to be put through a fire, refined and
accepted by the Lord. The third part which is put through a fire, is refined,
calls on the Lord, and he accepts them, does not have to be one third
of the whole, but only one of three parts. Its a remnant.
Then Ezekiel 5: 1-12 says "And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp
knife, take thee a barber's rasor, and cause it to pass upon thine
head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weight, and divide
the hair.
2. Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city,
when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third
part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt
scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them.
3. Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts.
4. Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the
fire, and burn them in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth
into all the house of Israel.
5. Thus saith the Lord GOD; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the
midst of the nations and countries that are round about
her..............A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence,
and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a
third part shall fall by the sword round about thee and I will scatter
a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after
them."
The third part which is scattered into all the winds is the third part
in Zechariah 13: 9 who is refined by fire and accepted by the Lord.
But in verse 3 a small group is metaphorically bound in ol Ezekiel's
skirts. This is a remnant.
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