ONLY THE CHOSEN REMNANT
Isaiah 10:20-22
NET At that time those left in
Israel, those who remain of the family of Jacob, will no longer rely on a
foreign leader that abuses them. Instead they will truly rely on the LORD, the
Holy One of Israel. (21) A remnant will come back, a remnant of Jacob,
to the mighty God. (22) For though your people, Israel, are as
numerous as the sand on the seashore, only a remnant will come back.
Destruction has been decreed; just punishment is about to engulf you.
Isaiah
The book of Isaiah contains an abundance of material on
many future subjects such as: the coming
Messiah; the Millennium kingdom; the wrath of God; and the return of a
remnant. This future material is
generally mixed within designated chapters with short term prophecies regarding:
the invasion of Assyria to northern
Israel and later to southern Judah; and the coming invasion of Babylon to
Judah. Occasional it is debated if a
particular section of scripture concerns a near term prophecy or a far term
prophecy regarding the end-times.
The Remnant
The Isaiah 10:20-22 scripture above is placed after an
Assyrian confrontation prophecy which appears to be immediately followed by an
end-times wrath of God prophecy just prior to the prophecy scripture presented
above. For all practical purposes, no
remnant returned to Israel after the Assyrian conquest. The population was either destroyed or taken
as exile captives. Isaiah lived to see
the captivity of the nation of Israel, when the Assyrians destroyed Samaria and
carried the ten tribes into exile up near the Caspian Sea. This prophecy of a returning remnant may have
given hope to some of Israel. It spoke of a future time when the return of
Israel would occur, and the prophet Isaiah tells us specifically that only a remnant would return. Of course, we now know the remnant will be
ancestors far removed from the original captives and they will be subjects of
the Kingdom of God. Although the “sand
on the seashore” represents an innumerable amount of people, it is a sad state
that only a small remnant will return.
Disobedience and the lack of faith in God appears to be the constant story
of the people of the earth.
An historical period when the people of Israel “will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of
Israel” has not occurred to my knowledge.
This spiritual event will only begin in the Millennium. Isaiah writes the nation will be destroyed
with “complete destruction, one that is decreed”. Although the population of Israelites will be “as
numerous as the sand on the seashore” only a remnant will return. The “sand on the seashore” quote can be sound
in Genesis 32:12 is a promise to Abraham and ultimately represents all
believers who kneel to the King of the Kingdom.
But you said, 'I will certainly
make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand on the seashore,
too numerous to count". (Genesis
32:12 NET)
The current population of Jews is large but perhaps not quite
as large as the sand of a seashore.
However, concerning the Jews “only a remnant within them will return.”
This remnant will be a small portion of the current population, which is verified
by Isaiah. These are the ones who will receive the promise of God (and I should
add - the promise through Jesus Christ). The Apostle Paul understood and
verified this when he wrote in Romans 9:27, “And Isaiah cries out on behalf of Israel, "Though the number of
the children of Israel are as the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be
saved” (NET).
Other Isaiah scriptures speak of a returning
remnant. Isaiah 11:11-12 is noticeable in
that it mentions the four corners of the earth.
The preceding material of this chapter is definitely Millennial in
nature.
At that time the sovereign
master will again lift his hand to reclaim
the remnant of his people from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar,
Hamath, and the seacoasts. He will lift a signal flag for the nations; he will
gather Israel's dispersed people and assemble Judah's scattered people from the
four corners of the earth. (Isaiah
11:11-12 NET)
Prophets Speak
of a Remnant
Other Old Testament prophets also speak of a returning
remnant. Joel 2:32 occurs immediately
after a passage concerning the wrath of God as does the Obadiah 1:17
passage. Zechariah 8:11-12 concerns a
Millennial peace.
It will so happen that everyone
who calls on the name of the LORD will be delivered. For on Mount Zion and in
Jerusalem there will be those who survive, just as the LORD has promised; the remnant will be those whom the LORD
will call. (Joel 2:32 NET)
But on Mount Zion there will be a remnant of those who escape, and it
will be a holy place once again. The descendants of Jacob will conquer those
who had conquered them. (Obadiah 1:17
NET)
But I will be different now to
this remnant of my people from the
way I was in those days,'says the LORD who rules over all, 'for there will be a
peaceful time of sowing, the vine will produce its fruit and the ground its
yield, and the skies will rain down dew. Then I will allow the remnant of my people to possess all these things. (Zechariah 8:11-12 NET)
Will the idea of a “remnant” of believers be a novel
construct after the wrath of God and the beginning of the Millennium? Paul speaks of Elijah the prophet exclaiming,
"Lord, they have killed your
prophets, they have demolished your altars; I alone am left and they are
seeking my life!" Paul
continues with, “But what was the divine
response to him? "I have kept for
myself seven thousand people who have not bent the knee to Baal." So in
the same way at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. (Romans 11:3-5 NET) There has always just been a remnant of
believers, and as written by Paul, there is currently a “remnant chosen by grace”.
Dr. Stephen Jones – God’s Kingdom Ministries: Paul reminded his readers, and all of us
today, that during the days of Elijah only a remnant of 7,000 remained faithful
from several million Israelites which are referred to as those chosen by grace.
In other words, there is no
justification to say that all Israelites are chosen. Neither are all Israelites
part of the remnant. Only the remnant is chosen according to God’s election. An
unbelieving Israelite has no right to call himself one of God’s chosen people.
His genealogy has nothing to do with it. His faith is the evidence that he is
chosen.
Christian Zionism today is based
on the faulty belief that Jews who have no faith in Jesus Christ are yet “God’s
chosen people.” Some contend that as long as they have faith in God, it is
sufficient, even if they reject Jesus Christ. Nothing can be farther from the
truth, for Jesus is the God of the Old Testament. Furthermore, 1 John 2:23
tells us, “Whoever denies the Son does
not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also”.
No Jew who denies Jesus as the
Christ “has the Father.” This was not written by an anti-Semite. It was written
by the apostle John by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The idea that Jews can
be saved apart from faith in Jesus Christ is one of the more recent heresies
being popularized by some popular Christian Zionists.
Do Jews Need
Christ?
God has not rejected the Israelites. Actually God has not rejected anyone. The nation of Israel refused to submit to the
righteousness of Jesus, just as religious, self-righteous people refuse to
submit today. Paul used himself as an
example, but does that mean submitting to Jesus is the only route to
salvation? From a New Covenant
perspective the question must be answered as “yes”. Does that mean repentance and submission to
God the Father no longer is valid as some current Jews consider? Again, from a New Covenant perspective the
answer would be “yes” again.
So I ask, God has not rejected
his people, has he? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of
Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
(Romans 11:1 NET)
Some may argue that true repentance and submission to God
the Father under the Old Covenant may actually be valid for the Jews of
today. That thought appears to contradict
New Testament scripture, but who knows the mind of God and who speaks for
God? No one that I am aware of.
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