What is the Remnant?

Click Here to Listen to or Read the One Year Bible Daily Lessons

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Here is the proof that what I say is true: “This year you will eat only what grows up by itself, and next year you will eat what springs up from that. But in the third year you will plant crops and harvest them; you will tend vineyards and eat their fruit. And you who are left in Judah, who have escaped the ravages of the siege, will put roots down in your own soil and grow up and flourish. For a remnant of my people will spread out from Jerusalem, a group of survivors from Mount Zion. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen! Isaiah 37:30-22

The word "remnant" is used in the bible a lot and can often be misunderstood. The term simply means "what is left over". If you didn't finish your pizza last night there would be a remnant of it left to eat tomorrow. In Isaiah over the last couple of days, he has used to the term "remnant" to refer to those Israelites who had not bowed to other gods like the majority of Israelities had done.

God had sent the Assyrians to punish the Israelites for their disobedience, but that didn't mean that God would not also punish the Assyrians, who were completely pagan in their beliefs and practices. But Isaiah tells King Hezekiah that not only will this remnant of Israelites survive they will also thrive. 

This remnant not only thrived, but they were the people from whom God brought our Lord Jesus Christ. This means that those who trust in Jesus are part of God's remnant on earth today. If you believe in Jesus, you have been set apart for His purposes. As long as you are still on this earth, you are evidence of God's faithfulness to His promises. 

In Isaiah's day there were not only the nations who were full of wickedness, violence and idolatry, but also His own people who had adopted the ways of the world. Does this sound much different than today? The people in the world who don't believe in God are really acting in accordance someone who has no power to live a godly life. But there are Christians in the church that have adopted the world's value system.  As a believer, in a sense we are even more accountable for the lives we live having tasted of God's goodness through faith and the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Like in Isaiah God kept a faithful remnant for Himself. Not only would these people survive God's judgment, but they would flourish. They would become the fruitful Vine that would be fruit for the nations. The Vine is Jesus and the Church is God's chosen instrument to spread his Word. Let's be the church that doesn't just survive in a world that is in the clutches of secular relativism and materialism, but thrives to lead the next generation to Christ! 

 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Acts 22 - Paul Sees the Light

Image
6  “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me.   7  I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me,  ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’  8  “‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.  “  ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth,  whom you are persecuting,’  he replied.   9  My companions saw the light,  but they did not understand the voice  of him who was speaking to me.  10  “‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked. “  ‘Get up,’  the Lord said,  ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do. This is the famous story of the apostle Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus.  Paul was going there to persecute Jewish Christians and throw them into prison and he meets Jesus is a spectacular way.  Not only is he blinded by a briliant light, but he hears the Lord's voice audibly.  And the Lord asks him, "Lord, Lord why are you persecuting me!"  Paul thought he was serving the Lord, but he was persecuting him b
Read more

Hebrews 6 - Have You Graduated From Elementary School of Faith Yet?

Click Here to Read or Listen to Hebrews 6 6 Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so. The author once again picks up with the theme of moving on to Christian maturity.  He teaches them to move on from the "elementary" teachings about Christ. What does he mean by that?  He gives clues by citing repentance, faith, cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, and teaching on the judgment and resurrection from the dead. We might call these the basics of the Christian faith. If you read through the Apostle's Creed, which our church confesses in our 8am service, it contains many of these core doctrines.  Click here to see the Apostle's Creed Written Around “When we consider the
Read more

2 Timothy 4 - Fight the Good Fight! Finish the Race!

Click Here to Read or Listen to 2 Timothy 4 4 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. Paul gives a closing charge to Timothy. First of all, he is to preach the word. God's Word speaks to all situations and seasons. The Word of God will sometimes correct us. Our lives can get of out alignment with God's will as outlined in
Read more