The Remnant of Israel

“And so all Israel shall be saved; as it is written, "There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.” (Romans 11:26)

Paul wrote this when writing about the remnant of Israel. When Elisha cried out to the Lord that he alone was left of the prophets, God answered him that He had saved seven thousand who had not bowed their knee to Baal. (1Kings 19:14,18; Romans 11:3,4) So Paul writes, “Even so then, also in this present time a remnant according to the election of grace has come into being.” (Romans 11:5)

Paul writes two things saying that if the slipping of Israel brought riches to the world and their falling away reconciled the nations, how much more will their salvation and receiving the Messiah be. (Romans 11:12, 15) And just as God has shown us, who were once God’s enemies, mercy, He will have mercy on Israel. God still has a covenant with them. And they are still His beloved. (Romans 11:27,28,30,31) God has left to Himself a remnant in Israel that will be saved. Isaish prophesied, “And in that day there shall be the Root of Jesse standing for a banner of the people; to Him the nations shall seek; and His resting place shall be glorious. And it shall be in that day, the Lord shall again set His hand, the second time, to recover the remnant of His people that remains, from Assyria and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Ethiopia, and from Persia, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the coasts of the sea. And He shall lift up a banner for the nations and shall gather the outcasts of Israel and gather together the scattered ones of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” (Isaiah 11:10-12) Isaiah mentions a root of Jesse. The root of Jesse is Jesus. Jesse was David’s father. And the Messiah was prophesied to come from the root of Jesse. And David was promised an everlasting kingdom. This eternal divine kingdom is one which only Jesus can establish because He is God.

To us it may seem like an impossible task. But if the Lord changed our hearts, He is well able to change the hearts of Israel. And how will the Lord do it? Ezekiel prophesies, “And I will sprinkle clean waters on you, and you shall be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from your idols. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My judgments and do them.” (Ezekiel 36:25-27) He will send the Word of God to them is what is mean by clean waters. The Word will powerfully clean them from idolatry and other occult practices. Then the Lord will give them a new heart and a new spirit. God is able to change hearts. “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13) And it’s God Who gives us His Spirit. “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2Timothy 1:7)

Nothing is impossible for God. Jeremiah said it several times, the Gospels repeat it and our lives testify of it. The Lord in His infinite wisdom has a supernatural plan to reconcile the whole world, Israel and all the nations to Himself. Thank You Jesus! This tells of His love for us because He could have well left us to perish with the world. But the redemption of man reveals God’s love, God’s mercy and God’s greatness.