God's Faithful Remnant

February 18th, 2025
by Dr. Lance Waldie

Romans 11:2b-4 Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? 3 “Lord, they have killed Your prophets, they have torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.” 4 But what is the divine response to him? “I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

Another proof Paul offers as evidence that God has not abandoned Israel is through the concept of the remnant (cf. Isa. 10:22; Rom. 9:27; 11:5). Recalling the days when God spoke to the prophet Elijah (1 Kings 19:10), Paul uses OT truths to illustrate that God does not renege on His promises to Israel in spite of Israel’s disobedience. How? Because God reserves a remnant—those whom He foreknew (v. 2). These are, and will be, the recipients of His eternal promises.

In 1 Kings 19 Elijah, fresh off of his victory over the prophets of Baal, found himself running from the wicked Jezebel because she had threatened his life. He was convinced that after Jezebel killed off God’s prophets and torn down the altars of the Lord (1 Kings 19:14), he was the only faithful Israelite left. God’s “divine response” (Gr. chrēmatismos) to Elijah was helpful to him, for God had reserved 7,000 Israelites, completely unknown to Elijah, who had not bowed the knee to the pagan god Baal (v. 4; cf. 1 Kings 19:18). So, God’s preservation of a remnant in Israel’s past was exactly what He was doing in Paul’s day—and what He is doing today.

The concept of the remnant is found throughout the prophets in the OT. For instance, when Isaiah asked to be sent to the people of Israel, God warned him that most would reject his exhortations to repent and that only a small remnant of Israelites would remain from the whole, like the stump left after a tree is chopped (Isa. 6:13). In fact, Isaiah 6:9-13 is quoted more in the NT than any other OT passage (cf. Matt. 13:14-15; Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10; John 12:40; Acts 28:26). It is used repeatedly to reveal the truth that God has blinded the eyes of those who are willfully ignorant of the truth while at the same time retaining a faithful remnant of believers.

All Jews know that from 605 to 539 BC Israel was exiled to Babylon due to repeated failure to listen to their prophets who told them to repent and turn back to God. Only a small godly remnant remained faithful during those years and in the years that followed—men like Daniel, Ezekiel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Through this godly remnant of men, and later through Esther, God preserved His people and returned them to their land. He disciplined the unbelievers, but He kept the remnant of that nation for future blessing.

Of course the remnant God maintained through the exile in Babylon grew and became a great people once again in Israel. But when the climax of God’s plan was revealed in Jesus the Messiah, the nation as a whole not only rejected Him, they crucified Him. In spite of this, there was a godly remnant in those days: Zacharias and Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph, Simeon, Anna, the faithful shepherds who worshipped the Christ-child when He was born, and some others who trusted in Him prior to His crucifixion. After Pentecost, in Acts 2, there were 3,000 believers (2:41) and later another 5,000 (Acts 4:4). After that, the Church grew so large that the writer of Acts was unable to count them. And it all started with a special remnant preserved by God.

Food for Thought

The nation of Israel today, having been preserved after the horrific events in AD 70 when their city was sacked and their temple was burned—and after the Holocaust in WWII—has returned to the land of Israel. Sadly, they are still an unbelieving nation that rejects Jesus as the Messiah. Yet there continues to be a remnant among the larger nation that God Himself has preserved. It is that remnant who will continue until God’s promises to Israel are fulfilled. And God’s promises will indeed be fulfilled in Israel, for God has promised that they will!