THERE WILL BE A REMNANT

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down
but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God.

Though your people be like the sand by the sea, Israel, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overwhelming and righteous. The Lord, the Lord Almighty, will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land.

Isaiah 10:20-23

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Judgment was coming on Israel. Assyria too. Neither of them got it when it came to their relationship with God, that He was the almighty One, the Maker and Master over all of mankind. And God sent consequences upon them both as punishment for their disrespect, disobedience, and general apostasy. Sent by God, the Assyrians would overthrow the northern kingdom of Israel, destroying the land and annihilating the people, but then be overcome by a wasting disease sent by the same God who used them to be conquerors, the penalty for pridefully claiming their conquests as coming from their own might and wisdom vice God’s.

There really isn’t any good news contained in this story. That is until you get to these verses for today, verses embedded within the words of judgment in Isaiah, Chapter 10:

In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God.

Though your people be like the sand by the sea, Israel, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overwhelming and righteous. The Lord, the Lord Almighty, will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land.

What was the good news?

It’s simple. There would be a remnant.

God’s judgment wouldn’t completely wipe out His chosen people. No, there would be a select few who would survive the seventy year exile in Babylon and be able to return to the Promised Land and the holy city of Jerusalem. And those survivors, the ones that persevere through the years of oppression as strangers in a foreign land, would do so because they will have turned to the Lord, fully relying on the Mighty God, the Holy One of Israel and no longer on themselves.     

So how does this apply to us today? How does this subject of the Lord leaving a remnant matter to us, some 2,000 years later?

The answer can be found in the Gospel of Matthew and the books of 1 Thessalonians and Revelation. Look at these verses:

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.’” Matthew 25:31-34

 For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. Revelation 21:1-3

When Jesus returns to judge all the world, there is not going to be a wholesale departure from this world to the next, the world that brings eternal life. Rather, there is going to be a sorting based on those who were In Jesus and thus had a relationship with Him. Those who placed their belief and trust in Jesus will be on the right and find themselves joining Him in the air, a remnant of humanity who Jesus will take to the new heaven and new earth, to the new Jerusalem. Those who shunned Jesus will be on the left and left behind, left to the promised demise in the lake of fire.

The questions the Lord poses to us today are as follows:

“Where will you be when Jesus returns and sorts His people?”

“Will you be on the right and be a part of the remnant heading to eternal life? Or will you deny Jesus, fail to pick up your cross and follow Him, and thus end up on the left and on your way to utter destruction?”

My prayer is that you will join me as a part of the remnant and ensure you will one day live forever with the Lord who will wipe every tear from our eyes and take us to the new heaven and earth where there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things will have passed away Revelation 21:4).

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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