The Remnant

Isaiah was a prophet to the nation of Israel before she was led into captivity because of her rebellion.  He described her condition as: “The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faints.  From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it…” (Is. 1:5-6).  When I came to the Lord in the early seventies, I read of the Church being described by these verses.  Ministers like Leonard Ravenhill were crying out for a much-needed revival.  Isaiah said that “unless the Lord of hosts had left us a very small remnant, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been made like Gomorrah.” (Is. 1:9).  Even today there is a remnant of Jews in the world.  Paul tells us that in the end times the whole nation of Israel will be saved through this remnant (Ro. 11:26).  There is a parallel between the nation of Israel and the Church.  In my recent article, A High calling, I explained that not all who believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of sin will become His Bride.  There is coming a judgment for the Church and, just like for the nation of Israel, the Lord has reserved a remnant in the Church “who have not bowed the knee to Baal” (Ro. 11:4).  Just like the remnant of Israel will result in the whole nation being saved, the remnant of the Church will result in the whole Body of Christ to become the Bride.  Does that mean that all the people in Israel will be saved?  No, the nation in general will accept Jesus as the Christ but those who reject Him will be removed.  In the same manner, the Church on earth will go on to maturity and those who resist will be removed.  She will become a “glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing” (Eph. 5:27). 

The purpose of the remnant is to preserve the whole.  This is the principle the Lord explained to Abraham when He was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18:23-32).  Had there been ten righteous, the Lord would not have destroyed the city.  It is the remnant that allows the nation to survive, but it is not preserved without correction.  We must not look upon the remnant as a select group who will be taken out, but as a special people who will be a cause of salvation to the others.  The promise to Abraham was that He would multiply his descendants so much that they could not be counted (Gen. 15:5; 16:10).  Those who believe are the children of promise (Ro. 9:8), and we are to be a great multitude.  Consider the vine when she is pruned.  After the pruning she looks like she has been reduced to very little.  It is not to make her small that she is pruned.  It is to enlarge her fruitfulness.  After a time, she comes back to full strength bearing more than before.

In the book The Call, published in 1999, Rick Joyner shares a vision of the Church as an army comprised of three groups.  The first group was a vanguard with twelve divisions.  This group was disciplined, selfless and very powerful.  The land before the army was dry and dusty but after this first group passed over it, life had come to the land.  It was green with new vegetation.  A second group followed which was much larger than the first group.  It had less discipline and was marked by selfish ambition in the leaders.  When these believers passed over after the first group, they left buildings and bridges; but the land was less green, and the streams were a little muddied.  A third group followed which was much larger than the other two groups combined.  This part of the army moved erratically and could not keep up to the first two groups.  They were occupied with in-fighting.  All the believers in this third group were given to selfishness.  When they passed over the land, the grass was trampled, the trees were stripped, the streams were polluted, the bridges were destroyed, and the buildings were left in shambles.  In the vision, the Lord was very angry with this third group and the author asked why He did not just drive them away from the army.  The Lord’s response was that most of the Church at that time was in that third group, but in a time to come, He would stop the march and discipline the selfishness of the third group and the ambition of the second group.  Here is a quote from page 148: “Before the last great battle, My army will be holy, even as I am holy.  I will remove those who are not circumcised of heart and the leaders who do not uphold My righteousness.  When the last battle is fought, there will be no third group as you see here.” The transformation of the second and third group did not happen by itself.  When the army was camped, the time was spent in training.  Some from the third group became part of the second group and some from the second group became part of the first group.

It is important that we see the Church as Christ sees her.  She is not just a remnant; she is a nation.  She is not fully mature, but Christ is sanctifying her, cleansing her “with the washing of water by the word” (Eph. 5:24).  Are you part of the remnant?  “Take heed to yourself, and to the doctrine.  Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.” (1Tim. 4:16).