diaspora – The Core of the Bible

Titles for God’s people: the Remnant and the Elect

What do the terms remnant and elect mean, and to whom do they apply?

Core of the Bible podcast #126: Titles for God’s people – The Remnant and the Elect

As I mentioned last time, we are currently doing a little miniseries on the titles for God’s people. Over these few episodes, we are looking at the following terms in some detail: believer and Christian, the Remnant and the Elect, the Church and the Body, and the Bride of Christ. These are all terms that by most accounts are considered synonymous and applicable to the people today who claim to believe in Messiah. However, I intend to look at scriptural reasons as to why I believe this is not the case, how most of those terms do not apply to God’s people today, and yet how God has worked within these various aspects of his people over the ages to accomplish specific things for the good of all.

The Remnant

Throughout Scripture, the remnant is pictured as a unique group of people who were to be a small portion of all of Israel with whom God would maintain his covenant promises. The term itself means “that which remains” or those who are “left over” or “left behind”. This demonstrates how it has never been the entire nation which was in view, but a specific portion of the nation who were to receive the inheritance.

In modern Christian theology, the idea of a remnant of God’s faithful people is usually thought to be a group of Christians who are currently remaining faithful during a period of hardship, ultimately to be culminated in the tribulation period at some future time. This comes from a passage in the book of Revelation, especially as it is rendered in the King James Version.

Revelation 12:16-17 KJV – And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The Seventh Day Adventists have taken this remnant idea and even made it one of their primary points of confession.

“The universal church is composed of all who truly believe in Christ, but in the last days, a time of widespread apostasy, a remnant has been called out to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. This remnant announces the arrival of the judgment hour, proclaims salvation through Christ, and heralds the approach of His second advent.” – Seventh-day Adventist fundamental Belief # 13
“The remnant spoken of in the Bible is the last group of people living on the earth that God claims as His own. A remnant is exactly the same as the first piece; just so, God’s remnant, His last church, must have the same characteristics as His first church.” – Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Free Seventh-day Adventist Church in Wichita, Kansas

Whether or not you are a Seventh Day Adventist, maybe you agree with that or perhaps you haven’t really considered it in depth, but today I would like to explore the biblical concept of the remnant and the elect and demonstrate how these terms are biblically related, and who they apply to.

So, for a quick historical background, I found that the Wikipedia entry on this topic actually provides some reasonable information to build on.

“The remnant is a recurring theme throughout the Hebrew and Christian Bible. The Anchor Bible Dictionary describes it as “What is left of a community after it undergoes a catastrophe”. The concept has stronger representation in the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament than in the Christian New Testament.

“According to the Book of Isaiah, the “remnant” is a small group of Israelites who will survive the invasion of the Assyrian army under Tiglath-Pileser III (Isaiah 10:20–22). The remnant is promised that they will one day be brought back to the Promised Land by Yahweh (Isaiah 11:11–16). Isaiah again uses the terminology during Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem (Isaiah 37).

“The concept of the remnant is taken up by several other prophets, including Micah, Jeremiah and Zephaniah. In Jeremiah 39–40, the “poor people, who had nothing”,[2] who remained in Judah when the rest of its population were deported to Babylon, are referred to as a “remnant”.[3] The post-exilic biblical literature (Ezra–Nehemiah, Haggai and Zechariah) consistently refers to the Jews who have returned from the Babylonian captivity as the remnant.

“New Testament verses that refer to a faithful “remnant” include Romans 11:5 (“Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace”) and Revelation 12:17 (“And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ”). – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remnant_(Bible)

Now, to get an accurate depiction of who this remnant is, we would do best to refer back to the original scriptures that mention the remnant, and how they are pictured in the prophecies of old.

Isaiah 10:21 – The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God.
Isaiah 37:31-32 – “The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. For a remnant will go out from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of Yahweh of Armies will accomplish this.’
Jeremiah 23:3 – “I will gather the remnant of my flock from all the lands where I have banished them, and I will return them to their grazing land. They will become fruitful and numerous.
Micah 2:12 – I will indeed gather all of you, Jacob; I will collect the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in the middle of its pasture. It will be noisy with people.
Zephaniah 3:13 – The remnant of Israel will no longer do wrong or tell lies; a deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouths. They will pasture and lie down, with nothing to make them afraid.
Zechariah 8:12 – “For they will sow in peace: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce, and the skies will yield their dew. I will give the remnant of this people all these things as an inheritance.

In these prophetic passages, we can see how this Remnant was identified as a faithful group of believing Israelites or some other title related directly to Israel (Jacob, Judah, “my flock”, this people). These are described as the people who were to receive an inheritance. The apostle Paul captures this remnant terminology in his epistle to the Romans as he quotes Isaiah:

Romans 9:27 – But Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, Though the number of Israelites is like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved…

Paul takes an extended prophecy from Isaiah 10 regarding a judgment upon Israel during the Assyrian captivity and applies it to the events of that first century generation. Isaiah had said only a remnant of Israel would remain faithful during a time of great destruction. Paul then takes that imagery and makes its ultimate application to his generation and the coming destruction upon Jerusalem in that day. He is explaining how much he longs for his Jewish brothers to come to understand the truth, but he knows only a portion will do so. In fact, all of Romans 9-11 is essentially a plea from Paul to God to reconsider his judgment regarding the house of Israel at large.

Romans 10:1-2 – Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is for their salvation. I can testify about them that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

Throughout these chapters, Paul concedes that the larger group of Israel is being rejected because they are clinging to their own righteousness instead of accepting God’s mercy and grace through Messiah. However, the remnant who have accepted Messiah were to be the light to the rest of the nation, and to the nations in which they had been scattered, thereby including those from among the nations. In this way, representatives from each of the tribes who had been dispersed would also be brought back to God, and in this way “all Israel”, that is, members from all of the twelve tribes, would be saved.

If you’ve reviewed the information covered in my last essay on Believers and Christians, you may recall how I mentioned the terms believer and non-believer were commonly used in the context of those within Israel: some would believe (i.e., the remnant) and others would not believe and remain faithless. This shows how a specific group within the larger population of Israel would be the group that God would “save”, that they would receive the benefits that the rest do not. Paul’s line of reasoning from here in Romans 9 then goes on through chapter 10 into chapter 11, outlining how the majority of Israel is rejected for their faithlessness, while only a portion, the remnant, will be saved by God’s grace.

Romans 11:5 – In the same way, then, there is also at the present time a remnant chosen by grace.

In the same way as what? Using the example of Elijah, the previous verses describe how God always retained a faithful remnant of Israel, even when it was not apparent at that time.

Romans 11:2-5 – God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Or don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah – how he pleads with God against Israel? Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I am the only one left, and they are trying to take my life! But what was God’s answer to him? I have left seven thousand for myself who have not bowed down to Baal. In the same way, then, there is also at the present time a remnant chosen by grace.

Here Paul says there was a remnant “at the present time”. That remnant at that time was the number of faithful from among Israel and Judah, even scattered among the nations, who had placed their faith in Messiah during that generation. The rest of Israel and Judah who were apistos or not faithful were the majority from which the faithful remnant was distinguished. All of this took place in the days of the apostle Paul during the first century.

The Diaspora

In Paul’s day, Jews had remained scattered throughout the known world due to their previous captivities of both the Assyrian and Babylonian empires. This can be evidenced from the list of locations that are described for us in Acts 2, when Jews from all over the known world had returned to Jerusalem for the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost. As the disciples were filled with God’s Spirit and began to preach to all of them about the work of Messiah, a miraculous event of language translation took place:

Acts 2:8-11 – “How is it that each of us can hear them in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites; those who live in Mesopotamia, in Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts), Cretans and Arabs – we hear them declaring the magnificent acts of God in our own tongues.”

All of these place names that may sound strange to our ears today were locations spread out throughout the known world at that time. Notice how Jews had been living in all of these areas, and how God was miraculously drawing a faithful remnant to himself from all of these distant areas. In fact, the text tells us that three thousand from among those various locations became believers in Messiah that day. Peter, speaking to thousands of Jews who had gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast of Weeks speaks to them directly, saying:

Acts 2:39-41 – “For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” With many other words [Peter] testified and strongly urged them, saying, “Be saved from this corrupt generation! ” So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them.

God was gathering up the remnant of the faithful Jews and their children from where they had been scattered “afar off” and was calling them to himself. In this way, “all Israel”, that is, representative believers from every tribe, was saved in that generation. The later missionary journeys of the apostle Paul and other disciples only added to this growing group of restored Israelites.

Because this restoration of those estranged tribes was based on faith in Messiah and not just on lineage or ancestry, many converts and “God fearers” (that is, non-Jews who accepted the truth of Yahweh and the Bible but had not officially converted to Judaism) also were considered by Paul to have been included in that “remnant” which was restored in that day. This is why Paul could boldly state:

Colossians 3:11 – In Messiah there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Messiah is all and in all.

Once the judgment came to pass on Jerusalem in 68-70 AD, the story of national Israel was concluded. The nation ceased to exist. The prophecies of restoration of the faithful remnant were fulfilled in those closing days before the destruction of Jerusalem, and the scriptural remnant of prophecy no longer exists today.

If we continue to maintain today that anyone who is faithful is included in the remnant, it robs the actual scriptural remnant prophecies of their fulfillment within the nation of Israel during the end of that age. So, if we are to consider ourselves to be in the scriptural remnant today, then we are saying all of those prophecies concerning the remnant have remained unfulfilled for thousands of years and God never fully reconciled his people to himself within that generation as Yeshua, Peter, and Paul had preached.

We know the prophetic perspective was describing a remnant who was to be a faithful minority within the larger nation of Israel. We know they were to be the ones who were to return to the truth of Yahweh compared to the rest of the nation. We know they were to be gathered from all the nations where they had been scattered. Likewise, we know that Messiah taught about this occurring within that generation at that point of time, and we know that the disciples were indeed faithful in reaching the rest of the scattered remnant of Israel throughout the known world with the message of the gospel of the Kingdom in that generation.

When all of these points are taken into consideration, then all of the symmetry of God’s faithfulness with his people is maintained in the fulfillment of everything he had promised them through his prophets. The remnant of that generation is the one that was saved from the disaster that came upon the nation as a whole because of its unfaithfulness, and that’s the meaningful story for the ages. That story is one that can give us confidence that Yahweh God is a God who keeps his word and is faithful to do all that he promises. It is a story that we can praise God for in the demonstration of all that he had promised. Believers today can rejoice that we benefit from the mercy shown to them that was written down for our understanding and recognition of God’s faithfulness with them.

The Elect

Closely aligned with the remnant is the term the “elect”. In New Testament usage, the elect or election appears to be synonymous with the remnant, or those through whom God would be doing a specific work.

Romans 11:5 – In the same way, then, there is also at the present time a remnant chosen by grace.

The word used here for chosen comes from the same Greek root phrase that is used for the elect, and Paul, speaking of events taking place at that time, says that the elect group, the group of the chosen, was the remnant. Since we just reviewed how the remnant was prophesied to be the group of faithful ones from among Israel, “the elect” then, would be another way of describing those from among Israel who were considered the faithful ones with whom God maintained his covenant relationship in that generation, and through whom God would be glorified.

This term, the elect, is doctrinally charged today because there is a whole doctrine of election or predestination which is built upon this term. However, this is not how the Bible uses the term. Predestination is not an eternal principle for individuals in the sense of some individuals are chosen by God for eternal life and others are not. That is the horror of Calvinistic-type thinking; a philosophical phantom that still haunts the halls of Christendom today.

The elect were the ones who were, as Paul says, a predestined group to believe in Messiah because all of the prophecies had foretold that would occur. Their belief in Messiah during Paul’s generation was indeed the fulfillment of those prophecies! This is why Paul could write:

Romans 8:31-33 – What, then, are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything? Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies.

That’s the extent of the “predestination concept” in Scripture. Paul was confirming those remnant prophecies were coming to pass in his day. To be chosen in the sense of the elect was simply a description of active distinction of one group or individuals from others. If you were a believer in Messiah in Paul’s day, then you were a member of the elect group that had been prophesied; therefore who could come against them? It was a bold acknowledgement of prophecy coming to pass before their eyes, and a triumphant statement of hope that God would see them through the difficulties they faced during their extreme persecution in their day, because he had previously declared it to be so.

God’s plan for Israel was consummated within that first century generation, just as Yeshua had predicted that the elect would be gathered from “the four winds”, and the temple would fall before that generation all passed away.

Matthew 24:1-2, 24, 31, 34 – As Yeshua left and was going out of the temple, his disciples came up and called his attention to its buildings. He replied to them, “Do you see all these things? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here on another that will not be thrown down …For false messiahs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. … He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other…Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place.”

The apostles recognized the role of the elect during those days, and that they were the recipients and participants in all that had been prophesied before:

2 Timothy 2:10 – This is why I endure all things for the elect: so that they also may obtain salvation, which is in Messiah Yeshua, with eternal glory.

Titus 1:1 – Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Yeshua Messiah, for the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness,

2 John 1:1, 13 – The elder: To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth – and not only I, but also all who know the truth – … The children of your elect sister send you greetings.

Notice how all of these references speak of the elect in the present tense, as the ongoing participation of the Messiah believers in those days. The term itself means those who are chosen, and since they were referred to as “his elect” or “God’s elect”, then we can understand this is a choice that God had made to distinguish this group from others.

The chosen

This concept of being chosen would not be unfamiliar to Hebrew believers, as God had previously and many times demonstrated that the entire nation of Israel had been chosen from among the nations of the world to be the ones to carry his Name.

Ezekiel 20:5-6 – …’This is what the Lord Yahweh says: On the day I chose Israel, I swore an oath to the descendants of Jacob’s house and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt. I swore to them, saying, “I am Yahweh your God.” On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands.

A further example of the use of this chosen concept which demonstrates how it is not a term restricted to individual, eternal salvation is how God had made a progression of choices amidst the tribe and family of David. David had been chosen out of all Israel and from among his own family to be king over Israel and Solomon to be king after him.

1 Chronicles 28:4-5 – “Yet Yahweh God of Israel chose me out of all my father’s family to be king over Israel forever. For he chose Judah as leader, and from the house of Judah, my father’s family, and from my father’s sons, he was pleased to make me king over all Israel. “And out of all my sons – for Yahweh has given me many sons – he has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of Yahweh’s kingdom over Israel.

God is described here as having chosen Israel as a nation, then Judah as a leading tribe, then David’s family among that tribe, then David as king, then Solomon as king to follow him. All of these “choices” or “elections” are another way of saying those at a given time through whom God was working for his purpose and will to be accomplished. These distinctions of tribes, families, and individuals were isolated from the rest of the nations of the world and the rest of the nation of Israel as a whole because God was going to be working through these specific tribes and individuals during their lifetimes for specific purposes.

Interestingly, another way to demonstrate how this is not some kind of universal election or predestination for all eternity, one needs only to read how all of God’s “chosen” entities in this example, those who were considered “the elect”, had failed at some point. Israel as a whole did not maintain the covenant and was rejected; Judah had failed in his relationship with his father; David failed in the incident with Bathsheba; Solomon failed with corruption through his pagan wives. All these things occurred after they had been “chosen”. The concept of being elect doesn’t mean one is bullet-proof from judgment or failure for all eternity, only that one (or a group) is identified as being used for God’s specific purpose and will at a specific time.

The elect of the first century were simply those who believed Messiah and through whom God maintained his covenantal faithfulness, as contrasted with the rest or the majority of Israel which did not believe in Messiah. This was predestined to occur, being foretold, as we have seen, in all of the “remnant” prophecies.

If I was to try to create an analogy here, it’s as if God was writing a story as a novelist. His “elect” would be the main character (or characters), while all others would be supporting characters in the story he was telling. In this way, he could tell his story through his main characters, even though they were not perfect. They still had their flaws and made their mistakes, just like everyone else does, but they were the focus of the story he was telling, to the exclusion of all of the other details or people in other places that may not be pertinent to the specific story he was telling. This doesn’t mean that no one else was faithful, just that his main characters were living out the point that he was making.

Looked at in this light, the term election becomes less doctrinally charged regarding individual, eternal salvation and begins to take on its rightful meaning regarding the distinctions for specific purposes regarding the nation of Israel as a whole. It is used of those faithful believers amidst Israel through whom God’s will would be accomplished and those to whom his covenant and promises would be maintained. In New Testament application, it was because of the nation’s general disobedience and failing within the covenant (the faithless majority of Israel, the non-believers) that God then refined his chosen people to those who would believe his words through his chosen Messiah. This was a smaller group within the group, including those who had been scattered throughout the known world at that time. Once again, to my way of thinking, the symmetry of the concept is beautiful and poetic within the context of the entire Bible.

If we are to be good Bible students, we need to maintain the distinction that those who are called the elect mentioned in the New Testament writings refers specifically to those first-century believers who accepted the Messiah, both from Israel and from among the nations. Just as the remnant described those same believers, the elect is therefore its synonymous equivalent. Therefore, the remnant and the elect of biblical prophecy was consummated in the first century and no longer exists today.

Believers today

So what about believers today? If we are not to consider ourselves the remnant and we are not the elect, who are we within the biblical narrative? Have I just written us out of the story? By no means!

The apostle Paul speaks to the culmination of all of those prophecies with Israel being the very catalyst that would bring believers from all nations to Yahweh God.

Romans 15:8-9 – For I say that Messiah became a servant of the circumcised [i.e., the Jews] on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises to the fathers, [all of those former prophecies] and so that nations may glorify God for his mercy.

Here Paul then goes into a list of quotes from the Tanakh that demonstrate how God’s ultimate purpose in fulfilling his word to the Jews would ultimately bring people from all nations to himself:

Romans 15:9-12 – As it is written, Therefore I will praise you among the nations, and I will sing praise to your name. [Psalm 18:49] Again it says, Rejoice, you nations, with his people! [Deuteronomy 32:43] And again, Praise Yahweh, all you nations; let all the peoples praise him! [Psalm 117:1] And again, Isaiah says, The root of Jesse [i.e., the Messiah] will appear, the one who rises to rule the nations; the nations will hope in him. [Isaiah 11:10]

Today, we are those from among all nations who have come to praise Yahweh through seeing the promises that were confirmed to Israel at the culmination of that age! We can join together glorifying God for his mercy to his people at that time which has allowed us the same access to him through faith in Messiah, just as they had, and still have to this day. Our hope today is in the same Messiah whom they trusted in faith.

This is our identity in Messiah today: no longer a small remnant within the nation of Israel, but a vast multitude of those who are the receivers of the eternal Kingdom that Messiah inaugurated! We are a rag-tag lot from among every nation and tribe, worshiping the one true God through faith in his Messiah! We are the ongoing fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham (that all nations would be blessed through him), and the promises made to ancient Israel that nations would come to worship their God, Yahweh, and that his Messiah would also rule the nations and become their hope. We are still a people fulfilling prophecy, although we are now fulfilling the prophecies that relate, not to the remnant or the elect, but to the eternal Kingdom of God!

Daniel 2:44 – “In the days of those kings, the God of the heavens will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be left to another people. It will crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself endure forever.

Though it may at first feel strange to not be a direct participant in the story of the prophetic remnant or the elect of Scripture, it does not diminish our responsibility to this generation, and every generation into the future. The consummation of the prophecies of the elect remnant of the first century should provide us the hope and inspiration we need to know that God never abandons his faithful, and that those who choose the path of life will be provided for and ultimately be participants in his purposes coming to pass for all eternity. If he fulfilled his prophecies to the elect remnant in the first century, then he will fulfill his prophecies to establish his Kingdom over all the earth. Therefore, we should be encouraged to press on; we must continue to stay on the path of life, to be the city on the hill, the light of the world, and the salt of the earth.

We should be able to pray with the Psalmist:

Psalm 57:11 – God, be exalted above the heavens; let your glory be over the whole earth.

Well, as we wrap up for today, I hope there are at least a couple of concepts and ideas to encourage you to meditate on and to study out further on your own. Next time, we will investigate another related term to this remnant and the elect, the “church”, or the assembly of “called-out-ones,” and how this term has been used in conjunction with another familiar phrase: the Body of Christ. I hope you will be able to come back and visit for more perspectives on these titles of God’s people. But remember, if you have thoughts or comments that you would like to explore further with me, feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Bringing faith to completion through perseverance

The trial and proof of your faith are one and the same.

James 1:2-4, 12 – “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. … Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”

According to the first verse in this epistle, James is writing to the twelve tribes of Israel in the Dispersion. These are the scattered Israelites who were the descendants of those who had been taken captive during the Assyrian and Babylonian campaigns to overthrow Israel roughly six hundred years previous. Some of them had attempted to maintain their Hebraic identity, but most had been assimilated into the cultures of the nations to which they were taken. James is writing to them as a believer in the Messiah; this is a call to return to the faith of their fathers with the fulfillment of the restoration of Israel through faith in Messiah.

In living among the pagan nations, they experienced many trials in attempting to live as Hebrew believers in the one true God. James addresses this as the primary issue they faced, but he does so in a way to encourage them that these trials actually demonstrate the truth of their faith. Though their faith was being tested, it was also being proven. The word for testing also serves to illustrate the proof of that faith. As they remained vigilant and steadfast in their faith, the quality of their faith was being proven to those around them.

This steadfastness of faith is a term derived from the original Greek which means “to remain under.” It is sometimes translated as endurance or perseverance. It illustrates that their faith was being proven as they remained under the pressure of the trial.

This is a similar characteristic that the apostle Paul mentions in his letter to the Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 10:13 – No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

James takes this endurance a step further by saying that the endurance or perseverance during trials provides a completeness to one’s faith; it’s as if the faith is lacking something until it actually undergoes a trial to see if it is genuine. In doing so, one receives the crown of life, the reward of the victor through conquest. In the culture of the day, the wreath or crown was only awarded to the athlete who endured through the contest of strength and overcame the adversity by persevering above all others. However, in the spiritual contest of the new believers in Messiah, their reward was life itself, not just a wreath to adorn their heads.

We today are in a similar situation as those scattered Israelite descendants of long ago. We have echoes of a spiritual heritage that has become enmeshed with the culture around us. Yet, through the same faith in Messiah, we are tasked with demonstrating a perseverance in that faith which results in a continuation of that same life that has been provided throughout the intervening millennia, “the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”

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A spiritual house with spiritual service to others

The legacy of believers today is one of hard and necessary work on behalf of others.

1 Peter 2:4-5 – As you come to him, a living stone – rejected by people but chosen and honored by God – you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Yeshua Messiah.

As we have seen in previous writings, Peter is writing to groups of early Jewish believers who had been scattered throughout the Roman empire. This was the result of their diaspora, their scattering, due to their ancestral idolatry and rejection of the Torah of God. God had removed the northern ten tribes from the land of Israel with the Assyrian invasion of 740 BC, and they were distributed and exiled throughout the known world at that time.

1 Peter 1:1 – Peter, an apostle of Yeshua Messiah: To those chosen, living as exiles dispersed abroad in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia…

Now, over 700 years later, Peter is writing to their descendants and sharing the good news that God is restoring his lost sheep of those tribes into one flock and one fold through faith in Messiah. Peter is using the imagery of the temple as a way of illustrating their restored relationship to the true faith as the remnant of God, a remnant once again called out from among the overall religious majority of what was at the time orthodox Judaism.

Amidst this temple imagery, Peter illustrates how it is not the physical temple that matters; he knew it was about to be destroyed because Messiah had prophesied it decades earlier. Instead, Peter relates how the remnant people chosen by God were in the process of becoming something else, a spiritual priesthood that would have the privilege of offering spiritual sacrifices to God.

Biblically, the priesthood did not exist for its own purpose; the priesthood was a selected tribe within the larger community of Israel as a nation that was to be the mediators, the go-betweens. They had been chosen and set apart by God for the purpose of serving the others by presenting the sacrifices and offerings on behalf of the rest of the nation to God. Peter is conveying that these remnant believers scattered among the nations were not believing just for themselves, but that their role was to be a spiritually set-apart group that would be the example to others who would come after them, those who would believe because of their faithfulness. In so doing, they would effectively become a spiritual priesthood, the go-betweens who would bridge the divide between the natural priesthood which was about to be destroyed and the spiritual reality of the new temple in the New Jerusalem, the spiritual temple of the ongoing kingdom of God. They had become the “living stones” within the temple that Yeshua had prophesied he would build.

Mark 14:58 – “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands, and in three days I will build another not made by hands.’ “

Are believers today the spiritual priesthood that Peter is writing to? No, we need to recognize that he was writing to a specific group of people at a specific point in time two thousand years ago. However, are there symbolic parallels between believers today and those of the scattered Israelite remnant who were being brought back into the fold? Indeed, believers today are a minority group of people called out from the masses of the overall population; we are to be examples of faithfulness to those among the rest of the community; and we are to be serving others with spiritual sacrifices on behalf of God. We are participants within the spiritual temple built by Yeshua who have the privilege of enjoying God’s presence.

We must always remember that we are standing on a legacy of faithful believers who have gone before us, but we are not here to enjoy the mercies of God for our own benefit. No, if we are to be true to our calling, we are here solely for the purpose of others. We must, like the early called-out remnant, perform our spiritual service to others with obedient and caring hearts, that others may also participate in the spiritual temple within the eternal kingdom of God: The New Jerusalem.

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God’s historical resume of faithfulness

God has demonstrated himself as being faithful and completely trustworthy through his actions with Israel.

Core of the Bible podcast #48 – God’s historical resume of faithfulness

Today we will be exploring the topic of trust, and how God has demonstrated himself as being faithful and completely trustworthy through his actions with Israel as revealed in the Bible. The story of Israel is a story about God’s faithfulness. He has demonstrated himself as worthy of trust because whatever he has committed to his people has come to pass. Time and time again he has proven himself as fulfilling what he has promised, whether in blessing or in judgment. In essence, the Bible story of Israel is a type of historical resume that God has provided us.

From a quick online search of definitions, we find that a resume can be defined as “a formal document that provides an overview of your professional qualifications, including your relevant work experience, skills, education, and notable accomplishments.” Now let me quickly add that it certainly isn’t necessary for God to provide us all of that information, since, well, he’s God and can do whatever he wants. It’s not as if he is encouraging us to hire him to be our God from among the choices of other gods that are out there. But isn’t that kind of how we look at this information contained in the Bible? We evaluate it critically against the claims of other beliefs and religious systems out there to see if it is a reasonable system of faith.

Since God certainly has nothing to prove, and yet we still need some sort of understanding of who he is, how does the Bible stack up as a demonstration of God’s “skills and notable accomplishments”?

Well, if we review the story of Israel as related in the Bible books, we find a consistent narrative that has a logical beginning, middle, and ending that has been borne out in time. We can see that there is a flow and a lasting evidence to how God has worked with the nation of Israel within history to help us understand who he is.

The story of Israel begins most notably with the events in the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as related in the book of Genesis. After Abraham leaves the Ur of the Chaldees to go to a special place in which God is calling him, his son and grandson, Isaac and Jacob, carry the story forward to the twelve sons of Jacob. In the course of time, they needed to temporarily leave the area that God had called them to due to severe famine. However, God had promised that they would be returning in fulfillment of what he had promised them.

Genesis 28:15 – “Look, I am with you, and I will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

In this vision that Jacob experiences, God recounts the promises made to his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac. He promised that they would receive the land, that his descendants would be as numerous as the dust of the earth, and that all the tribes of the earth would be blessed through him and his descendants.

Genesis 28:13-14 – “I will give you and your offspring the land on which you are lying. “Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out toward the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.”

Of course, the story reveals that in traveling to Egypt for salvation from the famine, they became a numerous people that began to be a threat to the Egyptians, so they were forced into slavery. God then sent Moses to deliver them, and separate them to himself as his own people.

After the events of the Exodus and the receiving of the Ten Commandments at Sinai, they are relegated to the wilderness in preparation for returning to the land that God had promised them.

As Moses and Aaron pass from the scene, God raises up Joshua to be their leader in purging the land from its pagan atrocities so the land can prosper under the auspices of the torah of God.

Deuteronomy 9:5 – “You are not going to take possession of their land because of your righteousness or your integrity. Instead, Yahweh your God will drive out these nations before you because of their wickedness, in order to fulfill the promise he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

After the battle campaigns, we find that everything had come to pass just as God had promised. On his deathbed, Joshua recounts God’s faithfulness:

Joshua 23:14 – “Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know with all your heart and soul that not one of the good promises Yahweh your God made to you has failed. Everything was fulfilled for you; not one promise has failed.”

So we can see, at least as far as Joshua was concerned, God had demonstrated himself worthy of faith based on everything that he had promised to their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

In reviewing God’s resume in relation to the Israelites, we find another historical aspect that has been borne out in time, and still exists to this day. Just prior to the nation entering and taking the land of Canaan, God had set some pretty strict covenantal standards in place. You may recall the blessings and the curses that were pronounced upon them if they were to keep the conditions of the covenant, or if they were to fail in doing so.

Deuteronomy 28:1, 15, 63-65 – “Now if you faithfully obey Yahweh your God and are careful to follow all his commands I am giving you today, Yahweh your God will put you far above all the nations of the earth. … “But if you do not obey Yahweh your God by carefully following all his commands and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overtake you: … “Just as Yahweh was glad to cause you to prosper and to multiply you, so he will also be glad to cause you to perish and to destroy you. You will be ripped out of the land you are entering to possess. “Then Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. You will find no peace among those nations, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot. There Yahweh will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despondent spirit.”

Again, we find that both of these examples, the blessings and the curses, have come to pass in the life of the nation.

As they demonstrated faithfulness and maintained worship of the one true God, the nation rose to power in the ancient world, coming to a pinnacle in the lives of David and Solomon. At that time, Israel was not only bountiful within the borders of its own land, but David had also won the peace of surrounding nations who became subservient to Israel, from Egypt all the way to the Euphrates river. This was a monumental territory that was a fulfillment of all that God had promised to Abraham.

Genesis 15:18 – “On that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I give this land to your offspring, from the brook of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River…”

Solomon lived to enjoy the fulfillment of that promise.

1 Kings 4:21 – “Solomon ruled all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines and as far as the border of Egypt. They offered tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.”

Sadly, Solomon also lived to see the beginning of the curses of the covenant fall upon the nation, as he himself was the catalyst of events that would lead to the removal of Israel from their territory that God had promised them.

1 Kings 11:4, 6 – “When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods. He was not wholeheartedly devoted to Yahweh his God, as his father David had been. … Solomon did what was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and unlike his father David, he did not remain loyal to Yahweh.”

In his later years, his heart went after foreign women and their gods. He began to compromise with the religions of the surrounding nations, and due to his unfaithfulness he triggered the activation of the covenant curses, beginning with his own son.

Upon his death, Solomon’s son Rehoboam inherited the kingdom and infuriated the people with his obstinance. As a result, Jeroboam, a servant of Solomon, rebelled and began to rule over ten of the tribes, leaving Judah and Benjamin to Rehoboam. A civil war was to commence that would never be physically healed.

Over the next several hundred years, the country would degrade further into idolatry and rebellion against God, until the ten tribes were finally overpowered by Assyria and removed from the land. Less than two centuries later, Babylon would rise to power and remove Judah and Benjamin from the land. The prophecy that Moses had given to their forefathers came to pass in horrifying reality.

Deuteronomy 28:63-64 – “…You will be ripped out of the land you are entering to possess. Then Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.”

Assyria invaded in 721 BC and Babylon in 586 BC. The Israelites were indeed “scattered among all peoples from one end of the earth to the other.” Even when the Jews in Babylon were allowed to return to Jerusalem 70 years later, many of them chose to remain in Babylon. The ten northern tribes that had been taken by the Assyrians were so widely spread and co-mingled with the nations that they also never fully returned.

Once again, the truth of God and his faithfulness to his word were demonstrated with Israel. Yet there remained a significant and enduring promise that was still to come to pass.

Long after the physical blessings and curses of the covenant had come to pass, there was still a work that God had committed would happen. Beyond the physical promises of a land and numerous people stood God’s promise to the forefathers of Israel that all the families or tribes of the earth would be blessed through their descendants. God had brought a small remnant of his people back to the land to ensure that the final stage of his drama with Israel could still be fulfilled.

One of the other major prophecies that God had declared to Moses was that of a prophet who was to come, who would faithfully speak God’s words within his generation.

Deuteronomy 18:18-19 – “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. I will hold accountable whoever does not listen to my words that he speaks in my name.”

Additionally, God had yet to fulfill a prior prophetic commitment that he had made to Abraham.

Genesis 18:18 – “Abraham is to become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him.”

The good news of the Bible is that God fulfilled these promises in the person of Yeshua. As God’s Son, the anointed One, he spoke the words of the Father to his generation of brothers and was appointed the judge who was to hold them accountable to the truth of God’s torah.

John 12:49 – “For I have not spoken on my own, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a command to say everything I have said.”

John 8:16 – “And if I do judge, my judgment is true, because it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me.”

Additionally, as a true descendant of Abraham’s lineage, he fulfilled every promise and prophecy for the nation, and became the springboard of faith to the rest of the world.

Genesis 21:12 – But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed about the boy and about your slave. Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her, because your seed will be traced through Isaac…

Galatians 3:28-29 – “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua. And if you belong to Messiah, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.”

Just as Isaac was a miraculous son of promise, so Yeshua was a miraculous son of promise. We see the fulfillment of these promises made to Abraham and to Israel through Moses that came to pass in the days of Yeshua. The early believers recognized these promises being fulfilled, and came to faith in Messiah.

Additionally, in recognition of these fulfillments, the apostle Paul reached out to the Israelites everywhere who were still scattered among the nations with the hopes that they would be restored to the one true God, and that as lost sheep they would be restored to the fold. Many did return to the faith of God, thereby fulfilling the torah by becoming a faithful remnant through whom God would reach out to all nations. In the process of these lost and scattered Israelites coming to faith in Messiah, many others of the nations did so also, demonstrating how all nations would be blessed through him.

Every faithful life needs a narrative, otherwise the Bible merely becomes a collection of stories and platitudes. The Bible stands as God’s resume of faithfulness, a narrative corroborated through the annals of history. Through this brief recounting of God’s faithfulness with the nation of Israel, we can see how God has provided us a resume of his accomplishments within the history of his people. We know historically that they were brought dramatically out of Egypt, how they flourished in the land that God had promised them, and yet were ultimately scattered among all nations, even down to this day. We see through these inner workings that God has done all things in wisdom by caring for his people, yet holding them accountable to their covenant. All of this was so that his glory would be made known to the whole world, and that all nations would be able to recognize him for who he is.

Like Paul, we can hold all of this in amazement when we realize the intricate care and detail in how God works all things to his own glory:

Romans 11:33, 36 – “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and untraceable his ways! … For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.”

The promises that were made to Abraham and Moses were recognized by the earliest believers in Messiah as coming to fulfillment in Yeshua. They have continued to come to pass up to our day, multiplying believers in the one true God and blessing all of the tribes within each generation of the earth into the future. As we honor God by trusting in him and his Messiah, we demonstrate we are participating in the ongoing consummation of his faithfulness to all people.

Now also on YouTube! Just getting started, but new videos will be added regularly on many different topics, find us at: Core of the Bible on YouTube.

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Living as faithful exiles

This is how the kingdom grows over time.

1 Peter 1:14-17, 2:1-2 – As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance. But as the one who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy. If you appeal to the Father who judges impartially according to each one’s work, you are to conduct yourselves in reverence during your time living as strangers. … Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander. Like newborn infants, desire the pure milk of the word, so that you may grow up into your salvation…

As Peter writes to the dispersed Israelites throughout the known world who have accepted Messiah Yeshua, he encourages them to live in holiness among the nations where they have been exiled. From the exhortations he relates to them, we can draw some parallels for our own lives.

Firstly, he urges them not to be conformed to the desires of their former ignorance.

1 Peter 1:18 – For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from your fathers…

This “empty way of life” was a life of rules and regulations poured on top of the simplicity of the law of God. Their “fathers,” the scribes and Jewish leaders through the preceding centuries, had corrupted the pure word of God into a long list of regulations about every aspect of life that was unachievable. Through their “oral Torah” traditions, they bound heavy loads on them that they could not keep.

Yeshua had railed against this hypocrisy and religious totalitarianism:

Matthew 23:2-4, 28 – “The scribes and the Pharisees are seated in the chair of Moses. “Therefore do whatever they tell you, and observe it. But don’t do what they do, because they don’t practice what they teach. “They tie up heavy loads that are hard to carry and put them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves aren’t willing to lift a finger to move them. … “In the same way, on the outside [they] seem righteous to people, but inside [they] are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Peter reminds them how they have been redeemed from this maze of human traditions, and that they were instead to seek “the pure milk of the word” without all of the added burdens.

Additionally, he encourages them to “conduct themselves with reverence during their time living as strangers.” This reverent conduct among the pagan nations they were exiled to should be a testimony to the righteousness of their belief in the one true God.

1 Peter 2:15 – For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good.

By doing good in their exilic communities, they should be an example to those around them that their lives were based on something more than just trying to survive in a foreign land.

Also, by living on the pure milk of the word, they would be constantly growing in understanding and wisdom, further setting them apart from their contemporaries in a way that would honor God. In this way, they would be actively demonstrating true holiness or “set-apartness” because of the wisdom of their ways.

From these admonitions, we can draw some analogous wisdom for our lives today. In one sense, believers in Messiah today are exiled from our true inheritance, living among “pagan” nations that don’t understand the spiritual heritage of these early believers that we are continuing to this day. It is up to us to live reverently among them, not joining in with their revelries and corrupt practices.

By doing good according to God’s word, our actions can similarly silence the foolish talk that circulates among those who are ignorant of God’s wisdom. The good that we do should speak for itself of the integrity of our beliefs.

Finally, if we also live on the pure milk of the word, we will continually be growing in our understanding until we are then able to receive the meat of the word, and in all of these things render faithfully God’s will in our lives.

Just as Peter exhorted the exiles to live holy lives, we should also continue that heritage by living holy lives in our generation, and for the generations to come. These actions can positively influence our neighbors who may not yet know God. This is how the kingdom grows over time, just as it has reached us over the millennia since Peter wrote to these congregations.

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The kingdom which spans multiple ages and realities

We would expect nothing less of an eternal kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God is an historical establishment, a present possession and a future reality.

The kingdom was present throughout the history of the Tanakh (Old Testament). The revelation of God at Sinai began a formal assembly of what would become God’s people.

Exodus 19:5-6 – “Now if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine, “and you will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites.”

Through the kingdom of Israel, the Torah or Word of God was established and made known. This historical aspect of the kingdom of God was brought to fruition when its prophesied head, the Messiah, taught of its principles to the generation of that age.

Matthew 5:3 – “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
Matthew 5:19 – “Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 9:35 – Jesus continued going around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness.

Yet, there was a sense of the kingdom that had not fully come yet, as the Messiah taught that the kingdom was always near but had not yet fully appeared in this reality.

Matthew 3:2 – and saying, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near! “
Matthew 4:17 – From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
Matthew 10:7 – “As you go, proclaim: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’
Mark 1:15 – “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news! “

Beyond these urgent admonitions for repentance, there was a sense in which Messiah conveyed that the kingdom would come in a new way before that generation all passed away. When certain signs of judgment were to be fulfilled, they would know that it was “even at the door,” i.e., extremely imminent.

Matthew 24:33-34 – “In the same way, when you see all these things, recognize that it is near – at the door. Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place.
Mark 13:29 – “In the same way, when you see these things happening, recognize that it is near – at the door.
Luke 21:31 – “In the same way, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near.

The reason the kingdom almost always appears to always be a future reality is because the writers of the Bible were living at a time where it had not fully blossomed into this reality. At the destruction of Jerusalem, when the old order of things had passed away, when the end of the age of national Israel had come, then could the next age, the age of the spiritual kingdom of God, begin to take hold in this world.

The early believers, the faithful remnant, were the seed that was planted among the nations. At the culmination of that age, the seed that had been planted in the soils of tribulation and watered with the blood of the martyrs then began to shoot forth. The work that was done among the fields of harvest of that chosen generation then began to bear fruit as the teachings of Messiah were taken up by those who had witnessed these things. As the writings of the apostles had been distributed to the congregations among the various nations of the Diaspora, the Tanakh was validated and the entirety of the Word of God began to spread.

Even while the apostles and early believers recognized that they were living at the end of that age, there was still a sense of the kingdom that they knew was beyond this present reality, an eternal inheritance that lie outside of this Created order. It was the inheritance of a heavenly kingdom, one that could only be entered when this earthly life is through.

2 Timothy 4:18 – The Lord will rescue me from every evil work and will bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever! Amen.
2 Peter 1:10-11 – Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these things you will never stumble. For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.
1 Corinthians 15:49-50 – And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust [Adam], we will also bear the image of the man of heaven [Messiah]. What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruption.

While we in this age can experience a spiritual communion with God and with his Messiah in the present spiritual kingdom of God, there remains as a hope for believers today a heavenly kingdom, an eternal reality beyond this Creation, the kingdom that cannot be shaken.

Hebrews 12:28 – Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful. By it, we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe…

If you enjoy these daily blog posts, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive at https://core-of-the-bible.simplecast.com/ or your favorite podcast streaming service. Questions or comments? Feel free to email me directly at coreofthebible@gmail.com.