What Does Remnant Mean When Used In The Bible?

When you read the word “remnant” in the Bible, what is the context that it is used in and what does it generally mean?

The Definition of a Remnant

The secular definition of the word remnant is not a pretty one. It gives us the image of left overs like carpet remnants or remnants of things that were left behind so an example of a remnant is the last yard of fabric that remains after all the other fabric has been sold or finding a remnant of the past like an old rotary telephone. The point is that the word remnant is almost anything but glorious and it’s frequently seen as ancient or of little or no value or use however the meaning of remnant has a much broader and more significant meaning when and where the word is used in the Bible.

New Testament References of a Remnant

When Peter addresses the Jews he speaks about the coming kingdom of God saying “After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old” (Acts 15:16-17). The remnant Peter speaks about refers to the latter days when Christ shall set up His kingdom but there is also a remnant that God will spare that He referred to in ancient antiquity and it refers to the nation of Israel. Paul refers to this when he quotes Isaiah 10:22 by writing “And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved” (Rom 9:27) so Paul asks “has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin” (Rom 11:1) and “So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace” (Rom 11:5).

Old Testament References of a Remnant

The word “remnant” is used eighty times in the Old Testament and for good reason and nowhere is this remnant spoken of more frequently than in the Book of Isaiah (16 times). God is not finished with His chosen people Israel. He may have turned His back on them for a time but not forever as Isaiah prophesied in the end times, writing “In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth” (Isaiah 10:20) and “A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God” (Isaiah 10:21). As God promised Abram and which Paul quotes in the Book of Romans (9:27) “For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness” (Isaiah 10:22) so Israel will yet survive, even if only a remnant.

The Day of the Lord

There is yet a future restoration for the nation of Israel and Isaiah writes “In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea” (11:11) and at that time “there will be a highway from Assyria for the remnant that remains of his people, as there was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt” (Isaiah 11:16). Writing more about “that day the Lord of hosts will be a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people” (Isaiah 28:5) as “the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward” (Isaiah 37:31). God’s chosen people will return again to the City of David “For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this” (Isaiah 37:32).

Conclusion

You too can be part of the kingdom of God because today “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28). Paul asks the rhetorical question; “is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too” (Rom 3:29) since “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile” (Rom 3:22) for everyone who has repented and trusted in Christ “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1).

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon.