King Hezekiah sits in
recorded history as a King of Judah that was like David in character and
godliness. He reformed Judean
worship. At the same time the Assyrian
king Sennacherib’s army is knocking on the door of
Jerusalem and preparing to take it captive, as he did to Samaria. When King Hezekiah was aware of the
precarious situation he sent word to the prophet Isaiah. His messengers reported on behalf of the
King:
This
day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the
moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 It
may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the field commander,
whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and
that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore
pray for the remnant that still survives.” [1]
The term that Hezekiah uses to describe
those Jews still in Jerusalem is a deeply rooted, profound term. He writes, "Pray for the remnant."
Now he may have meant simply "those that have survived still remaining in
Jerusalem." But I would think that
this godly king is using a more specific term here. In layman's term, the technical use of the
word "remnant" are those of the godly seed promised from Genesis 3:15
through the Patriarchs that remain faithful to God. For example as this Bible Dictionary explains:
"The idea of a remnant surfaces in
Genesis and appears throughout the Old Testament, developing more fully in the
Prophets. In Genesis, Yahweh chooses Noah and his family as a remnant who will
secure a future existence for humanity after the flood (Gen 7:23). The idea of
a remnant appears again in the narratives of Joseph, when he tells his brothers
that Yahweh sent him “to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive
for you many survivors” (Gen 45:7 ESV) . . .
In Romans 9:27–29, the Apostle Paul quotes from Isa 10:22–23 and 1:9
when speaking about the remnant: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as
the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved” (ESV). The remnant
will include Israelites who are children of the promise (Rom 9:8; see Rom 11:1,
3–5) as well as people from outside Israel who believe (Rom 9:24; 10:12; Gal
6:16)."[2]
Sadly multitudes of Israelites would be
cast off, separated from Christ, but a remnant would be saved. God's sovereign choice of whom He will save
is clearly seen through the Biblical story. We who believe in Jesus Christ as
our Lord and Savior can, with great peace, rest in the fact that we belong to
the “remnant.” It is the remnant that is
given the promises of God unto eternal life.
The Church neither became Israel, nor replaced Israel. The Church is the fulfillment of the remnant
that existed from the time of Adam and has flowered into a glorious people of
all ethnicities, all in Christ, as Lord and Savior. Hezekiah's prayer was
answered in Christ. The remnant has and
will survive, to the praise of His glorious grace.
[1] The
New International Version. (2011). (2 Ki 19:1–4). Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan.
[2] Nierengarten, P. A. (2012, 2013, 2014,
2015). Remnant. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D.
Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
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