(Romans 11:4-5) “I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.” (Romans 9:27) “Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the Israelites is like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved.”
Introduction:
Elijah was God’s prophet who stood against a king of Israel who had apostatised and had married a witch called Jezebel that had control over him and through Ahab had spiritually seduced the people of Israel into idolatry. Added to this Jezebel supported a total of 850 false prophets, consisting of 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah. These prophets were part of the idolatrous satanic practices that Jezebel promoted during her reign alongside King Ahab in Israel.
When Jezebel was seeking to kill off the LORD’s faithful prophets including Elijah faithful Obadiah an official in Ahab’s court who greatly feared the LORD, when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water (1 Kings 18:3b-4).
When Elijah had seen God send fire down from heaven in full view of the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah and the people of Israel, and after Elijah had commanded the Israelites to kill all of these false prophets, he had to flee in fear for his life because Jezebel wanted him dead
Tired and dispirited Elijah became exhausted as he ran from Jezebel and ended up sitting under a broom tree wanting God to take his life. In his exhaustion Elijah fell asleep. He was immediately woken up by and angel who had set before him a home cooked hot meal and water supernaturally supplied by Heavens restaurant and that free of charge! Elijah lay down again possibly still too discouraged and depressed and not having any appetite. This angel was in fact the Angel of the LORD (with the definite article), the pre-incarnate Messiah Himself before His incarnation, who encouraged Elijah to eat, and that food that God had provided gave His prophet the strength he needed to continue his ministry (1 Kings 19:3-8).
He ended up in a cave still wrestling a state of depression and despair thinking that all of the LORD’s prophets had been killed and that he was the only one left. He felt betrayed by his own people because they had turned away from the LORD, rejected God’s covenant with them, broken down the altars dedicated to the LORD and killed his fellow prophets (1 Kings 19:9-10).
After this, God revealed His supernatural power to Elijah showing Him that as God He could speak through the wind and the earthquake but also through the still small voice as well. Added to this God also told him that there were 7,000 in Israel who had remained faithful who had not succumbed to idolatry, those who had not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths had not kissed the idol. This was something Elijah needed to be assured of after seeing the LORD’s awesome power on Mt Carmel (1 Kings 19:11-18).
Just as there was a faithful remnant chosen by God’s unmerited favour (grace) in Elijah’s situation, so God has a faithful remnant of Israelites chosen by His grace that will remain faithful to Him, embrace the Messiah our Lord Jesus and inherit the Messianic kingdom at the end of this present age (Romans 11:3-6) (Revelation 7:3-8) (Zechariah 12:10-13:1).
Added to this, there is also a remnant within wider Christendom who will remain faithful to the Messiah our Lord Jesus when the final apostasy occurs opening the way for the man of sin to be revealed (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4). These faithful believers, who have not bowed the knee to the man of sin and to the image of his empire, will be rescued from the coming wrath of God (1 Thessalonians 1:10:5:9). These are not appointed for wrath but for salvation according to God’s grace and foreknowledge.
Those who appear with the 144,000 Israelites sealed from the 12 tribes of Israel, is the Body of Messiah, the faithful assembly of New Covenant believers who have been spiritually grafted into the Commonwealth of Israel and are seen by John coming out of Great Tribulation (Revelation 7:9-17). These two groups are distinguishable from each other but one blood redeemed family in Messiah (Ephesians 2:11-22).
When we read through the Bible we see that God has always had a faithful remnant that persevered by faith and with a heart seeking to obey His Word despite adversity and opposition and insurmountable circumstances. Let’s now look at some of those who were the chosen faithful remnant and how they overcame these insurmountable odds by the supernatural power of God!
NOAH
Noah we are told in the Bible was a man who by faith being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith (Hebrews 11:7), and that Noah was a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when they were spared when the LORD brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly (2 Peter 2:5).
For 120 years Noah and seven others family members built that ark of salvation and Noah as a preacher of righteousness would have been telling them as the unrighteous and wicked of the coming judgement of God and that their only hope of deliverance was the ark of salvation. He was laughed at, jeered, criticized, mocked by the ungodly and I dare say there were those who set up their picnic things to observe this man constructing a huge boat even though there was no sign of a flood to come.
This teaches us about the end of this present age when most of humanity in their sin and rebellion will not enter into the ark of salvation by faith in the Messiah our Lord Jesus to save them from the coming fiery wrath of God, but that there will be a chosen faithful remnant that will enter into the Kingdom of God. God’s chosen faithful remnant will always be those who fix their eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18). We need to ask ourselves what is the real focus of our lives in this perverse and crooked generation?
Joshua and Caleb
When the Israelites were on the very border of the Promised Land Moses sent Joshua and Caleb who were among the twelve spies Moses sent to explore the land of Canaan. Moses selected one leader from each of the twelve tribes of Israel for this mission. Joshua represented the tribe of Ephraim, while Caleb represented the tribe of Judah.
After spending 40 days scouting the land, the spies returned with reports. They confirmed that Canaan was a land “flowing with milk and honey” and brought back large fruits, including a cluster of grapes so large that it required two men to carry it. However, ten of the spies expressed fear about the strength of the inhabitants and the fortified cities, claiming that the Israelites could not conquer the land.
In contrast, Joshua and Caleb urged the Israelites to trust in God’s promise and to proceed with taking the land. They believed that with God’s help, the Israelites could overcome the challenges. Unfortunately, the majority’s fearful report swayed the people, leading to a prolonged period of wandering in the wilderness for the Israelites for another 40 years.
As a result of the negative reports from the ten spies, that entire generation, except for Joshua and Caleb, was not allowed to enter the Promised Land. They were the only two from that generation permitted to eventually enter Canaan after the 40 years of wandering.
Once again it was a chosen faithful remnant that inherited all that God had promised His people. Even though there were giants and heavily fortified cities in Canaan it was not a problem for Joshua and Caleb, the remnant living by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). They were not moved by what they saw in the natural but by what God had promised in His Word. As it is written; “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). Joshua and Caleb lived to enter the Promised Land with the next generation of Israelites not born in Egypt.
As we also read in the Word of God that “Now faith is the assurance (deep centred conviction) of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (unseen realities) (Hebrews 11:1). For Joshua and Caleb what they saw by faith in the realm of the Spirit was a greater reality for them than what they saw with their physical eyes. Even the giants would not prove to be a problem for them.
Gideon
Gideon was chosen by God to lead the Israelites against the Midianites. At the start, he gathered an army of 32,000 men to confront the Midianite forces, which numbered around 135,000. The Angel of the LORD (the pre-existent Messiah before His incarnation) instructed Gideon to reduce his army to ensure that Israel would recognize God’s power in their victory. He told Gideon that those who trembled with fear to send them home, consequently this resulted in 22,000 men going home leaving him with 10,000 men. God was sifting the remnant from the army.
Then the LORD told him to reduce the number by testing how the soldiers drank water. Only 300 who lapped water with their hands while keeping a look out for the enemy and by this staying alert, were chosen. The others who knelt down to drink the water were sent home because they had failed to remain watchful. This left Gideon with the 300 men (Judges 7:1-7).
With his small army, Gideon devised a unique strategy. He divided the 300 men into three groups. Each soldier was given a trumpet and a jar with a torch inside. At night, they surrounded the Midianite camp and, on Gideon’s signal, blew their trumpets, broke the jars, and shouted, “For the Lord and for Gideon!” the Midianites were thrown into confusion and turned on each other, leading to a decisive victory for Gideon and his 300 men. This event demonstrated that faith and reliance on God can lead to triumph, even against overwhelming odds.
The chosen faithful remnant were those who had the faith in the LORD to give them the victory, whereas the bulk of the men forfeited the victory due to not staying watchful when they were about to engage the enemy. This is why as New Covenant believers we must remain vigilant and watchful. As the apostle peter writes; “Cast (and keep casting) all your anxiety on Him (the LORD), because He cares for you. Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering” (1 Peter 5:7-9). Satan always targets the chosen faithful remnant!
It is interesting to note that Gideon at first was no hero but rather reluctant to go and fight the Midianites, however, God was not looking for a self-confident man who was a naturally gifted leader, but one who knew that he could only be victorious by leaning upon and trusting in God alone and in His Word. God had found His man!
This is the mark of the chosen faithful remnant, especially in these last days in which we are living. As it is written; “the people who do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits” (Daniel 11:32a).
David
David was a man after God’s own heart and had a faithful remnant standing with him even when King Saul and his army were seeking David’s life. The ones who joined David when he was being pursued by Saul and his military forces were misfits in society. They were not from the educated, the rich, and the “go getters” in business or endowed with social graces as such. They could fight though.
David’s followers who gathered around him during his time of exile were distressed Individuals suffering from various troubles, debtors burdened by financial obligations and discontented individuals unhappy with their circumstances. These outcasts from well-respected and refined society in Israel came to David while he was hiding in the cave of Adullam. He became their leader, and the group grew to about 400 men. This assembly of misfits formed a unique band, and came to be known as David’s “mighty men.”
David’s ability to attract these outcasts highlighted his leadership qualities. He welcomed them with dignity and love, creating a sense of belonging among those who felt rejected by society. This group not only provided David with support but also became instrumental in his rise to power as the future king of Israel. Once again it was a chosen faithful remnant that stayed loyal to David against insurmountable odds; consequently David’s leadership transformed a band of outcasts into a loyal and formidable force for God’s theocratic kingdom in Jerusalem.
David of course is a type of the Messiah our Lord Jesus who also gathered around him men who were not really a part of the upper echelon of society, but who in time, became pillars in the Israel of God, the corporate assembly of New Covenant Messianic believers.
In fact the apostle Paul expresses this truth when writing to the Corinthians; “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. Brothers, consider the time of your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong, so that no man may boast before God” (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).
This is the character of the faithful remnant chosen by God’s grace in His foreknowledge of all things. They are those who constantly depend on the LORD in all the changing circumstances of life knowing their spiritual weakness apart from the power of God!
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
They were young Jewish men taken to Babylon during the Babylonian exile and were appointed to high positions in King Nebuchadnezzar’s court. Now Nebuchadnezzar erected a golden statue and commanded everyone to worship it. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow to the statue, remaining faithful to God while the rest of the Israelites bowed down to the idol. The king ordered them to be thrown into a fiery furnace, heated seven times hotter than usual. When they were cast into the flames, they were unharmed. Nebuchadnezzar saw four figures walking in the fire, one resembling “the son of God.”
It is interesting to note what they said to the king when offered a compromise. “Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:15-18).
In their case the pre-existent Messiah before His incarnation was with them in the furnace and delivered them out of it. Whether He delivered them or not they remained faithful even in the furnace of affliction.
Down through the centuries there have been unnumbered multitudes of faithful believers who have gone into “the furnace” and not been physically delivered, however they had already received their deliverance and looked forward to their eternal reward. Today multitudes of our brothers and sisters in Messiah are being imprisoned, tortured to death and murdered for their faith and fall asleep in Messiah, and are now absent from their physical bodies but present with the LORD (2 Corinthians 5:8).
The character of the LORD’s chosen faithful remnant is described in the Book of Hebrews…
“And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again.
There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them.
They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.” These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect” (Hebrews 11:32-40).
However the Old Testament saints of God, the chosen faithful remnant did not have the full revelation of the resurrection that we have as New Covenant believers in the Messiah our Lord Jesus who Himself said; “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die” (John 11:25-26a).
The Day of Pentecost
On that day David’s fallen tabernacle was restored according to the teaching of the prophet Amos (Amos 9:11-12), and later recognised by the apostles at Jerusalem including God’s plan of salvation to spiritually graft believing Gentiles into the Commonwealth of Israel which had been spiritually resurrected on the day of Pentecost (Acts 15:12-18).
When 70 AD arrived forty years after the death, the resurrection and the ascension of the Lord Jesus, it was only a chosen faithful remnant who were supernaturally guided out of the city through the Roman lines to safety because they believed what the Lord Jesus had said about the destruction of the Temple and the desolation of Jerusalem. Even though Pentecost occurred and thousands were saved for the most part the Jews as a whole continued to reject the Messiah and the only means of salvation.
Even after 2000, years of exile the Jewish people are back in the Land as written in the prophets, however it will only be a chosen faithful remnant that will be saved in the end (Zechariah 13:8-9) (Zechariah 12:11-13:1). “As Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the Israelites is like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved” (Romans 9:27). Today in Israel the remnant are already being gathered and there are more Jewish people being saved today than at any other time in history. However, Israeli society on the whole still rejects the Messiah and remains under the curse of the Law.
Even though that curse was broken at the cross through the power of the Messiah’s atoning, redeeming and cleansing blood, that curse still remains over the individual lives of Israelis who reject the Messiah, however, when any Jewish man, woman or young person repents of their unbelief in Him and seek to be set free from the power and penalty of sin through faith in His blood to do this work od salvation, that curse over their lives is broken and they become part of the chosen faithful remnant. We always need to keep in mind that the gospel of the kingdom must first be proclaimed to the Jewish people (Romans 1:16).
It also needs to be said that when a Jewish person in spiritually reborn from above by the Holy Spirit becoming a New Covenant believer in the Messiah our Lord Jesus, they do not cease to be Jewish ethnically or lose their Jewish identity. In fact the opposite is true; they discover what it really means to be fully Jewish from God’s perspective and totally accepted by Him as the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
As Rabbi the apostle Paul writes; “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God” (Romans 2:28-29).
Epilogue
In Revelation chapter seven we see the chosen faithful remnant in Israel and within the Body of Messiah. They are separate and distinct yet one like two sides of the same coin. They are both of the one and the same eternal family of our Triune God and redeemed by the blood of Messiah. Both are seen coming out of this time of Great Tribulation (Revelation 7:14). These are the chosen and faithful remnant. They are in this time of the Big Trouble but seen “coming out of it” rendered in the Greek text in the present continuous sense. When a New Covenant believer falls asleep in Messiah their rapture has already occurred. They will receive their glorified bodies when the Messiah comes back.
Those New Covenant believers that are still alive on earth when the Messiah’s Second Coming occurs will be raptured, snatched up in the twinkling of the eye while at the same time also receive their resurrected immortal indestructible bodies, the same as the Lord Jesus Himself has (1 Corinthians 15:51-53) (Philippians 3:21) (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) (1 John 3:2).
When the Messiah’s feet once again touch the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:3-5), and all of his enemies have been destroyed and Israel completely spiritually and nationally restored, the chosen faithful remnant of Jew and Gentile in Messiah will co-reign with Him over the surviving nations on earth in His Messianic Kingdom on earth (Zechariah 14:6-21) (Revelation 5:9-10).
Now our Triune God knows all things as He dwells in eternity being the one and Triune God who is eternal in nature. He in His perfect wisdom and foreknowledge knows His chosen faithful remnant individually. He knows the future of course and knows who will be saved and who won’t.
However He still gives people the choice which is perfectly consistent in both Testaments. He does not choose who will go to heaven and who will go to hell. This is a horrible un-Biblical doctrine which down through the history of the Body of Messiah has caused much hatred, judgmental attitudes, propagated partiality, and has separated brothers in Messiah.
The truth is that God chooses us to be His faithful remnant on earth because He knew from all of eternity that we would come to a saving faith and knowledge of the Messiah our Lord Jesus. This whole huge subject of election and free will is not the subject of this study.
There is a story told of a very rich man who was a believer in Messiah and this man had two sons who were not saved. He had a very close friend who was an evangelist. He asked his friend that after he had died if his friend would take his funeral service and at the end of the message give an evangelistic appeal. His friends agreed to do this.
The day came when the wealthy man who loved God fell asleep in Messiah and became absent from his body and present with the LORD in heaven. His close friend the evangelist preached the gospel of the kingdom and gave the appeal. One of the two sons responded to the invitation but the other one didn’t.
However, sometime later when the will was being read and the two sons were present it was revealed that the bulk of the inheritance had been willed to the son who had responded because the father knew the boys well, and their character. God in eternity already foreknew the choice each son would make but still gave them the choice.
The proof of our election and that we are part of the chosen faithful remnant is not just what we believe although this is important. We know even the devils believe the truth and tremble but still remain rebels in God’s sight. All of us who know and believe the truth also need to ask ourselves are we being daily changed and increasingly conformed and moulded into to the image and likeness of the Son of God? This is proof that we are His elect, chosen and faithful remnant (Romans 8:28-30). Having said this; the Time of Jacob’s Trouble is looming on the horizon even as this article is being written in this month of August 2025.
The ‘birth pains’ of Matthew Chapter 24:6-12 are increasing in frequency and intensity yet the day and the hour of the Second Coming of Messiah is still not known on earth even though it has been fixed in heaven (Acts 17:31). The chosen, faithful remnant; enters this time of testing called the Time of Great Tribulation but are kept in it and through it and saved out of it right at the end of it (Revelation 3:10).
See: “Kept in the Hour of Testing” on this website
In Revelation Chapter seven we see the blood redeemed saints coming out of Great Tribulation between the sixth and the seventh seal. This it would seem to be when the rapture and resurrection of the chosen faithful remnant happens.
If you have repented of your sins, believed in the Messiah to save you and cleanse you from your sins by His blood being the purchase price the price of your redemption and for the forgiveness of your sins, and have confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and have believed in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, and have been baptised and received the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38-39) (Romans 10:8-10), then God Himself assures you that you are one of His chosen faithful remnant and an inheritor of eternal life in this present world and in the world to come (John 5:24).
When will the Messiah our Lord Jesus return? Matthew tells us in his gospel that the Lord Jesus gave the last great sign that will usher in His Second Coming. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come!” (Matthew 24:14).
At the end of this present age our Triune God will have His chosen faithful remnant co-reigning with the Messiah our Lord Jesus sitting on David’s throne at Jerusalem as the King of the Jews, and the government of the whole world will be upon His shoulders. In that day all who have believed in the Messiah and are the recipients of His salvation will be the chosen faithful remnant! Will you be among them?
