LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 21:9 September 2021
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

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The Concept of Remnant: A Biblical and Theological Review

Thomas S. Shetler, Ph.D.

Introduction

In 1972 Gerhard F. Hasel wrote The History and Theology of the Remnant Idea from Genesis to Isaiah, which generated significant interest among Old Testament scholars. The book was the result of a very thorough study of the concept of the remnant as found in the Old Testament and literature from the Ancient Near East (ANE). A few scholarly articles have been written since, and most, true to the tenner of the times, focus on the meaning of words in Hebrew (and other ancient languages) and their usage in the historical context of the Old Testament and the Dead Sea Scrolls. In other words, current scholarship sees the concept of a remnant as a matter of historical interest with little practical consequence. For Hasel and others, the topic is primarily of academic and scholarly interest. We will include some of this scholarship to give a sense of the historical context of the terms and their range of meaning as well as the current status of the biblical concept.

But the central purpose of this article is to examine the older, more conservative, belief that the Bible teaches of a small group of people in Israel who were faithful and obedient amid a largely faithless and disobedient majority (I Kings 19:18). This faithful remnant existed even in the world of the prologue (Genesis 1-11), gave rise to Abraham, and later existed in Israel when Israel was in apostasy and facing God’s judgment. This remnant will continue on beyond the Old Testament era and play an important role in the events of the New Testament. From the Old Testament remnant will come John the Baptist, the Virgin Mary, Joseph, Simeon, and Ana. In this way, the remnant will be instrumental in the incarnation of Christ. Ultimately the remnant will become the church, and as we will see, exist within the church.

Some might say that the eschatological remnant described by many modern scholars is this righteous remnant which will be saved at the end of the age. While this writer agrees that there is an eschatological remnant in Scripture, it is not the same thing as the righteous remnant. The concept in scripture is not just about who remains at the end of history, but about who is instrumental in the fulfillment of the Promise to Abraham (Genesis 12:3), with all of its redemptive and eschatological implications. It is the intent of this paper to explore the biblical teaching of a righteous remnant and its implications for our lives and ministry today.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Thomas S. Shetler, Ph.D.
Bethany Global University
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438 USA
Tom.Shetler@bethfel.org
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