The concept of the faithful remnant is central to the understanding of the OT, particularly the prophets.

It is used three ways in the OT. The first is the basic level of those who physically survive a disaster or catastrophe, such as the invasion of the land by a foreign power. One example of this is when Joseph declared to his brothers that God had sent him to Egypt to preserve a remnant through the famines (Gen 45:7).

The second is the faithful remnant being used a description often used by the prophets to describe the small number of people who showed genuine spirituality and a true faith and trust in Yahweh, particularly those who refused to worship idols such as Ba’al or Asherah.

The third is the eschatological remnant, those who will pass through the final judgement to be victorious on the Day of the Lord as members of the everlasting kingdom of God.

Throughout the whole period of OT history there was always a small minority of people who remained faithful to Yahweh and his covenant, even through the darkest periods of Israel's history. The majority of the population, particularly during the pre-exilic period became syncretic, worshipping both Yahweh and the idols. This is shown by the large number of small household statuettes of gods such as Ba’al and Asherah which have been discovered by archaeologists.

Many of the godly people who formed the remnant are praised in the roll-call of the heroes of faith (Heb 11). It was these people, rather than the whole population of Israel, who would receive the many promises of God of a glorious future and hope, expressed by Isaiah, "In that day the LORD of hosts will be a garland of glory, and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people" (Is 28:5).

In the wilderness

In the wilderness wanderings, only Joshua and Caleb were allowed ‘to enter God's rest’ in the promised land, out of the multitude that left Egypt. “Not one of you shall come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun” (Num 14:30). They were the only two out of the twelve spies who trusted God to overcome the Canaanites in the land. The remainder of the population were condemned to die in the wilderness (Num 14:32).

Elijah

Following his victory over the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel (1 Kg 18), Elijah believed he was the only prophet left in Israel who was loyal to Yahweh (1 Kg 19:14). God encouraged him by saying that there were seven thousand others who had not bowed the knee to Baal (1 Kg 19:18). Paul uses Elijah as an example of the faithful remnant (Rom 11:2-5).

Amos

The prophet Amos used the concept of the remnant in three important ways. The first was to counter the idea that all of Israel could claim to be the remnant. The people tended to believe that being chosen as God’s people guaranteed their future salvation. However Amos declared that divine election leads to responsibility rather than a privilege, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for your iniquities” (3:2). He declared that the people of Israel are like the shepherd rescuing small portions of a sheep from the mouth of a lion (3:12). He predicts that the cows of Bashan will be taken into exile with fish-hooks (4:1-3). He laments that out of a thousand, only a hundred will be left, and out of a hundred only ten will be left (5:3). He paints a picture of destruction where ten people will die in a house, leaving no one left to be rescued (6:9-10). No one will escape from the LORD in the coming judgement (9:1-4), when he shakes Israel like a sieve among the nations (9:9).

God promises that he will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob (9:8). However after the Assyrian invasion and exile, only an insignificant remnant will remain, meaningless for Israel's national existence.

The second use is to describe the true remnant of Israel. He urges the people facing judgement to seek God and live (5:4, 6), calling them to establish justice, saying, “Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph" (5:15).

The third is to predict the inclusion of the remnant of Edom with other nations as recipients of the Davidic promise. "On that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen, and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old; in order that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name." (9:12). This is the passage quoted by James the apostle to conclude the conference in Jerusalem, understanding it to predict the incorporation of Gentiles into the church (Acts 15:16).

According to Amos the true remnant will be faithful to God, and will receive the blessing of the future hope of restoration and prosperity.

Isaiah

The concept of the remnant is central to Isaiah's theology. In his call, there is a connection between the themes of judgement, salvation, holiness, and survival of the remnant (Is 6). In the judgement on Judah only a small remnant will survive, “Even if a tenth part remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak whose stump remains standing when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump” (6:13). In the desolation of the nation predicted there will only be a few survivors, like a remnant, “If the LORD of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we would have been like Sodom, and become like Gomorrah.” (1:9). Paul quotes from this in his letter to the Romans (Rom 9:29).

Isaiah said that his family served as signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts (8:18). His first son was named ‘Shear-jashub’, which means ‘a remnant will return’ (7:3). Even though judgement is surely coming, his son’s name showed that there was hope of salvation for the true remnant of faith.

During Sennacherib's siege of Jerusalem (701 BC), Hezekiah asks Isaiah to pray for the remnant that is left in Jerusalem (Is 37:4, 2 Kg 19:4). Isaiah predicts that the surviving remnant of Judah shall again take root, and that Assyria will be judged, “The surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward, for from Jerusalem a remnant shall go out and from Mount Zion a band of survivors”. (Is 37:30-32, 2 Kg 19:29-31).

Micah

The concept of the remnant is also important in the Book of Micah, where it is often linked with Messianic predictions. In the first hope section, God promises to gather the survivors of Israel, “I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob, I will gather the survivors of Israel; I will set them together like sheep in a fold, like a flock in its pasture; it will resound with people. The one who breaks out will go up before them; they will break through and pass the gate, going out by it. Their king will pass on before them, the LORD at their head (Micah 2:12-13). This is the first time the idea of a shepherd king is predicted by Micah.

In the second hope section, Micah predicts that the LORD will gather the lame and make them a strong remnant, who the LORD will reign over in Mount Zion (4:7). He declares that the remnant will be like dew and showers (5:7), and be like a lion among the animals of the forest (5:8). An important link is made between the shepherd king who will come from Bethlehem, the remnant and the new people of God (5:2). God will show mercy to the remnant, pardoning their iniquity and casting their sins into the sea (7:18-20).

Jeremiah

The prophet Jeremiah uses the idea of the remnant in two ways. The first is positive, referring to the exiles currently in Babylon who will return. These are the ones Jeremiah calls the ‘good figs’ (24:4-7). He declares that God will gather this remnant and bring them back, “Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply". (23:3). He calls out to God to save the remnant of his people (31:7-9). In the oracle to Babylon, Jeremiah predicts that God will pardon the remnant that he has spared, “In those days and at that time, says the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and none shall be found; for I will pardon the remnant that I have spared (50:20).

He also uses the idea of the remnant negatively to describe the Jews who remained in Jerusalem under King Zedekiah, his officials, and the Jews who fled to Egypt. These are the ones he calls the ‘bad figs’ (24:8-10). It was this remnant who remained in the land under Gedaliah, the Babylonian governor (41:11,15, 42:2,15,19) and who later fled to Egypt against the word of the Lord (43:5), to whom Jeremiah pronounced judgement (Jer 42:17, 44:7,12,14,28).

Romans

In the section when Paul wrestles with the issue of the majority of his fellow-Jews who had rejected the Gospel, Paul looks back to the concept of the faithful remnant in the OT.

Paul quotes the example of Elijah (Rom 11:1-5), who was called by God to be his prophet during the period of great spiritual darkness in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of Ahab and Jezebel. Jezebel had encouraged Ahab to establish the worship of the rain-god Ba’al in his kingdom and Elijah was called by God to confront this. Following his great victory at Mount Carmel against the priests of Baal (1 Kg 18), he entered a state of spiritual depression, when God met him on Mount Sinai. Elijah's life was threatened by Jezebel, and he thought he was the only person who remained faithful to Yahweh (1 Kg 19:10,14, quoted in Rom 11:3). Elijah believed that only himself was the remnant. However, God replied saying that there were seven thousand others who were faithful to Yahweh and had not bowed the knee to Baal (1 Kg 19:18, quoted in Rom 11:4). These seven thousand plus Elijah formed the faithful remnant at this time.

Paul used this example to illustrate the concept of the remnant, that only a remnant of the Jews, including himself, had responded to the Gospel. These people continued the line of faithful people in the OT, while the majority were unfaithful and would not receive the promises, but instead would come under the wrath of God, as they had in the Old Testament.

Paul also quotes Isaiah to explain the doctrine of the remnant (Rom 9:27, quoting Is 10:22-23), to explain why the majority of the Jews had not responded to the Gospel. Isaiah was predicting that although the Israelites were a multitude like the sand on the seashore, as fulfilment of the promise to Abraham (Gen 22:17), they would go into exile as judgement on their persistent idolatry, but only a remnant would return to the land. It was this remnant who returned with Zerubbabel and Ezra (Ezra 9:8,13-15), while the majority remained in Babylon or scattered around the known world. This promise of a return to the land with a glorious future of peace and prosperity following the exile was also made by Micah (Mic 2:12, 5:7-8), and Jeremiah (Jer 31:7-8). These promises were partly fulfilled in the return from the exile in 536 BC, but in a much greater way through the Gospel, where the remnant now includes both Jews and Gentiles.