Only the remnant?
What does Ezekiel really say? Will the entire house of Israel be redeemed? Is that what Ezekiel says when the Lord pours out His Spirit on His people: “This is the entire house of Israel.” Paul, in the New Testament, Romans 11, also speaks of the redemption of all Israel. But how then do you interpret Romans 9:27? And Isaiah exclaims about Israel: “Though the number of the Israelites be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant will be saved.”
Contradiction?
The redemption Paul speaks of in Romans 9 and 11 is the same verb in both verses. Anyone who then interprets this as eternal redemption contradicts Paul within two chapters. Because in chapter 9, according to that view, it is only a remnant that is saved. And then in chapter 11:26, it is all Israel that is saved, says Paul. A church interpretation of Paul’s words is that all Israel refers to the church. It would then seem that whenever something critical is said in the Bible, anywhere, it is always directed against Israel. On the other hand, if something beautiful is said, even to Israel, then that beautiful thing is said to the church, according to this church theology.
Torah discarded?
The same kind of error is made by those who think they read Matthew 5 as Yeshua declaring the Law and the Prophets to be over, when He says in verse 17: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.” Within two verses, Yeshua would contradict Himself with such an interpretation, when He says in verse 19: “Whoever breaks one of … the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
Israel replaced?
Being small in the kingdom of heaven is, for example, the foolish young women in Yeshua’s parable in Matthew 25. They are in the kingdom, but they do not participate in the wedding with the Bridegroom. The same religious fervor that led Paul to say that only a small portion of Israel will be saved is found in the explanation that people under the rule of King Yeshua no longer have to keep the commandments; and thus enjoy “grace.” In this view, the Jews are missing out. This is called replacement theology.
Ezekiel Back to the question of what is meant by remnant. Let us also let the Bible provide the answer. The prophet Ezekiel, as a seer on a high spiritual level, was able to experience and observe that all of Israel will be welcomed with open arms by the Eternal himself. He writes, after Ezekiel has seen a mass grave of bones, where the bones once again became the Jewish bodies of people who needed to be comforted.
Graves opend
With this prophetic promise: “12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord G-d says: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you, My people, from your graves, and I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you, My people, from your graves. 14 And I will put My Spirit in you, and you will live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken this, and I have performed it,’ declares the Lord” (Ezekiel 37:12-14).
Total and successful rescue operation
Not a small, chosen group, but a complete, successful rescue operation. Note: this is not a victory story, but rather a story of misery and a happy ending. These are the people who are discriminated against, persecuted, and murdered by attacks, wars, famines, fascist armies, mayors, and terrorists without education or students. So, when we speak of a remnant being saved, these people are not included, because they died prematurely and, in this case, are liberated and redeemed posthumously.
The sand of the sea
In Romans 9:27, as mentioned earlier, the concerned and involved Paul writes this: “Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: ‘Though the number of the Israelites be as the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved.” If you are not obsessively focused on Israel not being saved, but are open to acknowledging only the facts, then you will search for the meaning of the words: remnant and saved. First, about remnant: you are comparing apples and oranges when you think that the number of Israelites matters for salvation.
Paul about all of Israel
In other words, if the total number of Israelites were fewer, would it look different? And how do you reconcile that with what Paul says in Romans 11:26, “All Israel will be saved”? Again, it contradicts each other if you translate both passages as: saved! What Paul is talking about, in the time in which he lives, namely cruel Roman soldiers who randomly round up people to murder them. The reason: not any offense, but a large celebration of a Roman emperor or procurator in a foreign country, for example, Israel, where the Roman ruler wants to delight his guests after sunset with bright lights, by means of burning crucified bodies of still living people, including Jews.
Dimished amount of living
And this is just one example of all the atrocities in the Second Reich, which were very inspiring for the supporters of the Third Reich. Another example is the feeding of predators in the many arenas, where enthusiastically shouting and chanting spectators enjoyed the atrocities of the Roman leaders, or leaders of other nationalities. Completely defenseless families of Jews, later of Messianic Jews, stood huddled together, praying, singing, proclaiming, until the animals attacked them. Such mass slaughters naturally reduced the total Jewish population.
Remnant is: Survivors
Those who survived the pogroms, sometimes of entire ghettos, belonged to the remnant; in every generation. If these recurring massacres had never occurred, the total number of Jews would still be like the sand of the sea. A clearer translation of Romans 9:27 is therefore this: “Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: Though the number of the Israelites be as the sand of the sea, a remnant will always remain alive.” In this way the first part of that verse is in balance with the second as regards the meaning of: the number of living people, which has decreased in number due to circumstances.
No contradiction
With this explanation, Paul does not contradict himself in Romans chapters 9 and 11. And this also corresponds with Paul’s source text, namely Isaiah 10. After Isaiah speaks of forests that will be consumed by fire and of which only a remnant of those forests will survive, he moves on to the subject: the war between Israel and the Assyrians.
Isaiah
Read Isaiah 10:20-25, “20 In that day the remnant of Israel and the escaped of the house of Jacob will no longer rely on him who struck them, but they will rely faithfully on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. 21 The remnant, the remnant of Jacob, will return to the mighty G-d. 22 For, Israel, though your people are like the sand of the sea, a remnant will return. Destruction is decreed, and righteousness abounds in it. 23 The Lord G-d of hosts will bring about a destruction decreed in the midst of the whole earth. 24 Therefore thus says the Lord G-d of hosts: Do not be afraid, my people who dwell in Zion, of the Assyrian when he strikes you with his rod or lifts up his staff against you, as he did against Egypt. 25 For yet a little while, and the wrath will pass by and My wrath will be directed toward their destruction.”
Land or world?
A destruction would take place throughout the Middle East, cleverly translated as: “in the middle of the land.” While the translators of the HSV often translate the Hebrew word arets as: world, here they choose “the land.” This suggests that it refers to Israel. Because that fits their vision: Only a small remnant will be saved.
The remnant will return
After the destruction, with the loss of so many lives, on both the Israelite and Assyrian sides, the Eternal promises that those who survive will return from the Assyrian exile. Ezekiel is deeply concerned for his people when he speaks these words. He foresees a great war. He is not going to give a theological treatise on who will go to heaven. He lets us know that those who survive will still be left with the loss of family members, of their husbands and fathers who perished in battle. Of people who received no medical help amidst all the turmoil. Only a remnant will survive. But don’t ask how!
