The First Exile & Faithful Remnant

We often read about the Remnant in scripture. As GotQuestions explains in the opening to their question about remnant,

Question: "What does the Bible mean when it refers to a remnant?"

Answer: A remnant is a left-over amount from a larger portion or piece, whether it is food, material from which a garment is fashioned, or even a group of people. Although remnants could be looked upon as worthless scraps, and many times are, God assigned high value to those of His people whom He had set aside for holy purposes, those He labels as "remnants" in several places in the Bible.

We also read about Exiles. Adam and Eve were exiled from the Garden. Cain was exiled from God's presence. We know the Israelites were often exiled from the land as they were punished for their spiritual adultery against God by worshiping other gods. The People were exiled to Egypt, carried to Babylon and lived as strangers in a strange land. Exile will be the final and unalterable state of anyone who has not repented to Jesus, living bodily in an eternity in hell away from God's grace and instead a life of exile in torment.

Exiled means to rejected and be apart from, denied entrance to. The same with remnant, a tattered thing that oftentimes, no one wants. A small quantity of something left over.

So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. (Hebrews 13:12-14).

In the Old Testament, God's main threat for sin was a judgment of exile away from the presence of God. Remember, God's glory inhabited the Temple, the one place where heaven met earth at the Ark of the Covenant. The notion of exile develops further in the New Testament and becomes clearer that judgment is to be eternally exiled from God's presence...eternal abandonment by God.

As my pastor preached on Sunday,

Because God loves us, as sinful people, He did not want us to experience eternal judgment of the exile that we all deserve. So He sent Jesus. Jesus is the faithful remnant of One. The only truly faithful Israelite in history, who actually kept the Law of Moses. Jesus actually became, when He was crucified outside the city at Golgotha, the salt of the earth, the light of the world, the city on the hill, in His one person representing His people. He was abandoned, in exile, alone, crucified apart from the city outside. Abandoned by the people, the religious people, His disciples, His friends, and even by His Father.

The Bible is about Jesus.
His story
His work
His Person
His glory
His desire to gather a people to Himself
His kingdom
His priesthood
His judgment

Sometimes it's good to cut through the Christian brouhaha, the nasty arguments, the forced intellectualizing of the faith, the confusing evangelism techniques, the added layers,...and remember the simple. It is about Jesus. Everything and all of history points to one person, Jesus Christ, God's son, God Himself.

If you are reading this as a non-believer, a seeker, a doubter, then pray in repentance to Jesus who is in heaven but is soon to come. He will forgive your sins. If not, then unfortunately when you die you will discover that death is only a gateway to another life, one that you will live as an exile, not even enjoying His common grace as you enjoy now, the beauty of the world, the food you eat, the refreshing rain, the sunlight. There will be no hope.

If you're reading this as a believer take time today to thank Him for writing your name in the Lamb's Book of Life, setting you apart for His kingdom before the foundation of the world. Believers, take time today to cut through what you're doing either secular work or spiritual and thank Him for the hope we have within us, that we are a remnant on earth but not a remnant, that we are aliens in a strange land but not exiled, but are and will be firmly and eternally ensconced into a loving family of every tribe, nation, and tongue. And why? Because of Jesus, it is only and ever about Him.