“Except the Lord of Hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah” (Isaiah 1:9).

Remnant: (Heb: Shehar): The rest, remain, reserve, a remainder, the residue

It is interesting to juxtapose the writings of the Prophets and the writings of the Apostle Paul. The Apostle writes:

“Isaiah also cries concerning Israel, ‘though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved'” (Romans 9:27, cf. Isaiah 10:22-23).

The idea that only a remnant, comparative to the entirety of people, will be saved is not new. This question was asked of Jesus in His day. “Then said one unto Him, ‘Lord, are there few that be saved‘? And Jesus said unto him, ‘Strive to enter in at the strait gate, for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able'” (Luke 13:23-24). In the context and text of this saying, Jesus says there is a time when the “Master of the house rises up and shuts the door” (v 25a); at that point it will be too late to cry to the Master to open the door. This happened in the days of Noah with the Ark. The door was shut and no one else could enter. Only those who were safe in the Ark when the door was shut were saved, i.e., Noah and his family (cf. I Peter 3:20).

In our world today, of all the billions, how many are truly in the Kingdom? Jesus said to Nicodemus “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom”. Then He said further, “except a man is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3, 5). We enter the Kingdom through a restricted path and through a narrow gate. There are strict conditions for entering this strait gate. Jesus said it this way: “Enter in at the strait gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are who go that way; but strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few there are who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). How many today are finding their way through? One can only wonder. However, from these Scriptures we can clearly see the Remnant is real.

The Prophet, Joel, prophesied in his day “It shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved, for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call” (Joel 2:32). The Apostle wrote to the Romans: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13) quoting the Prophet Joel. Are you in? Are you a part of the Remnant, those who walked through the strait and narrow gateway?

With all that is in the world to distract us by the lust of our flesh, the lust of our eyes and the pride of life (cf. I John 2:16), it very well maybe we are as Eve was in the Garden allured away from the one strait and narrow command of God to not eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil to being tempted when she saw that the Tree was “good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her, and he did eat” (Genesis 3:6). Indeed, even as the Apostle wrote: “I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (II Corinthians 11:3).

There is a simplicity in the Cross, there is a simplicity to our faith, the solitary gate. It would seem simple, wouldn’t it? But, oh we are a stubborn lot, a rebellious people, and except the Lord had left us a Remnant, we would all be doomed to destruction. I pray you find your way through today.

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