POSTED 06 APRIL, 2006

Remnant of the Remnant

by Mark Huey
mhuey@outreachisrael.net

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night dreaming about a confluence of concerns that have been implanted in your brain simply by tuning into the previous evening news broadcasts? I know I do. While attempting to digest the current challenges of our faltering society, as extrapolative thoughts of the future exacerbated the problems, my reflections were tempered by two observations made millennia ago by that we see in the Book of Judges and in Paul’s letter to the Romans:

“In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).

“Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them” (Romans 1:24).

Obviously, both of these statements were accurate descriptions of those respective eras. But ironically, despite proliferating categorical declarations that the world has “evolved” over billions of years—meaning things have “gotten better”—the devolution of humanity is far more tangible today, due to the advancement of information technology that thrives on highlighting bad reports with increasing regularity.

Whether it is a culture that will be dramatically altered as America absorbs illegal immigrants, or the popularization of sexual deviation as the licentious lust of the flesh reaches unparalleled stimuli, the bottom line is that I believe our society is no longer slipping down a slippery slope—but rather is in an absolute freefall heading toward destruction. As the saying goes, “it’s not the fall that bothers you, it’s the sudden stop that hurts!”

Providentially, the apparent majority of people in a “free, democratic, law based society” have been influenced to accept the philosophy that “if debauched behavior does not impact you directly, then let it be.” How short sighted can this be?

This is a dangerous reality that disregards the absolutes established by our Creator. Eventually, just like gravity pulls one to an inevitable impact, the consequences of immorality will require judgment. However, depravity’s gradualism is more difficult to counter, especially when the democratic majority unwittingly endorse and obliquely accept it.

One might ask, “What should I do? After all, don’t I live in a Christian-influenced America?” To this we need to look at the empirical evidence of society’s moral decline, and how the role of Christianity as salt and light in a perverse world is being relegated to the ash heap of history. Just consider the secularization of “Christian” Europe—perhaps less than a generation ahead in the plummet—and one can visualize America’s demise in just a matter of time.

Is the Holy One awakening a “remnant of the remnant” to be prepared for inevitable collapse of the American civilization?

In this Spring season of remembrance, a dedicated relative few—compared to the world’s population—is getting ready to celebrate the Spring appointed times of the Lord. Do you count yourself among the heirs of Jacob? Can you fend off possible criticism and rebuke by Christian family, Christian friends, or total secularists who question your Biblical actions—without fainting from the good fight of faith? Can the Father use you to help the next generation, whose faith and compliance to God’s Instruction may be their only defense so that He can empower them to make a difference? Do we really want to see an apostasy take place among those who claim the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?

Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy [falling away, KJV; rebellion, NIV] comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).

Certainly, no one knows the day of Yeshua’s return, but one can sense some stirring on His seat at the Father’s right hand.

While concerns for this world that we occupy certainly creep into our thoughts at various times, I am confident that the Almighty is calling out a “remnant of the remnant” who in the long run will represent those who overcome to the end:

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the [assemblies’” (Revelation 3:20-22).

Faithful ones, be confident that you are pleasing the Father and ministering unto Him as you participate with a willing heart in the appointed times of the Lord in coming weeks. In so doing, you are identifying with those who have read the Biblical text and by faith are following His instruction manual, and not human replacements. Pray for those who are lukewarm in their resolve to be obedient.

Finally, always be ready to proclaim to one and all the hope that is within you:

“But sanctify Yeshua as Messiah in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Messiah will be put to shame. For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong” (1 Peter 3:15-17).

Down through the ages, the Lord God has always protected a remnant of His people so that they may give glory to Him for His deliverance in troublesome times (Genesis 45:7; Isaiah 10:20-22; Jeremiah 50:20; Micah 7:18-20; Zephaniah 3:11-18). May those who read this be so prepared as we remember and celebrate the deliverance from Egypt this coming Passover!

Until the restoration of all things…

Mark Huey (B.A., Vanderbilt University in History and Graduate Studies at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University) is the Director of Outreach Israel Ministries (www.outreachisrael.net). He is the author of several books, including: TorahScope, Volumes I & II, and Counting the Omer: A Daily Devotional Toward Shavuot. He is also co-author of Hebraic Roots: An Introductory Study.