Who Are the Remnant? · Tikkun HaPeretz Global Missions

All quotations are taken from the King James Version (KJV), which is in the public domain. The name YaHoWaH (YHWH) has been restored in place of LORD throughout this teaching.

The Tanakh tells us, again and again, that YaHoWaH has always kept a faithful few. When whole nations turned away from Him, He never left Himself without a witness. When even His own people forgot His Name, He still preserved a small group who stayed true to Him. The Tanakh has a name for this group. It calls them the Remnant.

This Teaching Will Answer Four Questions from the Tanakh

Who are the Remnant?
What does the Tanakh say about them?
What will the Remnant do?
How do we know who they are, and how can we be part of them?

Part One

What the Word "Remnant" Means

The Hebrew word most often translated "remnant" is she'erit (שְׁאֵרִית). It comes from the root sha'ar, which means "to remain" or "to be left over." A second Hebrew word, peletah (פְּלֵיטָה), means "those who escape" or "those who are delivered."

A remnant is not the majority. A remnant is what is left after most have fallen away, been carried off, or been destroyed. In the Tanakh, the Remnant is the small group that YaHoWaH preserves for Himself when nearly everyone else has turned aside.

Part Two

The Pattern of the Remnant in the Tanakh

From the very beginning, YaHoWaH has worked through a Remnant. The story is the same in every age: most people turn away, and YaHoWaH keeps a faithful few.

Noah and His Household

Bere'shit (Genesis) 7:23

"And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground... and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark."

When the whole earth was filled with violence, YaHoWaH preserved eight souls. Noah was the first remnant.

Yoseph (Joseph) in Egypt

Bere'shit (Genesis) 45:7

"And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance."

The KJV uses the word "posterity" here. The Hebrew word is she'erit, the same root translated "remnant" elsewhere in the Tanakh. YaHoWaH used Yoseph to keep the family of Yisra'el alive during the famine. He was preserving a remnant before the nation of Yisra'el had even fully grown.

The Days of Eliyahu (Elijah)

Eliyahu felt completely alone. He believed he was the last one who served YaHoWaH. But YaHoWaH answered him:

Melachim Aleph (1 Kings) 19:18

"Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him."

The Remnant was hidden from Eliyahu, but YaHoWaH knew every single one of them by name.

The Words of Yesha'yahu (Isaiah)

Yesha'yahu (Isaiah) 1:9

"Except YaHoWaH of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah."

Yesha'yahu (Isaiah) 10:21

"The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God."

The pattern in the Tanakh never changes: YaHoWaH always keeps a remnant.

Part Three

Who the Remnant Are

The Tanakh describes the Remnant with very clear marks. They are not chosen because of their numbers, their wealth, or their power. They are known by how they walk with YaHoWaH.

1. They return to YaHoWaH.

They turn back. They repent. They come home to His ways.

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 30:2

"And shalt return unto YaHoWaH thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul."
2. They trust in the Name of YaHoWaH.

They do not lean on themselves. They do not call upon other names.

Tzefanyah (Zephaniah) 3:12

"I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of YaHoWaH."
3. They do no iniquity and speak no lies.

Their lives match their words. They walk in truth.

Tzefanyah (Zephaniah) 3:13

"The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid."
4. They fear YaHoWaH and speak of Him to one another.

They gather with others who fear Him. They think on His Name.

Mal'achi (Malachi) 3:16

"Then they that feared YaHoWaH spake often one to another: and YaHoWaH hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared YaHoWaH, and that thought upon his name."
5. They walk humbly and tremble at His word.

They do not argue with His Torah. They bow before it.

Yesha'yahu (Isaiah) 66:2

"For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith YaHoWaH: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word."

Part Four

What the Remnant Will Do

The Tanakh does not only tell us who the Remnant are. It also tells us what the Remnant will do in the days to come.

They Will Be Gathered from the Nations

Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 23:3

"And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase."

They Will Return to YaHoWaH and to His Land

Yesha'yahu (Isaiah) 11:11

"And it shall come to pass in that day, that YaHoWaH shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people..."

They Will Be Refined Through Testing

Zecharyah (Zechariah) 13:8-9

"And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith YaHoWaH, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, YaHoWaH is my God."

This is one of the clearest pictures of the Remnant in all the Tanakh. The Remnant are tested. They are tried. They come through the fire, not destroyed by it, but refined by it.

They Will Bear Witness Among the Nations

Mikhah (Micah) 5:7

"And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from YaHoWaH, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men."

Wherever the Remnant are scattered, they carry the truth of YaHoWaH like dew that quietly waters the earth. They will not be silent.

They Will See the Salvation of YaHoWaH

Yo'el (Joel) 2:32

"And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of YaHoWaH shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as YaHoWaH hath said, and in the remnant whom YaHoWaH shall call."

Part Five

How to Recognize the Remnant

How can we know who the Remnant are in our own day? The Tanakh gives us clear signs. The Remnant are known by their fruit, not by their claims. Ask these questions:

Do they hold the Tanakh as the supreme word of YaHoWaH?
Do they honor His Name, YaHoWaH, and refuse to replace it with titles or shortened forms?
Do they keep His Torah, His Sabbaths, His appointed times, His commands, out of love for Him?
Do they speak truth even when it costs them something?
Do they fear YaHoWaH more than they fear people?
Do they walk humbly, without boasting?
Are they willing to be separated from the majority in order to stand with YaHoWaH?

The Remnant may be small. They may be unseen by the world. But YaHoWaH sees them, and He has already written their names in His book of remembrance.

Mal'achi (Malachi) 3:17

"And they shall be mine, saith YaHoWaH of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him."

Part Six

How to Be Part of the Remnant

The Remnant is not a club to join. It is a life to live. The Tanakh shows the way clearly.

Step 1

Return to YaHoWaH with all your heart. Do not hold anything back.

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 4:29

"But if from thence thou shalt seek YaHoWaH thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul."
Step 2

Walk in His Torah. Remember it. Live it. Pass it on.

Mal'achi (Malachi) 4:4

"Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments."
Step 3

Fear His Name. Hold His Name as set apart above every other name.

Mal'achi (Malachi) 4:2

"But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall."
Step 4

Separate from what is false. Do not carry the unclean things of the nations into the worship of YaHoWaH.

Yesha'yahu (Isaiah) 52:11

"Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of YaHoWaH."
Step 5

Speak often with others who fear Him. The Remnant strengthens the Remnant. Do not try to walk alone.

Mal'achi (Malachi) 3:16

"Then they that feared YaHoWaH spake often one to another: and YaHoWaH hearkened, and heard it."
Step 6

Be willing to be refined. Do not run from the fire. The fire is the very thing that turns the Remnant into silver and gold.

Zecharyah (Zechariah) 13:9

"And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them."

The Remnant has always been with YaHoWaH, and YaHoWaH has always been with the Remnant. From Noah to Yoseph, from the seven thousand in the days of Eliyahu to the third part who will pass through the fire, YaHoWaH has kept a faithful few. He is keeping them still.

If your heart hears these words and trembles, that may be His own voice calling you. Answer Him. Return to Him. Walk in His Torah. Speak truth. Fear His Name. And when the testing comes, do not run from the fire. It is the fire that proves who belongs to YaHoWaH.

Mal'achi (Malachi) 3:17

"And they shall be mine, saith YaHoWaH of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him."

The Remnant is small. The Remnant is humble. The Remnant is His. May we be counted among them in that day when He makes up His jewels.

Sarah-Naviah Lewi · Co-Leader, Teacher, Writer, and Publisher