with those three areas you have under the introduction. And then we'll deal more extensively with the concept of the remnant in the past and how it came into being. And then we'll say a few things about present and the future, but there's much more to the study. And I'll let you know at the end how to get the larger study if you want to pursue it. As far as what we mean by the remnant of Israel, in Scripture, basically, the Bible talks about two Israels. There is Israel the whole, meaning all Jews, all who are descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Within this larger Israel is a smaller Israel that is called in Scripture in both Testaments as the remnant of Israel. A remnant of Israel are those Jews who believed what God had revealed up to that point of history. So what separates the remnant from the non-remnant? Remnant believes what has been revealed up to whatever point they happen to be living, while the non-remnant tends to reject those and pursue other elements such as idolatry or occultism within the history of the Hebrew Bible, in more recent times pursuing rabbinics and so on. But all those old Jews who actually believe what God had revealed make up the remnant of Israel. Now, the second element on your outline is the ramifications. Let me mention four specific ramifications. First of all, only believers comprise the remnant. No unbelievers part of the remnant concept. Secondly, it's not merely all believers, but only Jewish believers because there is a Jewish remnant. So when the Bible talks about the remnant, it emphasizes the Jewish believers specifically. A third ramification is that the remnant is always part of the nation, not withdrawn from it, not separated from it. And while the non-remnant would like to disqualify the remnant from being part of Israel, biblically, the remnant is always part of the nation. It is distinct, but distinct within the people of Israel. And a fourth ramification is that in different historical periods, the remnant might be large or small, but never is it non-existent. It always exists, either small or great. Only time you'll have no members of the remnant left is immediately after the rapture of the church. But soon after the rapture, there'll be Jewish people saved, so the remnant will reconstitute itself very quickly. And the third ramification concerns the concept of the remnant. As a concept, it was already true when Jews began to multiply with the 12 sons of Jacob. But as a specific doctrinal teaching, it begins with the prophet Elijah. And for this, we now come to 1 Kings 16. that when the kingdom split after Solomon's death, you have two Jewish kingdoms. The southern kingdom was called Judah with its capital in Jerusalem, but the northern kingdom was called Israel, and the capital shifted from time to time until you see in verse 29 a man named Omri. Omri began a new dynasty in the Northern Kingdom, and he's the one that made Samaria a capital that remained as was capital as long as the kingdom continued up until 722-721 BC. Of the Southern Kingdom, there was a mixture of good kings and bad kings, so those who did right in the eyes of the Lord and those who did not do right. But the Northern Kingdom Of no king was it ever said, He that doth what was right in the eyes of the Lord. It was the long length of many kings, all of them unbelievers, never coming to faith. Naomi has a son whose name is Ahab. And he's going to bring in a key change in the kingdom. Now, when the kingdom split, the first king of the northern kingdom was Jeroboam I. And Jeroboam introduced the golden calf worship, setting up one temple in the north in the city of Dan and a second one in the south in the city of Bethel. But the worship of the golden calf was not the introduction of a new God, a new religion. It was a corruption of the biblical faith. And when he introduced the golden calf, he used the very same words that Aaron used of his golden calf. This is the Lord your God that brought you forth out of the land of Egypt. And what Aaron did temporarily, Jeroboam did more extensively. He turned the true faith into a form of idolatry. and became idolatrous in the false type of worship, but they never worshiped any foreign God, but the right God in the wrong way. But we have when Ahab, that changes. And look at verse 31, or verse 13. Ahab, the son of Ammi, did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah above all that were before him. And it came to pass, if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, he took to a wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, and went in and served Baal and worshiped him. He wrote an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made the Asherah, and Ahab did that which did more provoke Jehovah, the God of Israel, to anger him than all the kings of Israel that were before him. And what we're told is that Ahab marries a Phoenician princess named Jezebel who comes from Sidon. And when she comes into Israel, she introduces a whole new god, a whole new religion. Now the worship of the golden calf did not discontinue, that continued. However, not there was the worship of a totally foreign god, a Canaanite god and a Phoenician god Baal, and the Asherah was simply the female consort of the god Baal. And not only was it idolatrous, it was also immoral because also practiced temple prostitution, both male and female. And that changed the whole religious picture of the Jewish Kingdom of the North. It is in that context we come to chapter 17, verse 1. Elijah Tishbite, who is of the surgeons of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As Jehovah the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. And when he was cutting off, and what he was saying to Ahab is that God will now discipline the nation with a very severe drought. Now Israel has two seasons as far as water's concerned. There is the rain season and the dew season. Rain season from mid-October to mid-April, the dew season from mid-April to mid-October. And by saying there'll be neither dew nor rain, he's cutting Israel off from its total year-round water supply. It'll be a very severe drought that will last for roughly about three, three and a half years. And before Ehab's secret service can get the rack together, Elijah is able to escape. And we're told in verse three, get your hands and turn you eastward and hide by the brook Kirit. This is before the Jordan. and the Wadi al-Bukharit is on the east side of the Jordan, and the water flows into Jordan, and there he is to hide from any consequences of his prophecy. Now what we see in the life of Elijah also continues into the Doctrine of the Revenant is two contrasts. The first contrast is a contrast between the miraculous and the non-miraculous. Between the miraculous and non-miraculous. The second contrast is between the noise and the quiet. The noise and the quiet. And here we see the first contrast. Because God provides the food miraculously by causing ravens to feed him on a daily basis. But the water supplied by the brook, as long as the water's flowing, he needs no miracle for water. However, as the drought gets more and more severe, eventually the brookerage dries out. Now God could easily provide the miraculous supply of water as he did for the food. After all, for 40 years he provided for about two million people continuous water supply in the desert. If he can do that for two million people for 40 years, why could he not do that for only one man in this one situation? But God does not always choose to work with the miraculous. Now, besides those two contrasts between the miraculous and non-miraculous, and the quiet and the noise, within the life of Elijah, there are a number of different paradoxes. I'm going to see just a couple of it in the study this evening. When the brook dries up, that's what God tells them to do in verse 8. Now, where did Jezebel come from? She came from Sidon. Where does God send Elijah? To a town, Zarephath, which is part of the territory of Sidon. That's one of those paradoxes. So Jezebel comes from Sidon to Israel and Jews are worshipping the foreign god Baal and exercising idolatrous worship even further. But Elijah goes to the area where Jezebel came from. By the time the chapter ends, you have Phoenicians. Phoenicians, a segment of the old Canaanites, worshiping the God of Israel. That's not the way it was supposed to be. That's what's happened at this point of Jewish history. Jews are worshiping Baal and Canaanites, Phoenicians, are worshiping the true God as a result of the miracle of the raising of the widow's son. Now comes chapter 18, after they have suffered this drought, he's sent back into Israel to challenge Ahab into a prophetic duel. And the issue is, let's make a once and for all agreement. Bring out all of the prophets of Baal, all the prophets of the Asherah. Bring them up to Mount Carmel and let them represent the God Baal and not represent Jehovah, the God of Israel. Now, if Baal proves to be God, let us forever repudiate the teachings and the doctrines and the belief in Jehovah and let us totally not worship the God Baal, but if Jehovah proves to be God, then there should be a rejection permanently of Baal worship. And that's the agreement. Now, because he's such a gentleman, he lets the prophets of Baal go first. Look at verse 25 of chapter 18, 1825. Elijah said to the prophets, Baal, choose you one bullock for yourself, dress it first, for you are many. And call upon the name of your God, and put no fire under. And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called a name of Baal in the morning, even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any answer, and it lit upon the altar which was made. And notice that they're characterized by noisiness. They set up the whole system and they begin in the wee hours of the morning and they continue to noon, getting louder and louder, but there's no voice from heaven. And while the prophets of Bill get loud, heaven is very quiet and still. And then he begins to mock them in verse 27, and they don't even seem to realize they're being mocked. Verse 27 says, Now he's already, they're already crying loud, but he tells, get louder. Praise the God. And why should they get louder? Either he is musing, and my translation here says musing, that's just a euphemism, what the Hebrew text states, and is maybe sitting in the toilet behind closed doors and can't hear you. Get louder. Or he is a god. Furthermore, maybe he's on a god on the side, perhaps he's on a journey, prevent your sleeps, and must be awakened. And he's mocking them. And they don't know that, because in verse 28, they went ahead and did what he told them to do. And they cried aloud, cut themselves with their manner, with knives and lancers, till their blood gushed out upon them. And then notice verse 29, when the conclusion comes. And it was so, when midday was past, that it prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening oblation, and there was neither voice, nor any answer, nor any doubt regarded. And the louder they get, the quieter heaven remains. Well, they failed to prove that Baal is God, but can Elijah do better? Let's look at what he does. Maybe he does everything on the opposite. He does everything quietly. Look at verse 25. Excuse me, that would be verse, 36. And it came to pass at that time of the offering of the evening oblation, that's when the prophets of Baal quit, Elijah the prophet came near and said, and he just gives a simple quiet prayer, O Jehovah, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, Let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and I am your servant, and I have done all these things at your word. Hear me, O Jehovah, hear me, that this people may know that Jehovah, you are God, and that you have turned their heart back again. And to his very quiet prayer, now heaven gets noisy. Verse 38, the fire of Jehovah fell and consumed the burned offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, licked up the water that was in the trench. And with this act, the Lord God of Israel put himself to be the true God. And among the people, notice there's immediate evidence. In the verse 39, while the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, Jehovah, he is God, Jehovah is God. So essentially, it should be obvious that he won the duel. And he is so excited that he runs back to the city of Jezreel from Mount Carmel, and he runs on foot, and he beats Ahab, who is coming by chariot. That's a 20-mile distance, and yet he beat Ahab. And he anticipates a massive revival of the Northern Kingdom. Now there'll be a mass turning to true God. I guess it gets to the city of Jezreel. That does not happen. And verse 1 says of chapter 19, Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done. It was told how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah saying, so let the gods do to me and more also if I make not your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time. Now, when Ahab tells Jezebel what happened, she realizes she cannot kill Elijah. If she could do so at this stage, why send the messenger to tell them she's going to kill him the next day? But she wants to threaten him, but she can't really do much. But Elijah realizes from the messages that there will be no revival. There won't be any mass turning to the Lord. They won't agree to the agreement that was agreed on back in the previous chapter. And now he is totally depressed. And when verse three says, when he saw that, and some translations for some reasons says, and then he feared, but the Hebrew word does not mean fear. When he saw that, meaning he realized something, he realized there'd be no mass turning. He then gets so depressed, he leaves Israel and goes down to Judah. He goes to the very southern end of Judah, in verse three, to Beersheba. Beersheba would be the most southern city of Judah. He leaves his servant there, spends another day walking into the neck of desert, still depressed. In verse four points out, he took a nap, he took a nap on a juniper tree, but he made a request. that he might die. And he says that he requested for himself that he might die, and it is enough, O Jehovah, take away my life. I'm no better than my father's. Now here's another one of these ironies in his life. He's the only prophet I know of that requested God to take his life. Only prophet know that he asked God to kill him. He hasn't died yet. Because God took him alive into heaven. He hasn't died yet. And that's one of these ironies in his life. Instead, an angel wakes him up and gives him a piece of cake. He takes a second nap. The angel wakes him up again and gives him a second piece of cake. Here you have the biblical origins of angel food cake. This is where I came from. For some piece of cake, no salt, no sugar, no cholesterol. But those two pieces of cake was sufficient to sustain him as he walked another 40 days through a hot, dry desert into the place where Israel received the law at Mount Sinai. And Israel agreed when God said, you shall have no other gods before me. And now they're wholly worshiping. On one hand, a false worship, a corrupt worship, a doubtless worship of the true God and also a foreign God. When he finally arrives into Mount Sinai, God asks him a question at the end of verse 9, what are you doing here, Elijah? Hebrews is a bit more succinct. The Hebrews says, what's with you here, Elijah? What's with you here, Elijah? And Elijah shows a rather graphic indictment of his own people in verse 10. He said, I have been very jealous for Jehovah the God of hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altar, and slain your prophets with the sword. And I, even I, only am left, and they seek my life to take it away. And that's the indictment against the people of Israel. And what God now does is respond to that very indictment. And what God will do now is send three things which are noisy. And while God sends those three noisy things, the presence of God will not be within those three noisy things. Then fourthly, there'll be a small quiet thing. And in that quietness, he recognizes the presence of God. So what happens now in verses 11 through 13 is that God, first of all, sends the wind that tears the mountain, blows against the mountain, beats the mountain. And God did send the wind, but the presence of God is not in the wind. Secondly, then sends an earthquake that shakes the territory, splits the mountain. And God did indeed send that earthquake, but the presence of God is not within the earthquake. Thirdly, he sends a fire that burns and burns and burns against the mountain. But he did send the fire, but the presence of God is not within the fire. But then what Elijah hears is the still, small voice. That's in verse 13. In that still, small voice, he recognizes the presence of God, because in verse 13, notice, he comes out and wraps his head in a mantle. This was a typical Jewish response when they're thinking they're going to be in the presence of God. And when they feel they're going to see some revelation visibly of God, they cover their face. And he recognizes in this dull, small voice the very presence of God. For the second time, God asks him, what's with you here, Elijah? In verse 14, he repeats the same indictment against Israel as he did in verse 10. And then again comes God's answer in verses 15 through 18. Now in many of the commentaries I have been reading to investigate this passage, they tend to conclude that God now fires Elijah from being a prophet because he wasn't more loving. He wasn't showing more love for his own people. He had a bad attitude. But I think that's missing the point. If God is firing Elijah as a prophet, why is he using Elijah rather heavily even after these events? And why is he blessing Elijah by taking him right to heaven, apart from undergoing the issues of physical death? Rather, what we need to see is to parallel verses 15 through 18 with verses 11 through 13, parallel verses 15 through 18, and parallel them with verses 11 through 13. Because once again, you have three things which are noisy, and then you have a quiet thing. The first thing he is told is to go and invite Hazael to be the new king of Assyria. And Hazael corresponds to the wind. And just as the wind beat against the mountain, Hazael will continue to beat against Israel, beat against Israel, to reduce Israel to the small city-state of Samaria. Then secondly, he's to anoint Jehu to be the new king of Israel, to set up a new dynasty over Israel. And he corresponds to the fire and to the earthquake. And just as the earthquake split the mountain, this man will split Israel. There'll be a civil war. And by the time the war has come to an end, the whole house of Ahab will be annihilated with no one left living, no one left to continue that dynasty. And while Jehu will finally repudiate the worship of Baal, what he fails to do is to remove the worship of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. And therefore, while Baal worship is removed, the golden calf worship will continue. And therefore, he fails to become the good king he could have been. Later he's told Elijah will become his prophet, will follow Elijah as the prophet, and therefore Elijah would now have to be discipling Elijah for a period of time. And the difference between Elijah and Elijah is this. Elijah was a prophet to the nations as a whole, calling to national repentance. And when they failed to respond, Elijah will come along and his ministry will be primarily for the remnant. He corresponds to the fire. As the fire burned against the mountain, he will burn against the Israel, primarily the non-remnant. And not long after he crosses the Jordan, after Elijah is taken into heaven, 42 young men come out calling him, Baldi, Baldi. And two she-bears come out and destroy those 42 young men. Watch out who you call Baldi. that God sent those three things, which were noisy things, but the presence of God is not within them. But what corresponds to the still small voice? Verse 18. Yet will I leave me 7,000 in Israel, all the niece which have not bowed unto Baal, every mother have not kissed him. And he points out that what the quietness is that corresponds to a still small voice is the remnant. And the remnant is the quiet. In fact, it was so quiet Elijah did not know they existed. Twice he said, I'm the only one left. And God now says, no, I have 7,000 others who did not bow their knee to Baal. So you have 7,001. There are probably more than that in the Southern Kingdom, but Northern Kingdom, out of about one and a half to two million people, how many believers were there? 7,001. A rather small percentage, but the remnant is there. It is with this incident that the remnant doctrine develops. Let's look at one example within the book of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 7. In chapter 7, what you have is two kings, the king of Israel in the north and the king of Syria, combining together against the king of Judah, not to destroy Judah, but they wanted Judah to align themselves with them against the new empire of Assyria. And Ahaz, who was not a good king, refused to do so. And now the combined armies are getting together from Syria and Israel for the purpose of taking over Jerusalem and remove the whole house of David from ruling. If the threat was only to remove Ahaz and set up a new king from the house of David, God might let them get away with that. But it goes further. They want to set up a brand new dynasty called the Dynasty of Tbil. and therefore they want to remove not merely Ahaz, but the whole house of David, and that God cannot let them get away with because it would violate the Davidic covenant that no one outside the house of David would be allowed to sit upon the throne of David and ruling in Jerusalem. And so God sends Isaiah to comfort him. Look at verse three. And whereas the two kings are noisy, who's the quiet? Then said Jovan to Isaiah, go forth, now to meet Ahaz, you and Shar Yashuv, your son, at the end of the Kandud, the upper pool, in the highway of the fullest field. And said unto him, take heed, and be quiet, fear not, neither let your heart be faint, because of these two tales of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezzin and Siriam, and the son of Ramaliah. Notice he tells them to stay still and be quiet. Don't get afraid, because God is not going to let the conspiracy of those two kings succeed. But Ahaz is not ready to trust God. Instead, he's already sent emissaries to the emperor of Assyria with a large sum of income and funds to rescue Ahaz from the threat of those two other kings. is in this context you have the famous prophecy of Isaiah 7.14, the prophecy of the virgin conception, the virgin birth of the messianic son. In chapter 7 through 12 is one unit within the book of Isaiah. And there is a unit that's called the Book of Emmanuel because that word appears three times in the Hebrew text. English renderings, it appears only twice, but in Hebrew, it appears three different times. And the point is, and the sign is not Mount Ahaz, but the House of David, and the point of promise is the House of David could not lose its identity until the birth of the Messianic son. And the son should be Emmanuel. Now, when parents name a child in biblical history, it simply shows the thinking of the parents. If God names somebody, it shows the very nature of that person. And this son is Immanuel, with us God. Let's skip over to chapter 8. He picks up on what was already stated in chapter 7, the tendency of Ahaz to trust the, not trust God, but to trust the emperor of Assyria to rescue him. And you have here a contrast between two bodies of water. One is quiet, one is noisy. Verse six, for example, for as much as the people refused to refuse the waters of Shilohah. Shilohah is the spring that feeds the pool of Siloam with the water. It was the only water source for Jerusalem in biblical days. It's right at the foot of the Temple Mount. So if you're looking at the spring and look up at the top, there is the Jewish Temple. And within the Jewish Temple, there is the Shekhinah Glory, the visible manifestation of God's presence within the Holy of Holies, between the cherubs, over the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. And the point is they should be providing, they should be trusting quietly in the God of Jerusalem that can rescue them when necessary. That is where they should put their faith. But instead, he points out, they put their faith in something else, and that is the Euphrates River, which is noisy. And that's where Syria will come. And so in verses 5 to 8, what he warns them, that if they're going to reject the waters of Shiloah and choose to trust the waters of the Euphrates, What will happen is the Euphrates will overflood. The army will overflood. It will destroy Syria. It will destroy Israel. But it won't stop there. It will cross over the Boren to Judah and then subjugate Judah to a very heavy payment, a tribute payment that will continue for some time until Assyria falls. But they choose to go with the noisy one, the Euphrates River, the Assyrian army, to rescue them. And now skip down to verse... 13, Jehovah holds him, shall you sanctify? Let him be your fear, let him be your dread. He shall be for a sanctuary, but for a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, to both houses of Israel, for a giver, for a sneer to the heavens of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble thereon and fall and be broken and be sneered and be taken. What we should notice here is that he's continuing with the Emmanuel concept. He mentions Emmanuel at the end of verse eight. The tsunami will fill your land, O Immanuel. And he mentions the Immanuel again, but it's not found in the English text, but it's found in the verse 10. And the point he makes in this context is this, that when Immanuel finally arrives, he'll become the point of division between the remnant and the non-remnant. in that the remnant will be the ones that will believe on him. And therefore, for the remnant, Immanuel will be a sanctuary. But for the non-remnant, he'll become a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. That will be the future dividing point between non-remnant and remnant, those who accept the one who comes as the Messiah and those who reject him. But what is it that separated the remnant and non-remnant in Isaiah's day? Verse 16. bind you up, the testimonies heal up the law among my disciples." The law here is the law of Moses and the testimony of the prophets. And so the remnant believed in what God had revealed in the law and the prophets. Now remnant rejected it. As verse 19 points out, they pursued idolatry and pursued occult practices. And then he says in verse 18, Behold, I and the children who Jehovah has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Jehovah's hosts who dwells in Mount Zion. In what way is Isaiah and his two sons symbols? By their names. The firstborn son of Isaiah was Shaar Yashuv, and that means a remnant shall return. A remnant shall return. Remnant concept was important enough to Isaiah to name his firstborn son about the issue of the remnant. His second son was called Meher-shalal-hashbaz. You see that name in verse 1. If you're looking for biblical names for your children, how about this one? Meher-shalal-hashbaz, the spoilspeeds, the prehastens. The spoilspeeds and the prehastens. That's the noisy part. And that name symbolizes the judgment that non-remnant will face, where Yeshua is the quiet one, and he'll get the blessings of God. As for Isaiah, his name means salvation is of Jehovah. So Jehovah saves, Jehovah brings salvation. So the sender of the quiet, he's the one that will send the quietness, and that will save. but he's also the sender of the noise, and that'll be what we'll destroy. And look at verse 12. Again, the law is the law of Moses, the testimony, the testimony of the prophets. If they do not speak according to this word, there is no morning light for them. And so again, in Isaiah's day, what divided the non-remnant is the remnant believed what God had revealed through the law and through the prophets. But the non-remnant rejected it, pursued idolatry, and pursued the occult practices. Now look at chapter 10, verse 20. As he looks now to the forward time, which the point will come back to in the end of our study, it shall come to pass in that day, the remnant of Israel and they that escaped the house of Jacob shall no more again lean upon him that smote them, but shall lean upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel in truth. A remnant shall return. This is also the meaning of the son's name, Shar Y'shuv. A remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. And he points out, right up to the end of your history, until the Messiah comes and sets up his kingdom, at that point of time, there will still be a remnant enter the kingdom. Let's talk about, I said, too, a couple of things about Israel present. Turn for a moment to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1. Of the 21 epistles we have in Scripture, five epistles written specifically to the remnant of Israel, to Messianic Jews, the Jewish believers of that day. And these are Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude. Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude. And the things which are found in these epistles applicable to all believers, but certain things are said deliberately aimed at Jewish believers. And notice verse one of chapter one. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ to the elect, who has sojourners of de-dispersion. Notice the phrase de-dispersion. In my rendering in this Bible, it's with a capital D. That would be correct. It's a technical Jewish term for Jews who live outside the land. A technical Jewish term for those who live outside the land. So this pistol is written specifically to Jewish believers living outside the land. You can see this again in the Jewishness, again in verse 18. Knowing that you are redeemed, now we are called to build things with silver and gold from your very manner of life, handed down from your fathers." Connecting Jesus with the Jewish observance of Passover, he says that they've been saved from continuing to the traditions that was handed down by their fathers. That's a typical Jewish phrase in Jewish writings for something handed down by tradition. handed down by tradition. And that was their lifestyle before they came to know the Messiah. And now, with the knowledge of Yeshua, Jesus as the Messiah, they have been freed from that kind of bondage. Furthermore, he twice distinguishes his readers from the Gentiles among whom they live. Look at chapter 2, verse 12. Chapter 2, verse 12. having your behavior seemly among the Gentiles. And the contrast, the Gentiles are Jews. Also look at chapter four, verse three. Chapter four, verse three. For the time past may suffice to have wrought the desire of the Gentiles. And he's writing to Jewish believers outside the land living in a Gentile majority. He distinguishes them from the Gentiles among whom they live. Now the key element here is chapter 2 verses 1 through 10. I made that introduction because this passage is a favorite passage for replacement theologians because what Peter does here is talk about some of those promises concerning the remnant that Isaiah gave. And the point they make is that what Isaiah said about the remnant in his book, Peter applies it to the church. Peter applies it to the church. Therefore, the church is the new spiritual Israel. First of all, the word Israel is not found anywhere in this book. I mean, excuse me, the word church is not found anywhere in this book. He doesn't even mention the church even once. He's not writing to the church as a whole. He's writing specifically to the remnant of Israel, the Jewish believers of his day. His point is that what Isaiah said would happen now has happened. Emmanuel has come. He's become the new point of division. Look at verse six. "'Because it's contained in Scripture, "'behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, "'elect precious. "'He that believes on him shall not be put to shame. "'For you, therefore, is the preciousness. "'But for such as disbelieve, "'the stone which they build is rejected, "'the same is made there the corner, "'and the stone is stumbling in a rock of a fence.'" And notice what he's saying here is not that the Church has replaced Israel. What he's saying here is making a contrast between the remnant and the non-remnant. And his point is that while the non-remnant failed to fulfill its calling, the remnant has not failed. And the remnant is now fulfilling its calling as a whole. And furthermore, what Isaiah prophesied has now come to pass. Emmanuel, Yeshua the Messiah, is now the new point of division between the remnant and the non-remnant, just as Isaiah prophesied. but he's describing a situation among the Jewish believers from the land of Israel. The contrast is not between Jews and Gentiles, not a contrast between Israel and the church. It's a contrast between Jews who believe and Jews who don't believe. That's the contrast. Now with that, let's go to Romans 11. In Romans chapter 9, he points out Israel's rejection of the Messiah did not catch God by surprise. It was very much part of God's divine plan. In chapter 10, he points out God now works individually with Jews and Gentiles. Anyone who calls upon Him, the Lord shall be saved. At the same time, chapter 10, verse 21 says God's hand is still stretched out to Israel, always willing to receive them back when they're willing to receive Him. Now we come to chapter 11. And Paul writes, I say then, did God cast off his people? In a way, there have been some questions. Since so many Jews never became believers, doesn't that somehow show that God has cast off his people? He have the early seeds of replacement theology. His first answer is, God forbid. That's not the literal rendering of the Greek. The Greek literally reads, may it never be. May it never be. In Greek, you can say no in different ways, but the strongest Greek negation, the strongest way to say no in Greek is may it never be. If I was to give you a very literal rendering of this verse, it'd be like this. Are you out of your Vulcan minds? It is inconceivable that such a thing could happen. And this first line of evidence is, I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin. And Paul points out that if God has cast off Israel, no Jew could be saved. But the fact that he's a Jew that believes shows God has not cast off his people. At this point, someone could simply blow a whistle and say, now wait a minute, Paul. We realize some Jews believe and we have Jewish members right here in the church of Rome. Let's be honest, the vast, vast majority of your people do not believe. Does that not indicate that God has cast off his people for the most part? And the point is this, that we're using the fact of only a small minority of Jews believing as evidence that God has cast off Israel. Because only a small minority of Jewish people believed. Therefore, God has cast off his people. He responds pointing God, God did not cast off his people whom he foreknew. And God obviously foreknew, he had the foreknowledge of what Israel would do, and still chose them anyway. And the very foreknowledge of God prohibits the concept of the casting off of Israel. But then it goes into the Elijah story we already elaborated as we began our study this evening. And in verses two through four, he reminds them that in Elijah's day, how many were believers? Only 7,000. By first century Israel, by the time of chapter 11, there were more than 7,000 Jewish believers. In other words, the minority was even smaller in Elijah's day than it is now, and yet nobody was saying back then, God has cast off his people. So instead of using a fact of a minority of believers to teach God has cast off Israel, No matter how small the minority is, it will always be evidence that God has not cast off his people. Even if only one Jew in the world believes in the Messiahship of Jesus, that will be evidence God has not cast off his people. They mix the application in verse 5. Even so, then at this present time, there's also a remnant according to the election of grace. What was true in the past is true today. Also today, there is a remnant, a current election of grace, and a modern-day remnant makes up the Messianic Jewish community of our day. And our day is considerably larger, though still a minority. But the very fact that we exist is evidence God has not cast off his people. God has not cast off his people. And so there'll always be a remnant, and the remnant is evidence God is still fulfilling his plan and program for Israel. Let's say a couple things about the future. Let's look at verse 25. Chapter 11, verse 25. For I would not have you ignorant, brethren, of this mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits, departing partly from Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles will come in, and so all Israel shall be saved. You don't have to be a believer very long to realize how fragmented the Church has become over the years. Even within the broad denominations, you have many subdivisions. Speaking for the American scene, the largest Protestant Church is the Baptist Church in America. We have more than one Baptist denomination. Let me give you just a short list. We have in the U.S.A. the American Baptist, the Confederate Baptist, the Southern Baptist. We have the General Association of Regular Baptists, the Baptist General Conference. We have the Bible Baptist and the Baptist Bible. We have Missionary Baptist. We have Free Will Baptist, Reformed Baptist. That's a short list. The same has happened with the Brethren Church. In our country, we have the Pliny Brethren, the Grace Brethren, the Midnight Brethren, the Open Brethren, and the Closed Brethren. Now, it's perfectly right to be a member of any of these Brethren denominations I just listed, but there is one Brethren denomination the Bible forbids anyone to join. That's the group he mentions in verse 25 when he says, I would not have you ignorant Brethren. So make sure you never, never join any church called the Church of the Ignorant Brethren. The Bible forbids it right here. What he does not want them to be ignorant about is the issue of Israel's stumbling, Israel's hardening. And in verse 25, he points out two things about the hardening of Israel. First of all, it is partial. And because it's only partial, there'll always be Jews coming to faith, which is the point he made early in the same chapter. But secondly, he says that it is temporary until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. The Greek word for fullness means a set number, and God has a set number of Gentiles to bring into the body. We have not been told what the set number is, and so we have to continue witnessing and evangelizing and missionizing until the set number is reached. Once the set number is reached, then the body will be complete and the rapture will move the body from the earth, and then God will begin to deal with Israel until all Israel is saved. Until all Israel is saved. And so there's coming a time when there'll be a national salvation. Sadly nowadays some people are taking the verse out of context and says this promises that all Jews of all time will be saved. And therefore we don't need to spend much time and spend funds in supporting Jewish missionary organizations because in the end all Jews will be saved. He's not teaching here all Israel of all time will be saved, but all Israel of a specific point of time will be saved, following the fullness of the Gentiles. That's a no benefit of Jewish people that live today and die without faith. Their justice lost forever, as any Gentile is lost forever. But this is dealing with a specific generation of Israel. Now earlier we saw what Isaiah said, no matter how numerous the people may be, only remnant shall return. And here he says, all Israel shall be saved. That appears to contradict Isaiah's prophecy. But it does not. Look at Zechariah. Chapter 13, Zechariah 13. If you're not familiar with the Minor Prophets, you'll find Zechariah as the second book in the back of the Old Testament. The last one is the Italian prophet, Malachi. Let's go past the Malachi papers. You'll see Zechariah. Chapter 13, verse 8. Chapter 13, verse 8. It shall come to pass that on all the lands, says Jehovah, two parts therein shall be cut off for thine, but the third shall be left therein. I will bring the third part into the fire. I will refine them as silver is refined, and I will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say, this is my people, and they shall say, Jehovah is my God. Zechariah points out that as a result of the tribulation and persecution, two-thirds of the Jewish population living when the tribulation begins will not survive that period of time. Under Nazi Germany, one-third of the Jewish world population died, but under the Antichrist inspired by Satan, two-thirds will die. But he points out one-third will all come to faith. The hope for all the Jews who survive to the very end will come to faith. And Israel's national salvation is the one prerequisite to fulfill the second coming. And so you have at the end of chapter 13, Israel's national salvation. In chapter 14, verses 1 through 15, the second coming. And in verses 16 through 21, the establishment of the Messianic kingdom. One more passage to look at. Go to Micah chapter 2. by the prophet Micah, chapter 2. Micah writes in Hebrew poetry, Hebrew poetry is not based upon rhythm and rhyme like English poetry. It's based upon parallelism. We have the statement line one and line two, which completes the thought of line one. So Micah chapter two, verse 12. First line, I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of you. Second line, I will surely gather the remnant of Israel. And notice he points out a day is coming when all Israel and the remnant of Israel become one and the same. When all Israel, remnant of Israel become one and the same. In the future time, which will happen in the last three days of the tribulation, the whole nation will come to faith. as a result of coming to faith, then the whole nation becomes a believer nation, and you all become members of the remnant of Israel. And therefore, the future of Israel still has a brighter future yet to come. As you came in, you should receive the folder like this, if you will take yours out. Anyone not have this folder? Would you just raise your hand, anyone not have one? Okay, is there somebody out there with the folders? Just keep your hand up, we'll get those passed out. Now this brochure will give you a basic understanding of Ariel Ministries, the ministry of which I serve. Ariel, as the word is Hebrew for Lion of God. Okay, raise your hands again. The Lion of God. And that tells you what we are. We are Jews who believe in the Messiahship of Jesus, whom the Bible calls the Lion of the tribe of Judah. This ministry began back in 1977 on two principles we maintain to this day. And the first principle is to share the gospel with our Jewish people. And we do this by setting up branches in Jewish public areas. And over our existence, we have been able to set up branches now in 10 different countries. And this includes, for example, in North America we have several branches in the USA because of the large Jewish population. We have at this point two branches in Canada. There will be a third one setting up soon. And going to the east we have branches set up in Red China, India, Australia and New Zealand. In the European side, we have branches in Russia, St. Petersburg, Russia. We also Kiev in the Ukraine, Germany, and also Hungary. We have also an active branch in the city of Netanya in Israel, north of Tel Aviv. Our couple, with three other couples from different Jewish ministries, have all established a very active Messianic congregation. And God has used the staff effectively. And over the years, I've been happy to read our reports from our staff where we have Jewish people coming to faith. Our second major purpose is to teach the Word of God from a Jewish frame of reference. That includes the Jewish background out of which my scripture came, but also God's plan and program for the Jewish people. And that was the focus of our two sessions at this congregation this morning and this evening. Those are the ways that we teach. For example, we publish many books, manuscripts, CDs, DVDs, MP3s. You'll see in the lower left-hand corner picture many of these. When we first started this itinerary about three weeks ago, we had all of these things present virtually, but they've all gotten sold out, so we don't have any left here except the Passover Haggadah, only two copies of it. But if you go to a webpage, and you'll see the address on the back page here, and push the icon for literature, that will expose you to what you can get via the internet and so on. All our books also, all our new books I should say, all the books are not quite there yet, are also available as e-books. So if you want, you can have an e-book just downloaded to your computer, which of course saves a lot of money from shipping and so on. So these are the ways you can get a hold of these things. Also, if you work with computers, there's another icon that says, come and see. Come and see. You push that icon, you'll be exposed to 50 lessons that gives you a survey of the whole Bible as a whole from the Messianic Jewish perspective. Each lesson is 12 minutes long. It ends with an exam you can take or not take, up to you. And all of those are free. Furthermore, for most of these two lessons, you can actually download the manuscript also free of charge. So you also can get the material in written form as well. So these are all inexpensive, not a penny, and I would encourage you to make use of it. Another way we have been teaching is for the last 40 summers, we've had a summer school program in upstate New York in the Outer Rhonddake Mountains. It's a six-week program. There's a two-week curriculum, three-week curriculum, and a one-week curriculum. Both the two-week and three-week curriculum undergoes a five-year cycle, so you have to go five summers to get everything we offer. However, the six-week essay is one course we teach every year because of its importance. That's the life of the Messiah from a Jewish perspective. And we cover the whole 25-hour version of that course within that one-week program. And so you can come for only one week. And if you come only for one week, you get a lot of material to take back with you for your own discipleship work. If you come for more, like six weeks, that's even better. This last summer, we had representatives from 14 different countries taking the courses, and that included Britain. So you're more than welcome to attend. The new curriculum will be set up on our webpage in December for the next summer. You can see what courses will be taught at that time. I'm also going to start adding a year-round school. The summer program will continue as is. I'm also going to begin an academic year from September to May, a one-year program in Messianic Jewish Studies. You'll see on the table these brochures. If you think you might want to take advantage of this one-year program and know somebody else that may want it, In that nine-month period, you'll complete a complete major in Messianic Jewish Studies, so that it will also be available starting a year from now, next September. So this will give you just some basic details. The other way we teach is through our magazine, which looks like this. It comes out four times a year, so quarterly. And every issue contains news of our branches, reports of Jewish people coming to faith, but every magazine contains two, and normally even three, studies of the scriptures from masculine Jewish studies. For example, this issue has an article on the Arab states and prophecy, the Arab states and prophecy. And this is available to you. We do not charge for this either. So you want to receive it, you can receive it in two formats. If you want the hard copy, it looks like this in magazine format, there's a coupon in the brochure and simply fill out your name and address in full and we'll send you the magazine. But it's also available in email format. If you prefer the email format, just give us your email address and that will be more than sufficient to get the magazine. We'll continue sending you as long as you want to receive it, but you'll never be charged for it whatsoever. So that's not the way you can participate. Then you simply tear the slip off. You can leave it on the back table, leave it in the foyer where the literature table is, and we're happy to send this to you as well. That's the essence of it. And I was told there's a lot of Scots people in this congregation. I should tell you the one Scottish-Jewish story. So I'll tell you a Scottish-Jewish story, and then I'll tell you another story that has a Jewish twist to it. There was a Scot and a Jew waiting for the tram. And the Scot told the Jew, you know, I think I'll walk down to the next tram station. Want to walk with me? And the Jew says, no, I'll stay right here. The Scout leaves. The tram comes and picks up the Jew. Next station picks up the Scout. And the Jew says to the Scout, since I got on earlier, I got a longer ride for my money. The Scout says, yes, but since I walked on, I got to keep my money longer. But the better story is of a Taliban terrorist running through the desert, fleeing from the authorities. He's running out of water. He's getting desperate. He looked up, and he saw what might be an oasis. And if it is an oasis, there'd be water there. When he gets to what looked like the oasis, it's not really an oasis. There's no water, just an old Jewish man selling ties. And the terrorist asked the Jew, don't you have any water here? Jewish man says, I have no water. All these nice ties, only five pounds a piece. And the terrorist says, I don't want you to wear Western garments. I'm an Easterner. I need some water. Jewish man says, I have no water. But you have this nice silk tie, only five pounds. And the terrorist says, I wish I had the strength right now to take this tie and squeeze your neck till you're dead because I hate Jews. I have to preserve my energy. I need to find some water. Krishna says, I'll show you I'm a better man than you are. You hate me because I'm Jewish. You call me an infidel. You won't even buy one of my ties, but I'll show you I'm a better man than you are. If you can make it to the sand, only about one more kilometer, you'll come to a crossroads. Under a crossroads is a very nice restaurant that has all the water you possibly want. So go in peace, and may God bless you. The terrorist leaves, but he says, I may come back and kill you yet, but right now I need to preserve energy. He disappears for a while. After a long while, he comes back, but he's crawling on his knees, he's crawling on his hands, he's almost dead. He's got this five-part note in his hands, and he says, they will not let me in Wadatai.