The Chosen Remnant Renamed

Isaiah 65:1-16 

1 "I was sought by those who did not ask for Me;
I was found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, 'Here I am, here I am,'
To a nation that was not called by My name.

2 I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people,
Who walk in a way that is not good,
According to their own thoughts;
3 A people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face;
Who sacrifice in gardens,
And burn incense on altars of brick;

4 Who sit among the graves,
And spend the night in the tombs;
Who eat swine's flesh,
And the broth of abominable things is in their vessels;

5 Who say, 'Keep to yourself,
Do not come near me,
For I am holier than you!'
These are smoke in My nostrils,
A fire that burns all the day.

6 "Behold, it is written before Me:
I will not keep silence, but will repay—
Even repay into their bosom—
7 Your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together,"
Says the LORD,
"Who have burned incense on the mountains
And blasphemed Me on the hills;
Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom."

8 Thus says the LORD:
"As the new wine is found in the cluster,
And one says, 'Do not destroy it,
For a blessing is in it,'
So will I do for My servants' sake,
That I may not destroy them all.

9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
And from Judah an heir of My mountains;
My elect shall inherit it,
And My servants shall dwell there.
10 Sharon shall be a fold of flocks,
And the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
For My people who have sought Me.

11 "But you are those who forsake the LORD,
Who forget My holy mountain,
Who prepare a table for Gad,
And who furnish a drink offering for Meni.

12 Therefore I will number you for the sword,
And you shall all bow down to the slaughter;
Because, when I called, you did not answer;
When I spoke, you did not hear,
But did evil before My eyes,
And chose that in which I do not delight."

13 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
"Behold, My servants shall eat,
But you shall be hungry;
Behold, My servants shall drink,
But you shall be thirsty;
Behold, My servants shall rejoice,
But you shall be ashamed;
14 Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart,
But you shall cry for sorrow of heart,
And wail for grief of spirit.

15 You shall leave your name as a curse to My chosen;
For the Lord GOD will slay you,
And call His servants by another name;

16 So that he who blesses himself in the earth
Shall bless himself in the God of truth;
And he who swears in the earth
Shall swear by the God of truth;
Because the former troubles are forgotten,
And because they are hidden from My eyes.

God set the pattern for His people in Israel by demonstrating that they and we have not asked for Him or sought Him of ourselves.  The elect, the chosen people of God’s choosing, did not ask for Him but were called out by the Lord and Je was found as they were not seeking Him.  This is the providence of grace in God’s predetermined calling of the remnant out of Israel and from the nations afterwards (Romans 10:20-21, 11:2, 5, 7) as promised to Abraham.  Israel rebelled by seeking false and dead gods of stone and wood instead of the Living God who chose them as a nation, and yet He kept calling to them to stop living sinfully according to their own ways and reasoning.  They just kept rebelling and bringing the wrath of God upon themselves as they refused Him and rejected His word, choosing to worship what are not gods and still boasting that they were a chosen nation and therefore holier than others by the mere association with the God whom they did not follow.  How this warning is appropriate to the church today!  How can we follow the occult or even just go on justifying sin so grace can abound as if naming ourselves by Christ can make up for the sin which separated us from Him in the first place?  May we learn from God’s people in the past not to repeat these errors (2 Peter 2:6, 1 Corinthians 10:6, 11), especially the arrogance of pride to justify sin and then judge ourselves better then others as “holier than thou.”  This attitude is a burning smell of God’s wrath.  Humility in light of God’s grace to deliver us from that wrath should stop this pride of judgment.  We all will answer for what we do and think and say, just as Israel was called to task here for their idolatry and sinful works (1 Corinthians 3:14-15), for life rewards or for judgment.  He promised not to destroy all Israel, but leave a chosen remnant as a pattern for the final judgment when the books are opened and compared to the Lamb’s book of life (Revelation 20:12, 15).  The remnant of all are the ones called out by the Lord in truth according to His choice which only then becomes ours by God given faith, the elect of God in Christ of His inheritance spoken of here in the realm of the chosen nation of Israel as the beginning of all He has chosen to come in the body of Christ.  Just as God called repeatedly to the nation of His choosing to the remnant lest over out of that nation, so He calls with the gospel to the world to save some out of the whole of all nations.  Many are called but few are chosen and come to Him for the transforming and redeeming grace of salvation from God’s justice just as He called to deaf ears of Israel which Isaiah spoke to.  Ultimately, only those invited to the wedding supper of the Lord will taste of His eternal goodness whole the others will stay hungry, thirsty, ashamed, and sorrowful.  We who are chosen are called by another name then (Acts 11:26) as His true servants, whose blessing is in the God of truth who forgives and forgets our former sins as far as the East is from the West and as deeply buried as on the bottom of the sea (Psalm 103:12, Micah 7:19).  The chosen remnant has a new name, Christian.  What a hope we have and an example to motivate us to a holy and righteous response to live accordingly!