Reading… and Thinking

“In that day the glory of Jacob will fade;
   the fat of his body will waste away.
It will be as when a reaper gathers the standing grain
   and harvests the grain with his arm —
   as when a man gleans heads of grain
   in the Valley of Rephaim.
Yet some gleanings will remain,
   as when an olive tree is beaten,
   leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches,
   four or five on the fruitful boughs,”
   declares the LORD, the God of Israel.
In that day men will look to their Maker
   and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.

— Isaiah 17:4-7 (NIV)

This prophecy is one of many that tell us about an important concept—the “remnant” of Israel in the last days.

It starts out plainly, saying that Israel’s (Jacob’s) glory will fade. Then there are three figures. The first is of a man wasting away from hunger. The second is a picture of reaping. And the third is harvesting olives.

The man wasting away is easy to understand: Israel will waste away, growing thin and gaunt. The reaping isn’t quite so plain. Isn’t a harvest of grain a good thing? Especially for a starving man? It would be, but in this case the point is that the grain is taken away, leaving an empty field.

The third figure introduces the idea of the remnant. Like the grain harvest, most of the crop is taken away. But there are always a few olives that are out of reach, that don’t fall when the tree is shaken. It is these few who give hope.

The consistent picture in the prophets is that Israel will be brought very low in the last days. However, God promises that He will never make a full end of Israel. There will always be a small portion of the nation that is saved. Because, He made a covenant with them, to be their God, forever.

This passage is in harmony with others, in suggesting that the survival of the remnant is due to repentance. “In that day men will look to their Maker, and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.” The picture we are given is that Israel is about to be utterly swallowed up. But a fraction of the nation repents and turns to God, and He saves them! It is the same pattern we see repeated over and over in Judges—sin, subjugation, supplication, salvation. The salvation never comes without supplication first.

My understanding of the last days prophecies of Old and New Testaments is that Israel will be brought to the brink of destruction. A good case can be made that they actually go into captivity once more (e.g. Zechariah 14). But then there is repentance and turning to the Holy One of Israel, and He intervenes to save them—by sending their longed-for Messiah, to their astonishment, none other than the Lord Jesus Christ!