Think of this: “I do not want you to be ignorant of the mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved.”
Pray on this: Speed the day our Father, when the full count of those, Jew and Gentile, will declare “Blessed is he who comes in the name of YAHWEH.” (Matthew 23:39)
Jim,
I don’t know if you are aware of what the Talmud has to say about the remnants. First of all, Bava Basra page 12 tells of our “remnants” of prophesy, which was taken away and remained in the Torah Sages, thus our Talmud accurately reflects G-d’s word in this world. The Talmud asks your very question as to “How Many Jews” will be of the remnants once the nation is all-but destroyed before the final salvation. This is from Sanhedrin 97>>>
Abaye said: The world must contain not less than thirty-six righteous men in each generation who are vouchsafed [the sight of] the Shechinah’s countenance, for it is written, Blessed are all they that wait lo23 [for him]; the numerical value of ‘lo’ is thirty-six. But that is not so, for did not Raba say: The row [of righteous men immediately] before the Holy One, blessed be He, consists of eighteen thousand, for it is written, it shall be eighteen thousand round about? — That is no difficulty: the former number [thirty-six] refers to those who see Him through a bright speculum, the latter to those who contemplate him through a dim one.
But are there as many? Did not Hezekiah say in the name of R. Jeremiah on the authority of R. Simeon b. Yohai: I have seen the sons of heaven, and they are but few; if there are a thousand, I and my son are included; if a hundred, I and my son are included; and if only two, they are myself and my son? — There is no difficulty: the former number [thirty-six] refers to those who enter [within the barrier to contemplate the Shechinah] with permission; the latter [uncertain number] to those who may enter without permission. <<<<
Basically, the number can be as small as 2 but as large as 18,000. Not so many Jews. But the Gmara goes on to say that it all depends on our repentance.
Have a great Adar.
Dear Jim, thank you, thank you, thank you. I took notes! I know these scriptures, but you did just a wonderful job of pulling them together. Also the above comment was great. I am still going with AFSI to Israel twice a year; this will be my 5th time. Blessings to you and Pat, Ann
Jim;
Of course we know the 144,000 Jews of Revelation 7 and 14 (12,000 from each tribe of Israel) know Him intimately and they sing a song only they can sing. But I am a bit surprised you didn’t cite Zechariah 13:8-9 which speaks clearly of ““It will come about in all the land,”declares the Lord, “that two parts in it will be cut off and perish; But the third will be left in it. And I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested.”
Assuming the events of Zechariah 13 occur in sequence between the events prophesied in Zechariah 12 and 14, it would seem that 2/3 of those who currently identify themselves as Jewish will perish in the days soon ahead. The remaining 1/3 will be “refined” by the events of these end times, including the Tribulation, and survive to serve Him for eternity…
The way I understand the scriptures on this topic is as follows.
The Antichrist will kill 2/3 of the Jews during the Great Tribulation. Then the 1/3 remaining [not including the 144,000 who are marked and hidden in the desert / Edom] will go through the wrath of G-d which is the 7 trumpets judgment. Out of the 1/3 it appears it may be a 1/10th based on Isa 6:13.
Isa 6:13 & Isa 10:20
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+6%3A13%2CIsaiah+10%3A20&version=ESVUK