The following are more Scriptures which prove that a remnant of Israel and God’s true church are one in the same.

ISRAEL: In Isaiah 43:13 and 44:23 God declares Himself to be Israel’s redeemer. In Exodus 44:22 God calls out to Israel to return to Him for He has redeemed her.

THE CHURCH: In his first epistle to the Israelites (“strangers”) scattered abroad the Apostle Peter tells them that they were redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Luke 24:21 says that Jesus would be the One Who came to redeem Israel.

ISRAEL: In Exodus 47:6 God (the Word Who would later come to earth as Jesus of Nazareth–see The God of the Old Testament) calls Israel His inheritance and the tribes of Israel His inheritance.

THE CHURCH: In 1 Peter 1:3,4 we find the apostle telling the church that God had begotten them “again” to an inheritance. In Ephesians 5:5,6 Paul tells the church then and now that no sinner has an inheritance in the Kingdom of God.

ISRAEL: In Isaiah 1:9 the prophet tells God’s people that He has retained a remnant of Israel who would inherit salvation. In 10:21 Isaiah notes that a remnant of Jacob (Israel) will return to God. This remnant He would carry, bear and deliver (46:3,4). Israel will return to God one of a city, two of a family–a tiny remnant (Jer. 3:14).

THE CHURCH: In Romans 9:27 Paul repeats Isaiah’s words to Israel while writing to the church, proving that they are one in the same. In Romans 11:5 he writes that at that time there remained a remnant of Israel according to election. That remnant comprised the early church and God’s true church today.

The following passage (Isaiah 53:1-8) is mistakenly applied to the Institutional Church (Catholicism/ Protestantism). Note to and about whom the passage was written initially–ISRAEL. Note also Who later came to earth and for whom He suffered and died–THE CHURCH. In Isaiah 53 the prophet, foretelling what would befall the coming Messiah, noted that He would grow up before God as a tender plant, having no physical or mental traits that would distinguish Him from anyone else. He would be rejected and despised by those who would know Him. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, men would hide their faces from Him and would show Him no respect. The Messiah would bear OUR griefs and sorrows through much pain and suffering. He would take OUR sins and bear our sicknesses through His stripes. God would lay OUR sins on Him as He suffered in silence. Through Isaiah God declared that “He would die for the transgressions of MY PEOPLE.” The church claims to be the “OUR” referred to in the passage. However, the passage was written to and about Israel. God was writing to His obedient people then and now. They are one in the same. Though the church claims to be the focus of the passage, she refuses to believe and obey Him, thereby eliminating herself from salvation. The Institutional Church (Catholicism/Protestantism) is not the Body of Christ. She is the number one enemy of God’s church. Numbering only a few thousand world-wide, God’s despised and rejected saints comprise His true church today (Mat. 7:13,14).

Who is the new creation of God? Whom does He call “the church” and “the Israel of God?” (Gal. 1:2; 6:16). Indeed God’s end-time church is comprised primarily of a remnant of Israelites and a smattering of Gentiles, each one of whom has committed his/her life to serving Him. May their numbers grow as we approach the end of the age, the Great Tribulation, the Day of the Lord and the return of Jesus Christ. L.J.