Isaiah 17:6
6 Yet gleaning grapes [`olelah] shall be left [sha'ar] in
it, as the shaking [noqeph] of an olive tree [zayith], two [shanayim] or three [shalowsh] berries [gargar] in the top
[ro'sh] of the uppermost bough ['amiyr], four ['arba`] or five [chamesh] in the outmost fruitful [parah] branches [ca`iyph] thereof,
saith [na'um] the LORD [Yahovah] God ['elohiym] of Israel [Yisra'el]. KJV-Interlinear
6 Yet gleanings will be left in
it like the shaking of an olive tree, Two or three olives on the topmost bough,
Four or five on the branches of a fruitful tree, Declares the Lord, the God of
Israel. NASB
When people do not read
the entire passage they get things totally messed up, and miss the entire point
of what is being taught. That is why
people fail without ever realizing their failure. When a crop is harvested, there are always
gleanings that are left behind because they cannot be harvested, are too
difficult to harvest or are deemed not worth the time to harvest. But the crop referred to here is not produce,
but people.
We have been studying
several chapters of future prophecies.
And this verse continues the prophecy for the final days of history, which
will occur in the Tribulation, describing the unbelievable atrocities that will
occur in Israel, sharply escalating at the mid-point of the Tribulation and
continuing until its end.
There, the anti-christ will
double cross Israel and begin a reign of terror such as the world has never
seen before. Isaiah has given fair warning
of these things which are to come, and John, by way of Revelation, has given
fair warning as to when they will begin and when will be the last opportunity
to get away.
Unfortunately most Jews
will not take the advice and that will be their undoing.
However, regardless of
the anti-christs attempts to eliminate all Jews from the planet, God will preserve
a small remnant. And here they are
described.
Just as gleanings are
left behind, so too, some Jews will be left behind for a variety of reasons.
They will not be deemed worth the time to pursue them, or they will not be
easily accessible, or they simply will be overlooked.
But for whatever
reason, and in spite of nearly everyone's decision to disregard Gods warnings,
at their own risk, God will still preserve a few who will survive the Tribulation
and live in the Millennial reign of Christ after the Second Advent.
And just as in the
typical harvest where there are millions and millions of grains or grapes or
olives and such and the gleanings number in very small numbers which are more
or less easy to count, then so too, the remnant of Jews will be a very small
number of people.
Note too, that all of
these will be believers in Christ. No
unbelievers will survive the Tribulation, and none will enter into the Kingdom
of God, that will be established on the earth.
