“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: “Even the few who remain in Israel will be picked over again, as when a harvester checks each vine a second time to pick the grapes that were missed.” Jeremiah 6:9
God warned Judah that they would be picked clean by the Babylonians, even as those who gleaned the remaining grapes from a vine took everything they could. Israel has already been reduced to a “remnant;” the ten tribes have lost their independence, and Judah alone remains. Even Judah shall undergo a severe sifting process, which is likened to a gleaning the prospect is dark, but believers in God’s promises would remember that a few grapes were always left after the picking. “Only a few of its people will be left, like stray olives left on a tree after the harvest. Only two or three remain in the highest branches, four or five scattered here and there on the limbs,” declares the Lord, the God of Israel.” (Isaiah 17:6) This is to emphasize the certainty of the predicted destruction. The gleaners will do their work with a stern thoroughness, laying the hand of destruction again and again upon the vine-shoots.
God here authorized the enemy to search out even the remnant of Israel and take them captive … The enemy will not be satisfied with one invasion, but will repeat it. Not even this gleaning of Israel, however, could nullify God’s promise of the remaining, who would return to Jerusalem from Babylon. “For I am planting seeds of peace and prosperity among you. The grapevines will be heavy with fruit. The earth will produce its crops, and the heavens will release the dew. Once more I will cause the remnant in Judah and Israel to inherit these blessings.” (Zechariah 8:12) God always has His remnant. God is faithful to keep His promises.