when were the vessels of wrath made for destruction if the elect were chosen before the foundation of the world and time began?
Logic demands that those who were not chosen for salvation were done at the same moment as confirmed below to demonstrate the glory of His power and just wrath upon the lumps of dishonour whom God hates and were were left hardened according to the good pleasure of the Potter.
Pro 16:4 The LORD has made all for Himself, Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom.
Remember, not all Israel is Israel. Elijah thought he alone was the only one left but was told that God had reserved a remnant of 7000. Many scholars estimate the the population of Israel was about 2.5 million at that time and that remnant works out to be about a quarter of one percent of the whole nation. God has a remnant which He told Abraham was found among all nations and not the one to which conditional covenants were given and they utterly broke and stumbled upon the Rock which is Christ as was prophesied therefore the only true Jews today are Christians who are the true Israel of God and seed of Abraham in Christ.
Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh;
Rom 2:29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.
Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
The KJV has it "the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction" ... the question is who fitted them? Nobody starts out a murderer though they may have the propensity for it. We have to learn how to fight, to kill, we need to be trained. We even have to learn how to lie successfully, how to seduce, nobody is born drunk or a drug addict. These be the things that fit us for destruction.
Yes logic demands, that's what I said to you. You are going by human logic. Calvin reluctantly admitted that all logic dictates that if God chose some for to be saved then He must have passed over all others. It's human logic.
It is only true if predestination and election are doctrines that apply per se to salvation. They do not. They apply to our being conformed to the image of the Beloved, God's Son. We all want to be like Jesus, this is a wonderful doctrine for it shows us that it is God's will that we should.
Once again we are chosen in Christ before the world was founded to be a people for the praise of God's glorious grace. Again wonderful, we all want to tell of His wonders.
... none of this excludes a single soul from being saved. Indeed we are to be a city set upon a hill, not to exclude but to be a beacon of hope for whoever is weary and sad, in need of shelter. We are the church the city of refuge. THAT'S what we are predestined and chosen for.
Few there be that find the narrow gate but those who do God sends down to the broad way that leads to destruction to pull men off it and lead them to the narrow way as happens in revival. The Great Awakenings.
Now I said these were tricky scriptures that need careful consideration. You mention the Potter and the clay. But there is nothing wrong with the clay when it was created, it was perfectly good for the purpose it was created for. The decisions concerning how to manage, how to fashion the clay comes after the fall [we are speaking about men, not clay]
God is still King, He still has charge of His now fallen creation. He has as Potter to decide how He will make use of His spoiled clay.
Have you ever tried to plumb the depth of evil in man? men like Hitler or Stalin or Mao ze Dong? .... Judas Iscariot? Pharoah? what makes them what they are? In every case it is ambition, greed, greed for power. Those things are not of God, not created by Him or in any way imparted by Him. How and why God chooses these men to be what they become is a deep, deep mystery in God Himself. He only can see what is the heart of every man.
But all these things are God's will in the light of an already fallen creation. Paul speaks about a good and perfect will of God which we are to seek.
Lastly you talk about Elijah's remnant. But with Mt Carmel and the ministries of Elisha and King Jehu the remnant became the whole house of Israel. They kept the covenant alive and in operation.
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