The Remnant in Scripture and the End Time
How does the Bible describe the Remnant? Does anyone fit the description today?
From our early days, we Seventh-day Adventists have used the term "remnant" or "remnant church" to designate ourselves as constituting the last true church of Bible prophecy—the special people called into existence by God and which under God's guidance and blessing will go through to the end. We have felt that the Seventh-day Adventist Church fulfills the specifications of Rev 12:17 and thus carries the marks of God's true church of the end-time.
In 1980 for the first time we even included a statement of our concept of the remnant in our Fundamental Beliefs.1 Yet today some are backing away from the "remnant" designation, claiming it makes us exclusive, fosters spiritual pride, and implies that others are not truly Christians. To them this term is a relic from what they see as a bygone, confrontational, perfectionistic stage of our history. Perhaps worse, others are simply ignoring it, and the church has begun to lose a sense of its distinctiveness and its special role in God's plan in the end time.
What does Scripture say about the remnant? Are Adventists qualified to be the "remnant" or not? If not, we'd better know it. But if we are, we need to manifest the characteristics of the remnant and fulfill the task and mission of the remnant.
There is more to the Biblical theme of the remnant than we can discuss here, but we will try to deal with the essentials. The remnant theme moves through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation as a red thread. It is such a rich and deep theme that in the Old Testament alone six different Hebrew roots are used,2 from which more than a dozen words derive, appearing more than 540 times in the Old Testament. In various ways, the remnant idea is present in every Old Testament book.
The New Testament employs four different Greek terms for the remnant concept. The remnant theme appears of course in the book of Revelation, but also in the four gospels, in Acts and in Paul's letter to the Romans, as well as in other places.
We will first survey the Old and New Testaments, then focus more closely on Daniel and Revelation, in order to distill the main Biblical concepts of the remnant.
THE REMNANT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
In the Bible the earliest explicit statement about the remnant appears in the Flood story. Gen 7:23 states profoundly that the surviving remnant of the flood consisted of only a few people: "Only Noah was left and those that were with him in the ark".
Peter amplifies the point: "and [God] did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly" (2 Pet 2:5). In this world-wide destruction, says Peter, the "ungodly" were annihilated while the "godly" were preserved. The contrast is between the ungodly masses and the godly or faithful remnant when the change from one world to the next comes.
Why were they saved and others lost? There was a moral, ethical, religious dimension at work that led to the destruction and, by contrast, to salvation. On the other hand, why were only Noah and his family left? Why was Noah among the small remnant that was saved?
Three Characteristics
Three major characteristics of the remnant appear in Gen 6:9: "Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God" (NASB). These characteristics contrast vividly with the corruption of his generation.
Characteristics of Noah's Remnant:
- Righteous – Noah was a "righteous man." His "righteousness" consisted of the wholeness of his relationship with God. A "righteous man" exhibits faith and trust in God that result in obedience.
- Blameless – The Hebrew word here does not mean absolutely perfect or sinless, but upright, possessing moral integrity. This is how the remnant lives before God.
- Walked with God – There are only two ways. One either walks with God or without God. Either one's life is placed under the rulership and guidance of God or it is placed under other rulership and guidance. There is no middle ground.
Covenant of Obedience
God establishes His covenant with Noah: "But with you I will establish my covenant, and you shall come into the ark, you, and your sons, and your wife, and your sons' wives with you" (Gen 6:18). The remnant lives in a covenant relationship with God, which has stipulations. "You shall come into the ark." "Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did" (Gen 6:22). The remnant responds in faithful obedience to God's commands, not in order to earn merit, but as an expression of faith.
So the remnant that survived in Noah's day (1) was in the right faith relationship to God; (2) was "blameless" or "perfect" in its sphere; (3) walked with God continually; and (4) obeyed God's commands. The remnant that survives a global catastrophe is a people of faith and trust, manifesting a faith life of obedience.
Elijah
Elijah, too, exemplifies God's remnant, standing alone (he believes) in loyalty to God among his apostate countrymen (1 Kgs 18:22; 19:10, 14). After Elijah flees from Jezebel, the Lord appears to him in majestic revelation, assuring him, "Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him" (1 Kgs 19:18). This is the first Scripture text in which God promises that He will have a faithful remnant within Israel.
This remnant of 7,000 constitutes the minority of Israelites, those who have not worshipped Baal. Israel as a national entity is no longer God's people. Only the faithful who truly worship the Lord are the remnant. As such they carry on God's design for His people.
Amos
The writing prophets drew a sharp distinction between apostate Israel and a faithful remnant within Israel. Amos, for one, prophesies repeatedly that Israel will come to an end as a nation, but that the Lord may leave a remnant. "Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the gate! Perhaps the Lord God of hosts may be gracious to the remnant of Joseph" (Amos 5:15, NASB).
"The remnant of Joseph" is a remnant of Israelites who will be faithful to God by seeking the Lord (Amos 5:4-8). "Seeking" the Lord means to consult the will of God for direction, for the way of life, for the revelation of His will. The remnant "seek the Lord" for direction and repentance; they seek the Lord in prayer and in a life of obedience.
The remnant are Lord-seekers, constantly seeking His counsel and living under His rulership. The Lord-seeking remnant practice doing what is good and right in the religious and social spheres. Amos preached his prophetic message in the end time of the northern kingdom of Israel. The Lord-seeking remnant is an end-time remnant of believers who follow the prophetic word of revelation.
Isaiah
The gospel prophet Isaiah called his own son Shear-Jashub, the symbolic name "A-Remnant-Shall-Return" (Isa 7:3), predicting the return or repentance of some Israelites. The future Messiah Immanuel is the ruler of the coming "holy" remnant (Isa 7:10-17). Of the coming Messiah's rulership Isaiah predicts, "In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and adornment of the survivors of Israel. And it will come about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called 'holy' every one who is recorded for life in Jerusalem" (Isa 4:2-3, NASB).
The "Branch" (Jer 23:5; 33:15; Zech 3:8), the future Messiah, will have a "holy" remnant, belonging fully to God and distinct before Him. They are "recorded for life," their names recorded in the book of life, with eternal life their goal.
Here is the first prediction that the remnant of faith in the end-time will engage in a global missionary outreach to declare God's fame and glory. A major theme of the Old Testament is that God called Israel to be "a light to the nations" (Isa 45:5-8). When national Israel failed, God called a new people into existence, a remnant that would be faithful, holy, and obedient to God. This remnant would fulfill His mission and perform the God-appointed tasks for mankind.3
Jeremiah and Ezekiel
According to Jeremiah and Ezekiel the future remnant of faith is a new religious community, a community of faith, living the new covenant imbued with a "new heart" and a "new spirit". The "remnant" is not the national entity Israel, but something new, a religious and ethical community built on faith and not on national origin. The Lord would gather this remnant from the various parts of the world (Jer 31:7), write His law in their hearts and make a new covenant with them (Jer 31:31-34; cf. Ezek 11:16-21).
In summary, the Old Testament treats the remnant theme extensively as the basis of a future hope. The remnant is not a national or ethnic entity, but comes from all people and nations, a "new covenant" community, the genuine people of God. The remnant of faith is Lord-seeking, walking with God, righteous, blameless, holy, recorded in the book of life, and has a "new heart" and a "new spirit". It is faithful and obedient to God, not bowing the knee to Baal. And it engages in a world-wide mission, declaring God's glory among the nations and inviting others to enter into an intimate relationship with the God of salvation.
THE REMNANT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
John the Baptist
John the Baptist summoned a repentant remnant in preparation for One coming who was greater than he. John's call was to gather a remnant from "all Israel" (Mk 1:5) and to baptize them with the baptism of repentance.
Jesus
Our Lord Jesus embodies all that the Old Testament describes for the remnant of faith that was to come from Israel. Jesus called the Twelve Disciples, who were symbolic of the new Israel which He was creating (Mt 19:28). The followers of Jesus were the remnant and became the nucleus of the new people of God, the church.
In Gethsemane, when the crucial test came, the faithful remnant was reduced to the single person, the Son of Man, who alone was lifted up on the cross to die the substitutionary death for all of us. He rose again to be His people's perpetual Mediator and Representative in the heavenly sanctuary. With Jesus Christ the people of God died and rose again. Hence the New Testament people of God, while being linked with the people of God of the Old Testament, is at the same time a new creation. Thus, according to 1 Pet 1:3-4:11, all who are baptized are part of the new community, new race, new family. They are part of the "holy priesthood" (1 Pet 2:5), and they must follow the new way of life which their new status demands.
Jesus taught that even within the remnant of faith a sifting and selection process would take place at the end. The wheat and the tares would be separated (Mt 13:24-30), the good fish would be saved and the bad ones thrown out (Mt 13:47-50), and a remnant would emerge, purged from feigned confessors and false believers (Mt 7:21-27; 22:11-14; 25:1-13). The idea of the remnant is an essential part of Jesus' preaching and teaching. He addressed all, but only a few responded, forming the faithful remnant (Mt 7:14; 22:14; Lk 13:23-24).
Paul
The apostle Paul employs the noun remnant (leimma) in Rom 11:5. The remnant theme is interwoven in his arguments of Rom 9-11. In these chapters Paul draws a clear distinction between the Israel of the "flesh," which is ethnic Israel, and the Israel of the "promise" (9:8), which is the true Israel of faith or spiritual Israel (9:6-27). Membership in spiritual Israel is by faith (10:4). This remnant of faith consists of both Jews and Gentiles (9:24) who have confessed Jesus as the resurrected Lord (10:9).
This Paul illustrates with the parable of the olive tree (Rom 11:17-24). From the trunk of Old Testament Israel the natural branches of unbelieving Jews were broken off and the wild branches of believing Gentiles were grafted in, resulting in a tree of believers in Christ. Through pruning and grafting, the tree of the faithful remains to draw nourishment from its holy root. The new Israel of faith is a continuation of the old Israel of faith, not merely of ethnic Israel. The final goal is individual adoption or readoption into the community of faith of those not now connected with the tree, whether Israelites or Gentiles. Thus "all Israel," all who believe, will be saved (Rom 11:26).
THE REMNANT IN DANIEL AND REVELATION
Daniel
The remnant theme in the book of Daniel is rich. Daniel and his three friends are certainly a faithful remnant that survive the catastrophe of the fall of Judah. They are a loyal remnant of faith in an alien, pagan environment, far away from their homeland. The faith and faithfulness of Daniel and his friends are severely tested in regard to food (Dan 1) and worship (Dan 3, 6). Living at the end time of the kingdom of Judah in most unfavorable circumstances, Daniel and his friends are a type of the remnant of faith in the time of the end who will experience "the time of trouble" (Dan 12:1). God will stand by the side of His faithful remnant, supporting them and protecting them from death. God will come to their rescue and deliver them, as He helped Daniel and his friends.
Dan 7 and 12 develop the remnant idea significantly. The "saints of the Most High" (Dan 7:25) experience a lengthy persecution by the little horn power, which wears them down (7:25) and shatters them (12:7). Only a decimated remnant is left over by the end of the persecution. But after the pre-Advent judgment, in which the saints are vindicated, the saints receive the everlasting kingdom (7:18, 27) through the Son of Man to whom God has given it (7:14). This everlasting kingdom is inherited only by those who are found written in the book (12:1). The end-time living remnant of faith and the righteous dead who will be resurrected are linked together (12:1-3) as inheritors of the Kingdom of God.
Revelation
The last book of the Bible also makes special contributions to the remnant theme. The remnant of faith first appear there in the letters to the seven churches.
Thyatira
The "Son of God" (Rev 2:18) pronounces judgment against Thyatira for its apostasy (2:21). Then the remnant in Thyatira is addressed: "But to the rest [or remnant, loipos] of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this [false] teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you [the remnant] I say, I do not lay upon you any other burden; only hold fast what you have, until I come" (2:24-25).
This passage makes an astonishing claim. The church of Thyatira has openly and defiantly followed the great apostasy typified by Jezebel. However, the "Son of God" speaks to "the remnant who are in Thyatira," genuine followers of Jesus! Despite the nondescript translation into English as the "rest," this group is truly a remnant; the same Greek word used here (loipos) is used in Rev 12:17 and Rev 11:13.
What does this passage reveal about the remnant? In a time when the church at large has apostatized, a loyal remnant of believers remains, holding fast to what they have (2:25), the true Biblical faith. In the history of the church, Thyatira represents the period of papal supremacy, the Dark Ages of medieval times. The "remnant" of Thyatira consists of those during that time who attempted to remain loyal to the Biblical faith as they understood it. We may point to such groups as the Waldenses, Hussites, Wycliffites, and Bohemian Brethren. Though they did not have as much light as would come later, the phrase in Rev 2:25, "only hold fast what you have," indicates that more was not expected of this "remnant" than to remain faithful to the light that they had.
Sardis
There is also a remnant in Sardis. "Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy" (Rev 3:4). These are the remnant who refuse to engage in compromise; they have not soiled the whiteness of their garments with moral, ethical, doctrinal, and other defilement. Jesus says, "They shall walk with me in white," a symbol for their having received Christ's righteousness; they have washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb.
Sardis represents the period in church history from the Reformation in the sixteenth century to the middle of the eighteenth century. During this time, the original Reformation concept of faith as a new personal relationship with God deteriorated into intellectual assent to doctrine without repentance and conversion. Rationalism, with its denial of the supernatural, led to the development of critical methods of Bible study which devastated faith in the authority of the Bible as the Word of God. This and other major trends (such as Deism) in the Sardis period marked the departure of the church from the faith won by the Reformers. Still there were a "few names," a few people, a remnant that carried on without soiling their garments. This period too had a remnant of faith.
"The Remnant of Her Seed"
The last major text we will consider in the book of Revelation is Rev 12:17: "And the dragon was wroth [RSV: angry] with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus" (KJV).
The dragon represents Satan (12:9), and the woman represents the "true church," consisting of true believers who are persecuted by the dragon. The persecution is for "a time, times, and half a time" (12:14; cf. Dan 7:25) which extends from A.D. 538-1798. To the time of the end, Satan continuously tries to destroy the true church.
If the woman represents the true church, under persecution until 1798, who is "the remnant of her seed" with whom the dragon determines to make war? The term "seed" is used frequently in the Bible for "descendants" or "offspring". The "seed of the woman" is the offspring of the church which was persecuted from 538 to 1798. They are the faithful ones, the spiritual followers, an extension of the "true church".
The "remnant of her seed" then refers to the last group of the faithful. In Rev 12, they are the end-time remnant of God's long line of faithful and obedient ones from Noah and his family, to the end-time in which we live today. They are the last remnant in the flow of time before Jesus Christ returns in glory.
Two Characteristics
This remnant of the end time has two characteristics: they (1) "keep the commandments of God" and (2) "have the testimony of Jesus" (12:17).
First: Commandment Keepers. The remnant of the end time are keepers of the commandments of God. Though only a small group does so, yet there is a remnant indeed that can be recognized as keeping the commandments of God. This trait is mentioned again in Rev 14:12 in connection with demonstrating faith in Jesus. The "commandments" are God's beneficent will revealed on Mt. Sinai in the Decalogue. "Keeping the commandments of God" is the obedient walk of the believer, demonstrating responsive love for God and a vital relationship with the Giver of life. This end-time remnant, this community of faith, experiences the new-covenant relationship; as commandment keepers, they have the law written on their hearts.
Second: The Testimony of Jesus. The second characteristic of the end-time remnant is that they "have the testimony of Jesus". Despite the reading of some versions today, the Greek phrase, literally translated, is "having the testimony of Jesus". The remnant has or is in possession of the testimony of Jesus, as an ongoing, abiding experience.
About or From Jesus?
Is this "testimony of Jesus" the remnant's testimony about Jesus? Or is it Jesus' testimony to the remnant? This is an important question in defining the role of the remnant, and since modern translations have made the issue more apparent, we will examine it here briefly. The expression "testimony of Jesus (or of Jesus Christ)" is used six times in Revelation and only twice in other parts of the New Testament (1 Cor 1:6; 2 Tim 1:8). How is it used in Revelation?
Both Rev 1:2 and 1:9 have the same essential wording: "the word of God and the testimony of Jesus". Since the revelation has come to John from Jesus (1:1), "the testimony of Jesus Christ" in Rev 1:2 is Jesus Christ's testimony to John the Revelator. The same phrase in 1:9 invites the same interpretation. In fact, John was on Patmos to prevent him from proclaiming "the testimony of [from] Jesus".7
In Rev 20:4 we find the same terms but in the reverse order: "I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the witness [testimony] of Jesus, and for the word of God". It has been suggested that these people were beheaded to prevent them from presenting "the witness of Jesus" and the word of God. Rev 6:9 is similar to 20:4, but it speaks of "the testimony which they held" (Greek: were having). The close similarity of these four usages suggests that they have similar meaning—testimony that comes from Jesus, rather than testimony borne to or about Him by others.
In Rev 19:10, and nowhere else in the New Testament, we have the identical phrase that is found in Rev 12:17, literally translated "those who have the testimony of Jesus". The phrase, "the testimony of Jesus" is even repeated in the verse. Thus Rev 19:10 and Rev 12:17 are uniquely linked, providing their own interpretation.
Spirit of Prophecy
Rev 19:10 provides the definition for Rev 12:17. "Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, 'You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brethren who hold [lit. have] the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.' For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy".
The use of the phrase "having the testimony of Jesus" in vs 10 indicates again that this is the testimony which Jesus Himself bears when He manifests Himself in a special way. So "the testimony of Jesus" is Jesus' own self-testimony which he gives through the Spirit of prophecy.
The remnant of the end time "have" and "continue having the testimony of Jesus". Since "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy," the genuine remnant of faith of the end time possess among them the Spirit of prophecy. This is one of the characteristics of the remnant of the end-time. The "spirit of prophecy" deals with the prophetic gift, as is affirmed also in Rev 22:9 where the brothers referred to are "prophets". The "testimony of Jesus" is Jesus' own witness among the remnant, as believers in whose midst the prophetic gift is manifested.
CONCLUSION
As we contemplate the entire Biblical message regarding the remnant, a consistent and clear picture emerges.
The remnant of faith are a community of believers from any nation or background, who are God's true followers in times of great crisis and apostasy. They live a genuine faith relationship with God and Jesus Christ. In this sense the Bible calls them "righteous" as well as "holy." They are Lord-seeking; they walk with the God who has given them a "new heart" and a "new spirit".
The remnant of faith are obedient to the ways of God as found in His revealed Word, the Scriptures. In spirit and in truth, they "worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of water" (Rev 14:7). In this they are a continuation of the remnant of faith of all times.
Special characteristics identify the end-time remnant. They "keep the commandments of God" and "have the testimony of Jesus," which "is the spirit of prophecy" (Rev 12:17; 19:10).
The end-time remnant are God's true people with a mission for the world, "to gather all nations and tongues" (Isa 66:18-19). The book of Revelation places their outreach at the moment when "the hour of his judgment is come" (Rev 14:7). The remnant preach the "everlasting gospel" "unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people". This is an all-consuming task from which nothing will sidetrack the remnant of faith. It is a bringing in of the harvest of souls from everywhere and every people.
The proclamation of the end-time remnant of faith consists of the "eternal gospel" in its entirety, dealing with the salvation of the whole person—body, soul, and spirit. It is not a shortened gospel; it does not divorce law from gospel. It preaches both salvation by grace and holy living in the setting of the judgment hour.
Since there is no other religious body today outside of Seventh-day Adventism which uniquely and specifically possesses the characteristics of the remnant of faith and carry their marks, I believe that Adventists who meet all the aspects of the remnant are the remnant of faith of the end time. Though Christians in other churches are also God's children, before the end of time all true children of God and others will be drawn by Christ and His "everlasting gospel" into the visible community of the remnant of faith.
Rev 12:17 states that the dragon, Satan, is enraged at the remnant of the seed of the woman. Satan failed to destroy the true church in the wilderness. He will attempt to destroy God's final "remnant" and thus there will be a "time of trouble such as never was" (Dan 12:1). However, the Bible reassures us that at this final attempt to destroy the last remnant of faith, Michael will stand up and save His people. Deliverance is coming! In the end, salvation is guaranteed to the remnant of faith, and they will go through the final time of trouble as Daniel went with his friends through their time of trouble.
May God grant us mercy and grace to remain faithful as His remnant and to continue to fulfill our mission with the powerful proclamation of the everlasting gospel. "Even so, come, Lord Jesus."