Lesson 11
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*September 8 - 14 |
The Remnant |
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FROM THE EARLIEST DAYS as a scattered, fledgling group of leftover Millerites to the 11-million-member-worldwide-Seventh-day-Adventist Church today, we have always understood ourselves to be "the remnant." The twelfth of our twenty-seven fundamental beliefs states, in fact, that "in the last days, a time of widespread apostasy, a remnant has been called out to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus."—Seventh-day Adventists Believe. . . , (Washington, D.C.: Ministerial Association, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 1988), p. 152. We claim to be that remnant.
Yet merely claiming to be "the remnant" doesn't make one "the remnant" anymore than claiming to be an eagle makes one able to fly. Some among us even question our right to use that title, warning that this notion creates pride, triumphalism, and arrogance; others, seeing in the church worldliness, compromise, and a lowering of standards, question this identification; and still others, distraught by legalism, dogmatism, and a Laodicean coldness among us also ask, How can we be the remnant? This week's lesson helps answer that question.
THE WEEK AT A GLANCE: Who was the first remnant recorded in the Bible? How perfect does someone have to be in order to be in the remnant? How was the remnant understood during the day of the Israelite theocracy? How is the remnant depicted in the last day? Could a church filled with spiritual problems be the remnant?
MEMORY TEXT: "And the dragon was wroth 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 Christ" (Revelation 12:17).
*(Please study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, September 15).
"And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the
ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the
heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained
alive, and they that were with him in the ark"
(Gen.
7:23, emphasis supplied).
The concept of the remnant appears for the first time in Scripture with Noah. The Hebrew root for the verb "remained" in Genesis 7:23 is translated in other places in the Old Testament as the noun "remnant." (See Zeph. 1:4; Jer. 42:2; Isa. 17:3; Neh. 1:3; Ezra 3:8; 9:8; 2 Chron. 30:6.) In Genesis, this "remnant" is made up of those who were left over, who remained—in this specific case after the Flood.
What distinguished Noah and his family from the rest of the world? What
did they do that caused them to "remain" when no one else did?
Noah and his family, unlike the rest of the world, understood and believed what could best be called "present truth," which at that time consisted of the warning about the Flood. And not only did they believe the truth, they acted upon it. In other words, besides merely having faith in the message, they acted upon that faith—first by building the boat and then by getting in it. Their faith was, indeed, made manifest by their works (see James 2:20).
Yet their works, even as the remnant, were not perfect. Noah, who in Genesis 7:1 is called "righteous," is depicted in chapter 9, verses 20, 21 as getting so drunk that he fell asleep "uncovered" in his tent. Ellen White wrote, too, that Ham's reaction to his father "revealed the impiety and vileness of his character."—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 117. In short, though they were a remnant who had believed and acted upon a "present truth" message, these people were not perfect.
List a few points that we can learn from the Noah story that help give us an understanding of the remnant, at least as depicted in this account:
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"And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither
I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall
be fruitful and increase"
(Jer.
23:3).
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand
again the second time to recover the remnant of his people"
(Isa.
11:11).
Through compromise with the world around them, ancient Israel-the people whom God chose to preserve the knowledge of Him and the truths about Him (the gospel, the law, the Sabbath, the sanctuary system, the state of the dead, health, etc.)—went into captivity for 70 years. Yet the Lord was not through with them, for He promised, time and again, through His prophets, that He would bring them back to their land and give the Hebrew nation another opportunity to love and serve Him (see Zech. 8:8). He promised to restore "a remnant."
Though God brought this remnant back, they were hardly a perfect, holy people. What were some of the problems with this remnant?
Ezra 3:13 ________________________________________________________________________
Ezra 9 ___________________________________________________________________________
Neh. 5:1-10 ______________________________________________________________________
Neh. 13:15-19 _____________________________________________________________________
Hag.
1:9
___________________________________________________________________
Despite these problems, God still referred to this people as a remnant (see Ezra 9:15). And that was because, whatever their failings, these people still had more light and more truth than any of the pagan nations around them. They might not have been keeping the Sabbath perfectly, but they still had the Sabbath truth (Neh. 13:15-19). Here, as in the example of Noah, the remnant is not distinguished so much by the holiness of its personal members but by the truth that it possesses.
Klara joined the SDA Church only four years ago, after a powerful conversion. She loves Jesus, loves the church, loves the "present truth." Yet she's been terribly discouraged by some of the things happening, not just among members but among local church leaders. How can what we've learned about the remnant help those like her? |
After the failure of the ancient Hebrew nation, the New Testament church—which began with a faithful remnant of Jews see Rom. 11:5)—took on the same functions, claimed the same promises, preached the same truths (now illuminated by knowledge of Christ), and had the same purpose as the Hebrew theocracy. A theme of the New Testament is that a faithful remnant of Jews and Gentiles would, by faith, come out of darkness and walk in the light of Christ. The early Christians understood themselves not as an exclusive remnant but as an open and universal remnant, not confined to the boundaries of Israel but scattered all over the world.
Unfortunately, even among this new remnant, many problems quickly arose. What were some of these problems?
Acts 6:1 ________________________________________________________________________
Acts 15: 1, 2 _____________________________________________________________________
1 Cor. 5:1 _______________________________________________________________________
Gal. 3:1 _________________________________________________________________________
2
Pet. 2:19-22
______________________________________________________________
The problems, eventually, became so bad that it led to what Paul called the great "falling away" (2 Thess. 2:3) until the Christian church became the "anti-Christian church." God's faithful ones had to flee, underground, for centuries (see Rev. 12:6). Eventually God raised up men like Martin Luther, who started the Protestant Reformation, a movement that helped restore many of the crucial truths lost during the centuries of darkness. Yet over the years, the Reformation lost its momentum, and many of the churches fell back into theological darkness before these important truths could be fully recovered. Rationalism, evolution, relativism, predestination, antinomianism (being against the law)—these and other errors were all making inroads into Christianity. Therefore, as He had done centuries earlier, when His people were in literal Babylon, God would call out a people who would restore and promulgate truth. He again would call out "a remnant."
| Why did the early church so quickly fall into such sin? How
do the problems of the early church parallel ours
now? |
Revelation 12, using flashbacks, sweeps over the history of the great controversy between Christ and Satan. The first six verses cover everything from the fall of Satan and the angels (vs. 4) to the birth of Christ (vss. 1, 2, 5), to Satan's attempt to kill the infant Christ (vs. 4), to the long centuries when the church (depicted as a woman) had to flee from persecution (vs. 6).
Verses 7-17 in Revelation 12 cover basically the same ground as verses 1-6. Reading carefully verses 7-17, write down the texts that depict the following events:
Satan's rebellion ___________________________________________________________________
Satan and His angels cast out of heaven ________________________________________________
Satan's attempt to destroy the church __________________________________________________
The church fleeing Satan
______________________________________________________
Though verses 7-17 cover basically the same ground as verses 1-6, verse 17 goes one step further, for it extends beyond the 1,260-day period depicted in verse 6 (also depicted as the "time, and times, and half a time" in verse 14). It describes "the remnant of her seed," a group of people who face Satan's anger: "And the dragon was wroth 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 Christ" (vs. 17).
| A crucial component for understanding the identity of this remnant deals with when it arises. Looking at the whole chapter, this remnant appeal's after these other events depicted in the chapter occur. Thus, the remnant appears even after the time period given twice in the chapter, making it clear that after the 1,260 days (three and a half times) the dragon will focus his persecution on the woman 's descendents. |
| Using whatever resources you have, do your best to understand the
time periods depicted in
Revelation
12, which will help you understand the identity of the
remnant. |
Revelation 12 proves that this remnant of the woman's seed appears only after the 1,260 years, prophetically expressed in Revelation 12 proves that this remnant of the woman's seed appears only after the 1,260 years, prophetically expressed in the chapter. This places it sometime in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century (the specific dates we as a church use are AD. 538-1798; for more information See The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 7, p. 809). Thus, this remnant must appear some time after that specific period.
Read
Revelation
12:17. What other characteristics are used to describe this remnant?
The first characteristic says that it will "keep the commandments of God." What commandments is this talking about? Read these following texts and see how they help explain what keeping those commandments must entail: Revelation 14:12; 1 John 2:4; Romans 3:31; Ephesians 6:2; John 14:15; James 2:10, 11; Revelation 22:14.
The other characteristic of this remnant is that it also has "the testimony of Jesus Christ." Revelation 19:10 says that "testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
We as Adventists have generally associated this with the ministry of Ellen
G. White, but is it limited to that alone? Explain.
No wonder the Adventist Church has identified itself with this remnant as depicted in Revelation 12:17. No other organized church body fits. Consider the following clear identifying marks: (1) it arises after the 1,260-year period; (2) it keeps all the commandments; (3) it has the "spirit of prophecy" manifested among it.
| Being part of the remnant, however much a privilege, is no guarantee of salvation, as the history of the remnant church proves. Being among the remnant means only that you're part of a corporate body that has been given great light and truth, "present truth. "How we, as individuals, respond to that light and truth is what will determine our ultimate destiny. |
| How do we explain to a non-Adventist our understanding of the remnant
without seeming arrogant or exclusive?
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FURTHER STUDY: This week's lesson looked at the concept of the
remnant from one perspective. The word remnant, however, is used in numerous
different contexts in the Bible. Look at the following verses to see how
the term has been used:
Joshua
12:4;
1
Kings 12:23;
14:10;
2
Kings 19:4;
Isaiah
1:9;
14:22;
Jeremiah
6:9;
31:7;
Ezekiel
6:8;
Amos
5:15;
Zephaniah
3:13;
Romans
9:27.
The substitution of the precepts of men for the commandments of god has not ceased. Even among Christians are found institutions and usages that have no better foundation than the traditions of the fathers. Such institutions, resting upon mere human authority, have supplanted those of divine appointment. Men cling to their traditions, and revere their customs, and cherish hatred against those who seek to show them their error. In this day, when we are bidden to call attention to the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, we see the same enmity as was manifested in the days of Christ. Of the remnant people of God it is written, "The dragon was wroth 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 Christ.' Rev. 12:17."—The Desire of Ages p. 398.
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SUMMARY: God has always had a remnant,
no matter how faulty. Noah is a prime example of a man who, possessing "present
truth," acted upon that truth, despite personal faults. Today God has a corporate
remnant church as well, one possessing "present truth," yet one, unfortunately,
not always living up to the truths it
possesses.
Charlotte Ishkanian
Arminda looked up as her husband arrived home about noon one Saturday. "Where have you been?" she asked.
"I went to the Adventist church," he answered. He told her that he had been studying the Bible with an Adventist for several weeks and that day had visited the church. "I liked it," he concluded. "And will go back."
Arminda knew nothing about this church her husband was interested in. The beliefs he mentioned seemed strange to her. She had never heard of Christians who worship on Saturday! But the next Sabbath her husband prepared to go to church, and she decided to go with him. She wanted to at least know what he was getting into.
Arminda's husband was in the baptismal class. If he plans to become a member, she thought, then maybe I should become a member also. Arminda joined the baptismal class, and the two were baptized together.
Soon after their baptism the family moved back to her husband's hometown. Immediately his family began to pressure them to attend their own church, and soon her husband stopped going to the Adventist church. But Arminda had found a faith she could count on, and she decided to remain in the Adventist church.
Her husband insisted that their children go with him to church to please his relatives. The eldest daughter wanted to worship with her mother, but she feared that her father would be angry if he knew, so she told him she was going to school. When her father found out what she was doing, he became very angry and sent her away. Her mother helped her find lodging with an Adventist family.
Arminda told her church elder what had happened, and the elder suggested that she go to her husband's church and tell his elder what he had done. She did, and her husband's elder visited him and told him it would be wise to let his daughter return home. Arminda and her husband talked about the situation, and finally he agreed that his daughter could attend church with her mother.
Before long all of his children received his permission to attend the Adventist church with their mother. Every day they pray for their father, who had introduced them to the Adventist faith, then wandered from it. They cling to the hope that one day their beloved prodigal will return home.
Arminda Muthenba is a homemaker living in Xai Xai, Mozambique. Charlotte lshkanian is editor of Mission.
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