Thursday: God’s End-Time Remnant
The devil has been at war with Christ since his rebellion in heaven (Revelation 12:7). Satan’s purpose then and his purpose now is to seize control of the universe (see Isaiah 14:12-14). The focus of his attention in the last days of earth’s history is upon God’s people. Revelation 12:17 emphatically declares that the dragon (Satan) was wroth (angry) with the woman (the church) and went to make war with the rest of her offspring. This expression, the rest of her offspring, is also translated “the remnant” in the King James Version. God’s remnant remains loyal to Christ, obedient to His truth, and faithful to His mission.
Read Revelation 12:17. What characteristics of God’s remnant, His last-day church, are found in this verse?
Image © Phil McKay from GoodSalt.com
In Revelation 12:17, Satan (the dragon) is angry with the woman, God’s church. The devil is furious with a people who keep the commandments of God, and he will do everything he can to destroy them.
Eventually, he instigates a decree so that they cannot buy or sell and will be imprisoned and face death (see Revelation 13:14-17). If Satan cannot destroy Christ, he will attempt to destroy the object of Christ’s deepest affection &mdash Christ’s church. Earth’s last war is not centered on the Middle East and the various conflicts there; it is focused on the minds of God’s people scattered all over the world. It is a battle between two opposing forces, Christ and Satan. Again, no one is neutral.
The central question in this final war is, “Who has our loyalty? Where is our allegiance?” Heaven calls for believers who are so charmed by Christ’s love, redeemed by His grace, committed to His purposes, empowered by His Spirit, and so obedient to His commands that they are willing to face death itself for His cause.
Our world is headed for a major crisis. But in Jesus, by Jesus, through Jesus, and because of Jesus, our victory is assured — just as long as we stay connected to Him, which we do by faith, a faith that leads to obedience. It all comes down to our own choice.
| How do you see the reality of Revelation 12:17 played out in your own life, in your own Christian experience? That is, in what ways do you find the great controversy being played out in your own life? |
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Here's a list of 7 characteristics of God's remnant, "His last-day church", as shared by Pastor Ryan Day of 3ABN:
(1) It's the minority that clings to the truth, the "little flock" (Matt. 7:13-14; Luke 12:32)
(2) It's post-1798, as it springs up after the prophetic 1260 days.
(3) It's apostolic in belief and mission, obedient to the commission of Matt. 28:19-20 to make disciples of all nations.
(4) It's obedient to all the commandments of God, including the 7th day Sabbath of the 4th Commandment.
(5) It has the testimony of Jesus. Revelation 19:10 points to the Spirit of Prophecy and that points to the prophetic gift manifested by Ellen White.
(6) It helps people prepare for the 2nd Advent (Acts 1:8; the midnight cry of Matt. 25:6)
(7) It is unpopular and persecuted - Dragon makes war with the remnant (2 Tim. 3:12; Rev. 12:17).
Does Scripture add to or change anything on this list? Is the testimony/faith of Jesus referring (only) to the manifestation of the prophetic gift by Ellen G. White? If the SDA Church has been given far more light than any other faith, like ancient Israel, does that light alone give it corporate remnant status?
Want to add on the reference for the above quote, it is an online article called, "The 'remnant' and 'the others': A Reappraisal of Adventist Remnant Theology by Rolf J. Pöhler, Friedensau, Germany. I included it with the question, "What is your response?". Though I'm not in agreement with everything in the article, I thought it offers some important food for thought ... the humility (yes, I agree, Bro. Maurice) and balance between identifying/walking as a remnant Christian, and also as part of the Seventh-Day Adventist church with it's timely message (yes, Bro. R.G.). Thank you.
Always benefit spiritually, Esther,from your comments; today was no different! I liked especially the words in italics: Are any of the words an Ellen White quote? And thank you again for your insightful comments!
Thank you, Sister Lorayne. You’ll find that quote reference listed now in my response to my original post. While I do believe the voice of God can speak through a remnant with a name…thinking of Noah…the Israelite nation as a whole became so comfortable with their “chosen” ID that they became too proud to even recognize Jesus. The Ark symbolized Jesus, not Noah, and that seems relevant for us today. May God richly bless you today and always!
I am always a bit wary of identifying "the remnant church" as a particular church. One of the main issues I have with such identification is that it tends to become rather egocentric. Rather I think it is an invitation to consider where we stand in our relationship with God and one another in our perception of time. Does our sense of "remnant" give us a sense of being in a somewhat better position than everyone else? Or does it give an impetus to draw others to Jesus?
By this shall all men know ...
I appreciate your sentiment Maurice. I do not think the “remnant” will be defined by a church. I think they will be defined by their character. As C. S. Lewis said, “ God is looking for people of a certain sort”.
Thanks, Maurice. Revelation 12:17 says "...here are they that keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus." Notice that there is nothing there saying that these people are all SDA'S or that this verse belongs to the SDA Church only. For that matter, there is no "Christian Denomination" that is even mentioned in any of The Bible. When I see 1 John 3:2 it is very clear here that even though, this side of Jesus second coming we will never be perfectly and flawlessly sinless, God sees us as such because of His Son's flawlessness and sinlessness. So then to me, Revelation 12:17 is to be taken as saying that those identified by these words are those who choose Jesus as their saviour and go on to sanctify themselves in living according to "All His Commandments," not just the 10 from Mount Sinai even though these 10 are the transcript of God's very own character.
I can understand the reasons to be wary of self-satisfaction and egocentricity. However, in my view, there are better ways to avoid these than to deny the rather obvious ways in which the (organized, not because our pioneers liked the idea, but because the Holy Spirit led in that way) Seventh-day Adventist Church meets the description of the "remnant" in Revelation 12:17.
For me, it's not what we presently appear to be, as a people, nor even what we are, that counts. Romans 4:17 speaks of:
Personally, I believe that God still has plans for the Seventh-day Adventist Church, notwithstanding so much of what we are seeing today. The doctrine is sound. The message is timely and sound. From what I read in prophecy, we are about to witness seismic events in the religious world. The set of Seventh-day Adventist Christians and the set of faithful believers are going to merge.
So, why do we see Ellen White emphasizing the relationship we'll need to have with Jesus, and the character we must develop, in order to be a part of the true remnant? To my mind, it's because -- like the Jews who flattered themselves that they were children of Abraham -- we cannot count on our church affiliation to see us through victorious. No matter how determined we may be, we are not going to be able to so much as maintain that affiliation, when the proverbial chips are down, unless we are kept by the power of the Holy Spirit. As Jesus said:
We haven't the slightest grounds for self-congratulation. If we are privileged to be Seventh-day Adventists, and part of the "remnant church" at present, then we should be humbly grateful for the truth that is at our fingertips, and eager to share it with others. I believe we should also pray that we do not end up among the first who will be last.
In the war of this life, in our struggle to survive, "no one is neutral". We are either at one side or the other. 99.99% does not exist! We are either by good or evil.
And the only way to be on the good side is to accept Grace! The grace of a God Whose LOVE is capable of anything, including my and your transformation.
In our case, to be perfect (on the good side) is to be in constant change, change for better! And Christ is the only One Who can give us the confidence we need, because we have no excuses, we all have fallen into sin.
Thus, for us, perfection can be grasped by simply accepting Jesus sacrifice for us. And then by the constant attempt to reflect Him. He is our closest model of goodness/goodliness to follow. There is no other way to get to God (or to the good side) but through Him. He has fought this war and won already! That's why His sacrifice was accepted. And that's why you and I can claim His victory as ours.
He made it all through the power of LOVE.
Do I want to be on the good side? I need to try Jesus.
Who has our loyalty? Where is our allegiance? Who has our worship?! Are questions that shows us whose side are we between JESUS and satan! Are questions that decide (everyday) whose people are we (JESUS'S people or satan's) now and at the that time of the great tribulation. Are questions that decide where we are going and what is our fate.
So where do you think you are (whose solder are you)?! where do you think your going?! heaven or hell?! what do you think is your reward when the son of a king cones?! Eternal death or Eternal life?!
I believe it’s most important to understand the characteristics of God’s remnant church in order that we might in earnest pray that those characteristics be replicated by the power of Hs Spirit in our own lives each day and the lives of God’s people everywhere. The warnings given are to encourage us to believe by faith in our Savior and allow Him to use us in any capacity to attract others to His saving grace.
The idea of "remnant" has always aroused mixed reactions as to who should claim it.
I think the idea about being remnant isn't all about doctrinal or theological correctness, it's about good standing with God.
In 1965 a friend of mine had a piece of literature that showed the verse of Daniel 7:25. My friend had become an SDA and carried pieces of literature with end time messages from the book of Daniel. I picked up that one piece of literature and it was like the Holy Spirit shot that verse into my mind like it spoke to me in a loud voice, "This is speaking of the Church you are still a member of." I was then still a Catholic. Within about two years from that time, I also joined the SDA Church too.
But again, even EGW wrote in 1892, "There is no excuse for anyone (even the organized SDA Church) to take the position that there is no more truth to be revealed and that all our expositions of scripture are without a flaw. The fact that our people have held certain doctrines as being truth for many years is not a proof that our ideas are infallible." Counsels to Writers and Editors, page 35 Notice the "plurality" of her words here especially in the word (Doctrines)?
Rev.12:17 speaks of the “testimony of Jesus Christ”. I needed to look up the word ‘testimony’ to get a better/deeper understanding and found the following: ‘Testimony’ -
- A formal written or spoken statement, especially one given in a court of law.’
- ‘Evidence or proof provided by the existence or appearance of something.’
- ‘A public recounting of a religious conversion or experience.’ (Oxford Languages Dictionary)
I want to take the second definition of ‘evidence or proof provided’ for my comment to today’s lesson. I have always seen the ‘women’ in the larger context of the world-wide remnant of believers who overcome this world by/through faith, who ‘keep the commandments of God and have the ‘Testimony of Jesus Christ’.
What constitutes the ‘Testimony of Jesus’ if it is interpreted in light of the ‘evidence or proof’ given by Him. Is this 'Testimony' the acknowledgement and confirmation that man has a Creator who should be our God and Jesus Christ His Son, given to us to become our Lord and Savior, bringing the Light of Truth and Life from the Father to restore mankind's ability to have fellowship with Him/Them? John3:16
I see the body of Christ to be comprised of all who believe in the Gospel of the Father revealed by His Son to man through His living Testimony. He declared/testified that God the Father is His and the believer’s true God and that He is His Son as He went about living, preaching, and teaching the life-giving 'Word of God.
This is, I believe, the true testimony of Jesus Christ. Everything else following this revelation results from the confession of this Truth by the believer. As we whole-heartedly accept Jesus Christ as ‘proof’, ‘evidence’, ‘attestation’, ‘witness’, or ‘confirmation’ of the existence of a loving, caring, involved God, we are enabled and prepared to accept the taking up of the “Armor of God” and apply it to all our life’s encounters with the adversary of God and man. So equipped, we will stand strong against the onslaughts of the adversary of God, Jesus, and man - Eph. 6:11.
Hi, Brigitte. I have no doubt that confession of the truth, by the believer, is very important and extremely valuable. However, when it comes to interpreting Revelation 12:17, or any other passage of Scripture, I think the best idea is to let the Scriptures interpret themselves as far as possible.
In this case, we have Revelation 19:10 (NKJV) telling us straight-up that:
To me it makes no sense to ignore this Scriptural statement in favour of the somewhat questionable practice of using a modern English dictionary definition to interpret a text originally written in ancient Greek.
It may be worthwhile to discuss what the "spirit of prophecy" means, although I personally might balk at the suggestion that every believer who testifies to the truth has it.
Perhaps there is a healthy balance to be sought, somewhere between mindlessly parroting denominational orthodoxy, on the one hand, and engaging in iconoclastic revisionism, on the other.
R.G. - Thank you for sharing your thoughts in your reply! I hope the following clarification will be helpful.
I consider the Holy Spirit to be the spirit of prophecy. As far as I know, there is no other spirit which can reveal the past, present, or the future to Jesus or man. Anyone who confesses that Jesus Christ is the Son of God - - “God dwelleth in him, and he in God “ - 1 John 4:15. With this is implied that he also confesses the Holy Spirit who revealed God's truth to Jesus and to the believer through Him.
One can easily see that Rom. 10:9-10 points out that the believer’s heart and mouth are both involved when testifying to the revealed understanding that ‘the testimony of Jesus’- the Word of God - is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
The spirit of prophecy speaks the will of God to all who believe; he does not speak on His own authority:
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”– John 16:13.
Because the Holy Spirit now resides in every believer, the manyfold spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit are employed by the believer to edify - including through prophesying; - Rom.12:4-8.
“And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the 'spirit of the antichrist', which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.” 1 John 4:3.
Great point, Brigitte! Every true believer has the Holy Spirit.
Do all prophesy? No.
By my observation, Ellen White is so far unique in modern times, for bearing all the marks of a true prophet.
R.G., Maurice, and Ulrike – Yes, I agree that the gift of prophecy is not given to everyone, though all in whom the Holy Spirit dwells could be called by Him to prophecy; Ellen White is such an example.
Rev. 12:17 states that the remnant of the women’s seed keep the ‘commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ;” stating that all of the remnant have the testimony of Jesus Christ. If the ‘testimony of Jesus’ were interpreted as the Spirit of Prophecy, then all would be actively prophesying. Maybe one could say that: ‘the 'Testimony of Jesus' manifests the Spirit of Prophecy – the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:17.
Ulrike touched on this same question stating: “it is the Spirit of Prophecy – the prophetic writings inspired by the Holy Spirit.” I do not know if this statement refers to Ellen White’s writings, the Scriptures, or both. To my understanding, the whole, living testimony of Jesus Christ as recorded is the work of the Holy Spirit, and the ‘spirit of prophecy’ is one manifestation of the work of the Holy Spirit – Cor.12:4-11.
I see the living ‘testimony of Jesus’ to include all manifestations of the Holy Spirit, including prophecy. It might be semantics, but it is important to know that the source and its manifestations are inseparable – i.e. ‘The testimony of Jesus’ and its source, the Holy Spirit. I still hold that there is no ‘spirit of prophecy’ separate or outside the manifold manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
The work of a prophet is much more that just foretelling the future. We hear of the School of the Prophets in the Old Testament and I am pretty sure they were not teaching them the tricks of the trade of foretelling. The fact that they were out in the bush chopping down trees at one stage indicated that they had a fairly close connection with the present. The question remains, if we have been called to be prophets, what are we doing?
Revelation 12:17 speaks of God's remnant who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus, which is identified as the spirit of prophecy. And tells us that they are the objects of Satan's great wrath.
What does all this mean?
Who are the remnant -- that which is left.
We need to ask -- that which is left of what?
The text (Rev.12:17) is referring to what is left of the pure woman's descendants. A remaining people that keep God's commandments and have the testimony of Jesus.
They uphold the commandments of God. Hence Satan’s rage isn't primarily against Christians in general, but only against such Christians as he has not been able to bring over to his side, to cast aside God's law and join his corruptions in doctrine and worship.
We need to remember that Satan's last attacks come with deception, in which he will make it appear that he is on God's side. The beast, the false prophet, and the mark and image of the beast are religious powers. There will be wonderous miracles and signs (Rev. 13:13-14, Matt. 24:24) They will be calling people to worship. (Rev. 13:4,8,12,15; Rev. 14:9) and it will seem like a good thing in a world of evil. But they will not be worshipping according to God's ten commandments. They will be pushing their own commandments.
The sign to watch for is how they regard God's ten commandments, especially the one that honors our Creator and Maker (Rev. 14:7,12, Ex. 20:8,11)
The Testimony of Jesus which is the Spirit of Prophecy.
The Testimony of Jesus is the revelation of how He deals with sin and saves the repentant that come to Him, throughout history, past, present and future. It's all the reproofs, promises, provisions, warnings, everything in the covenant of God.
It is the Spirit of Prophecy -- the prophetic writings inspired by the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit of Prophecy stands in direct opposition to the False Prophet (Rev. 19:20) that plays a huge role in deceiving the end-time world into worshipping in counterfeit worship.
Listening to right Prophetic revelation is shown to be absolutely crucial in these last days when spirits like frogs go out to deceive the world. (Rev. 16:13,14)
I appreciate all the remarks stressing the importance to stay close to Christ, for He is our only safety. And yes, He will win, and with Him are the called, chosen and faithful. (Rev. 17:14)