Re-Visioning the Remnant
previously published in March 2007
Growing up I heard that the end-time would be like the time of Noah. Only a handful would make it into the ark. The rest of the world would drown outside. Jesus’ words, “Many are called, but few are chosen” were engrained into my mind.
So I was able to excuse the Adventist church’s lack of growth with phrases such as “others may have quantity, but we have quality.” I believed that the remnant would be a few who were holy enough to be saved, while the rest of the world would be going down in flames. Although I played lip service to evangelism, I didn’t truly think many would be converted. A few perhaps, maybe one or two, then I would be satisfied. I thought evangelism was finding the few chosen gems who, against all odds, would decide to forsake all and join Adventism.
Israelites in Trouble
Then I was led to Exodus 32. Through this story, God showed me a new attitude about our remnant theology.
When Moses failed to come down from the mountain right away, the people went to Aaron. “Look,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. This man Moses, who brought us here from Egypt, has disappeared. We don’t know what has happened to him.”
How quickly they forgot God’s amazing deliverance! God had brought the most powerful ruler of that time to his knees with the ten mighty plagues. He had parted the Red Sea. He had daily rained manna from heaven. He had freed the slaves from their Egyptian masters and was leading them to a rich land flowing with milk and honey. Yet the Israelites were betraying Him. They made a golden statue in the shape of a calf and began to worship it.
God who had been seeing the apostasy that was unfolding at the foot of the mountain confesses to Moses: “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. Now leave me alone so my anger can blaze against them and destroy them all.” Then He makes a surprise declaration: “Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation instead of them.”
Essentially God tells Moses, “I’m sick and tired of these ungrateful, distrusting, whiners. Let me start all over with you.” God is offering Moses honor and prestige. No longer would God be known as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He would be known as the God of Moses. No longer would the chosen people be the Israelites. They would be the Mosesites. Moses could leave the troublesome Israelites to their own fate in the desert, travel only with his own family, and start anew.
“If They Go Down, I Go Down!”
But notice Moses’ response. “O Lord!” he exclaimed. “Why are you so angry with your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and mighty acts? The Egyptians will say, ‘God tricked them into coming to the mountains so he could kill them and wipe them from the face of the earth.’ Turn away from your fierce anger. Change your mind about this terrible disaster you are planning against your people! Remember your covenant with your servants—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You swore by your own self, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. Yes, I will give them all of this land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever’” (Exodus 32:11-13).
First, Moses appeals to God’s reason. “God, you just delivered them from Egypt. It really does not make any sense to waste all that effort by killing them.” Next, he appeals to God’s reputation. “Look God, what will people say about you if you just kill all these people? You will be seen as a mad tyrant.” Then, he appeals to God’s promise. “God these people don’t deserve another chance, but remember the covenant you made to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. I know you don’t back out on your promises.” Finally, Moses “threatens” God in verse 32, “I love these people, God, so if they go down, I go with them.”
Do you see something wrong here? Moses is counseling God. He’s calming God’s temper and making Him see reason. Did God lose control of his emotions? Did He forget His promises to Abraham? Did God really fail to see the consequences of destroying Israel?
I did not understand until Dr. Wonil Kim of La Sierra University pointed out for me the “leave me alone” phrase in verse 10. Moses has not yet made a move to intervene, yet God says, “Now leave me alone so that my anger can blaze against them.” God is in fact anticipating and encouraging Moses’ intervention.
In this passage I believe that God wanted Moses to read between the lines. I can almost see a smile on God’s face as he berates the Israelites, knowing that Moses will step in and stop him. When Moses defends God’s reputation and fights for the Israelites, I can see God beaming with pride. God criticizes Israel to get a positive reaction from Moses. He wants Moses to defend Israel with his own words so that when Moses sees the mess that the Israelites are in, he won’t give up on them.
A Call to Love
I believe God wants the same from his remnant people. Could it be that when Jesus said, “For many are called, but few are chosen,” he wanted us to go to bat for the sinners? Could it be that he wanted us to defend the lost with our own words so that when we see the mess that they are in, we won’t give up on them? But somewhere down the line we became confused.
As I searched the Scriptures and looked through the writings of our church’s founders I discovered that being a remnant never meant “the only ones saved.” Throughout history God’s remnant were people who were called to bring others to salvation. The Israelites were God’s remnant whom God planned to use as missionaries to the world. Yet they became confused. They saw themselves as God’s only chosen people whom God would save while everyone else would go, quite literally, to hell. Sound familiar?
The Israelites were God’s chosen people, but they were not chosen to be the only ones to be taken to heaven. They were chosen to be the ones who would reach out to the world so others could also go to heaven. They were not singled out to be saved. They were singled out to save.
The same is true today. We, like the Israelites, have been singled out to save. We have been entrusted with a special message for our time. Each era of human history has had a few who were unafraid to proclaim the truth in the face of demonic opposition. They were the remnant. When Israelites were chasing after illusions of false gods, the prophets proclaimed obedience to the one true God. When Jews and Pharisees were chasing after illusions of an earthly Messiah, the apostles proclaimed Jesus Christ the heavenly Messiah. When medieval Christians were chasing after illusions of salvation through works, the reformers like John Wycliffe and Martin Luther proclaimed a message of salvation through faith. Now it is our turn.
This is the purpose of our church. This is what it means to be the remnant. In these last days, Seventh-day Adventists have been entrusted with a message. A message of hope for the end-time. A message of promise of God’s leading. A message of peace to those who have lost loved ones. A message of rest in our fast-paced world.
God has called us to be the remnant not to watch the world go down in flames from our churches on mountaintops, but to go out and save it. He has called us to be defenders of the world. He has called us to be a people who will use each and every waking moment to spread the truth that could mean life or death for this dying human race. He has called us to be a people who will not let this world go down without a fight. He has called us to love with an undying love.
And when we hear the words, “For many are called, but few are chosen,” we will cry out with Moses, “We love these people, God. If they go down, we go with them.”
That is what it must mean to be God’s remnant today.