The Remnant – Different kinds- Part I
The Anchor Bible Dictionary describes remnant as "What is left of a community after it undergoes a catastrophe”. With reference to God's people, it means those who are faithful to His original truth despite apostasy and opposition. Isaiah 1:9 explains "Except the Lord of hosts had left us a very small remnant, we should have been like as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah."
From Genesis to Revelation, the word remnant and related terms are used repeatedly. If we go through the scriptures carefully, we will find different ideas and connotations of the remnant version. All of them, together, point towards a single picture of faithful people of God who have resisted temptations to compromise their faith in the Lord and are saved in the end. In this broad sense, remnant means those who have gone through tribulations and have been victorious in the end “In the same way that gold and silver are refined by fire, the Lord purifies your heart by the tests and trials of life.” Proverbs 17:3
I. The Small Remnant: By the divine grace of God this small group of people is saved from destruction. An outstanding example is that of Noah and his family. Genesis 7:23 tells us “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.” Thus, only Noah, his wife, three sons, and their wives all numbering 08 were saved. Similar is the case of Lot and his family. In Genesis 19:23-25 we learn “By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. Then the LORD rained down burning sulphur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. Thus, he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land.”
II. The Faithful Remnant: This refers to those people who resist and fight against the spiritual and moral degradation among the people of God. The classic example is that of Elijah the prophet in I&II Kings. “How long will you limp back and forth between these two opinions? If the LORD, the “I AM”, is God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him.” I Kings 18:40. Elijah slew 450 Baal prophets. Queen Jezebel was furious and threatened him. Elijah ran for his life and complained to the Lord that he was the only one left. The Lord told him that 7000 remnants were still left ‘I Kings19:18 “Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.”
III. The Holy Remnant: The Holy and faithful remnants refer to the people of the Lord. Romans 11:5 “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.” These are the 1,44,000. Starting with Revelation 14:1–5, the perspective has changed. This results in the following outline: (v 1) “I saw”—the Lamb and the 144,000, having the Fathers name written in their foreheads;(v 2&3) “I heard”—the new song of the 144,000; Characteristics of the 144,000; (v4) not defiled and redeemed. (v5) No guile was found in their mouth. The Lamb and the 144,000 stand on Mount Zion. Those who have been condemned and persecuted in Revelation chapter 13 now triumph with the Lamb. Instead of the mark of the beast on their foreheads, these people bear the name of the Lamb and of the Father. They belong to God. He keeps them. They are similar to Him. They sing a new song, a song of their personal experience in the final battle between truth and error, God and Satan. They are virgins. This means they have not entered into a relationship with false religion or they have separated themselves from it. They follow Jesus everywhere He goes.
Dr Ashwin Drummond