Today we’re going to begin a three-part look at the history of God and His people. His people have consistently been a minority in the world. But God has consistently used those who are few in number, who had no standing in the world, no great wealth, no large institutions, no governmental support, and even those enduring great opposition, to reveal His power. These people are His remnant.
“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).
God has always had a remnant. They have been, are, and will be, keeping God’s commandments and, as a result, are at war with the dragon.
God says of His people in Isaiah 10:22,
“For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.”
God’s last day people will be filled with the faith of Jesus, they will have His character. And if they have His character, what kind of lives will they live? Zephaniah 3:13 declares,
“The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.”
Men and women throughout biblical history have given us examples of this way of living. Most of them have not had great standing with the world, no great wealth, no backing of large institutions, no governmental support, and have endured great opposition. By using such people to defeat the many, the powerful, the influential, God’s sovereignty over the plans of mankind has been made manifest. Many stories from biblical history illustrate this truth.
Noah
Noah was a man who was a definite minority. Some estimates say the population of the earth before the flood could have been in the billions. And yet there were only 8 people saved in the ark.
“Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water” (1 Peter 3:20).
Noah was a teacher of righteousness. He stood alone against the people of his day and taught of judgment to come. And what were the people of Noah’s day like? Why this prophecy of judgment? Genesis 6:5-8 explains,
“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.”
Noah refused to compromise the message and the mission God had given him. He had no large institutions, he had no publishing houses, he had no great medical ministry, just himself, preaching the message God gave him to preach. Noah stood alone with nothing to commend him to the society of his day. Scripture gives no indication of any support from the populace or the governing bodies of his day. In fact, Scripture tells us that they were living life as normal, totally disregarding Noah’s warnings. Noah depended solely upon a power outside of himself to accomplish the work. Noah relied totally upon God.
Moses
Moses was called to deliver Israel from bondage in Egypt. He recognized that he was not equipped to accomplish that task. In Exodus 3:11 he expresses his feelings of inadequacy. “And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” He recognized there was nothing about him that would give Pharaoh reason to heed his words. Yet Moses and Aaron stood alone before Pharaoh,
“And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go” (Exodus 5:1-2).
Moses had nothing to commend him to Pharaoh. He had no wealth, no worldly power or status. The people he came to free had nothing. They were slaves in Egypt. The entire government of Egypt was against them, they had no machines of war with which to overcome the Egyptian army. Moses had nothing but the staff in his hand. Yet he stood firm against the ruler of the greatest empire in the world at that time. He refused to compromise the message and mission God had given him. And as a result of his willingness to do what God asked of him, a mighty victory was won over the Egyptians. Yet it was not Moses who won the victory, but God.
Israel
When Israel was chosen as the people of God, they were not chosen because of their superior numbers. When Jacob went to Egypt because of the famine in Canaan, there were only 70 people in his household. Hardly something you would consider as a “great nation.” God, through Moses, reminded Israel of this fact in Deuteronomy 7:6-7,
“For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:”
Yet when they came out of Egypt, they had grown to over one million. Even then, they had no army, they had no cities of their own, they had nothing that would give them any status as a great nation. But they had a purpose. Their purpose in God leading them to Canaan was that they might spread the truth of the God of heaven.
Later, when they were about to enter Canaan, Moses told them that if they were unfaithful, God would scatter them and they would be again left “few in number.”
“Moses traced the evils that would result from a departure from the statutes of Jehovah. Calling heaven and earth to witness, he declared that if, after having dwelt long in the Land of Promise, the people should introduce corrupt forms of worship and bow down to graven images and should refuse to return to the worship of the true God, the anger of the Lord would be aroused, and they would be carried away captive and scattered among the heathen. ‘Ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it,’ he warned them; ‘ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you. And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.’ Verses 26-28.” {PK 295.1}
This prophecy was fulfilled in Israel’s history. First, they were divided into two kingdoms, northern and southern. Because they compromised with the nations around them and allowed their worship to be corrupted by unholy practices, they were persecuted and taken as captives to foreign lands. Then the ten northern tribes, the kingdom of Israel, totally disappeared. Only the two southern tribes were left, Judah and Benjamin, known as the kingdom of Judah. But Judah also apostatized and were taken captive. They lost their status as a nation in the world. They lost their wealth, their institutions, their government, their army, and their influence, all because they began to depend upon their institutions, forms, ceremonies, and reputation, and did not depend solely upon God.
When Israel first entered the promised land of Canaan, they prospered. God gave them cities; He gave power to their army. They were recognized as a nation to be reckoned with. Yet God gave them all these things, not so they could boast of themselves, but that they would have the tools to carry out their mission. Unfortunately, their own desires became their focus and “Every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6; 21:25). They lost sight of their mission.
With all their prosperity, their wealth and influence, they began to compromise in their worship of God. This compromise led to their downfall. They became subservient to the Midianites, who did not allow them to have any implements of war. But Israel began to cry out to a power outside themselves, they cried out to God because of their oppression and expressed a desire to return to Him.
Gideon
Gideon was a man of character. When God approached Gideon about leading His people against the Midianites, Gideon recognized his insufficiency.
“And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house” (Judges 6:14-15).
Gideon had no great wealth, no military training, no weapons of war, nothing to suggest that he could be victorious over the Midianite army that was an innumerable multitude. Gideon had no governmental support. In fact, the government that ruled at the time was oppressive to the Israelites. And when Gideon brought together an army of 33,000 troops, God told him he had too many,
“And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. . . And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude” (Judges 7:2,12).
With only 300 men, Gideon approached the vast army of the Midianites. The only weapons they had were torches, pitchers, and trumpets. Nothing that would suggest a great victory could be won. While Gideon and his men were willing to go, they still were apprehensive about facing such a numerous foe God recognized their feelings of insufficiency and gave them some encouragement. God told Gideon in Judges 7:10-14:
“But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host: And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host. And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude. And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along. And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.”
It was God who fought for them, worked with and through them, to give the victory.
But Israel again apostatized and began to be oppressed by the Philistines. About this same time, Israel demanded a king, like the nations around them. Despite this rejection of God as their ruler, God began to work for them. God provided some initial victories over the Philistines, but the Philistines still inspired fear in Israel. On one occasion, Israel’s army was so afraid, they ran to hide from the Philistine army. Only Saul, Jonathan, and a few other men remained to fight. But the majority were afraid to join the battle.
Jonathan And His Armorbearer
Enter two men of courage and faith in God. Jonathan & his armor bearer were vastly outnumbered. The people of Israel, afraid of the Philistines, had gone to hide in the caves and rocks because they were greatly inferior militarily. The Israelites had a king, but no trained army. Their army had no true implements of war with which to defeat the Philistines.
Jonathan and his armor bearer, despite their worldly disadvantage, decided to move forward in faith. They were alone. The army of Israel was not behind them, urging them on. There was no reason they should be successful. They had no great wealth. They had no great institutions giving them support. In fact, the army and the king didn’t even know they had left the camp. There was nothing to suggest that they could or would be victorious. In fact, when the Philistine soldiers saw them, they said they were going to teach Jonathan and his armor bearer a lesson. The Philistines didn’t feel threatened at all. Nothing Jonathan and his armor bearer had, gave the Philistines any reason to be afraid of them. Yet these two men had something. “ And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few” (1 Samuel 14:6). Jonathan and his armor bearer were relying upon a power outside of themselves. They knew it was not their power that would deliver Israel from the Philistines, but the power of God. And God delivered the Philistine army into Israel’s hand that day.
Elijah
Years passed and the kingdom of Israel prospered. They gained standing among the nations. They had a strong military, wealth, and had come to rely upon their institutions. Yet they had greatly compromised their worship of the true God under the rule of Ahab. Because of their apostacy, God sent judgments on Israel that revealed their status, wealth and institutions availed them nothing.
Elijah was sent to deliver a message to Ahab. Elijah went unannounced and uncompromisingly delivered the message of judgment to the king. After the three years of drought prophesied by Elijah, he again confronted Ahab with a message from God. “And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim. Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table” (1 Kings 18:17-19).
Elijah stood alone in the presence of a powerful monarch. Elijah had no army, he had no wealth or standing among the nations, he had no institutions supporting him, he had no support from the government. In fact the government led by Ahab had been trying to find him to kill him. Yet Elijah did not compromise. He depended upon a power outside of himself. Elijah depended solely upon God. When he came to face the king, the pagan priests, and the people on Mt. Carmel, he stood alone, one man against thousands. But his faith was not in institutions, it was in his God. “And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men” (1 Kings 18:21-22). Elijah refused to compromise and went forward in the power of the Lord. And because he did, a mighty victory was won for God that day.
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Victor Vaughn