The Days Of The Remnant

by Ian E. Penn, Kingston upon Thames | Category: The House Of God | Jun 1974

A remnant is an identical and final sample of an original. These two essential features of a remnant are shown in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther regarding those who, in the days of the Medo-Persian Empire, returned from Babylon to build the house of God in Jerusalem; to whom Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi prophesied and whose spiritual aspirations are captured in the later Psalms, especially Psalms 107 to 150.

The True Sample - The Place

Those that returned are described as "coming unto the house of God" (Ezra 3:8), although no building was yet in being. Similarly, God speaks of His house lying waste when clearly there could have been no building in sight (Hag. 1:4,9). Here is the same truth that Jacob discovered when at Bethel he recognized the Place as being the house of God because God dwelt there. What mattered then, and what mattered wherever the children of Israel pitched the Tabernacle, and what mattered when Solomon built the first Temple was that God's presence was known to be in one particular Place. To that Place He called men to company with Him. To that Place He called the remnant. Their basis of assembly was identical with that of their forefathers.

The extent of their realization of this truth was demonstrated by their building of an altar so that sinful men might approach by the shedding of blood and offer their sacriflc6s which spoke to God of His Son who was to give Himself up "an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odour of a sweet smell". This they did regularly, modelling the annual pattern of their lives, as did their forefathers, on the Law of Moses which ensured their constant preoccupation with the house of God. And they entered further into this truth for they appreciated what their illustrious ancestor David had appreciated:

that it was utterly incongruous for him to live in a "house of cedar" while the "ark of God dwelleth within curtains" (2 Sam. 7:2). So they laid a foundation for the house of the Lord amidst much joy but also with sadness for some remembered the glory of the earlier building. Thus far the remnant had shown their unity with their forefathers and amongst themselves but from this moment they were divided and Haggai (2:3) shows clearly that the older men, who were disheartened at the inferiority of the building, leavened the whole people, making them in no condition to withstand the outside pressure. "Then ceased the work of the house of God" (Ezra 4:24). They even managed to convince themselves that it was not really their fault and that the time was not yet ripe to build the house. Their thoughts turned to self-advancement. Spiritual life decayed but God revived it through Haggai and Zechariah. Whether or not such a humble structure could indeed be the house of God was settled once and for ever by the statement "build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified" (Hag. 1:8).

There followed the final, third stage of building: that of the wall of Jerusalem. The wall established a capital city, so defining an inside and outside place as far as the surrounding nations were concerned. There was a seat of government associated with a clearly defined kingdom, national aspirations and foreign policy. This was apparent to the enemy who bitterly opposed reconstruction under Nehemiah (Neh. 6:6). Whereas previously the work had progressed by exhortation and example, now there was added law and punishment (Neh. 13:15-21). But there were no new laws, for just as the remnant had returned to the old foundations of the wall so they had returned to the Law of Moses (Neh. 8) as the foundation of their national life. Thus they controlled the previously informal business system with a properly designed system of taxation so directing the whole national effort to the prosperity of the house of God and their foreign policy was again to be a testimony to the surrounding nations of the goodness of God.

Yet there were differences for these were remnant times. The work was done out of weakness. Many had to lend a hand at tasks to which they were not best suited (Neh. 4:17-18). The Law was written in what was to them a foreign language and needed careful explanation (Neh. 8:8). And, although they might be a nation amongst the nations, they were very conscious of their limitations and their subordination to the super-power (Neh. 9:35-37).

The True Sample - The People

Daniel, knowing the will of God from the Scriptures, prayed and God moved the spirit of a Gentile king to permit those who had both the right birth and obedient hearts to separate from their brethren who remained in Babylon (Dan. 9: Ezra 1). Thus the returning ones showed the same character as the nation of old for it was the firstborn, representing the nation in their families, who were saved on the night of the first Passover in Egypt and it was this people who pledged obedience at Sinai to become the people of God (Exod. 12:27;19;24). But the remnant was perhaps less than a tenth of the size (Ezra 2:64; Num. 1:46: 2:32). This smallness brought distinctive problems. Thus Ezra chapter 2 shows that of those who returned, around three-quarters were men; a numerical imbalance which found later expression in the marriages of men with women who were not of the people of God (see Ezra 9 and 10; Neh. 13:2331). Then again, Ezra chapter 2 shows their poverty. This hindered their progress when their spiritual state was low by causing them to concentrate on increasing personal wealth at the expense of their work for God (Hag. 1; Neh. 5), for which God judged them. Simultaneously the perennial opposition from outside had had some success (Ezra 4:24) but as a result ultimately of the message of Haggai and Zechariah the external opposition was routed (Ezra 5 to 6:12). The order here is important and is an example of the principle that judgement begins at the house of God. Yet even this judgement reflected the times, for neither the people of God nor the people of the land were judged by fire from heaven or by miraculous manifestation. God spoke to the former in their everyday business affairs reminding them of His Word. He judged the latter by due legal process resulting in the decree of Darius the Persian (Ezra 6:11).

A major, distinguishing feature of these remnant times was the existence of large numbers of Jews throughout the Empire (Mordecai and Esther being two) for whom God still worked. But from this pool of people God still called men to separate and return; some of whom responded and such as Ezra and Nehemiah took the lead amongst those who were already established in the land.

The Final Sample

But the true sample was also the final sample for they were in the land to receive their long-awaited King. They rejected and crucified Him and were correspondingly rejected and had their way of life destroyed. Thus ended their dispensation. Malachi gives an insight as to how this came about. Exaltation to nationhood resulted in the glorifying in its form at the expense of its purpose. The return to the Law resulted in its codification and attention to its letter at the expense of its spirit. Here was the seedbed for the Pharisaism that was to stain the pages of the Gospels. But in the midst of all this there were a few who remembered God and He remembered them (Mal. 3:16). To such a one was said "thou hast found favour with God. And behold, thou shalt . . . bring forth a Son, and shalt call His name JESUS" (Luke 1:30,31): to another that "he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ": and another "spake of Him to all them that were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem" (Luke 2:26,38). Here were the remaining few of a worthy line; their lives centred about God's house.

The Present Day

The new era ushered in by the Lord Jesus and His disciples was characterized by the spiritual counterpart of the nation of Israel. The qualification by birth was in this case the new birth (John 3) and obedience was not to the Law of Moses but to the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ which, like their Old Covenant counterpart, became known by the name of those who received them directly from the Lord as the apostles' teaching. But like its Old Testament counterpart this nation corrupted itself in a similar fashion and became absorbed in what subsequently became known as Christendom which is readily identifiable with Babylon of old, involving bondage from which only the truth can set free.

This bondage in "Babylon" lasted, as far as we are aware, till nearly the beginning of the twentieth century. About that time three things coincided, showing that a period of remnant times was beginning. Firstly, the experience of the present-day gospel preacher is like that of the gleaners as compared with the rich harvest reaped in the days of the apostles. The end of that harvest is thus approaching and, following the pattern of Leviticus chapter 23, there will be that festival of trumpets marking the return of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15: 51-58; 1 Thess.~4:13-18). Secondly, there is today a remnant of ancient Israel returning to the land, to await the return of the Lord Jesus to the earth. Thirdly, there has arisen a people claiming to be the remnant of that spiritual nation whose activities are told in the Acts of the Apostles and subsequent books of the New Testament Scriptures. Thus it was written, "... we have to aim at bringing about in the present day, as helpers-together of Him, such a remnant testimony as shall bear the same relation to the testimony in the times of the apostles as the doings of Ezra and Nehemiah bore to the days of Solomon-glory, and to render such heart obedience, such true allegiance to the will of God as expounded in the Acts of the Apostles and in the Epistles as that godly remnant of Israel rendered in their days to the Law of Moses and the other Scriptures which they had" (C. M. Luxmoore, 1889, Needed Truth 2, p.75), and the time came when those that were so minded had to practise what they preached and so "we are well assured that not a few of our readers do believe that the time is come when all half measures should be discarded, and when those whose spirits God has raised to build His House should set about it with both hands earnestly" (C. M. Luxmoore, 1892, Needed Truth 5, p.125).

The Present Day - The Place

The position to which this remnant returned was described by no mere variant of obscure doctrine but reflected its fundamental nature. This teaching said, in effect, "God does not dwell in the midst of where the people are at present therefore let His people separate to where He is". And so they recognized the same truth of the house of God as did Jacob, as did David, as did the remnant of old, and as did the apostles; that men must come to the Place where God is before He will dwell with them. Like the apostles they came not to an earthly hill but to a heavenly (Heb. 12:22). Like them they saw the death of Christ is associated with the Place so that a people may be brought near and may offer spiritual sacrifices (Heb. 13:1016). Like the apostles they saw that in this heavenly Zion there was a chief corner-stone laid to which, through their local assemblies, they must be added so that individuals as living stones (1 Pet. 2:3-6), assemblies as buildings (Eph. 2:20-22) together constituted a spiritual counterpart to the Tabernacle and the Temple. But like the Temple built by the former remnant, that of this present remnant had less of grandeur and of glory; less of spiritual gift than its predecessor. And like that Temple, God had pleasure in it for it was built according to the pattern given by the Lord Jesus to the apostles.

There therefore existed on earth a nation identical in nature to that which had existed in the days of the apostles. This clearly defined community of assemblies or churches of God sought to carry out the rule of God even as had Israel long ago. Its legislation was that given by their Lord, to whom all authority in heaven and on earth had been given. In this wav the life of the nation was regulated and the same things taught and practised in all the churches as in the days of the apostles. In being so separated from all other groups it stood as clear testimony to them that the rule of God with its attendant privileges, responsibilities and judgements may be a practical reality in the lives of men and women and not just belong to a past idyllic age in God's dealings with men. But this claim to nationhood was treated with contempt and thought to be presumptuous in the extreme, for the nation was small and weak. its testimony limited by human frailties which its smallness magnified. But all this had been said before (in Nehemiah 4:1-6) and served only to strengthen the comparison with the remnant of old.

The Present Day - The People

As did the apostles, this remnant recognized the fundamental importance of the new birth followed by obedience to the commandments of the Lord but like the former remnant they had to separate from the overwhelming majority of their brethren for whom God still worked. Unlike the apostles they could not rely on deeds of miracle but prayed and knew divine preservation and great freedom to practise granted them from a benevolent secular government. Unlike the people of the apostles' day their numbers were small and brought problems derived from limited financial resources and from the command to marry "only in the Lord". But like that remnant of old they came to know their numbers replenished by the continued return of those with obedient hearts who separated themselves from the confusion of Christendom; some of whom, like Ezra and Nehemiah, were of sufficient ability to take the lead.

The Present Day - The Final Sample?

If these are remnant times then it is very likely that we may soon witness the return of the Lord Jesus Christ and the end of the age. This being so, that remnant which is the spiritual counterpart of the remnant of old must avoid a similar deterioration. They must avoid a preoccupation with their position to the neglect of their condition of heart so stifling the rise of Pharisaism. Leaders, too, must avoid preoccupation with status and exercise very critical self-judgement and so be fit to judge others without respect of persons. Even if such evils were to arise then there must be those who will still cleave to the Lord as a faithful few, awaiting, amidst much that may be wrong, the return of their Lord who comes quickly and whose reward is with Him.

Ian E. Penn, Kingston upon Thames | Jun 1974
The House Of God