The Remnant
“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.” Genesis 6:5-6
We’ve all done things that we regret. We’re human. We still live in the flesh with its sin nature. According to this passage, God regretted that He ever made man because man had become so evil and corrupt. God made man to have fellowship with Him. In the beginning, there was God, Adam, and Eve. To put it simply, they were best friends yet the couple was answerable to God, but with a secure relationship, living by His grace. And then Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Think about this: you have a very close friend who betrays you. How does that make you feel? Hurt, disappointed, angry? We can only imagine how God felt having His relationship with His creation broken after giving the two of them everything they could possible need or desire.
But we might ask, “Since God is omniscient, that is, He knows everything from beginning to end, and therefore He knew ahead of time that man would become disobedient, why did He make man?” I cannot even begin to answer that question, but I do believe this: God knew there would be many people from all generations and nations who would honor and worship Him. Strange as it may seem, while writing this blog, I thought back to my high school days in home economics class. (I don’t know if they even teach that any longer). We learned to sew. We made a simple blouse and a wrap-around skirt (some of you may remember those). I actually did learn to sew, mostly self taught, and made money sewing clothes, slipcovers, and window treatments several years ago. (I also learned that sometimes when you turn a hobby into a money-making proposition, it ceases to be fun and becomes work.) The point of this story is that for those of you who sew, you know what a “remnant” is, that is, the last small piece left on the bolt of fabric.
Well, God has His remnant also–those who remain loyal to Him regardless of the rest of those who have either ignored, abandoned, or rejected Him. As far as the percentage of those who follow and are completely committed to the Lord as compared to the rest of the unbelieving world, I have no idea. I suspect that God’s remnant would be a small percentage judging by what I see on television and see on line, that is, the vast number of programs, politicians, and others who mock God and ridicule those who believe and serve Him. No wonder God regretted ever creating man. Just this week, the governor of New York stated that God had nothing to do with the decrease in the numbers of people coming down with the coronavirus. His attitude makes me angry, but more than that, it makes me sad for all the folks who do not truly know the living and sovereign God of all creation.
“Noah was a just man, perfect (complete, undefiled) in his generations, and Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9). He built an ark as God instructed in order to save his family from the flood that God would send. Those who had mocked Noah and mocked God were taken by surprise and perished in the flood while Noah and his family remained safely in the ark. Jesus said in Matthew 24:37 that “as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be”–suddenly and unexpectedly by the world, but the “remnant” will be ready, safe in the ark of God’s salvation. Jesus’ coming may or may not be immediate, but it is definitely imminent, that is, it could happen at any time. One thing is for certain: for every day that passes, it is one day closer.