The Remnant in Scripture

Nowhere does the Bible identify a specific church by name. Several clues are given to help identify “the remnant” (Greek loipos), however. To find these clues, it is helpful to look at the context.

In Scripture God’s people are frequently likened to a woman (Isa. 54:6; Jer. 3:20; Zeph. 3:14; 2 Cor. 11:2). In Revelation 12:1 we see a pure woman clothed with the sun. This contrasts with a harlot woman dressed in purple, scarlet, and decked with jewelry (Rev. 17:4). The two women of Revelation are opposites: The pure woman is faithful to God; the harlot is unfaithful. The pure woman symbolizes God’s true people and a faithful Christian church, the harlot an apostate church.

Revelation 12 describes God’s faithful church through history. The pure woman flees into the wilderness to escape persecution; there she is nourished by God for 1,260 prophetic “days,” or years (Rev. 12:6, 14; cf. Dan. 7:25). The harlot, also in the wilderness, is “drunk with the blood of the saints” (Rev. 17:6), showing that millions of faithful Christians would be martyred through the centuries from A.D. 538 to 1798. This is symbolically described as the serpent pouring “water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away” (Rev. 12:15, ESV). This flood of water is later identified as “peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues,” representing the persecuting powers of Europe (Rev. 17:15). “But the earth helped the woman . . . and swallowed up the flood” (Rev. 12:16), symbolizing a more sparsely populated area of the earth. Toward the end of this long period of persecution, in the seventeenth century, Christians began fleeing to America, eventually establishing a government that would uphold religious liberty.

There is only one Christian group who arose at the right time, in the right place, who keep the Sabbath, and have received the gift of prophecy.

Revelation 12:17 describes what happens next: “the dragon was enraged with the woman [faithful Christians], and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” The “rest of her offspring” refers to an end-time group of Christians having two characteristics. First, they keep all God’s commandments, including the fourth, which identifies the seventh day (Saturday) as the Sabbath (Ex. 20:8-11; cf. Gen. 2:1-3; Heb. 4:4, 9-11). Second, they have “the testimony of Jesus,” which is “the spirit of prophecy” (Rev. 19:10). There is only one Christian group that arose at the right time (after 1798), in the right place (America), who keep the Sabbath, and have received the gift of prophecy (through the prophetic ministry and writings of Ellen G. White)—the Seventh-day Adventist Church. This is not an arrogant claim, because God raised up the remnant—not because they were better Christians, but to fulfill prophecy and complete the gospel commission (Matt. 24:14; 28:18-20). Further, the remnant church is also described as the flawed church of Laodicea (Rev. 3:14-22). But prophecy will be fulfilled, and “those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (Rev. 14:12) will be ready for that day.