God has always had a remnant people. The book of Revelation describes a remnant that retreats to the wilderness. Why would the remnant retreat? What would happen in the wilderness? What lessons are there for God’s remnant today? 

Hartland Winter Convocation 2017: Restoring the Paths

<p>God has always had a remnant people. The book of Revelation describes a remnant that retreats to the wilderness. Why would the remnant retreat? What would happen in the wilderness? What lessons are there for God’s remnant today? </p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Hartland Institute of Health and Education

Chris Holland

The Remnant Retreats

Heavenly Father, as we gather to study Your Word on this, the opening of Your Sabbath day, it is our prayer that Your Holy Spirit, which has already dwelt with us and dwelt among us, would continue to do His work and speak truth through me and convict each of us that we would grow tonight and leave changed people.

And Lord, may this weekend be the starting point for many of us in finishing your work on this earth, that then the end would come.

The British Empire was at the zenith of its power.

1 quarter of the world's population and a part of every continent was under the rule of the British Empire.

Queen Elizabeth II that year was celebrating her Diamond Jubilee.

And while the entire empire celebrated the power and the might of the British Empire, 1 such man saw things slightly different.

Rudyard Kipling was a popular writer from England, and he authored the fictional novel, and he's most well known for authoring the Jungle Book.

But in his later years, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.

In the midst of the pomp and circumstance of the Diamond Jubilee, he wrote a poem.

When he wrote the poem, he did not initially intend it to be for the Jubilee, but The publisher happened to publish it that year of the Jubilee.

The poem, while celebrating the pride of the empire, pointed out the belief that the British empire may fall the way empires before it had fallen." The poem is entitled, Recessional, and it goes like this.

God of our fathers, known of old, Lord of our far-flung battle line, Beneath whose awful hand we hold Dominion over palm and pine, Lord God of hosts, Be with us yet, Lest we forget, Lest we forget.

Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice and humble and contrite heart.

Lord God of hosts, be with us yet, lest we forget.

Far called, our navies melt away on dune and headland sinks to fire.

Low all our pomp of yesterday is 1 with Nineveh and Tyre.

Judge of the nations, spare us yet, lest we forget.

If, drunk with sight of power, we lose, while tongues that have not thee in awe, such boastings as the Gentiles use, or lesser breeds without the law.

Lord God of hosts, be with us yet, lest we forget." Lest we forget.

For heathen heart that puts her trust in reeking tube and iron shard, all valiant dust that builds on dust, all guarding calls not thee to guard for frantic boast and foolish word, thy mercy on thy people, Lord.

Lest we forget." There is no doubt that Kipling had as the background and motivation for his poem those words of Moses found in Deuteronomy 6, verses 10-12.

And it shall be when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which He sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities which thou buildest not, and houses full of all good things which thou fillest not, and wells dig which thou diggest not, vineyards and olive trees which thou plantest not, when thou shalt have eaten and be full, then beware, lest thou forget the Lord which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage." lest we forget.

And in these last days, God has raised up a prophetic voice that penned these familiar words.

In reviewing our past history, having traveled over every step of advance to our present standing, I can say, praise God, as I see what God has wrought, I am filled with astonishment and with confidence in Christ as leader, we have nothing to fear for the future except..." Don't you wish those words weren't there?

"...except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us and His teaching in our past history.

The only thing we have to fear is if we forget how God has led us in the past.

And I wonder this evening, January the 27th, if we might be suffering from amnesia or possibly Alzheimer's disease that we have forgotten.

We have forgotten how the Lord has led throughout the history of the Bible.

And so as we begin this weekend restoring the paths, how is it that God has led His people in the past?

It only makes sense to begin, well, of course, in the beginning.

The Bible says in the beginning, God created.

He created the heavens and the earth and as the chapter continues, the Bible says that He formed man in His own likeness.

Why is it that God formed man in His own likeness?

Notice the story from Patriarchs and Prophets, page 45.

He who set the starry worlds on high and tinted with delicate skill the flowers of the field, who filled the earth and the heavens with the wonder of His power, when He came to crown His glorious work, to place 1 in the midst to stand as ruler of the fair earth, did not fail to create a being worthy of the hand that gave Him life.

The genealogy of our race, as given by inspiration, traces back its origin, not to a line of developing germs, mollusks, and quadrupeds, but to the God Creator.

Though formed from the dust, Adam was the Son of God." If that doesn't make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

It was the formation of a community of people that He could dwell amongst, that He could have fellowship with.

They were made in His likeness that they might bring glory to Him.

But it begins with Adam and Eve, a historical pattern.

A historical pattern that goes throughout the entire history of Scripture.

And after He creates or chooses that faithful people, the faithful people tend to forget and depart from the Lord.

They depart in such an extent that God then chooses a new faithful And the Bible refers to them a new faithful remnant from that group.

Thus, initiating the cycle over and over again.

Adam and Eve were created as God's people and we know the sad history from Genesis 3.

Did He have to study and figure out Oh, how am I going to fix this?

No, the Bible says that before the foundation of the world, Christ was prepared.

Promised that through Eve, there would be a seed.

And Adam and Eve had children, didn't they?

The Bible records that we know 3 of them by name, but initially we know 2 by name.

And then the Bible goes on to describe, because you see the promise is now going to come through Eve's seed.

And the Bible describes the development, the emergence of 2 distinct entities.

1 that was willing to be obedient to the Word of God, and the other that simply wanted to do things his own way.

Following in the footsteps of the Father of all lies.

The Bible records that While Abel now is the chosen 1, he is the faithful 1, Abel is killed.

But the Bible records that as the seed of Seth and the seed of Cain begin to intermingle, God must choose a faithful remnant.

Genesis 7 in verse 23 tells us who that faithful remnant is.

It says, "...and Noah only remained." Noah and his family.

But once again, we know the history of the descendants of Noah.

The history of the descendants of Noah is 1 where there is a mixing and a mingling.

And then we come to this place called Ur of the Chaldees.

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The Remnant Retreats

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