The Remnant of Truth Seekers: Living God's Final Prophecies

By Mary Ruth Whitley

I have had the pleasure of living my entire life in a family of Christians. My children had many nonbelieving friends while growing up. As they individually reached out to their circle of friends, some saw the light and became believers, but not all accepted Jesus as their Savior. Others would tell one of my four children that they became Christians after watching how he or she had grown into adulthood committed to follow Christ. As a family, we would have discussions about the rapture because of Scripture or even books we read. Our concern was for our friends and relatives who never made a commitment to love the Lord. Our conversations left us wondering if (after the rapture) they would remember our talks and seek an answer, or would they just give up""believing it was too late? The Remnant of Truth Seekers "" Living God's Final Prophecies is a realistic, different, and definitely unique scenario of what might possibly occur after the rapture. Characters and locations develop as the story gains momentum. Readers will be drawn into the lives of these people as they watch them struggle and work through seven years of prophetic, biblical discovery. As truths are uncovered, they must be applied to their lives. Survival depends on community living much like the book of Acts. Life is now totally relevant to what the prophets in the Old Testament, and the apostles of the New Testament, penned for mankind. Life for the remnant parallels much of what is found in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation, as well as the unfulfilled prophecies in the New Testament. The end of their saga does not come at Armageddon, but when God Almighty is reigning on and in His new heaven and new earth. The Holy Bible will always define "real life" for anyone who is interested in knowing the truth!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 6, 2020
• ISBN: 9781098019273

Book preview

Chapter 1

After that, we who are still alive and are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

—1 Thessalonians 4:17

Searching for Hope

Iwas literally standing on a precipice in Malibu, California, overlooking the Pacific Ocean near Pepperdine University. My demolished home was nearby, and I was supposed to fly out of LAX tonight, but all flights had been canceled. There was another type of precipice deep within my mind. With shame I watched the violent protests in the streets of my America after the last election. Our nation was torn in two, with one side determined to destroy the other’s ideas with rioting and destruction of personal property, and no recourse. It seemed the courts were unable to simply follow the laws already on the books. No one could voice a diverse opinion. For too many years now, most universities had only allowed free speech to one political ideology.

Suddenly, the entire world witnessed a phenomenon of disappearing bodies. It was clear to me that, in America, because of their beliefs, some people had been affected on a larger scale than others. Immediately, there were a number of conspiracy theories about collusion with Russia, China, Japan, or even ISIS, Iran, or North Korea. In my heart, I knew what had happened but simply did not want to believe it. Many of my friends, colleagues, and family members are still in serious denial. Psychologists would call this the normalcy bias. This referred to our natural reactions when facing a crisis. It also made people unable to deal with a disaster, once it had occurred. People had a really hard time preparing for and dealing with something they had never experienced. The normalcy bias causes smart people to underestimate the possibility of a disaster and its effects. People actually believe that since something had never happened before, it never would. I supposed this was human nature.

However, I should have seen it coming. There were definitely signs, and my friend had told me about them many times. They were just too difficult for me to believe because I was too smart for that stuff. I was a guy who used reason and intelligence to figure things out myself. It was impossible for me to accept the supernatural, and I was now paying for it. Born a Jew, I definitely knew what a remnant was. Right then, I was feeling like I was part of a new remnant. Was I too late? Had God given up on mankind? What mattered yesterday seemed insignificant.

Let me back up in my story. It was immediately obvious that my Christian friends were all gone. I called my lifelong friend Zach, but he never called back, and he always did. He was the one who used the term rapture and also told me that the exact word is not in the Bible.

He often told me, When God is ready for His church to come, Jesus will snatch us away in the twinkling of an eye, and that will be the rapture. We will be gone!

He told me the time was coming closer and closer as we watched our world fall apart morally, and our own government move further away from Judeo-Christian concepts. We both agreed that the whole world was going downhill in so many ways. Everyone played the blame game when bad things happened. Zach and I were actually afraid that our democratic nation would fall just like so many other great nations had. We felt the last straw was when the new abortion law was passed. It gave doctors the right to kill babies up to and after birth if the mother wanted it. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20).

Being Jewish, I had a bar mitzvah at thirteen. I never really related Judaism to Christianity until I was memorizing the book of Ruth (in Hebrew) for that event. Zach’s mother thought it was cool that I was using the book of Ruth for this event, because it was one of her favorites. When she told me the whole story of Ruth and that Jesus was her kinsman redeemer, I was really surprised! She laughed and said, It is important that we know the Old Testament (your Torah) because our Jesus is in there with all of your patriarchs.

Zach first shared Christianity, and the need for Jesus, with me when I was about six years old. He never gave up, and now he is gone along with his entire family. What I would give for another conversation with him. I have called every phone number I have, but they’re all gone—his wife and kids, his mother, brothers, sister, cousins, aunts, and uncles. On the other hand, my wife and children were still here. How could this be? We were a well-educated, wealthy family on the way to the top, and totally happy with life as it was when this calamity struck! Boy, were we wrong.

The CEO of my law firm and also my wife’s law firm were requesting us to return to work as usual. ASAP! Several of our top attorneys were missing, and I was quite sure I knew who they were. Somehow my mind could not get around the term work as usual. Work was on the back burner right now. We would tell them that our house and possessions were gone and would get in touch when we could. Later on, I was certain the firms would still use us, and perhaps, we could use the tools in our offices to help others—God willing! My first goal was to search for some answers to my questions, and I had an idea where to find them. Not so many years ago, Zach told me, If my entire family is suddenly gone, go to any of our homes and take whatever will help you and your family. As a matter of fact, move from house to house if necessary, because I am sure it will be tough just to stay alive in that time—while you watch the wrath of God unfold. My family will no longer need earthly things.

Truthfully, I came to Malibu to see if the Pacific Ocean was still the same and if the tides were working as God designed them. For years, as the world moved toward globalization and progressivism, Zach and I fought against things like the sixty million aborted babies since Roe v. Wade, same-sex marriages, and legalizing marijuana. Now that the world was already clamoring for a one-world leader and government just a few days since the disappearances, I was beginning to understand what my friend told me about the end-times prophecies described in his Bible.

The salty sea air had cleared my head and revived me somewhat, but the darkness of a world without Christians and the idea of a one-world government was definitely not a good thought! Deep depression hovered over me since I was certain my country was no longer going to be free. For the sake of my wife and children, I had set my mind and heart to search for and find a reason to have hope.

Chapter 2

Listen, I will tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep,

but we will be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye,

at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

—1 Corinthians 15:51–52

My Quest

My legal skills would no longer have any merit. It appeared to be that laws were arbitrarily being broken or ignored. Perhaps a previously created government had been ready and waiting for a while. Whatever it was, it gave me goose bumps! In less than a week, Christian churches had been warned to stay closed until further notice. Those left in government were suggesting these disappearances had been caused by a Christian cult that ordered mass suicide. Furthermore, all officials could stop and search any vehicle. No guns could be carried, even with a permit, and ammunition could not be sold! I had no idea how it could be enforced, but curfew was temporarily at dusk.

It felt like at least 30 percent of Californians were suddenly evacuated in some mysterious way. It had also been suggested that another 25 percent or more deaths were caused simultaneously by airplanes crashing and empty or driverless vehicles running into other cars. There were roads that suddenly ended because of every imaginable crashed vehicle and the debris that fell from the sky. Parents had been reporting their children missing. Schools were thrown into pandemonium with the disappearances of teachers and students. All the newborn babies disappeared from hospitals—some with their parents, and some with only a mother or father. Nurses and doctors disappeared, even during surgeries, and some patients vanished from the operating table. On the radio I heard that, miraculously enough, Hollywood was almost totally unscathed and very few people were missing from that area. Life is pure bedlam, and I sense a strange evil presence everywhere.

As a Jew, I had always believed in God and admitted there was a definite tugging at my heart, or maybe my soul, that led me to Julie’s house—Zach’s mother. She lives (or lived) with her daughter, Conny, not too far from Malibu. Homes were being searched and I was certain, ransacked by self-appointed government officials. Some Internet sites were up and others down. It was difficult traveling to her house because I-5 was partially closed. My purpose was to find any biblical literature she might have about this rapture thing. I was sure Julie would be excited for me to have anything that would give me hope and, at the same time, was sure they would all be gone. Undoubtedly, they would be delighted to have me there looking for God! Her Christmas cards and letters were always so CHRISTMASY—never a politically correct Happy holidays but always about Jesus being the Reason for the season. Somehow those letters aren’t so boring anymore, and I was hungry to find everything I could about this phenomenon and why God would ever allow this to happen. Then, of course, my car ran out of gas, so I ended up running the last few miles, which was probably just as fast. At this point, I had a strange feeling God was leading me there. I thought to myself, Why would He do that? Wasn’t it too late?

When I arrived, their dog greeted me at the back door, and I let myself in. She was so excited to see me that I stopped for a moment to give her food and water and let her out. It was the first time the world felt normal to me, and I took a deep breath. The house was not quiet because a couple TVs were flickering. Julie’s TV was on the news, and they were discussing how some of their commentators were missing. Her old car and two trucks were out front as well as purses, keys—and FOOD! Several homes on her cul-de-sac were damaged and four were empty. My own beautiful home in LA was destroyed by an airplane—thank heavens we were not there because it took out five homes, most of the street, and everyone involved died. Reports stated the pilot was missing and being blamed for the crash. On the other hand, Julie’s house was intact and at least temporarily had Wi-Fi, electricity, and phone chargers. I immediately called my wife, gave her directions, and urged her to bring our kids ASAP. Her dad had died a year ago, and now her mother was one of those who was taken, and we knew why. Karen and her sister were never quite willing to make a commitment to Jesus like their parents wanted. Evidently, this was the price they were paying, and so was I!

Meanwhile, I began my search for hope and truth. There were nine different Bibles in her room alone (different versions and study Bibles). Julie lived with her daughter, son-in-law, and family. They were all gone. However, the nuggets Julie had left were the manuscripts she had written and left on her tables and desk. There was a fifty-six-page study of Revelation; a sixteen-page interpretation of the churches in Revelation; a paper entitled THE RAPTURE; and a handwritten study—or journal—on Revelation taken from various authors (Ray Stedman, John Walvoord, Jack Kelley, R. C. Sproul, and two informative Daily Walk Bibles). There was also a Bible Concordance as well as twenty some reference books about signs of the end, other religions, and cults.

WOW, I had hit the jackpot, and now I just had to read—one thing at which I was very good. Next, I called my mom and dad to tell them to come as soon as they possibly could. I was certain these papers and books would guide me to passages in Scripture that could explain things. Almost immediately, what I knew from my Jewish background became evident: God has consequences for our actions. These consequences used to be backed up by laws in America, but with the degradation of morals and the Judeo-Christian ideals being torn away by legalizing abortions, same-sex marriages, and discrimination against Jews and Christians around the world, the lines became blurred, and our nation was put at risk until God finally said, Enough! I was determined to find answers and needed everyone to help me read. I remembered what Julie said about Ruth and the Old Testament, so I decided to start at the beginning!

A Bible was sitting open on Julie’s table—The NIV Life Application Bible. Sticking out at several places were pieces of paper with GOD WORKS WITH REMNANTS written on them. Genesis was the first one, and I knew the story of Joseph. The second was pretty obvious since it was the prophet Ezekiel. However, the third one was in Revelation, and I wasn’t sure I understood the 144,000 who were to be sealed by God from the twelve tribes of Israel. These Scriptures were the beginning of my hope. The fact that Zach’s family, and apparently Christians everywhere, disappeared, causing global disaster, left me with little to no hope. The feeling of evil was surrounding me at a level I had never experienced before, but this remnant idea seemed to let a little light into this dark place. My home and office were destroyed by greedy rioters after the disappearing disaster. Emotions from pain and sorrow were high, simply from so many families being scattered everywhere. It was nothing like this world had ever seen. To make matters worse, many were already committing suicide. I hoped some, like me, were searching for—and finding—answers.

Chapter 3

For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

—1 Thessalonians 4:16

The Truth

The truth was that the Church Age had ended, and evidently, not all churchgoers were believers either, evidenced by the fact that they were still here. As this age of grace ended, an intense darkness descended onto the earth, and I was assaulted with fear of the unknown and a world without God ! Why and how had I missed the truth? I refused to just try and read Revelation because I thought I knew how that ended—the Apocalypse. (Later, I was to find out that was not the case.) I needed guidance, but my Christian friends were all gone. Suddenly, I dropped to my knees and prayed to a God I had almost forgotten.

With faltering lips, but an open heart, I cried, Father of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, I have been such a fool not to recognize You and purposely ignore You when my best friend told me about You so many times. I am terrified that I am too late. None of my worldly knowledge is helping me now. What can I do?

Within my soul, I felt that I was to continue using my God-given skills. I was to read and absorb the Bible as rapidly as possible—both the Old Testament and the New Testament. This way I could see the hand of God from the beginning to the end and, perhaps, see how the Jewish nation, and so many others, missed our Messiah. Christians seemed to use the Old Testament along with the New! Something deep within me said, Jesus is in the Torah. Build your knowledge, and when you are ready, make a covenant with the Lord Jesus by asking forgiveness of sins, Jerry. Then ask Him into your heart. In time, and with much study, you will strengthen others with your knowledge of the Scriptures. This would be difficult, but I could no longer live without hope. Obviously, I had no idea how difficult this would be, even with all of us searching the Scriptures together. I finally gained a very clear picture after we all journeyed through the Bible and read a number of helpful books. By then, we knew with certainty that we had witnessed the rapture and were now experiencing the actual end of the world so many prophets had described.

We stayed at Julie’s house as long as we could. Our children were old enough to comprehend the mess we were in. My biggest worry was that a relationship with Jesus was no longer possible. Though the Word was alive with meaning, all Christians had been taken somewhere. Fortunately, my wife had an even better ability to read and understand than I did, so we bonded and began to expand on Julie’s lifelong studies and conclusions about prophecy, history, and fact. The Old Testament was a treasure trove of prophecy that was mostly fulfilled, and gradually my Jewish parents began to comprehend and believe too. The fact that they knew Julie well while Zach and I were growing up probably helped.

One early morning, my mom was reading Lamentations (which I found out the prophet Jeremiah wrote). She called out to all of us to listen and read, I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore, I will wait for him.’ The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord (Lamentations 3:19–26). It was that very Scripture that gave us hope and eventually helped us all become believers because the Old Testament told us to seek him. Coincidentally, my name was Jeremiah. Although everyone called me Jerry, I suddenly liked the sound of my full name!

The ancient prophets had such perfect prophecies that by the time of the Messiah’s birth and death, many of Isaiah’s prophecies were already fulfilled. I began to wonder how the Israelites had actually missed it! As we read along with our kids, it became very clear that Zach was telling me the absolute truth, and I had ignored him because I thought I had more important things to do. I wondered why, and if there could still be a purpose for the rest of my life—however long that might be. We did know one thing, and it was that, for now, we had to read, make a plan, and see if there was a remnant of souls out there like us. Was it still possible there was a community of people with whom we could be, love, and serve? As Julie had written, GOD WORKS WITH REMNANTS. Perhaps we could find another remnant that would multiply because of our new knowledge and faith? So we determined to start at the very beginning with our search and began with Genesis 1:1!

Chapter 4

Adam tells us, "God has granted me

another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him."

[Eve named him Seth and Seth’s first son was named Enosh.]

—Genesis 4:25

[The Bible says] At that time men began to call on the name of the Lord.

—Genesis 4:26b

About Remnants

My family and I started with the premise that a biblical remnant consists of a small minority of people who will remain faithful to God and, therefore, be saved. The Bible immediately shared the names of Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel. Although the murderer, Cain, was cast out, he was busy creating his own family line along with his wife and first son, Enoch, in the land of Nod. Genesis 5 told us that Seth was born and his son was named Enosh. In reality, there was barely a godly remnant left, and Adam and Eve had obviously started their family over again with Seth. If you want to see how fast this remnant grew or think you are getting old, just read Genesis 5. Everyone lived a really long time.

I felt compelled to make a list of my Jewish ancestry:

Adam had Seth at age 130 and died at age 930.

Seth had Enosh at 103 and died at 912.

Enosh had Kenan at 90 and died at 905.

Kenan had Mahalalel at 70 and died at 910.

Mahalalel had Jared at 65 and died at 895.

Jared had Enoch at 162 and died at 962.

Enoch had Methuselah at 65, then he walked with God 300 years, and at 365 years, he was no more because God took him away.

Methuselah had Lamech at 187 and died at 969.

Lamech had Noah at 182 and died at 777.

Noah had sons after he was 500 years, but, perhaps, that’s another story!

Adam’s descendants had many other sons and daughters besides those named above.

There seemed to be a line of both good and bad people right from the beginning. When Abel brought a better offering to the Lord, Cain was angry and killed Abel. The genetically good inherited traits appeared to be from Seth’s lineage. I paused when I read about Enoch and absorbed the fact that God took him away. Then I envisioned it to be a singular act similar to the rapture that I had recently witnessed. It was fascinating to read the names, length of life, and numbers of children in my Jewish heritage. Too bad I hadn’t taken the time to even study this in the Torah. I was saddened by the fact that I had not listened to Zach and realized so much time had been wasted becoming successful.

I told myself, Okay, stop daydreaming, Jeremiah, then went back to the beginnings and started reading again. After just a few chapters in Genesis, my eyes began to open. Over many centuries, this little remnant of Adam, Eve, Seth, and Enosh grew by leaps and bounds. Unfortunately, among all of these people who were "calling on the name of the Lord," there was only one family who still worshipped God at this time.

Chapter 5

The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth

had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart

was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.

So the Lord said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created,

from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that

I have made them." But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

—Genesis 6:5–8

Noah’s Remnant Family

It was no longer difficult for me to imagine how sinful the world had become in Noah’s day because I was seeing it firsthand right now! America had declined rapidly in my lifetime alone. However, my parents simply lived in shock at the degradation of our nation. It seemed gradual when you were living it and life had become so fast-paced that it was impossible to keep up. I think we ignored the horrible things we really knew were going on because we felt we couldn’t change them. God wanted to wipe mankind off the face of the earth, and perhaps the same evil ways of today had precipitated His need to remove His church in the twinkling of an eye. This was the event that many Christians called the rapture .

In Noah’s case, it appears that God loves those who love Him. Because of Noah’s faithful obedience, God saved him and his family from the flood. God took the righteous and left the sinners! Amazingly, and mercifully, God still gave the people 120 years to repent while Noah patiently built his ark. No one came to help him or to repent, so after the flood, Noah became the second father of the human race.

God’s little remnant of eight grew! Shem’s descendants (Hebrews, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Persians, and Syrians) were Semites and their descendants—Abraham, David, and Jesus. Ham’s descendants (Canaanites, Egyptians, Philistines, Hittites, and Amorites) settled in Canaan, Egypt, and the rest of Africa. Japheth’s descendants (Greek, Thracian, and Scythians) settled mainly in Europe and Asia Minor. In this way, mankind was scattered all over the earth. Therefore, the earth was repopulated with a mixture of godly and ungodly people. Here, I finally saw my rightful heritage as I pictured Shem’s descendants populating the Mesopotamian region.

I wasn’t sure why Noah cursed Canaan so harshly just because he saw his father’s nakedness. Perhaps the entire story was not written down, or maybe my thoughts were tainted by today’s standards where anything goes. Noah’s exact words were, Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers. He also said, ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. May God extend the territory of Japheth; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his slave’ (Genesis 9:25–27). It seems that biblical blessings and curses tend to come true.

Okay, I found that remnant right away, but why did Julie put a paper in Genesis 45:4–8? The answer to that came a little later.

Chapter 6

Abram believed the Lord,

and he credited it to him as righteousness.

—Genesis 15:6

A Righteous Remnant

After God scattered people over the entire earth, I soon found Father Abraham. After Abram’s father, Terah, died, God told him to leave his country and go to a land He would show him. God promised to make Abram a great nation out of a tiny remnant —which was Abram; his nephew, Lot; and his barren wife, Sarai. I knew about this amazing story. However, I never realized it began with three relatives and the possessions and people they had acquired in Haran where Abram’s father died. God told Abram to move, and on faith alone, he set out for the land of Canaan. Somehow the story gave me hope. Perhaps it was because what God told Abraham to do seemed impossible or futile, and yet, I’d always believed in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Some unbelievably interesting things happened in these Old Testament pages (my Torah, I suppose). Fortunately, the pages had new meaning, new hope, and new life even though I feared we were facing persecution and a short time span. Now I must find out if we are too late for eternal salvation, if God would still give us a second chance, and if there was a plan to be followed.

As I read about Abraham and God’s plan for him, I definitely noticed that he made many mistakes. Some mistakes he made several times. Being Jewish, I knew the story of Abraham but not the details. He was certainly faithful to his nephew, Lot. I suppose Lot became another remnant too, and after his wife turned into a pillar of salt, perhaps he understood the meaning of righteousness a little better.

When Abram became Abraham and Sarai became Sarah, their remnant began to grow, and the two were blessed with Isaac, which means laughter. Speed-reading through my heritage was not happening because as the various remnants grew, there always seemed to be a problem. By the time I reached Jacob, I was completely disillusioned because he was such a conniver. The battles Rebekah and Isaac had over Jacob and Esau were difficult to understand. Taking the time to read the entire story helped me understand God’s plan for Jacob and that he had to literally wrestle with God in order to be blessed by Him. This was when Jacob first became Israel, and God repeated that name to Jacob later when they were settled in Bethel. Everything seemed wonderful for Israel because he now had twelve sons, daughters, herds, flocks, and much wealth. I even recognized the twelve tribes of Israel and the order they were born (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin). I felt bad that it was necessary to keep up the pace with my reading, and I wasn’t able to simply enjoy my Jewish history, but I needed answers.

Unfortunately, Israel spoiled his eleventh son, Joseph, who was Rachel’s first son. Rachel was his favorite wife. She had Joseph late in life and died when his brother, Benjamin, was born. His older sons were extremely jealous of Joseph—even to the point of hating him.

Chapter 7

Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.

—Genesis 37:36

The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials. So Pharaoh asked them, Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God? Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.

—Genesis 41:37–40

Israel’s First Remnant

After reading about my Jewish ancestors, I finally came to Joseph. He was spoiled by his father, Jacob, who made sure he was well-educated and had even more than his brothers did, including a special robe Jacob had made for him. Joseph was a dreamer and lorded his lofty dreams over his brothers. He was mistreated by his jealous brothers who sold him to a passing Ishmaelite caravan for twenty shekels of silver. Then he was again sold into slavery in Egypt. When I got to this part, and realized Joseph was probably just a teenager, I wondered how this spoiled child could even live, after being sold into slavery!

Reading his story in Genesis is quite different from the Hollywood movies. The trials, temptations, and hardships he overcame were awesome. God loves his children and helped Joseph develop wisdom and character while he was in prison. God was the one who had given him the gifts of a brilliant mind, a healthy body, and an ability to interpret dreams! I found out that he continued to interpret dreams even when he was in prison. Joseph’s strong will, knowledge of God, and perseverance saved all of Egypt and his entire Hebrew family. This gave me hope for my own teenage children and their selfish ways! Struggling seems to produce strength.

When his brothers came begging for food, they did not recognize him, but Joseph recognized them. The child had grown into a godly man, and he not only forgave them but was also able to explain that what they had done to him was not entirely their fault.

In Genesis 45:4–8, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and not to be afraid of him. He was certain God had sent him ahead to save lives. He explained that the famine was not over, then he said, "But God has sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. (Now I understood why Julie had written on a piece paper Gen 45:4–8—God works with remnants" and had left it in her Bible to mark this place.)

Joseph talked his brothers into bringing their entire family and belongings to Goshen where they could live, and he could take care of them so they would not become destitute. The members of Jacob’s family who went to Egypt numbered seventy. (God had placed Israel’s [Jacob’s] first remnant under Joseph to work with and protect!)

Chapter 8

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger: he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

—Hebrews 11:24–28

God’s Remnant Four Hundred Years Later

Iwasn’t sure why Julie had a red flag on Moses because I knew that even though the Egyptians tried to kill Hebrew babies, God was intervening on their behalf and the people were prolific. As I read that Moses was raised by Pharaoh’s daughter, I thought, "Even I know this story: he found out he was a Hebrew, killed an Egyptian; fled to Midian, married a Midianite, had two sons, witnessed a burning bush that kept burning, argued with God, returned to Egypt, relied on his brother Aaron, God sent plagues, the Passover occurred, the Red Sea parted, there were pillars of cloud and fire, given manna and quail, constant bickering and complaining, the Law and Ten Commandments, the golden calf, and it took them forty years instead of the average eleven to fourteen days it should have taken to arrive at the Promised Land."

That would be my summary. However, I never realized that this remnant had grown from seventy to about two million people after Joseph died, and the Israelites were enslaved. After crying and begging God to send someone to free them, the Israelites were ungrateful, stiff-necked, and sinned so much that God threatened to destroy them many times, but Moses asked God to forgive them each time.

When Moses sent out the twelve spies and only Caleb and Joshua believed they could conquer the giants, I realized why Julie thought there was another remnant coming. Beginning in Numbers 13, I was interested in the spies. Their rebellion set off a chain reaction. The people rebelled and a multitude of lives were lost because of this. They wandered in the desert waiting until those who were twenty years old and older died because God had finally given up on them. They had seen all His miracles and still did not believe in, honor, trust, or worship Him. The new remnant was Caleb and Joshua along with their dwindling community.

I felt so bad when I realized why neither Aaron nor Moses got to enter the Promised Land. After their forty-year journey, the people were still complaining about not enough water. Moses and Aaron were angry with them, so Moses struck the rock twice, and water gushed out as he said, Listen you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock (Numbers 20:10)? Because of this, Moses and Aaron were not allowed to enter the Promised Land. God had told Moses and Aaron to take the staff and speak to the rock at Meribah and it would pour out water. Numbers 20:12 says, The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not trust me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I gave them!’