Faithfulness Remanent
Matt Miles • September 22, 2021
Faithfulness through Global Flood Remanent
Last week on a trip to northwest Wyoming, I had an experience that highlighted the faithfulness of the Lord. While there we got to visit Yellowstone. The National Park system has many wonderful places to experience the great diversity of the Lord’s creation and very few rival the magnitude of Yellowstone. It is a place that testifies to His faithfulness in a grand way.
Like many other parks, Yellowstone, our first National Park, is a place of beauty. Rocky Mountain NP, Yosemite NP and Grand Canyon NP are all beautiful in different ways, yet Yellowstone is so much more diverse than those others. It has the mountain vistas, canyons and wildlife galore, along with something the others don’t have - geothermal activity. As I toured the park from one side to the other, it was very evident that the earth is still quite active just below the surface. This activity is a result of the Global Flood from Genesis, regardless of what the numerous signs throughout the park say as they try to educate its visitors. The evidence is overwhelming, from the pure flood rock strata hundreds to thousands of feet thick next to mud volcanoes spewing their toxic sludge from the depths. Your senses are bombarded on a constant basis with reminders of the past judgment of the flood and God’s faithfulness to Noah through it.
One of the more memorable places is the famous geyser “Old Faithful”. Out of an earthen vent comes a jet of boiling sulfur-rich water tens of feet into the air. To the delight of the crowd gathered, it erupts on a semi-regular basis. Old Faithful used to be very faithful, almost like clockwork. Now, it is more “mostly faithful”, with a window of 10-15 minutes either direction of its estimated eruption time. The geyser’s faithfulness seems to have lessened over the years, unlike our Lord's.
This wonderful place impacted me with a truth - the Lord is always faithful no matter how it seems at the time. Sometimes it seems He is not faithful because it’s not on our timing or to our expectations. Other times there may be destructive things around us that we go through and He shows His faithfulness through
all situations. Yellowstone is a place to remind us that the judgement of the past is real and His faithfulness to those that worship and honor Him is as true as it gets. Even when uncertainty looms over our heads, we are reminded that He will be faithful in the coming judgment the same as in the past. Continue to be faithful and keep LOOKING UP!
In Genesis 12 the Lord calls Abraham (Abram) to be the father of a great nation. This all happened to Abraham at 75 years old. Some might say that is too late in life to start something new, especially a calling of that magnitude. Yet that was not the overwhelming part to me; that would come in verse 7 when the Lord said the land would be his offspring’s. Wait, what?! The Lord had a plan and His Providence would guide Abraham, even when Abraham did not have offspring and did not wait on the Lord. I have to wonder how I would have reacted to such a call and covenant. As we know from Psalms, the Lord guides and sustains all by His Providence for His name sake, which we are focusing on this year. But does Providence act on our timing? When God called Abraham, he had no children. Yet the promise given was that his offspring would be a great nation in a land saved for them. What we know now is that Abraham wouldn’t have his son Isaac until he was 100 years old, a full 25 years after the covenant was made. Most of the time we expect the Lord’s hand working in our life to be immediate, but that is not always the case. In some cases it might take years to experience the Providence coming to fruition. Remember Genesis 21:2 states Isaac’s birth was at the “appointed time.” This understanding should give us peace as we rely on Providence and, at times, are called to patience. Providence was again on display for us to understand that even in obedient sacrifice He will be glorified, as Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son, Isaac, who was inherently tied to the covenant of the Lord. Abraham was faithful in all aspects, even when most of us might say “no way” to that sacrifice to the Lord. Yet at the right time, through faithfulness in Abraham’s obedience, there was Providence providing behind him in the ram. Our faithful obedience sometimes feels like a tough ask from the Lord, but rest assured He is there, ready to lift up His name through us. Providence continued through time, 100 years later, after Isaac had his sons, Jacob and Esau. Then Jacob was blessed by the Lord with 12 sons, one of which was Joseph, who was sold to Egypt by his brothers. You probably recall all the ups and downs of Joseph’s life, yet he was faithful to the Lord throughout them all. Remember, there was a covenant at stake. The Lord, through His Providence, made sure he had Joseph where He needed him to save the great nation of Israel from famine. This Providence secured the covenant line to continue to Christ. Many times throughout history Providence has guided and protected His covenant, and now you and I can be blessed with inclusion in His great nation through Christ. If it had not been so, then we literally have no assurance of our salvation. Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ that His Providence is faithful for all eternity, so we may know peace and have confidence in the promised destiny. Our ministry here at CTF has always emphasized the importance of Genesis 12, Abraham’s covenant. We share there is no difference in importance of Genesis 1-11 over chapter 12 and through the entirety of the Bible. The whole Bible is inspired to be trustworthy and to show His Providence throughout history for His name’s sake and also for our salvation. Blessings.
Fort Necessity, also known as the Battle of the Great Meadows