2 3

— JEWISH MINISTRY —

MISSION FROM THE REMNANT TO THE REMNANT

Our mission to Jewish people presents a unique challenge and opportunity for Seventh-day Adventists as well as for other Christians. Since the expansion of the British Empire began in the 19th century, Protestant Christianity has understood its mission as going out to bring the Gospel to the different corners of the globe to people who do not have knowledge of the Bible.

With the Jewish people, the situation is totally different. They are the “people of the Book.” The Apostle Paul said: “They were entrusted with the oracles of God” (Rom. 3:2). Not only were the Old Testament prophets and writers from Moses to Malachi Jews. The authors of the Gospels and epistles—Matthew, Mark, John, Peter, James and Paul—were also Jewish.

Among Christians, Seventh-day Adventists also consider themselves to be the people of the book. We accept the Bible as our only creed and hold certain fundamental beliefs to be the teaching of the Holy Scriptures. As stated in the first of our 28 fundamental beliefs, “The Holy Scriptures are the supreme, authoritative, and the infallible revelation of His will. They are the standard of character, the test of experience, the definitive revealer of doctrines, and the trustworthy record of God’s acts in history.” As a people of the Book, we have a unique opportunity to reach out to the People of the Book with the message of love from Jesus the Messiah.

However, there remains a challenge, and this challenge lays at the heart of the mission of Jewish Adventist Congregation

Alexander Bolotnikov

This booklet may be printed and shared freely as long as no changes are made to the content.

PDFs of this booklet may be downloaded from BJewishSDA.com.

Content Overview

Didn’t the Jews reject and kill Jesus? 4Wasn’t the trial period for the Jewish nation

completed at the stoning of Stephen? Hasn't God abandoned them to speak to the gentiles? 6

Why have Jews not accepted Jesus as the Son of God for all these centuries? 7

Wouldn’t these historical facts be a testimony of the divine curse, which befell upon Jews? 11

If the early church was Jewish, why aren't there many Jews in the church now? 13

Aren’t we supposed to look at Jesus and not at people? 17

Doesn’t Scripture teach about the salvation of the remnant?  19

Wasn’t there a remnant of faithful Christians during all these years of the apostasy? 21

Was there ever a remnant of Jewish people? 23How can the remnant help the remnant? 25

4 5

Beit Shalom Balevav (House of Peace in the Heart) . To meet this challenge—to become successful witnesses—the Christian people of the Book should overcome inherited beliefs, which, at best, create hindrances to their effectiveness and, at worst, strip them of their motivation to pursue the mission.

The goal of this pamphlet is to address these issues by sharing fact-based answers to the questions many Christians have asked us.

Didn’t the Jews reject and kill Jesus?

For many centuries, Christendom cultivated in the minds of Christians the image of the Jewish nation, which being stiff necked, stubborn in their apostasy and rebellion, rejected Jesus as the Savior of the world and the Son of God. Until the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic church held the doctrine of Jewish deicide, which accused Jews of killing God.

The stories of the Gospel and the Book of Acts present a contrasting picture. While Jesus definitely encountered opposition from the high priests and Pharisees, the Gospel of John states “Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him” (John 11:45). Not only did the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus cause Jews to accept Him as the Messiah, but also His teaching was convincing for many. The Gospel of John states: “As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him. So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John

8:30-32). All the disciples of Jesus during His walk on this earth were Jewish.

While it was the high priest Caiaphas (with the support of the Sanhedrin) who initiated the process leading to the crucifixion of Jesus by the Romans, many Jews did not support the actions of their leaders. Acts 2 cites Peter’s speech given before the Jewish pilgrims who came from all the ‘corners of the earth’ for the celebration of Pentecost. Reacting to his appeal, many Jews “… were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). As a result, “… those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41). 

The book of Acts says that despite serious resistance, many Jews and gentile converts to Judaism accepted Jesus through the work of Paul. “In Iconium they entered the synagogue of the Jews together, and spoke in such a manner that a large number of people believed, both of Jews and of Greeks” (Acts 14:1). “The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men” (Acts 17:10-12).

6 7

Often, Christians are misled by an incorrect interpretation of the 70-weeks prophecy found in Daniel 9:24. It is taught that the words “seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place” were fulfilled with the stoning of Stephen (recorded in Acts 7). Therefore since the Jews stoned Stephen, they completely rejected God’s grace, and thus the gospel is no longer preached to them but rather to gentiles.

Rather than getting into the exegetical details of the text of Daniel 9:24 and the intricacies of the Hebrew language, consider the text in Acts 11, which states the following, “So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone” (Acts 11:19).  This verse demonstratively states that the interpretation and assumptions described in the previous paragraph are simply incorrect. As Paul states in Romans 11, “I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be!” (Rom. 11:1). 

The fact that the Old Covenant, theocratic, Temple-centered Israel ceased to exist does not mean that God rejected the Jewish people. Since the destruction of Solomon’s Temple in 586 BC, Jews have lived in all corners of the world. They built

Wasn’t the trial period for the Jewish nation completed at the stoning of Stephen? Hasn't God

abandoned them to speak to the gentiles?

synagogues in each of their communities where they studied and taught the Scriptures. Before Jesus and Paul, these synagogues became beacons of God’s truth in the pagan societies of the Persian, Greek and Roman empires.

The Jews’ influence within the countries they had been dispersed to attracted many gentiles to became proselytes in their midst. Paul used these diaspora synagogues as startup hubs for his outreach into the cities he visited during his missionary journeys. A number of these Jewish communities, such as in Berea, embraced Jesus as their Messiah. In other places, synagogue communities were split on the issue and those who accepted Jesus formed their own Judeo-Christian congregations.

Consider this. The destruction of the Second Temple did not cause the Jews to disappear like the Phoenicians, Philistines, Babylonians and other ancient civilizations who were doomed to perdition in the prophetic books of the Bible. There is no prophecy in the Bible that dooms the Jewish people to perdition or makes them a subject of everlasting divine vengeance. The Jewish people have survived into the present—in spite of the fires of the inquisition and the gas chambers of Auschwitz.

For anyone who believes that God is in control of human history, this fact is hard to ignore.

Why have Jews not accepted Jesus as the Son of God for all these centuries?

Christians who don’t see Jews actively accepting Jesus, or who have tried to witness to them in the manner they are used to approaching people with, often ask this question. It’s

8 9

not uncommon for a Christian to experience resentment after a Jew responds negatively to the typical Christian witnessing approach.

While it is very tempting to begin comparing our current experience during religious interactions with Jews to the times of Jesus, this is neither correct nor fair. Remember, almost two thousand years separate our reality with what happened at Calvary. This time gap is full of bitter history—including Christian apostasy from the principles of the Biblical law (not just the fourth commandment) and Christian hatred and stereotyping Jews as the servants of the devil and the killers of Christ.

These are a few examples of what Jewish people had to endure living side by side with their Christian neighbors in the Christian kingdoms of Europe.

• In Medieval England, Jews were forbidden to farm the land or join the guilds of craftsmen. Money lending, merchandising and medicine were the only trades allowed to them. However in 1290, England’s King Edward II ordered all Jews to leave the country and confiscated their property into his royal treasury.

• Jews were accused of usury, witchcraft and the murders of Christian babies with the purpose of using their blood to make Passover matzah (unleavened bread).

• To convert to Christianity in the Middle Ages in Spain, Jews had to publicly renounce their allegiance to the principles of Torah and pledge to keep Sunday (the new Sabbath) and eat pork. Jews were supposed to reject their identity, abandon their language and cultural traditions. Those who converted to Christianity were carefully watched by the inquisition. Under the smallest suspicion for such innocent things as praying in Hebrew

or singing a Hebrew lullaby to a baby a person could be arrested and charged with being an insincere Christian. Admission of insincerity would be extracted through severe torture, and those who admitted their guilt under such duress were sentenced to burning.

• Most Christian kings and dukes in medieval Western Europe did not consider Jews as citizens of their domains and treated them as second class persons. Jews were ordered to live in special gated areas called ghettos. They could not own land or any immovable property and were forced to pay exuberant rent for their cramped houses in the city areas designated for them. To get outside the walls of the ghetto, a Jew had to wear special markings such as a large yellow star attached to their coat and funny clowns’ hats.

• In 1421, the Austrian Duke Albert demanded the Jews who lived in Vienna convert to Christianity, offering them the opportunity to become equal citizens of his duchy if they did. When his offer was politely declined by the Jewish leaders, he ordered his troops to take 200 of the most prominent men in the Jewish community and had them burned at the same time. Their children were taken to different monasteries and ordered to forget their names and their Jewish origins. The widows of these men were given the option to convert and marry Christians or be raped. Under this duress, many of these women committed suicide in order to avoid this horrible humiliation.

• In the 19th century Russian empire, the Tsar organized special military recruiting teams to abduct 10 to 12 year-old Jewish boys from their parents in order to force their conversion to Christianity during a 25-year conscription

10 11

into military service in the Russian army. A new Jewish recruit was put through a line of soldiers who beat him with sticks until he renounced his Jewish faith and converted to Russian Orthodox church.

• During the horrible year preceding World War II, the Nazis forced churches in Germany and in its occupied territories to give them the names of their Jewish members and to excommunicate them. These German and Austrian Jewish Christians became the victims of the concentrations camps together with their non-Christian Jewish brothers and sisters. While a number of good and honest Christian leaders refused Hitler’s orders and defended Jews, many priests explained the horrors of the Holocaust as the expression of God’s vengeance upon the Jews for killing Christ over 1900 years after the event. In addition to that, most SS members presented themselves as Christians. Many Jews who survived the concentration camps talk about their Nazi tormentors as Christians because they saw them celebrating Christmas and Easter, and singing Christian hymns and praying. Unlike the events of the Crucifixion, the Holocaust happened only 70 years ago and is still considered the main reason for Jewish distrust of Christians.

• In 1883, Russian Jews were falsely accused of assassi-nating Tsar Alexander II. These accusations became the primary reason for thousands of massacres (pogroms in Russian) which happened in the Russian Empire from the 1880s to the 1920s. These pogroms became the primary reason for the mass immigration of Russian Jews to the United States in the early 1900s.

Over 60% of American Jews trace their roots to the Russian Empire and place from which their ancestors came to the U.S.

Many more Jews who survived the Holocaust in Europe came to America after WWII seeking freedom from persecution.

The wounds and memories of the pogroms and the Holocaust are still fresh. This is the main cause of their resentment of Christianity. The absolute ignorance regarding these basic historical facts is the major reason why Christians today fail to establish productive spiritual conversations with Jewish people.

Wouldn’t these historical facts be a testimony of the divine curse, which befell upon Jews?

Many Christians misinterpret the words of Jesus found in Matthew 23, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!” The erroneous interpretation that these words predict an everlasting curse upon Jews is based on taking these words out of their larger context. The meaning of the phrase about the house being left desolate is clearly spelled out in the next chapter where Jesus speaks about the destruction of the Temple—“not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down” (Matt. 24:2). 

By predicting the destruction of the Temple, Jesus doesn’t pronounce a curse on the Jewish people—most of whom don’t even reside in Jerusalem or in Judea. More so, He acknowledges that His followers will be inside Jerusalem whom He commands to leave town as soon as they see the Roman troops besieging it.

12 13

“Therefore, when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath” (Matt. 24:15-20).

Josephus, a historian of the time, confirms that many Jewish followers of Jesus took heed to His words and left Jerusalem on time to be saved. Thus while Jesus predicts the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, nowhere in the Bible can we find a prophecy telling us God will continue punishing and cursing Jews 1900 years after the events at Calvary. Those Christians who adhere to such views grossly misrepresent God’s character. Instead of a loving, gracious and forgiving Creator, they present a vindictive tyrant.

It is also important to notice that those in the Middle Ages who degraded Jews to the status of second class citizens professed to be Christians and were doing this for the sake of protecting Christendom from the ‘corrupt’ Jewish influence. Those who were killing Jews and raping Jewish women called themselves the soldiers of the cross and carried out their horrific deeds to avenge Jews for killing their God. However, there is no prophecy in the Bible stating that God has ever charged the followers of Christ to be the executors of His retribution upon Jews.

If the early church was Jewish, why aren't there many Jews in the church now?

While it is true that the first Christians were in fact Jewish believers in Jesus and are the ones who brought the Gospel to the Greeks and other people of Roman Empire, Acts 11 tells how Christianity emerged.

So, then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred about Stephen made their way to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus. … And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch (Acts 11:19-20, 26).

The Jewish Christians, who were persecuted in Jerusalem following the stoning of Stephen, left Judea and witnessed to the Jews scattered in the surrounding countries. Instead of Jerusalem, Antioch became the new hub for what historians now call 1st century Judeo-Christianity. 

The fact that the 1st century church was predominantly Jewish could be seen in the story of the conversion of Cornelius, the first Roman known to become a follower of Jesus. Simon-Peter, who came to witness to the Roman centurion in Caesarea, was criticized by his fellow Jewish believers for going in to uncircumcised men and eating with them (Acts 11:3). This shows how the main issue in the 1st century

14 15

who was demanding exacting and punishing. In contrast, the God of the New Testament, the Christian God, was loving, accepting and merciful. 

Since its emergence, Greek philosophy had propagated values ideas and methods contrary to those developed in early Judaism. Influenced by the prophets of Israel, Hebraic mentality relied on revelation from God as the primary source of knowledge and world view. Greek mentality, on the other hand, was founded on human reason and the human desire to comprehend the universe. 

Despite the few problems highlighted in the Gospels, 1st

century Jewish tradition presented the world with a high view of the Divine Law found in the Torah. In contrast, the early church fathers mocked Judaism for its efforts to follow the precepts of the Law. Heavily influenced by Hellenistic philosophy, these Greek and Roman converts saw the revelation and statutes which God gave to Moses as mere allegories. Some of these post-apostolic Christian authors actually ridiculed Moses in their letters for building the sanctuary, arguing that God intended it to be just a symbol. They directed the same ridicule towards literal observance of Sabbath through abstaining from work on the seventh day. Origen labeled this ‘Jewish foolishness’ and argued the absolute absurdity of such endeavors.

By the end of 3rd century, the ordinance of the Eucharist or mass became the substitute for the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper, which Jesus himself followed during the last supper, and which Paul speaks of as the remembrance of the death of Jesus based on the Jewish Passover tradition. Unleavened bread ceased to be a symbol but rather the literal body of Christ, which came to exist through transubstantiation—a quasi-sacrifice performed by the priest on the church altar.

church was how to integrate gentiles into a congregation of Jewish believers in Jesus.

The situation and demographics began to change in the 2nd century after 135 AD, when Rome's Emperor Hadrian crushed the Bar Kokhba rebellion—also known as the Second Judean war. Before that rebellion, Judaism was a legitimate religion of the Roman Empire. Roman law exempted Jews of all sects, including Christians, from worshiping the emperor as god—replacing the obligation with a special tax (see Matthew 22:17-21). Any gentile who became a Christian was considered by Roman authorities to be a convert to Judaism. 

The Romans did not make any distinction between Pharisees, Essenes, Sadducees or Christians. Anyone who worshiped one God was a Jew in the eyes of Roman jurisprudence. After 135 AD, the Romans outlawed Judaism and began a vicious persecution of anyone who professed one God—including Christians.

It was during this period when a number of Christian leaders such as Justin Martyr, Ignatius of Antioch, Origen of Caesarea and others, known today as the Early Church Fathers, began to discuss in their writings the idea of changing the day of worship. All of the above named leaders entered Christianity from a background in philosophy. Before their conversions, they were students or graduates of famous Hellenistic philosophical schools. 

It is obvious and unfortunate that they brought their past baggage into the church, and with it came rejection of the Divine revelation found in the Torah (Law) and the prophets. As a result, Christian tradition began dividing the Holy Scriptures into the Old and New Testaments by the late 2nd century, with the New Testament gaining supreme authority over the Old. The God of the Old Testament was labeled as the Jewish God,

16 17

Thus instead of remaining teachers, church leaders became priests who through the sacrifice of the mass would control peoples’ eternal destiny. 

In the 4th century—when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman empire—Emperor Constantine demanded church leaders make Christians completely cease any celebration of the Jewish Passover. He believed remembering the events of the Exodus from Egypt by Christians maintained their bond to a Jewish identity he personally hated. He believed Christians had to take a new identity and have their own celebration focusing on the resurrection of Jesus, which Constantine likened to a rising sun. 

For the same reason, he liked the idea of making the first day of the week—the Roman day of the Sun-god—the unifying day of worship to replace the Jewish Sabbath. Constantine embraced the idea—put forward by the 2nd century church fathers—of instituting the 8th day as the day of the resurrection to supersede the 7th day Jewish Sabbath—as a way to demonstrate the distinction between Christians and Jews. He considered the institution of the first day the unifying factor for his fragmenting empire. It would bring pagans closer to the Christian faith.

By the mid 4th century, Sabbath observance was officially condemned by the church. The 29th canon of the Council of Laodicea labeled the Christians of Phrygia as Judaizers and decreed that they were supposed to abstain from work on Sunday instead of Sabbath. Many modern Christian and Jewish historians believe these actions of Constantine and the bishops regarding the Sabbath was the last of the chain of events that pushed Jews away from the church. Henceforth, Christian rejection of the Torah prevented most Jews from accepting Jesus as their Messiah.  

Aren’t we supposed to look at Jesus and not at people?

Unfortunately, as early as the 3rd century, the ‘Christian’ church adopted many traditions that grossly misrepresented the Gospel truth and the teaching of Jesus. The list of examples includes:

• Praying to God through icons or statues—forbidden by the second commandment of the Decalogue;

• Believing in the healing power of dead relics and worshiping at the holy sites and shrines—condemned by the Old Testament prophets as acts of idolatry; 

• Treating every church or cathedral as a temple with its own altar and sacrificial ordinance of mass—contrary to the unique status of the sanctuary outlined in the laws of Deuteronomy; 

• Turning churches into a grave site—against the law found in Numbers 19. 

Jews saw all these customs as nothing less than gross idolatry. As a result, Jewish tradition strictly forbade Jews to enter Christian churches, monasteries or cathedrals because these places were so full of relics, images and statues that just being there amounted to participating in idol worship. However, the medieval church presented all these customs as a holy tradition given by Jesus to His disciples and passed down through the generations of priests and bishops. The church unequivocally taught that all the laws of the Old Testament were evil, so Jesus nullified them. In addition despite Paul’s statement about the people of Israel “from whom is the

18 19

Doesn’t Scripture teach about the salvation of the remnant? 

Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever” (Rom. 9:5), the church punished anyone who dared to teach that Jesus was Jewish. 

It is true, looking from the hind side, that some Christians may assert, “Everyone has to be responsible for their own salvation, and if Jews wished to be saved, they had to read the New Testament on their own and not look for excuses and blame the church.” While we are the ones responsible for our choices toward salvation, it is not up to us to determine who will be saved. Our Lord is just, long patient and merciful. He will decide everyone’s eternal salvation.

Consider Christianity’s culpability. Jesus gave His great Gospel commission to the church through His apostles telling them to go around the word and “make disciples of all the nations” (Matt. 28:19). The book of Revelation clearly speaks about the failure of the church in the Middle Ages to adequately carry forth Biblical truth. In chapter 6 of his apocalyptic vision, John describes the church in the Middle Ages with the symbols of red and pale horses that, instead of redemption, bring deceit and destruction. While the Church continued to claim its allegiance to Christ, the one whom they presented as Jesus wasn’t the real Jesus at all. Under the duress of the inquisition and the zealous Christian rulers of Europe, many Jews chose to die rather than accept such a Jesus. 

The theme of a remnant constitutes a vital part of Biblical Theology. The remnant, Hebrew she’ar, are the people who remain faithful to God and follow His way till the end. the prophet Isaiah was one of the first biblical authors to give a systematic presentation of the concept of a remnant. 

Now in that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea,  only a remnant within them will return; a destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness (Isa 10:20-22).

A remnant existed since the very beginning of human history, starting with Noah and his family who listened to God’s warning and found safety in the ark they built according to God's divine instructions. However soon after the flood, only certain descendants from the lineage of Shem, whose genealogy is given in Genesis 10:10-26, chose not to participate in the construction of the tower of Babel.

Terah was the last of that generation of the sons of Shem. He was supposed to go from Ur of the Chaldeas to Canaan, but he chose to stay in Haran and fell away from God. As it is written in the book of Joshua “From ancient times your fathers lived

20 21

of whom took heed to the message of John the Forerunner, son of the priest Zachariah. Many disciples of John the Baptist eagerly waited for the Messiah of Israel and became close followers Jesus. Such was Nathaniel whom Jesus himself called “an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit” (John 1:46). 

Even though Jesus was rejected by the High Priests (Sadducees) and by most of the leading Pharisees, during His earthly ministry there wasn't a single disciple who wasn't a Jew. The 3,000 baptized in the day of Pentecost and the 5,000 baptized by John and Peter at the temple were the remnant of Judah and Israel. They were the founders of the movement of Jesus’ followers who were later called Christians. It was this remnant of Israel into which gentiles were grafted, replacing some natural branches which were broken off.

“If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you” (Rom. 11:17-18). 

beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods” (Jos 24:2). Only Abraham and his servants, who chose to follow divine leading, left their families for the land promised by God. 

Throughout the entire history of the descendants of Abraham, the remnant played vital role. Out of eight sons born to Abraham, only Isaac followed in the footsteps of his father. The same happened in the case of Jacob and Esau. Out of Jacob the 12 tribes of Israel were formed, and they received the Promised Land. A few centuries later most Israelites who belonged to the 9 tribes from the north split off from the kingdom of Solomon and fell into idolatry. Nevertheless, God tells the prophet Elijah that he wasn’t alone faithful in Israel, “Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him” (I Kings 19:18). 

Because of their idolatry ten tribes in the north—Israel—were taken into Assyrian captivity and eventually “none was left except the tribe of Judah” (2 Kings 17:18). However, the remnant of Israel and Judah persevered not only throughout the Old Testament times but also into the New Testament period. Isaiah predicted that a battered remnant of Israel would meet their Messiah and Savior. “On that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel” (Isa. 4:2).

Anna, the prophetess and daughter of Phanuel who greeted the infant Jesus at His circumcision in the Temple, was from the tribe of Asher. Asher was one of the tribes taken into Assyrian captivity, yet a remnant who had not bowed to Baal came as refugees to Jerusalem and lived there. The remnant of Israel was present among the Jews who lived in Galilee—many

Wasn’t there a remnant of faithful Christians during all these years of the apostasy?

Despite the multiple apostasies that took place after the New Testament period, throughout the entire history of Christendom there were always faithful Bible believers who

22 23

Seventh-day Adventists are the largest representative of the family of modern-day Christians who are called the saints of God in the book of Revelation 14:12 because they “keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.” Therefore, it is incumbent upon Seventh-day Adventists to be the light to different Sabbath-keeping Christian groups by presenting to them the uniqueness of the Three Angels’ Messages in the context of Christs’ present ministry in the heavenly Sanctuary and the historicist’s interpretation of apocalyptic prophecies. This important Biblical perspective represents a hallmark of Adventist beliefs that must be shared, especially with those who fit the Scriptural definition of the Christian remnant.

sincerely sought God’s will and followed it. Many of them died for their faith from the hands of their fellow Christians just because they wished to be faithful to Scripture.

These are the few examples of the those who represent the faithful Christian remnant:

• The Christians of Ireland and the British islands, who did not wish to recognize the pope as the supreme pontiff of the church;

• John Wycliffe and his followers, who attempted to translate the Bible into vernacular English and were persecuted for their desire to read and understand the Scriptures;

• Jan Huss, who boldly questioned the authority of the church’s priesthood to be mediators between man and God;

• The Moravian brethren, who in spite of Luther’s anti-Semitic ridicules discovered and then observed the Biblical Sabbath;

• The Anabaptists, who were murdered by Ulrich Zwingli for their stance against infant baptism and the church’s involvement in wars;

• The British Nonconformists, who refused to obey the Act of Uniformity enacted by Parliament;

• The Waldenses, who copied the New Testament in both its native language and in the local vernacular with deep concern for accuracy, and risked their lives to preserve scripture-based Christianity in Italy and France.

At their emergence Seventh-day Adventists made their best efforts to absorb the best traits of the different remnant movements and to keep faithful to the Word of God.

Was there ever a remnant of Jewish people?

While the concept of the Christian Remnant is well known in Christian circles, many Christians are oblivious regarding the existence of Jewish people who sincerely sought the Lord and followed Him. Because of the misrepresentation of the true character of Christ by the Church, many sincere Jews who lived in the Middle Ages did not have the opportunity to see who Jesus really was and accept Him as their Messiah. Nevertheless, they followed God to the best of their knowledge, not wishing to compromise their beliefs in the divine Law presented in the Torah (Five Books of Moses).

During the Age of Enlightenment, which began in Europe in the 18th century, the Jews of Western Europe gradually began to receive equal rights, and they became loyal citizens of their respected countries. They were allowed to come out of the

24 25

them (Matthew 5:17). They need to see Jesus as their Rabbi, Messiah and the Lord. There is still a remnant among the Jewish people whom God is seeking out to save.

ghettos and took advantage of the new privilege of gaining a university education. For some of them, these circumstances opened the opportunity to consider the Gospels and discover more about Jesus. Of those who decided to explore the New Testament, many accepted Him as their Savior and became members of different Christian denominations.

In the early 20th century, these Jews decided to call themselves Hebrew Christians, formed separate congregations and later adopted the designation Messianic Jews. Initially, these congregations adhered to traditional Protestant theology and rarely followed God’s commandments. However in the last 50 years, this began to change. 

During the 60s at the height of hippy movement, many young American Jews broke away from the Orthodox traditions their families held for generations and began to explore new opportunities. Some of them found Jesus, accepted Him and joined Messianic congregations. These trends also impacted gentile Christians, who in big numbers began to abandon their Sunday-keeping churches and join Messianic congregations. Today many Messianic Jews observe Sabbath, respect the divine laws found in the Torah and at the same time believe in Jesus at their Lord. Thus, they too fit under the definition of the remnant found in Revelation 14:12. These Jewish believers definitely need to be blessed through hearing the Three Angels’ Message in its fullness.

On the other hand besides Messianic Jews who already believe in Jesus, there are many who sincerely seek the truth. Some of them are knowledgeable in the Torah, and as sincere believers in God need to see the real Jesus. Jesus, the son of God—born of a Jewish mother, raised Jewish and who remained a Jew all His life. They need to know the Jesus who did not abolish the principles of the Torah but fulfilled

How can the remnant help the remnant?

It is vitally important at the conclusion of the proclamation of the Gospel for the two remnants to begin talking to each other and learning from each other. This is the only way the remnant can carry out its mission to the remnant. Unlike the mission to the farthest corners of the earth, which Christians are used to fulfilling by bringing the word of God and the Gospels to those who did not know it before, our mission to the Jews is different. We are going to those people from whom our Lord Jesus was born. We are going to those people whom God commissioned to preserve the Law of God and His divine oracles. Without the Jews successfully accomplishing this divine commission, the Christian remnant would not have survived. 

We are also going to the people who were at the very start of the movement, which was called Christian. Therefore, the mission of the remnant to the remnant cannot be accomplished without true reexamination of our Christian beliefs, spiritual reformation and a return to the original sources. The Christian remnant must retain the values held by the 1st century Judeo-Christians, who learned the truth from Jesus and His apostles. Judeo-Christianity had the best of both worlds by holding on to the commandments of God and having the saving faith of Jesus. 

26 27

Christians who strive to keep the commandments of God can and should benefit from this experience and use it in building modern ethical principles. There is much wisdom in Judaism for living in harmony with God’s principles in our everyday lives and walk with God. 

Judaism preserved Scripture and the languages of the Scripture—Hebrew and Aramaic. This remains invaluable for the study of the Bible. In addition, ancient Judaism and its history provides remnant Christians with important knowledge of Jewish life in the times of Jesus. This, in turn, helps us better understand who He really was and what He taught. 

Our congregation, Beit Shalom Balevav, strives to synthesize both of these concepts. We work on bringing the hope of the second coming and the light of the Torah to Jews and to Christians through the process of mutual learning and the exchange of essential views. 

The perspective of HEREAFTER, the hallmark of Adventism, and the perspective of HERE NOW, which is the hallmark of Judaism, are both important perspectives. The first brings hope for the future, while the second helps us to live today. Come and learn with us.

There is much both remnants can and must learn from each other. 

The true Christian remnant yearns for the soon coming of Jesus. It possesses a unique knowledge and an understanding of the prophecies, which explain the world and the time we live in today. These prophecies present an important perspective on God’s plan of salvation, which is to be completed through the ministry of Jesus as the High Priest of the heavenly sanctuary. 

The true Christian remnant also teaches a unique biblical view on anthropology (the nature of man) and soteriology (salvation), which places the bodily resurrection at the second coming of Jesus at the pinnacle of the divine plan for saving the human race from the consequences of the fall. 

Scripture clearly teaches that our Lord created us holistic human beings, living souls inseparable from the body and the spirit—God’s given breath of life. Therefore, the full victory over death that was caused by sin can be achieved only through resurrection. It is only then that our Creator will restore us to His image and will give us a new earth where we will enjoy life with Him for eternity. 

Neither mainstream Christianity not Judaism has a consistent, holistic biblical perspective that provides assurance for our future. This is the heart and the essence of the Three Angels’ Message, which Seventh-day Adventists are commissioned by God to bring to the world. 

On the other hand through the many centuries of its existence, Judaism developed a unique knowledge and experience in the application of God’s divine Law. Remnant

Alexander “Sasha” Bolotnikov is the Director of the Shalom Learning Center (NAD Jewish Ministry Training), as well as a pastor in the Oregon Conference. Raised in Communist Russia as an atheist, he discovered

his Jewish roots when he was passed over for advanced educational opportunities. He responded by immersing himself within Jewish culture and became a powerful opponent to the Christian teaching of Jesus as Messiah.

Meeting a Seventh-day Adventist in university brought him into a connection with the real Jesus. His heart was won. He served as a professor at Zaoksky University in Tula Oblast, Russia, and assisted with the most recent rendering of the scriptures into Russian. He went on to earn his MA in Biblical and Middle Eastern Languages from Andrews University, and then earned a Ph.D. from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, OH, in Rabbinic Literature and the History of Biblical Interpretation.

Dr. Bolotnikov remains actively involved in creating educational opportunities through curriculum development, seminars and videos in both English and Russian.

BJewishSDA.com