The Remnant, book ten of the Left Behind Series, begins with a miracle reminiscent of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's story as the million believers gathered at Petra come through a bombing unscathed. Actually, a few among their number are not yet believers but have not taken the mark of the beast. Many accept Christ after they are miraculously saved from the fire.Tsion, Rayford, and Chaim become the leaders of the largest group of the faithful left on earth. This poses its own problems since each man has only been saved a few years. They pool their collected wisdom to come alongside Tsion as he teaches the remnant all he can about God. I love how beloved teacher Tsion--in the midst of the worst time the world has ever experienced--focuses on God's mercy. He says, "I will let God's justice and judgment and wrath speak for themselves, and I will spend the rest of my time here championing His mercy."Continuing in this episode, the three main characters, Rayford, Buck, and Chloe, are in three different locations for most of the story. They struggle with worrying over and missing each other. In a harrowing development, Chloe and Kenny's safe house in Chicago is endangered. By the end of the story, that city has been bombed off the face of the map by Carpathia's forces.The Remnant also follows the ordeals of several believers in key locations (Chang, David, etc.) as they do their part to fight the Antichrist. Some survive, and, sadly, some do not. Though they are small cogs in the giant flywheel as far as the world is concerned, their deaths are precious in the sight of their fellow Tribulation Saints.By this point in the timeline, I found myself comparing this series to other books and movies. I would say these books have the espionage and technical complexity of a Bourne movie combined with the sweeping scope of a worldwide good vs. evil saga like The Lord of the Rings. I commend the authors for their attempt to capture the majesty and awesomeness of this future time.I reviewed this book as part of the Tyndale Summer Reading Program, which I love!
In general I have been enjoying this series, but this one seemed kind of like the authors just threw it together. In many of the other books, the time was drawn out (perhaps too much in some places), and one book might cover a few days or a few months. This one spans several years and tends to abruptly jump around in time. Every few chapters, you get an update: "Four years into the tribulation..." "Five years into the tribulation..." "Six months later..." and so on.What I like about the Left Behind series is that it makes the book of Revelation easier to understand. I tried reading it, but much of it went in one side of my brain and out the other, mostly because I couldn't make an logical connection between the symbolism and the impact on the earth. Left Behind, even if it isn't the best interpretation of Scripture (and I know it's not), makes it easier to understand. I also somewhat admire the way the authors are able to portray the Antichrist. I wouldn't be able to come up with someone so evil as Nicolae Carpathia. They clearly put a lot of thought behind his character.
What do You think about The Remnant (2003)?
Another nail-biter. It moved me to tears how many times God's people were miraculous saved, through fire, through the earth opening up and swallowing their enemies, through angels, etc. As one whose past continues to come back to haunt me, I was greatly comforted when an angel in the book said to a believer in the middle of the enemy (who were frozen like by a pause button and could not hear or see the incident) "Do not fear, dear sister...God is with you... Be encouraged. Be of Good cheer. Your Father in heaven looks upon you with pleasure, and you will not see death before his Son returns again." (pp. 295-296) And the believer "felt a glow as if she were flushed from head to toe. A warmth rode through her that enlivened her, gave her strength and courage...." I think I felt the same way in reading this. Feeling hope and peace. Looking forward to His Glorious Appearing!
—Heidi
Evident that God provides for his people sparing them from the suffering of the unbelievers, Tsion's encouraging voice can be heard throughout causing rejoicing among the believers. Carpathia and his evil constituants were not pleased when their efforts to destroy the gathered believers at Petra failed. Carpathia calls Leon to appoint others to perform great stunts in an effort to further bring more devotees to worship his image. He steps up his tortuous punishment regime for the Jewish people insisting that they will submit to the mark of the beast.This book in the series had alot of action and drama but I found it fell short by not holding my attention through the middle sections. The beginning and ending are superb however. This series is very thought provoking and has challenged my faith and I would highly recommend them to others as I have throughly enjoyed them so far.
—Kate
This was a very interesting book. It really grabbed and held my attention! I kept looking for spare moments to pick it up to see what was going to happen next. It is filled with action and suspense. It embraced joy and astonishment at the power of God. It made me feel the awe! It was very realistic, and seemed quite close to Revelations. It is filled with countless surprises, and never failed to keep me guessing and wanting more. It's very clean, though there was some violence. There were a couple parts that I skimmed because it was getting a little too graphic for me. Still, I wouldn't say that the death scenes were dark. They had more of a tone of victory mixed with some timidness, rejoicing mingled with a little fear, longingness for home intertwined with shyness toward the unknown, yet the Christians lived and died in a wonderful hope! No, this book was not dark, it was filled with the light of LIFE and the joy in serving Jesus! I thought this was a very good and enjoyable end times novel, and I hope to be able to read the rest of the series very soon!
—Mackenzie Dare
