Identifying marks of the remnant church
Revelation 12 gives two identifying marks of this remnant church: (1) they keep the commandments of God, and (2) they have the testimony of Jesus. GP 41.3
1. The commandments of God. Whatever commandments we may want to include in this first mark, we must certainly include the Ten Commandments. Thus, the first identifying sign of the remnant church is their loyalty to God’s moral law—the Ten Commandments. In other words, the remnant church obeys all of God’s ten commandments, including the fourth, the Sabbath commandment. Thus, in Revelation 12:17, God says in effect, “At the end of time I will have a church—the remnant church—that will be recognized by the fact that the members keep the commandments as I have given them in the beginning, including the Sabbath commandment.” In the time of the apostles, this wouldn’t have been a special sign because all the followers of Christ kept the Sabbath. But today, when most Christians keep Sunday, the Sabbath has indeed become a distinguishing mark.GP 41.4
2. The testimony of Jesus. The second identifying mark is the “testimony of Jesus” (Gr. marturia Iesou ). This expression occurs six times in the book of Revelation (1:2, 9; 12:17; 19:10 [twice]; 20:4). What does it mean? Two grammatically possible interpretations have been proposed. The first view understands “the testimony of Jesus” as a human testimony, or witness, to Christ. From this perspective, the war mentioned in Revelation 12:17 refers to the “persecutions against all individuals of the church who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus.” The second view understands “the testimony of Jesus” as the self-revelation of Jesus—His own testimony. GP 41.5
Marturia, the Greek word translated “testimony” in Revelation 12:17, occurs twenty-one times in the writings of John. Fourteen times it appears in a grammatical construction (subjective genitive) that expresses the idea that the testimony is the testimony given by the person referred to, not a testimony about that person. (See, for example, John 1:19; 3:11, 32, 33; 5:31.) In his writings, John consistently expressed the idea of a testimony or witness about somebody by using the preposition peri (“about, concerning”) with the verb martureo (“to witness, testify”). For example, John 1:7, “To bear witness of the light” [martureo plus peri ]; 5:31, ” ‘If I bear witness of Myself’ ” [martureo plus peri]; 1 John 5:9, “he has borne witness to his Son” (RSV) [martureo plus peri ]. GP 42.1
John’s first two usages of the expression “testimony of Jesus” in Revelation harmonize with this observation and set the pattern for later usages in the book. In Revelation 1:1, 2, the introduction to the book of Revelation, John sets forth the source—God, and the content of the book—the revelation of Jesus Christ. Verse 2 tells us that John bore witness to “the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ.”GP 42.2
“The word of God” is commonly understood to refer to what God says. Consequently, “the testimony of Jesus,” which stands in parallel to “the word of God,” must mean the testimony that Jesus gives. How did Jesus testify? While here on earth, He testified in person to the people in Palestine. After His ascension, He spoke through His prophets.GP 42.3
In Revelation 1:9, John introduces himself and states his credentials. He says he is on the Isle of Patmos “for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Again, the parallelism between the “word of God” and “the testimony of Jesus” is clear. In John’s time “the word of God” meant the Old Testament, and the “testimony of Jesus” meant what Jesus had said in the Gospels and through His prophets, such as Peter and Paul. The “word of God” and the “testimony of Jesus” describe the content of the preaching of John for which he was banished. In Revelation 19:10, John explains that ” ‘the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’ ”GP 42.4