The Remnant in Isaiah
A
Scriptural Introduction
To
introduce the topic of the Remnant, I want to share with you from Isaiah. But
before we dive into that, let me paint with a broad brush. God has always
preserved the Remnant that is devoted to Him. God preserved Noah, a preacher of
Righteousness. He preserved David, a blameless man with a price on his head. He
protected and used Joseph, Daniel, Ester, Nehemiah, Josiah, Hezekiah, Peter,
James, John, Luke, and Paul as well as, many others.
Rarely do
the masses serve the Lord. For example, only Joshua and Caleb walked purely
before the Lord and entered the Promise Land. Probably close to 2 million
others, including Moses were not so fortunate. Throughout history, were the
Martin Luther’s, Pilgrim’s, and Puritan’s who stood for what was right and were
preserved by God despite the incredible odds and numbers of people that wanted
them dead.
Today is
not different. As I wrote in Hope for When the Storm Hits, this country is headed for trouble unless a
miracle happens and we need to prepare wisely—a
prudent man foresees trouble and takes refuge (Proverbs 27:12). Yet, God
is the one who will take care of those who are devoted to Him (Philippians
4:19, Matthew 6). We need to realize that America has is at the point of having
a small, faithful Remnant. The odds may against us but the season is ripe for
God to do some amazing things in terms of providing for and preserving His
remnant. Few leaders in this nation are standing for what is right, anarchy is
on the doorstep, the bulk of the American Church seems to have walked down the
road of another gospel: one of numbers and programs—yet there are small,
dedicated communities of Believers. There are little groups of faithful
Believers, faithful families, and faithful pastors who are putting God first
and focusing their eyes on Him and standing for what is right amidst the
turmoil. I believe God has called me to this nation—so as I look at American
I’ve been asking questions about what that means for my family and ministry in
the days ahead, specifically about discipling young men and concern for the condition
of the Church of Jesus Christ here, so I don’t think I’ll be leaving, but the
reality is challenging days are likely ahead—you have to be next to blind not
to see that.
As Isaiah
prophesies in his book of the Bible, God’s warning judgments have already
started—sounding the alarm to run back to Him! Through feminism, women are
ruling over many in this country. I’m not against women, but it is a sign of
God’s judgment when there aren’t men leading their families, businesses, or
politics anymore. Apostasy is rising—large numbers have fallen away from the
faith. The statistics are showing that the number of Christian teens and twenty
something’s that are staying true to the Faith are now in the single digits.
Idolatry is everywhere—compromises have been made by the people of God. Women
are bald (I think this may be a sign of cancer) all across the land. Mass
sickness in a nation, is a sign of the judgment of God. In Deuteronomy 28, God
promised that if the people served the Lord that He would heal them and there
would not even be miscarriages. I am not saying that cancer or miscarriages are
all a direct result of sin, but Scripture does clearly point out that they are
signs of the judgment of God upon a nation. Children are being murdered all
across our land through abortion. Young men are considered worthless by most of
our society—they aren’t productive, they typically do not have any drive or
purpose and most are not seeking the Lord and obeying the Word. These are just
a few of what Isaiah mentions:
As
you read these bits of Isaiah, think about how appropriately they describe the
United States, a nation that was founded on a covenant with God.
Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of
evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of
Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. 5 Why
should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is
sick, and the whole heart faint. 6 From
the sole of the foot even unto the head there
is no soundness in it; but
wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither
bound up, neither mollified with ointment. 7 Your
country is desolate, your
cities are burned with fire:
your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. 8 And
the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden
of cucumbers, as a besieged city. 9 Except
the Lord of hosts had left unto us
a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
Isaiah 1:4-9 (KJV)
Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings
from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; 17 Learn
to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead
for the widow. 18 Come now, and let us reason
together, saith the Lord: though
your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red
like crimson, they shall be as wool. 19 If
ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 20 But
if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of
the Lord hath spoken it.
Isaiah 1:16-20 (KJV)
Thy princes are
rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth
after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the
widow come unto them.
Isaiah 1:23 (KJV)
Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with
righteousness. 28 And the destruction of the
transgressors and of the sinners shall
be together, and they that forsake the Lord
shall be consumed.
Isaiah 1:27-28 (KJV)
O house of Jacob,
come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.
6 Therefore thou
hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from
the east, and are soothsayers
like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers. 7 Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures;
their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots: 8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the
work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made
Isaiah 2:5-8 (KJV)
And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. 5 And the people shall be oppressed, every
one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the
base against the honourable.
Isaiah 3:4-5 (KJV), emphasis added
For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their
tongue and their doings are
against the Lord, to provoke the
eyes of his glory.
Isaiah 3:8 (KJV)
The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and
they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto
themselves. 10 Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit
of their doings. 11 Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands
shall be given him.
Isaiah 3:9-11 (KJV)
As
for
my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they
which lead thee cause thee to
err, and destroy the way of thy paths.
Isaiah 3:12 (KJV), emphasis added
Moreover the Lord
saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth
necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet: 17 Therefore
the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion,
and the Lord will discover their
secret parts. 18 In that day the Lord will take
away the bravery of their
tinkling ornaments about their feet,
and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, 19 The
chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, 20 The
bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and
the earrings, 21 The rings, and nose jewels, 22 The
changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping
pins, 23 The glasses, and the fine
linen, and the hoods, and the vails. 24 And
it shall come to pass, that
instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent;
and instead of well set hair baldness;
and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty. 25 Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy
mighty in the war. 26 And her gates shall lament and
mourn; and she being desolate
shall sit upon the ground.
Isaiah 3:16-26 (KJV), emphasis added
For the vineyard of the Lord
of hosts is the house of
Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment,
but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.
Isaiah 5:7 (KJV)
many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant
Isaiah 5:9 (KJV)
Then said I, Woe is
me! for I am undone; because I am
a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips:
for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord
of hosts.
Isaiah 6:5 (KJV)
And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but
understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10 Make
the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with
their heart, and convert, and be healed. 11 Then
said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without
inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, 12 And
the Lord have removed men far
away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.
13 But yet in it shall
be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak,
whose substance is in them,
when they cast their leaves: so
the holy seed shall be the
substance thereof.
Isaiah 6:9-13 (KJV), emphasis added
Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that
go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son; 7 Now
therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river,
strong and many, even the king
of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and
go over all his banks
Isaiah 8:6-7 (KJV)
Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear
ye their fear, nor be afraid. 13 Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let
him be your dread.
Isaiah 8:12-13 (KJV)
And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken,
and be snared, and be taken.
Isaiah 8:15 (KJV)
Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are
for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord
of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.
Isaiah 8:18 (KJV)
The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. 16 For
the leaders of this people cause them
to err; and they that are led
of them are destroyed. 17 Therefore
the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on
their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly.
For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 18 For
wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and
shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.
Isaiah 9:15-18 (KJV)
The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. 22 For
though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed
shall overflow with righteousness.
Isaiah 10:21-22 (KJV)
Behold, the day of the Lord
cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and
he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. 10 For
the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light:
the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her
light to shine. 11 And I will punish the world
for their evil, and the wicked
for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and
will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
Isaiah 13:9-11 (KJV)
Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their
eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.
Isaiah 13:16 (KJV), note: ravished means raped
And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as
with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress;
as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the
borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.
Isaiah 24:2 (KJV)
The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof;
because they have transgressed the laws, changed
the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore
hath the curse devoured the earth
Isaiah 24:5-6 (KJV), emphasis added
O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will
praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and
truth. 2 For thou hast made of a city
an heap; of a defenced city a
ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built. 3 Therefore
shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall
fear thee. 4 For thou hast been a strength
to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm,
a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. 5 Thou
shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a
cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.
Isaiah 25:1-5 (KJV)
Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth
the truth may enter in. 3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee:
because he trusteth in thee. 4 Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:
Isaiah 26:2-4 (KJV)
they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink
are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink,
they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink;
they err in vision, they stumble in
judgment.
Isaiah 28:7 (KJV)
For precept must be
upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a
little, and there a little
Isaiah 28:10 (KJV)
Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their
lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear
toward me is taught by the precept of men
Isaiah 29:13 (KJV)
Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me;
and that cover with a covering, but not
of my spirit, that they may add sin
to sin
Isaiah 30:1 (KJV), emphasis
Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a
book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever: 9 That
this is a rebellious people,
lying children, children that
will not hear the law of the Lord:
10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets,
Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy
deceits
Isaiah 30:8-10 (KJV)
And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye
turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
Isaiah 30:21 (KJV)
Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the
wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.
16 Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and
righteousness remain in the fruitful field. 17 And
the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness
quietness and assurance for ever. 18 And
my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in
quiet resting places
Isaiah 32:15-18 (KJV)
For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord
is our king; he will save us.
Isaiah 33:22 (KJV)
Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is
hid from the Lord, and my judgment
is passed over from my God? 28 Hast thou not known? hast thou
not heard, that the everlasting
God, the Lord, the Creator of the
ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. 29 He
giveth power to the faint; and to them
that have no might he increaseth strength. 30 Even
the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles;
they shall run, and not be weary; and
they shall walk, and not faint.
Isaiah 40:27-31 (KJV), emphasis added
He (Christ) shall bring forth judgment unto truth. 4 He
shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and
the isles shall wait for his law.
Isaiah 42:3-4 (KJV), parenthesis added
And the Lord
shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy
bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water,
whose waters fail not.
Isaiah 58:11 (KJV)
Behold, the Lord's
hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it
cannot hear
Isaiah 59:1 (KJV)
But your iniquities have separated between you and your God,
and your sins have hid his face
from you, that he will not hear. 3 For
your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips
have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. 4 None
calleth for justice, nor any
pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive
mischief, and bring forth iniquity.
Isaiah 59:2-4 (KJV)
For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our
sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for
our iniquities, we know them; 13 In transgressing and lying
against the Lord, and departing
away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from
the heart words of falsehood.
Isaiah 59:12-13 (KJV)
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the Lord
hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind
up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of
the prison to them that are
bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord, and the day of
vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; 3 To
appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the
oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.
Isaiah 61:1-3 (KJV)
For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery
Isaiah 61:8 (NKJV)
as the
bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so
shall thy God rejoice over thee.
Isaiah 62:5 (KJV)
I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace
day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord,
keep not silence
Isaiah 62:6 (KJV)
But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he
was turned to be their enemy
Isaiah 63:10 (KJV)
As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest: so didst thou
lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name.
Isaiah 63:14 (KJV)
May we seek
the Lord in the challenging days ahead. May we place our trust in Almighty God.
God will provide for His people. And He will preserve His remnant, but it
doesn’t mean that it will be easy—Daniel, Shadrack, Meshach, Abednego, and
probably Nehemiah were Eunuchs. Joseph was a slave. Esther was stolen from her
family for a pagan king searching for a beautiful replacement-queen.
I still
hope and pray for revival, but there is also that fact that Americans are
typically very cold and hardhearted to the Gospel message and have been
rejecting God pretty much as a nation since around World War II. Historically
and Biblically speaking in terms of how long God typically gave nations to
repent (drop what they were doing, forsake it, and come to Him), we’re getting
very close if not already past the deadline.
