Though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea. — The word “remnant” has, however, its aspect of severity as well as of promise. Men are not to expect that they, the hypocrites and evil-doers, shall escape their punishment. The promise of restoration is for the remnant only. (Comp. St. Paul’s application of the text in Romans 9:27-28).
The consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness. — Literally, a finished (or final) work, decisive, overflowing with righteousness. A like phrase meets us again in Isaiah 28:22; Daniel 9:27. The “finished work” is that of God’s judgment, and it “overflows with righteousness” at once punitive and corrective.