The remnant shall return
“A remnant shall turn”
(Isaiah 10:21):--Thus shall be fulfilled the prophecy embodied in the name of Isaiah’s son, Shear-jashub.
(Prof. J. Skinner, D. D.)
A happy conversion
Consider--
I. WHAT IS SAID OF THEIR FORMER ERROR. When it is said that they “shall no more stay upon him that smote them,” it surely implies that they had done this before: this was their error.
1. They had exercised an improper dependence.
2. Their dependence had been disappointed.
3. Their folly was to be corrected by their Sovereign.
II. WHAT IS SAID OF THEIR RENEWED EXPERIENCE. “Shall stay upon the Lord,” etc.
1. It is an enlightened confidence. It is foolish to trust without inquiry, and to refuse to trust the trustworthy.
2. Their confidence is very extensive. It covers all times; all events that can awaken our anxiety; all that appertains to life and godliness, etc.
3. It is a blessed confidence.
III. THE REALITY OF THEIR CHANGE. “In truth.” That is the important thing. This confidence is distinguishable--
1. From mere pretensions.
2. From imaginary confidence. (W. Jay.)
Adversity may reach the hard heart
The four seasons once determined to try which could quickest reach the heart of a stone. Spring coaxed the stone with its gentle breezes, and made flowers encircle it, and trees to shoot out their branches and embower it, but all to no purpose. The stone remained indifferent to the beauties of the spring, nor would it yield its heart to its gentle caresses. Summer came next, and caused the sun to shine on the stone, hoping to melt its obdurate heart; but though the surface of the stone grew warm it quickly became cold again when not under the influence of the summer sun’s rays. Summer thus being unable by any degree of warmth to penetrate the flinty nature of the stone, gave place to autumn. Believing that the stone had been treated with too much kindness, the autumn withered the flowers and stripped the trees of their leaves and threatened and blustered; but still the stone remained impassive. Winter came next. First it sent strong winds which laid the stone bare; then it sent a cold rain, and next a sharp frost, which cleaved the stone and laid hare its heart. So many a heart which neither gentleness, warmth, nor threats can touch is reached by adversity. (Nye’s Anecdote.)
God’s two-fold work on Judah
The prophet had said (Isaiah 10:12), that “the Lord would perform His whole work upon Mount Zion and upon Jerusalem,” by Sennacherib’s invading the land. Now here we are told what that work should be, a two-fold work--
I. THE CONVERSION OF SOME, to whom this providence should be sanctified, and yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness, though for the present it was not joyous but grievous. This remnant of Israel is said to be such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, such as escaped the corruptions of the house of Jacob, and kept their integrity in times of common apostasy. Therefore they escape the desolations of that house.
1. This remnant shall come off from all confidence in an arm of flesh; this providence shall cure them of that; they “shall no more again stay upon him that smote them.” “Sufferings teach caution.” They have learned, by dear-bought experience, the folly of leaning upon that staff as a stay to them which my perhaps prove a staff to beat them (Hosea 14:3).
2. They shall come home to God, to the Mighty God, one of the names given to the Messiah (Isaiah 9:6), to the Holy One of Israel. They shall return to God and shall stay upon Him. Those only may with comfort stay upon God that return to Him.
II. THE CONSUMPTION OF OTHERS. They shall be wasted away by this general decay in the midst of the land. Observe--
1. It is a consumption of God’s own making.
2. It is decreed, not the product of a sudden resolve. It is particularly appointed how far it shall extend, how long it shall continue, who shall be consumed by it and who not.
3. It is an overflowing consumption, that shall overspread the land, and like a mighty torrent or inundation, bear down all before it.
4. Though it overflows, it is not at random, but in righteousness. (Matthew Henry.)
The remnants of society
Did you ever ponder the disintegrations that are going on in human society? The number of those who fall out of the ranks of society is infinitely greater than the number of those who ever fell out of any army that was gathered on the field of battle. We usually take statistics of the prosperous men in society. But who stands to take an accurate account of all the weak? Who cares for the remnants of society? God does. Let us look at some of these remnants.
1. Those who are broken in health, and are utterly turned away, by that reason, from all that they sought. They count as ciphers. The only thing they seem to be good for is to serve as memorials of a mother’s patience, of a sister’s goodness, or of a wife’s fidelity. How many men are like a man-of-war, that is staunchly built of the best material, but that on its first voyage is so handled by the winds and waves that it becomes unmanageable, and makes haste to come to port again, and anchors at the navy yard, and is an old receiving hulk for the rest of its days!
2. Then, how many remnants there are in society on account of the misapplication of their powers and their utter failure therefrom. How many second and third-rate men there are who undertake to perform functions which require the exercise of the faculties in their best estate.
3. Then there are remnants from the overtaxing of men who are adapted to their work, but have not the endurance which their circumstances require. There are some men who, when they break down, are like those who ride in low waggons, and who if the waggon breaks do not fall far, but can get up and mend it, and go on; but there are other men who when they break down are like those who cross a dark chasm on a high bridge, and who, if the bridge break, fall a great distance into the stream below, and have no power to get backs, and repair the damage and proceed on their journey.
4. A great many more persons break down from a secret mismanagement of themselves. I see men who use more wind to waft a cookie boat across a pond than would be required to carry a man-of-war across the sea.
5. Besides these, who are perpetually breaking down and falling in the rear, are those who violate the laws of society; who are detected, and convicted, and branded with shame. I think the most piteous thing in the world is to see a man, no worse than we are, who, under the influence of company, or through temptation, has committed s great wrong, and has been branded by society. His life is not worth anything after that. For the laws of society are like the laws of a fort, which when a man is inside defend him against all attack, but which when he is outside open all the artillery of the fort upon him if he attempts to get back. Many men have a conscience under a prison jacket. God judges with the justice of love, and not with the injustice of hatred. To all those who are cast down and suffering, I say, There is a God that is sorry for you. Beware, then, of desperation. If you have failed for this life, do not fail for the other too. There is very much that my yet be done, even in the afternoon and twilight of men’s lives, if they are hopeful and active. (H. W. Beecher.)
Remnants
Think a moment of what is meant by “a remnant.” It does not mean simply a few; neither does it mean merely the last things; though it includes both of these ideas. When one has cut out a garment from a web of cloth there is a selvedge, there ate the side pieces, of curious shapes, and there is at last the tail piece--a little hit left. The main and best parts have been taken out and used. Although they are of as good substance as the rest, there are these edges, the intermediate bits, and the final remaining part; and all these are called “the remnants.” They are not exactly waste, but they are parts that are left over after the good has been principally taken out. Out of no carpenter’s shop does the timber ever come as large as it went in. The chips, the shavings, the slabs, the edges, the intermediate pieces--they are the remnants of the carpenter’s work--the parts which have not been used up for commercial objects. Look in upon a household after all the children have been fed, after all the servants have eaten, and the table is cleared off, and see what is left. See the hones; the gristle; the scraps of meat that are stringy and not easily chewed; the bits of potato; the pieces of confection; the heap of fragments. These are the remnants of the meals. Look at the remnant in the harvest--all those stray stalks of wheat in the blackberry edges of the uncomely farm; all those that have fallen by the way; the gleanings; the refuse of the field. So, in all the phases of society--in the army, in the navy, in business circles, in the household, everywhere--there is a remnant constantly coming up. It is the portion which is left after the better or more favoured has been culled out and used. (H. W. Beecher.)
Society’s treatment of the weak
Who thinks of the poor and fallen? Society! The most bungling work society ever does in this world, it does when it attempts to be merciful Society is a machine, at best of patches and expedients. When men fall out of their places, and need to be tenderly dealt with, then the hands of society are clumsier to deal with than a lout’s, a yeoman’s hand, in the field, is clumsy to take care of the newborn babe. (H. W.Beecher.)