Isa 1:7-9 Except The Lord Had Left Us A Very Small Remnant…

Isa 1:7 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.
Isa 1:8 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.
Isa 1:9 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.

Introduction

Remember these are words which are addressed to you and to me. These words are addressed to “Judah and Jerusalem”:

Isa 1:1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Once again there is no mention of any righteousness in Judah and Jerusalem. In time we will be told how righteous we think we are, as we do many wonderful works. But even our good works are from an evil self-aggrandizing, self-righteous spirit during this part of our experience.

Isa 57:12 I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not profit thee.

There is no reason to rejoice in reading these verses, unless we know that everything that happens is being done for this reason:

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.

Since this experience is given to the sons of humanity by God, and since it is for the purpose of humbling the self righteous beast we all come to be this next verse is also true:

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

While these are words which “shall never pass away” (Mat 24:35), and will therefore have an application to “every man… each in his own order” (1Co 15:23), at this time they have a special application to God’s elect, as the apostle Paul makes clear in the next few verses:

Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Rom 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.

All things work together for good to them that love God and keep His commandments, to them who are the called according to His purpose, according to which ‘purpose He is working all things (Eph 1:11).

But that phrase “all things” which appears over and over again in scripture (Rom 8:28, 32; Rom 11:36; Rom 14:2; 1Co 3:21-22; 1Co 8:6; 1Co 11:12; 1Co 13:7; 1Co 15:27-28; Eph 1:11, is a two edged sword, because it means what it says, and it does not say ‘…all good things’.

1Co 3:21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;

We are asserting in this study of the vision of Isaiah concerning Judah and Jerusalem, that all the evil of this vision is addressed to each of us individually, and here in 1Co 3:21 we have a verse which comes out and tells us “all things are yours”. Exactly what “all things are yours” means is made to be crystal clear in the very next verse, where we learn that it is not just all the blessings of life which are ours in Christ. Rather the “all things” God has given us includes this:

1Co 3:22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

We are told to “love not the world, neither the things of the world…” (1Jo 3:15), and we are told “the wages of sin is death”(Rom 6:23), and yet we are also told that ‘the world’, and ‘death’ are ours. “For all things are yours”. So that is what ‘all things are yours’ means.

This should give us a much deeper understanding of the things which are endured by the love of God:

1Co 13:4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
1Co 13:5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
1Co 13:6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

Why, and how is it that charity suffers long, is kind, envies not, vaunts not itself, is not puffed up, does not behave itself unseemly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, and thinks no evil? How is it possible that love does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the Truth? Here is the answer to those questions in the very next verse:

1Co 13:7 [Charity] Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

“All things” includes all the things in this “vision of Isaiah” and all the things written in the revelation of Jesus Christ (Isa 1:1, and Rev 1:3), “The world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are [ours]”, if we are God’s elect in this age. We need not literally commit every sin. All we need to acknowledge is that ‘the world, [and] life, [and] death, things present, [and] things to come; all are ours’ because it is all in our own flesh – which is the same flesh of all men. It is the flesh of Adam, and that flesh is corruption. That is how Christ is able to say:

Luk 11:49 Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:
Luk 11:50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
Luk 11:51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

If we are so spiritually blind as to say that we have never slain nor persecuted the prophets and apostles, as well as our own Savior, then we will say these verses are referring to some generation other than the one in which you and I are living, and we will deny that it is we who must live by every word of the vision of Isaiah, the revelation of Jesus Christ, or every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Isa 1:1; Mat 4:4; and Rev 1:3).

So it is we to whom these words are addressed:

Isa 1:7 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.

Are there any better words to describe our own kingdom within when our eyes begin to be opened and we come to see that our attempt to retain Christ’s throne within ourselves is an exercise in futility. All the cities of Israel within us are burned with the fire of the Word of God. Those we know not – strangers – devour, and overthrow our old self-righteous kingdom.

Do not become confused by thinking this is done within a single 24 hour day. Nothing is further from the Truth. I am always amazed at how long Samaria was able to resist the invading armies of Assyria:

2Ki 18:9 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it.
2Ki 18:10 And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken.
2Ki 18:11 And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah [Hebrew: painful] and in Habor [Hebrew: joining or united] by the river of Gozan [Hebrew: a place of cutting], and in the cities of the Medes [Hebrew: the midlands]:

You can deduce from the meanings of all these cities that this is where we are in the middle of our “evil experience” (Ecc 1:13).

Zedekiah, King of Judah, resisted Nebuchadnezzar for two years.

2Ki 25:1 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about.
2Ki 25:2 And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.
2Ki 25:3 And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.

Samaria dragged out her punishment for three years, and Judah did the same for two years. That is us as we cling to our false doctrines and refuse to admit that we have turned our backs on our owner and our own Creator, and that we must now live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. When Israel and Judah resisted their own discipline and punishment they weren’t doing so because they had repented of rejecting God and His ways. They were resisting only so they could continue on in their rebellious sinful ways. Inwardly we want to retain our own false doctrines, and we expect God to accommodate our ways. Outwardly we want to continue aborting our own children, forcing the LGBT lifestyle upon the entire society, we want to remain the pornography capital of the world, we want to continue teaching our children that there is no God, that mankind evolved from the non-living, etc. We want to be able to continue to stick our finger in the eyes of God, and we actually think we can do all of this and not have to reap what we have sown.

Such is not the case inwardly or outwardly. Rather the time has come, and it has always been here, to begin to reap all the years of having rejected our own Savior, and there will be nowhere to hide when God begins to pour out His wrath upon us. that has always been the case both inwardly and outwardly.

Isa 28:21 For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.
Isa 28:22 Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.

That is what I have heard, and I pray we have all been given ears to hear and eyes that see what the Lord has done and what He is doing within and without. A consumption has been determined upon the whole earth, and nothing anyone can do can stop what the Lord has determined. “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”. This all sounds so evil, and indeed it is, but it is the best thing that can happen to us inwardly, and in God’s own time, it will be the best thing to happen to this world outwardly. Without the fire from heaven devouring the nations in the four quarters of the earth, there could never be a great white throne judgment where men will learn righteousness.

Isa 1:8 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.

A cottage in a vineyard, and a lodge in a garden of cucumbers are both completely unprotected and vulnerable. That is where we find ourselves when we refuse correction, and fight against Christ’s anointed. Then when our inward judgment comes, just like Job we think God has taken away our judgment. We don’t even know we are at that very moment being judged.

Job 27:2 As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul;

Job 34:5 For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment.

Jer 2:30 In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.

Our rebellious sins leave us completely unprotected. We reason that we can protect ourselves with our own doctrines and our own free will. But the moment we go about providing our own doctrines for the doctrines of Christ we discover that we have no protection at all. But at that time we are the church at Laodicea, and we are totally clueless as to what is our sad state:

Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

In God’s mercy, and in His time, we will be brought to repentance. But in this age many are called and few are chosen to be granted repentance from pride and from all the 200 million lies of the devil and his religions. Matthew and John both tell us just how few are chosen out of the many who are called to be Christ’s disciples:

Mat 22:1 And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,
Mat 22:2 The kingdom of heaven [within us, Luk 17:20-21] is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,
Mat 22:3 And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.
Mat 22:4 Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.
Mat 22:5 But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
Mat 22:6 And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.
Mat 22:7 But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
Mat 22:8 Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.
Mat 22:9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
Mat 22:10 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
Mat 22:11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
Mat 22:12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
Mat 22:13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

The apostle John contrasts the ‘many called’ disciples, who in the end are willing to kill their own Savior, with those who are willing to die with Christrather than to disobey Him and His doctrine.

Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

Christ says “Many are called, but few are chosen”, and those who are ‘chosen’ (Greek: eklektos – elect) Christ calls these “disciples indeed”. Here we see the difference of spiritual life and death between these two groups who both believe in Christ:

Joh 8:30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.
Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

The many called know of the Truth, but do not “know the Truth”, whereas the few chosen “know the Truth” because they are those who “do… the things [Christ] says”.

Luk 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Those who “do not the things (Christ) says” have no root in themselves, and therefore cannot depend upon the strength of the man they do not know. They are “left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city”, with no hope of overcoming the forces of evil that are the 200 million false spirits which come against all men in the form of 200 million reasons to reject the doctrines and mind of Christ and His Father.

Isa 1:9 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.

The inward application of this verse of scripture is that “still small voice” within us, which, while we are despairing of all hope, and “are at our wits’ end” (Psa 107:21-31), is heard by Christ within us, and says, “Yes, yes, that makes sense to me, that just sounds like the voice of the True Shepherd!” This “very small remnant”, by God’s sovereign election of the weak and base things of this world, is Christ Himself within us, enduring the evil experience we have been given, and being humbled and brought into a position of being qualified to identify with all men of all time.

1Co 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1Co 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1Co 1:29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
1Co 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1Co 1:31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

Does Christ actually identify with “the foolish, weak and base things of the world”?

Heb 2:11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,
Heb 2:12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.
Heb 2:13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.
Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

The outward fulfillment of this ninth verse of Isaiah one is to be found in Rom 11:

Rom 11:30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief [the unbelief of the many called]:
Rom 11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. [the mercy of the few chosen, God’s elect]
Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Rom 11:34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
Rom 11:35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
Rom 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

It is through the mercy of God’s elect that all men of all time, “the dead small and great…[will] through your mercy… obtain mercy”. But that mercy will come only from “a very small remnant” who have had a thousand years of being conditioned to stand firm on the Word of God. The fiery sword within us at this time will scripturally be characterized as “a rod of iron” during that thousand-year reign over the kingdoms of this world. It is characterized as a rod at that time, simply because no one is being given a heart of flesh to replace their heart of stone during that thousand years:

Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

This is this “very small remnant”… the foolish… weak… and base… of this world”, which is blessed above all men of all time to be placed into this “blessed and holy first resurrection” to rule with Christ a thousand years just to discover that the thousand-year reign of Christ is just the beginning of the salvation of all men of all time through that age known as “the great white throne judgment”, which judgment is symbolized by a lake of fire.

Remember:

Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness [in the lake of fire at the great white throne judgment].

1Co 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

The lake of fire is the judgment of the great white throne:

Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

It is the “very small remnant” who have been chosen to be used of God to destroy death, and to bring life to all men of all time:

1Co 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

This is our calling and our reward if Christ is living His life of dying daily within us.

Next week will be our last study until we get back from our three-month trip to visit our brothers and sisters all around the world.

Lord willing, we will cover these verses next week:

Isa 1:10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
Isa 1:11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
Isa 1:12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
Isa 1:13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
Isa 1:14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.