The Remnant During the Reign of God

Isaiah saw the degradation of his own society around him and heard the Word of the LORD concerning the downfall of Jerusalem. The promised calamities would come. There would be no stopping what God had planned in the rejection of Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem. Judgment was coming and it would not be avoided. That could have been avoided had the children of Israel listened to and obeyed the LORD. But this would not be the end.

He looked forward to the coming Millennial Reign of Jesus on the earth. Destruction would come, exile would come, desolation of the land would come, but God Himself would also one day show up and restore the land of promise and the entire world. He would reserve a remnant for Himself from actual Israel. His chosen people had been rebellious since the day He brought them out of Egypt, but in that Day they would know Him. God would decimate the men of Israel to the point were seven women would take hold of one man and say, 'We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach!' This is not a support verse for polygamy, but a commentary on the destruction of the society of nation of Israel. They would suffer much harm and be weakened as the previous parts of this second vision has already stated.

God would preserve a remnant. The Branch of the LORD - Jesus Himself - would come in His power and glory. The survivors of Israel, the remnant that would remain, would be called holy. They would be preserved by God. God would wash away the filth of the daughters of Zion, the women who would watch their men die and who would cover themselves with sackcloth and mourning. God would purge the bloodshed from the midst of Jerusalem when He judges the wicked who gather against Him in that Day.

In the place of the filth and destruction, God will create over Mount Zion and over the remnant who will be preserved a holy place. He Himself would be a cloud by day and a fire by night, just as He was in the time of the Exodus. His glory would stretch over them for protection and blessing. He will be a shelter for His people from heat, a refuge and protection from storms and rain. 

This must have been an encouragement to Isaiah and those who remained faithful to the LORD. Yes, difficult times would come. The calamities promised in the covenant with God would happen. Every Word of God would be fulfilled to the jot and tittle. But that also meant that God would fulfill the good things completely and He would reign upon the earth. The bad times they faced would not be the end. A remnant would remain. And God would reign until sin and death were no more.