THE REMNANT (3)
[p. 254] THE REMNANT (3)
Isaiah 9: 6, 7; Isaiah 10: 20 - 22; Isaiah 11: 11 - 16
JT What came before us yesterday as to families and the testimony of God, is to be carried through to chapter 9. We have names given earlier to children in the prophetic family of Isaiah, Shear-jashub and Maher-shalal-hash-baz. In the family, the former would always be the reminder of the great fact that ‘a remnant shall return’, and then Maher-shalal-hash-baz is the opposite side, referring to the Assyrian, and we have to guard against him. There is exercise in chapter 8 and pressure in relation to that which is ready to attack what is of God. Then we have in that section, Immanuel, that is, ‘God with us’, which is the complete guarantee against the Assyrian attack.
Now we have a family thought in relation to Christ in chapter 9, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given”, so that we are now on the line of family greatness in one who is of it, somewhat corresponding to Psalm 87. It speaks of such a one being born and distinguishing a certain position. It is as we come into the light of Christ as on our side, that we begin to see the dignity of the heavenly family. It is not here ‘God with us’, but one owned as born and given, a Child born, a Son given, upon whose shoulder the government is, who is great enough as on our side to take on all these wonderful titles. “Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace;” and then, “Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with judgment and with righteousness, from henceforth, even for ever. The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform this”. So that we reach finality here [p. 255] as apprehending Christ on our side. There is a correspondence with the epistle to the Hebrews which also introduces finality; what Christ is as Speaker, and then what He is on our side as Son of man and Son of God.
LES Would you say a word as to the Child born and the Son given?
JT The Child born brings in distinct family connection, One born among them, born “to us”. Luke opens it up: “The holy thing also which shall be born shall be called Son of God”. So the angel says later, “For today a Saviour has been born to you in David’s city, who is Christ the Lord”. Unto you!
ANW Would you say a little more as to what you mean by the Son of God on our side?
JT Well, He is taken up in that way as born. God says, “This day have I begotten thee”. That is on the divine side, as in Psalm 2: 7, but He is also on our side, and the truth of this is developed in the epistle to the Hebrews. The Son is the priest, and He is on our side. “For such a high priest became us, holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and become higher than the heavens” (Hebrews 7: 26). He is Son consecrated for evermore on our side. “Such a high priest became us” — the “us” denoting the saints, in their greatness, needing such a great Person, the Son Himself. The education and experience of the other chapters we have been looking at would lead to this, so that we come to see that He is on our side — “to us”. We get in 1 Corinthians 8: 6 an enlarged thought, “to us there is one God”. As we begin to take on the truth, we see how God is in relation to His people; christians own one God, the Father. Here the Son of God is in relation to His people, and this gives us confidence and dignity, as lifted out of the littleness of human things [p. 256] into the greatness of the divine family. We progress into this through discipline, and by observation, too.
AEH What is the bearing of Christ being on our side in this scripture. Is it on the line of priesthood and divine service?
JT The earlier paragraph reads, “Nevertheless the darkness shall not be as when the distress was in the land, at the time he at first lightly, and afterwards heavily, visited the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, — the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations: the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them light hath shone” (Isaiah 9: 1, 2). That refers to Christ as dwelling in Capernaum. The scripture then continues, “Thou hast multiplied the nation, hast increased its joy: they joy before thee like to the joy in harvest; as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. For every boot of him that is shod for the tumult, and the garment rolled in blood, shall be for burning, fuel for fire” (Isaiah 9: 3 - 5). What you see in that section is the light shining, leading up to what we have in verse 6 of our chapter. In Matthew 4: 12 we read that the Lord Jesus, having heard that John was cast into prison, went and dwelt in Capernaum; and in verse 16 of that chapter that “the people sitting in darkness has seen a great light, and to those sitting in the country and shadow of death, to them has light sprung up. From that time began Jesus to preach and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn nigh”. The statements in Matthew bring in this section of Isaiah. The Lord left Nazareth; He was brought up there, and in it He exhibited the kind of ministry that Luke would [p. 257] bring to us (Luke 4: 16 - 22). It is a well-known passage depicting what happened in the synagogue of Nazareth. After this He went and dwelt at Capernaum (Matthew 4: 13). So that now He is one among them. He dwells there. It is called “his own city”, and it would appear that He had a house there; Mark 2 would indicate that. Now that brings in the position. All that precedes, in Isaiah 6, 7 and 8, would teach us what He was as come in from the divine side. Matthew takes up the trend of the history as in Capernaum, where Christ actually lived, and you can see how the inhabitants of Capernaum would begin to look at Him from that side — what He was amongst them. It is what Christ is “to us;” what He is amongst them. Think of all the times the Lord Jesus came in and went out amongst His own there! What would the next door neighbour think of Jesus? There would be the thought among the Jews of one born to them. Light springs up there. Light usually comes down from heaven, but here is a question of what the Person is substantially. There was light in that house where He lived. “In him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1: 4). It was as dwelling among them. Faith is especially needed to appropriate Him as on our side. The truth gradually dawns on us that God has, as it were, set Him in our midst.
HH As to christians, it is Christ among the gentiles.
JT Well, you see how those in whom God was working among the Jews would be morally dignified by the appreciation of Christ dwelling among them, moving in and out; light radiating from Him.
HH Capernaum is mentioned in Matthew 11, and the very great light is in the end of that chapter. “No one knows the Son but the Father;” the light becomes exceedingly great, does it [p. 258] not?
JT Yes. At the moment of which we are speaking there were some in Capernaum who appreciated that glorious Person.
APT There were four: the four men that bore the paralytic. Were they part of the “us”?
JT Exactly. That is Mark’s view. Mark contemplates the Lord, as you will notice, going into Capernaum in the testimony. Mark 1: 9 says, “And it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptised by John at the Jordan”. And then after His first preaching, verse 21 says, “And they go into Capernaum. And straightway on the sabbath he entered into the synagogue and taught”. We have the account of the preaching in verses 14 and 15: “But after John was delivered up, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the glad tidings of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has drawn nigh; repent and believe in the glad tidings”. Then we have Simon and Andrew and James and John following Him, and then “they go into Capernaum” (verse 21) — the Lord and these men that were drawn to Him; then “he entered into the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at his doctrine”. Now He is in Capernaum. Mark tells us later, “And he entered again into Capernaum after several days, and it was reported that he was at the house”, or, as the note says, ‘At home, in the sense of not away on a journey’. And four men bear a paralytic to Him. These evidently represent a sympathetic feature of the gospel in keeping with the house in which the Lord was. They bring this paralytic to that house. They bring him up to the roof and let him down before the Lord Jesus. Anybody could come to that house, light was radiating there.
ANW Later we have, “are not his sisters here with us?” — another “us”.
JT Quite so, the inhabitants of Nazareth “where he was brought up”, said, “whatsoever we have heard has taken place in Capernaum do here also in thine own country”. They claimed Him in a local sense, to honour them. The Lord is not on that line, for the us in Isaiah 9: 6 would be the ones in whom God is working. “Unto us a child is born”.
WB-w In Capernaum He first meets the spirit of an unclean demon in both Mark and Luke. Why is that?
JT That would indicate the state of the city, would it not? The Lord had come to dwell in that city. What was in the synagogue represented the religious condition.
WB-w “Walking by the sea of Galilee” — He finds persons who accepted His teaching.
JT Yes, that characterises the gospel by Mark. The relation of the ministry of Christ to the sea is stressed. Matthew is not concerned exactly in that way. What he brings out in chapter 4 is that the light is seen. It is not simply that it is shining, but it is seen and people are affected. So that I think the us begins there.
AAT The writer of the Hebrews says, “Let us therefore fear” (Hebrews 4: 1), and in chapter 6: 1, “Let us go on to what belongs to full growth”.
JT No doubt Paul is the writer and the us there would mean that he is coming down to identify himself with the people; he speaks as one of them. I think that is how Hebrews stands. The apostle could do that, being a Jew.
FHL In Matthew 4 it is to those sitting in darkness that the light springs up.
JT The light rising up brings out what we are speaking of. It is what was among them. What has just been mentioned, the unclean demon in the synagogue, would indicate the religious state of the place. Think of people sitting down with such a condition [p. 260] as that! They were evidently unaffected by the conditions. It is a terrible state of things, but now the light is there. They see, it, It is not simply that it is there; it is seen. It is rising up, and I think the us would begin to take form because of this. They brought the paralytic man to the house where the Lord was. They were appropriating the light, so that the us would really be a remnant.
RWS Would the Lord’s acts and deportment cause these various names to be understood in some little way by the people there?
JT You can see how previous instruction serves us as to the great Personage who had come in. John the evangelist says, “We have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father, full of grace and truth” (John 1: 14). How they would begin to spell out the glories of Christ! He began to further manifest His glory in chapter 2, and His disciples believed on Him. They begin to see that the glory was there and emanated from Him. It was in the Person. So that on our side contemplation is the great thing. Thus the disciples began to see the glory indicated in those titles in Isaiah 9.
HH The glory is mentioned five times in John 13: 31, 32, “Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God also shall glorify him in himself, and shall glorify him immediately”.
JT That indicates the place glory has in John’s gospel. As we place ourselves alongside of John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, we begin to see how these glories are absorbed and appreciated. John must have loved Him, because he was so intent in observation, he was in the bosom of Jesus. It is the idea of receptiveness, so that John is in it, and therefore, you can see how the glory shone before [p. 261] his eyes.
LES Why is the first name, Wonderful, linked with the birth of Samson? Manoah and his wife looked on as the angel did “wondrously”.
JT I suppose the suggestion would be over against the Philistine domination which Israel were under at that time. It is a spiritual matter: Christ apprehended as doing wondrously. I suppose it would be in pointing to the deliverance of our souls from Philistine domination.
CAM Do you think it is because of the great idea of nazariteship in that chapter?
JT The maternal thought is stressed in the chapter. It was greater than the paternal. The angel comes to Manoah’s wife; her name is not given; his name is. That is, he is the responsible person, but the angel comes to the wife in both instances; and Manoah patronises the angel, asking him for his name, so that they might honour him when his word came to pass. “And the Angel of Jehovah said to him, How is it that thou askest after my name, seeing it is wonderful?” (Judges 13: 18). I think it brings out the subjective conditions amongst us, that if these are there, even though the male side is defective, which is very often the case in local meetings; — if the maternal state is there God will honour it. The subjective side comes out when the male side is defective, and perhaps the persons are away for a moment. You get remarkable movements of the Spirit of God in the younger men and that, I think, is what is in mind in Judges 13, because it is a Philistine domination; and we have to begin at the bottom. The Philistine element is sometimes seen in the leading brother, and it is by giving scope to the subjective condition that this is overcome. The Holy Spirit begins to move, and then you may look for wonderful things. It was so with Samson; the Spirit of God began to move him when the time came for it,
([p. 262] verse 25). The Holy Spirit beginning to work through Samson was the beginning of the Philistine overthrow. The Spirit began to move Samson in his local setting.
ANW The footnote in regard to the word “move” in Judges 13: 25 would amplify what you are saying. It is a word that expresses ‘powerful emotion’.
APT I was going to ask if the responsible element was at a low ebb at Corinth, and the feminine element more prominent.
JT Quite so. It brings out two persons, the house of Chloe and the house of Stephanas. These houses seemingly save the situation. The house of Chloe informed Paul about the divisions there, showing that they were concerned about the local state. That is the idea of the maternal side, and then the house of Stephanas is commended as having devoted themselves to the saints for service. It seems to me that the two houses represent the saving element in a situation like that, because the Philistine power had dominance in the parties that existed.
LES I was wondering if the spirit of judgment does not come forward in circumstances like that. Our chapter in Isaiah says, “to establish it, and to uphold it with judgment and with righteousness”. It suggests the tribe from which Samson came — Dan, meaning ‘judge’.
CAM As to a local company when difficulty arises, when true judgment is administered, does deliverance take place?
JT That is what I was thinking.
Ques Would the first epistle to the Corinthians correspond to “the government shall be upon his shoulder”, making way for the unfolding of these [p. 263] names?
JT Quite so. The first letter is “the Lord’s commandment” and anyone who is spiritual would recognise it. We should look for the wonderfulness of Christ witnessed in the gospels, taking in the import of types according to His own exposition. “And having begun from Moses and from all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24: 27). It is what we see as we go through the gospels, each one giving his own view of Christ, so that the wonderfulness of Christ dawns on the soul. “Wonderful” here is a noun, not an adjective. “Wonderful” is a name of Christ; the next name is “Counsellor”. He presents Himself as ready to give counsel to Laodicea.
CAM When this light as to Christ comes into our souls, there is a living response. This is expressed in the name called here. The answer to God is equal to the revelation of God.
JT Yes, we come into all the ministry involved in these names. We come into association with Christ. These names indicate what Christ will be to His people in a coming dispensation. We, of course, apprehend them too, as we find them in Him.
RWS What was your point about Laodicea and Counsellor?
JT The Lord presents Himself as Counsellor. “I counsel thee to buy ...” (Revelation 3: 18). It is a time of buying. People are ready to pay for things that are not of much value, as we get in 2 Kings 6: paying high prices for things that are of very little value. The Lord says, “I counsel thee to buy”. He is ready to sell. His grace is seen in this. He is ready to sell, that is, He can tell the Laodiceans where to buy what they needed. He has it Himself.
AAT “I counsel thee”, is that to the individual or to the assembly?
JT It is the assembly; “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten;” but it is the general attitude [p. 264] of grace on His side. That is His attitude, because He is still on His Father’s throne. We want to be sure that we rightly represent Christ in dealing with the brethren at the present time. He has the knowledge of what everyone needs. He is ready to sell, and you are buying — that is, you are paying for other things, showing that you want to buy.
Rem It is important in local difficulties that the brethren should turn to the Lord first for counsel before asking others.
JT Just so. If we come to the care meeting with that in view, things become solved, and I think His address to the last assembly is most suggestive in that way. In spite of the bad state there, He has taken up this attitude of Counsellor.
AAT Would Matthew 18: 20 fit in, “For where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them”. Asking counsel of Him, as being in the midst?
JT That whole section of the chapter is for instruction as to what we should do under certain circumstances. We often arrive at difficulties and we might say, we do not know what to do. That chapter shows us that there is a way out in the recognition of the assembly. Matthew shows that if you recognise the assembly there is a way out; even in remnant times. There is a way of settling every matter conclusively. “If two of you shall agree on the earth concerning any matter, whatsoever it may be that they shall ask, it shall come to them from my Father who is in the heavens. For where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18: 19, 20).
APT Our brother referred to prayer. Isaiah says of Hezekiah that he took the letter to the house of God, then prayed; and the word through the prophet was in connection with his prayer.
B Would you say that Job’s education is helpful for us? He obscures God’s wisdom and then later he says, “Who is he that obscureth counsel without knowledge?” (Job 42: 3).
JT Quite so. It is a fine conclusion to reach. We are told before the final working out of a solution in the book of Job, that the words of Job are ended. That is a good point to reach. One may say so much that he obscures counsel. Elihu brings in the solution; he is a man who can let others speak until they finish, and yet would retain all that he had in mind. He was like a new flask ready to burst, and when the time came, he was able to speak as an interpreter, one among a thousand. Jehovah comes in as he is finished, and Job puts his hand upon his mouth, and then later he questions as to himself, “Who is he that obscureth counsel without knowledge?” Then we have the final solution.
JTJr In Acts 15 the brethren take counsel with one another, and the final judgment is reached in the light of Scripture. Christ thus comes in as Counsellor.
JT Peter and James serve as vessels to bring the matter to a conclusion, and what has often been remarked and is very important in these difficult matters, is to promote a good, healthy state of things among the brethren, before you bring forward the matter at issue. That is, to bring in the positive things of God. Paul and Barnabas told about all the signs and wonders which God had wrought among the gentiles before they came to the final issue, and Peter gets up and says what is just right, and then James sums up the thing for the saints. So that it would seem that we must go into the matter with the Holy Spirit in order to reach a satisfactory conclusion.
C In Jeremiah 23: 22 Jehovah speaks of prophets in that regard. He says, “But if they [p. 266] had stood in my council, and had caused my people to hear my words, then would they have turned them from their evil way and from the wickedness of their doings”.
HH Men like Hushai and Joseph gave good counsel. Hushai’s counsel was supported against keen-minded men like Ahithophel, whose counsel against David he would defeat.
JT Quite so. The books of Ecclesiastes and Proverbs enlarge on all that we are speaking of. It is a question of wisdom. “In the multitude of counsellors there is safety” (Proverbs 11: 14) — a good scripture for a care meeting.
FHL Would you think that Solomon acted in wisdom when he brought in the sword, that the son might live?
JT Quite so. That brings up a point of importance. Solomon, according to Kings, which you quote, came from Gibeon to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of God. Then these two women are brought to him for judgment. He asked for wisdom and the test came at once. God afforded him an opportunity to show what wisdom He had given him. In Chronicles he came back from Gibeon and started to buy horses. According to Kings he stands before the ark, a type of Christ in His lowliness: the wisdom of God and the power of God. Standing before the ark, you get wisdom. You see the thing operating; as a matter comes up, it is solved. He solved the matter and it was a wonder in Israel.
SMcC In 1 Kings 3: 7 Solomon says, “I am but a little child”.
JT That was as before God.
JTJr Rehoboam failed in that. He would have the old men give counsel and then the young men; the counsel of the latter was [p. 267] taken.
JT Hence disaster. Certainly the older brothers ought to have their place in regard to counsel. They have experience.
CDeB Was all this lacking in Corinth when the apostle had to say, “Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you?”
JT Just so. He would bring out the latent wisdom in the assembly because the least esteemed is to judge over certain matters. Latently the wisdom is in the assembly.
The next title of Christ in the passage before us is “Mighty God”, which is a question of power. John brings that out, quoting the Lord as saying, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2: 19). Not that God will raise it up, but that “I will raise it up”. And then “Father of Eternity” would be what He was amongst the disciples; the Father of the age, already taking His place among them, addressing them as children. It is the exercise of parental authority and consideration for the saints. It is what He will be in the millennium, the Father of the age. Finally, “Prince of Peace”. Then it is that “of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with judgment and with righteousness, from henceforth even for ever”. That is, it is Christ in relation to Israel. It is the throne of David still. He establishes it.
Rem I think there is a good deal of confusion in the minds of brethren as to what the term Father of Eternity means; as you remarked, it refers to what He was among them. The idea is seen in Joseph (Genesis 45: 8), and in Eliakim (Isaiah 22: 21).
JT Pointing to what Christ will be in the millennium. He will be a Father to it in the practical sense of the word, not exactly as head of a [p. 268] family, but in the exercise of parental authority and care among the people in that day.
ABP “Come out from the midst of them ... and I will be to you for a Father” (2 Corinthians 6: 17, 18). Does that link on with the thought suggested?
JT That is what God offers to us as a separate people. It is God: “I will be to you for a Father, and ye shall be to me for sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty”.
JTJr Is the fatherhood seen in Christ in Isaiah 9 seen in measure in the apostles? They were fathers.
JT Quite so. Christ will exercise fatherly care in the millennial day. Some connect it with what He was eternally in deity, which is not the teaching at all. It is what He was here as Man; how He was known among His own, and how He will be known in the future.
WB-w Is it a different thought from what we get in John’s gospel, “my Father and your Father”?
JT That is the family relationship. This may be illustrated in a designation often used as to George Washington, that he was the father of his country. He is viewed as having exercised fatherly care over the whole country.
CAM The word name seems to make that clear. It refers to time.
JT Quite so. These are names by which people have come to speak of Him; what they find Him to be.
HH A name refers to renown.
JT That is the idea. A man acquires a name because of what he is. Sometimes, of course, names are given prophetically; others arise from external circumstances, adding nothing to the persons; others have no significance save to designate persons. As indicating distinction in persons, name [p. 269] signifies renown.
ABP Do we see fatherhood in Christ in the end of John, “Children, have ye anything to eat?” (John 21: 5)?
JT Quite so. Several times He uses that term; and He calls a woman “daughter” (Matthew 9: 22).
Now in regard to Isaiah 10, we have another view of the remnant and that is in verse 20. “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob shall no more again rely upon him that smote them; but they shall rely upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. The remnant shall return”. That is Shear-jashub as the margin shows — “The remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them shall return: the consumption determined shall overflow in righteousness. For a consumption, and one determined, will the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, accomplish in the midst of all the land”. That is, there will be a removal of the dross. The word “consumption” alludes to that, but there will be a remnant. God has that in mind. It is a question of quality.
AAT To what time does the expression “that day” refer?
JT The period of divine solutions and completions, I think. It is constantly in the prophets. You are directed forward, especially in Daniel, to the end of days.
HH The word “determined” is important, not simply what is allowed.
JT That is important. We often say, The Lord is allowing it, but it may be truer to say that God is doing it, and it makes it more solemn. “Determined” in verse 22 has a note in the New Translation — A technical expression for the judgments preceding Messiah’[p. 270] s reign.
JTJr What you say as to God acting judicially is confirmed in the charge given to the Assyrian. In Isaiah 10: 6, God says, “Against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge”.
JT Just so. That is a very solemn matter. In the case of David’s numbering the people, Satan moved him to do it, according to 1 Chronicles 21, but God moved him, according to 2 Samuel 24. This is the most solemn side of it. That is what is happening now. Not only is God allowing what is transpiring, it may be that God is doing it for some purpose. It may be that we have to find this out. He has something to achieve through it in His people. I am only suggesting that it is well for us to look the matter in the face as to what God is doing, which is the most solemn side of the matter.
AB In verse 20 allusion is made to “such as are escaped of the house of Jacob”. It would suggest those who have feelingly escaped the Assyrian’s attack.
JT The process of severe discipline has been endured, and there is no more reliance on the Assyrian, but on Jehovah — the true remnant character.
The final word is in chapter 11, and refers to where they come from in their recovery. “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to acquire the remnant of his people which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea”. That is where they come from in their recovery.
JTJr It is remarkable that Assyria is mentioned first in regard of the remnant. God brings the remnant out of that first.
JT The Assyrian is the great power that is always against God’s people while God owns them. The Assyrian therefore is the public rod of God in [p. 271] His judgment of His people, and He delivers them from Assyria first. The remnant come through terrible discipline, which the Assyrian here suggests, and now they have come back from his land.
Ques Would Naomi be an expression of that, returning from the land of Moab?
JT Yes. Returning from the fields of Moab. She came back. Her name Naomi, which signifies pleasantness, she wanted changed to ‘Mara’, which means bitterness. She accepted the governmental dealings of God with her — the true way to blessing in such circumstances.
APT Why is it that there are those among us who come under God’s hand, but are not recovered?
JT Well, of course, that is a solemn thing. Here God is acquiring them a second time. “The Lord shall set his hand again the second time to acquire the remnant of his people”. That is, He knows where they are. The second time suggests excess of grace; God is acting sovereignty in a shepherdly way, gathering His people from the four corners of the earth.
AAT What about the first time?
JT The first was the deliverance out of Egypt. The second, the great movement of God to bring out a nation for Himself, is seen here.
GAT What is the difference between the remnant and the outcast?
JT That they were outcasts was one feature of their position. This is seen strikingly today. The Jews are treated thus by some nations. It is a feature of the position they are in, but God will gather them. The remnant is what is left, but secured for God, from the whole nation which had become reprobate.
RWS Would you say a word on how they come back? The enemy has ceased and they fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines.
[p. 272] JT That refers to the state they are in as gathered. The passage says, “And the envy of Ephraim shall depart, and the troublers of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim will not envy Judah, and Judah will not trouble Ephraim: but they shall fly upon the shoulder of the Philistines towards the west; together shall they spoil the sons of the east; they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab, and the children of Ammon shall obey them” (Isaiah 11: 13, 14). It would be that the condition among themselves is right according to God. Envy has ceased. Love is prevailing. They are victorious in conflict. Then Jehovah acts further for them (verses 15, 16), “And Jehovah will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind will he shake his hand over the river, and will smite it into seven streams, and make men go over dryshod. And there shall be a highway for the remnant of his people which will be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day when he went up out of the land of Egypt”. A highway from Assyria is a beautiful thought. They are at liberty to go up. They can go in a dignified way.
HB Would it be right to connect the revival of the truth of the Supper with the banner being lifted up?
JT Quite so. You can see how Christ will bring all this about. The early part of our chapter presents Christ as effecting full deliverance. “There shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots shall be fruitful”. Finality of blessing is reached.