Isaiah 10:20-23 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob… 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.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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 stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. |
    |