In the year of Uzziah's death, the Lord commissioned the prophet to go
out and warn the people of the wrath to come. "Tell them what a
worthless lot they are." He said, "Tell them what is wrong, and why and
what is going to happen unless they have a change of heart and
straighten up. Don't mince matters. Make it clear that they are
positively down to their last chance. Give it to them good and strong
and keep on giving it to them. I suppose perhaps I ought to tell you,"
He added, "that it won't do any good. The official class and their
intelligentsia will turn up their noses at you and the masses will not
even listen. They will all keep on in their own ways until they carry
everything down to destruction, and you will probably be lucky if you
get out with your life."
Isaiah had been very willing to take on the job — in fact, he had asked
for it — but the prospect put a new face on the situation. It raised the
obvious question: Why, if all that were so — if the enterprise were to
be a failure from the start — was there any sense in starting it? "Ah,"
the Lord said, "you do not get the point. There is a Remnant there that
you know nothing about. They are obscure, unorganized, inarticulate,
each one rubbing along as best he can. They need to be encouraged and
braced up because when everything has gone completely to the dogs, they
are the ones who will come back and build up a new society; and
meanwhile, your preaching will reassure them and keep them hanging on.
Your job is to take care of the Remnant, so be off now and set about it."
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