The Prophecy of Isaiah

The great subject of the introduction to this prophecy is the way in which Jehovah presents Himself after declaring their state of ruin. There is a day of Jehovah on all the earth, and if there were not a remnant, all the people would be like Sodom and Gomorrah. The hand of Jehovah will be against all that the world exalts. Everything or one that is lifted up shall be brought low: Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day (Isa. 2:17). God will purify the earthly people by His judgments. The rest will be the object of a terrible judgment (Isa. 2:18, 21).
I desire to consider the character of the prophecy as given to the Jews. It takes in a circle much greater and concerns the nations as well as Israel.
There is an important principle to notice, namely, that every prophecy supposes ruin of the state of things in which the prophecy is presented. When all goes according to the mind of God, there is no need of warning. It is manifest here in a striking way. Prophecy reveals all the hopes that belong to the faithful when the dispensation breaks down. It announces the failures, and the judgments on what man essays to do because of the evil.
A Remnant
The mass of the Jews is not saved, but (here is a remnant saved in the midst of them. The Church is but a remnant. We begin as a remnant the same as where the Jews end. This supposes that the state of the world is bad and that the world has not gone on well. God sends threatenings and warnings to the mass when all goes ill, and He makes promises to the faithful remnant to sustain and encourage it. When Israel failed, or the priesthood in Eli. God raised up the prophet Samuel. It was when all failed under the kings even of the house of David, that God raised up Isaiah. Ahaz had introduced idolatry into the house of God, and the testimony of Isaiah was sent to announce, not a remnant only, but the Messiah. The state of what God established in the presence of the glory of God shows that the people cannot stand before this glory (Isa. 6:5).
God sends prophet after prophet and chastisement after chastisement during seven centuries, and He only struck fully when the Son was cast out of the vineyard and slain. Meanwhile, the promise of the Messiah sustained the hope of the faithful. They felt the state of things while waiting for redemption. Anna spoke of the infant Jesus to all those that looked for redemption.