“Seek Yahweh while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to Yahweh, and He will have compassion on him. Turn to our Elohim, for He will abundantly pardon.”
Isaiah 55: 6-7
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Only a Remnant will Return to Yahweh and Be Saved
Isaiah 6: 1-7
1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw Adonai sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
3 And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is Yahweh Sabaoth. The whole earth is full of His glory.”
4 And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.
5 Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh Sabaoth.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips. Your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”
Isaiah saw Yahweh, and this is all he could say,
“Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh Sabaoth.”
Isaiah was right. He was a wretched sinner, and he lived among people who were at least was wretched as he was.
Truth is, all of us are wretched sinners. No one except Yahweh is righteous. Seeing Yahweh opened Isaiah’s eyes to that reality. He finally saw himself correctly, and he confessed his sin and the sins of his people.
Thankfully, Yahweh became the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Only He could do it, and He did it. He forgave our sins and became our righteousness. He gave us His righteousness as a gift and saved us from the consequence of our sins. This is how Isaiah explained it in Isaiah 53:
5 But He [the Messiah] was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way, but Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.
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10 But Yahweh was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief. If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring; He will prolong His days; and the good pleasure of Yahweh will prosper in His hand. 11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied. By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53: 5-6 and 10-11)
Jeremiah foretold the day when that would happen, and He told us the Messiah’s Name.
5 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch. He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. This is His Name by which He will be called, ‘Yahweh our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23: 5-6)
The Messiah is David’s righteous Branch. His Name is Yahweh Tsidkenu, Yahweh our righteousness.
Yahweh is our righteousness. Apart from Him we have no righteousness. Like Isaiah, all of us must come to that realization, because it is essential for salvation and revival. We are in desperate need of both.
The Messiah completed part of His mission when He died for our sins and became our Savior and Redeemer. That was about 2,000 years ago. He will complete His mission when He returns as the King, Yahweh Sabaoth.
Isaiah 6: 8
8 Then I heard the voice of Adonai saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here I am. Send me!”
Despite his wretched condition, Isaiah volunteered to be Yahweh’s prophet. He didn’t say, “Wait until I clean up my act, and then I will go for You.”
He said, “Here I am. Send me!”
Yahweh probably smiled when Isaiah said that, and He commissioned Isaiah to become the prophet we know today.
Isaiah 6: 9-13
9 He said, “Go and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive. Keep on looking, but do not understand.’ 10 Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim. Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed.”
11 Then I said, “Adonai, how long?”
And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, houses are without people and the land is utterly desolate. 12 Yahweh has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. 13 Yet there will be a tenth portion in it, and it will again be subject to burning, like a terebinth or an oak whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump.”
Yahweh was telling Isaiah to warn the people about their wretched condition. They had been listening, but they weren’t hearing. They had been watching, but they weren’t seeing. Their hearts were hard, dull, and insensitive to the things going on in their midst.
Hope was not lost, though. The people could do as Isaiah did. They could confess their sins, repent, return to Yahweh, and be healed. It’s not difficult, but it requires a change of heart and behavior.
Keep in mind that Yahweh confers His righteousness upon us when we confess our sins, repent, and turn to Him for salvation. He takes over for us and changes our hearts. Then our behavior changes, and we begin to do things that Yahweh calls “good”.
Regrettably, Yahweh said that only a remnant would accept His gift, turn to Him, and be saved. The remnant is the holy seed in the stump of a dead tree. This is how Isaiah explained it in Isaiah 10:
20 Now in that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel. 21 A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty El. 22 For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant within them will return. A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.” (Isaiah 10: 20-22)
The same is true today. Only a remnant will return to Yahweh and be saved. When Yahweh has completed gathering His flock together, He will return and execute judgment on His enemies.
Luke 13: 1-5
1 Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 And Yeshua said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? 3 I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13: 1-5)
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“I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me — just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father — and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life — only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.”
John 10: 14-18
