TRUST WORTHY God’s Remnant: God is our ultimate deliverer and comforter

You will say in that day:

“I will give thanks to you, O Lord,

for though you were angry with me,

your anger turned away,

that you might comfort me. ISA 12:1

Rashi

You will say when you see the nations being sentenced to disgrace and abhorrence.

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me and you exiled me, and my exile atoned for me, and now, amends have been made for my iniquity. Your anger turned away, that you might comfort me. Jonathan renders: I will confess before you, O Lord, that I sinned before you, and, therefore, you were angry with me, and were it not for your mercy, I would not be worthy to have your anger turn away and comfort me, and behold, your anger has turned away from me.

In the end, we will see that all things come together for God’s greater purposes, which transcend our lifetime and our own problems. Isaiah’s prophecy assured the Israelites that he would leave a remnant and they would ultimately thank the Lord for turning away his anger and giving them comfort. As we undergo challenges in life, we can thank God for his sovereignty and love that molds our character and draws us close, put our trust in him, and be assured of his deliverance and comfort. How have you experienced the comfort of God even as you go through challenges?

1 And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you,

John Gill

And when all these things come upon you—Declared, pronounced, foretold, and prophesied of in the three preceding chapters, especially in (Deu 28:1-68);

The blessing and the curse, which I have set before you—The blessings promised to those that pay a regard to the will of God and obey his voice, and curses threatened see Deu 28:1-20;

And you shall call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you—Recollect the promises and the threatenings, and observe the exact accomplishment of them in their captivities, and especially in this their last and present captivity.

But when he came to himself, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!” LUK 15:17

2 and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul,

John Gill

And return to the Lord your God—By repentance, acknowledging their manifold sins and transgressions, particularly their disbelief and rejection of the Messiah, now seeking him and salvation by him; see Hos 3:5;

You and your children, . . . in all that I command you today—Which was to love the Lord, and walk in his ways, directed to in the gospel, and which were to be regarded from a principle of love to God and the blessed Redeemer; see Deu 30:6, 16;

And obey his voice—In the gospel, yielding the obedience of faith to that; embracing the gospel, and submitting to the ordinances of it:

With all your heart and with all your soul—That is, both their return to the Lord, and their obedience to his voice or word, should be hearty and sincere; which being the case, the following things would be done for them.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1JN 1:9

3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. DEU 30:1-3

Megillah 29a:4

It is taught in a baraita: Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai says: Come and see how beloved the Jewish people are before the Holy One, blessed be he. As every place they were exiled, the divine presence went with them. They were exiled to Egypt, and the divine presence went with them, as it is stated: “Did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt?” (1Sa 2:27). They were exiled to Babylonia, and the divine presence went with them, as it is stated: “For your sake I send to Babylonia” (Isa 43:14). So too, when, in the future, they will be redeemed, the divine presence will be with them, as it is stated: “Then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes” (Deu 30:3). It does not state: He will bring back, i.e., He will cause the Jewish people to return, but rather it says: “He will restore,” which teaches that the Holy One, blessed be he, will return together with them from among the various exiles.

Rashi

The Lord your God will restore your fortunes—The Lord your God will (himself) return (with) your fortunes. Although the meaning of the verse is indeed, “The Lord your God will restore your fortunes,” our Rabbis learned from here which alludes to God himself returning, that the glory resides among Israel, as it were, in all the misery of their exile, and when the Jews are redeemed from their exile, God writes in Scripture an expression of redemption for himself to allude to the fact that he has also been redeemed, as it were, so that he himself returns along with Israel’s exiles (Megillah 29a). Furthermore the following may be said from the strange form of the verb which expresses “to restore the fortunes”—that the day of the gathering of the exiles is so important and is attended with such difficulty that it is as though he (God) himself must actually seize hold of each individual’s hands dragging him out of his place in exile. We see the same concept brought up in Scripture, when the verse says, “And you will be gathered up, one by one, O people of Israel” (Isa 27:12). We find, however, the same expression in connection with the gathering of the exiles of other nations also, as e.g. (Jer 48:47): “Yet I shall bring back the exiles of Moab.”

23 And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.

John Gill

And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief—The apostle suggests that the Jews also might be recovered and brought into a gospel church state, provided they did not continue in infidelity; but inasmuch as they seem to lie under invincible ignorance, obstinacy, and unbelief, and were such bitter enemies to the gospel, and abhorrers of gospel ordinances, and a gospel church state; yea, that they must and will abide in unbelief, unless the Spirit of God convinces them of it, and it is given to them to believe in Christ, and they are powerfully drawn by the Father to come to the Son, there is no possibility or likelihood that they

Will be grafted in—Or taken into a gospel church state; to which the apostle answers, and argues for their ingrafting, and the possibility of it from the power of God:

For God has the power to graft them in again—As many of them were in the times of the apostles, and some since, for nothing is impossible with God; he can remove their unbelief, knock off the shackles and fetters in which they are held, and bring, them out of the prison of infidelity, in which they are shut up; he is able to take away the blindness of their minds, and the hardness of their hearts, the veil that is over them, and turn them to the Lord; he can by his mighty power work faith in them, and cause them to look on him whom they have pierced, and mourn in an evangelical manner; he can bring them to Christ, and into his churches, and among his people, and fold them with the rest of his sheep; so that there one fold of Jew and Gentile, under one shepherd, Jesus Christ.

26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

“The Deliverer will come from Zion,

he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;

31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. ROM 11:23, 26, 31

For his anger is but for a moment,

and his favor is for a lifetime.

Weeping may tarry for the night,

but joy comes with the morning. PSA 30:6

Avodah Zarah 4b:6

The Gemara further discusses this matter: And how long does his indignation last? It lasts a moment. And how long is a moment? Ameimar, and some say Ravina, said: It lasts as long as it takes to say the word moment. The Gemara asks: And from where do we derive that God’s anger lasts for only a moment? As it is written: “His anger is but for a moment, and his favor, for a lifetime” (Psa 30:6). And if you wish, say instead that it is derived from here: “Hide yourself for a brief moment, until the anger has passed by” (Isa 26:20), meaning that God’s anger passes in a mere moment.

Rashi

For . . . for a moment—For his anger is but for a short moment.

His favor is for a lifetime, there is long life in appeasing and placating him.

Sanhedrin 105b:7

That is what Balaam said to Balak: “How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I condemn, whom God has not condemned?” (Num 23:8). Since God did not become angry, Balaam was unable to curse the Jewish people. It is written: “And God is angry every day” (Psa 7:12). And how long is the duration of his anger? It is one moment, as it is stated: “For his anger endures but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime” (Psa 30:6).

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. MAT 5:4

2 Lord, you were favorable to your land;

you restored the fortunes of Jacob.

Rashi

Lord, you were favorable to your land, etc.—If you restored the fortunes of Jacob and forgave their iniquity, and covered their sin and withdrawn your wrath from them and turned from your fierce anger, then you were favorable to your land, and your world will be appeased. But as long as you do not do this, your land and your world will not be appeased.

Taanit 7b:3

Rabbi Oshaya likewise said: The day of rain is great, as rain even facilitates salvation, which is fruitful and multiplies on that day. It is a time of God’s favor, when salvation is brought forth into the world, as it is stated: “Let the earth open, that salvation . . . may bear fruit” (Isa 45:8). Rabbi Tanhum bar Hanilai said: Rain falls only if the Jewish people’s transgressions have been forgiven, as it is stated: “Lord, you have been favorable to your land; you have restored the fortunes of Jacob. You have forgiven the iniquity of your people; you have covered all their sin. Selah” (Psa 85:2-3). This chapter proceeds to discuss rainfall: “And righteousness has looked down from the sky” (Psa 85:12), in the form of rain.

3 You forgave the iniquity of your people;

you covered all their sin.

4 You withdrew all your wrath;

you turned from your hot anger. PSA 85:2-4

17 I have heard Ephraim grieving,

“You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined,

like an untrained calf;

bring me back that I may be restored,

for you are the Lord my God.

18 For after I had turned away, I relented,

and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh;

I was ashamed, and I was confounded,

because I bore the disgrace of my youth.”

19 Is Ephraim my dear son?

Is he my darling child?

For as often as I speak against him,

I do remember him still.

Therefore my heart yearns for him;

I will surely have mercy on him,

declares the Lord. JER 31:17-19