27 Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, The remnant will be saved. 28 For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, Because the Lord will make a short work upon the earth.” 29 And as Isaiah said before: “Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We would have become like Sodom, And we would have been made like Gomorrah.”
Verses 27 to 29 are about calling out a remnant from Israel of true believers. Most of the Jews of Paul’s day did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah. Paul continued his argument from Isaiah.
9:27
Isaiah also cries [passionately] out concerning Israel:
Paul quoted Isaiah 10:22-23 and 1:9 to show that there will be a remnant of Israel who will come to Messiah Jesus. Isaiah prophesied about 760 B.C. to the southern kingdom of Judah for 48 years. He also, like Hosea, prophesied that Israel would undergo divine discipline. Judah’s rejection of God resulted in exile to Babylon by king Sennacherib. This was a preview of the Israel of Paul’s day rejecting the Messiah.
“Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, The remnant will be saved.
Only a minority of the vast numbers of Israel will accept the Messiah. God will restore this group to a national entity in the Millennium. Salvation here is not regeneration but restoration of believing Israel to her land. Those Jews restored to the land will be strictly regenerate.
9:28
For
Verse 28 is the basis for verse 27 and is a reference to Isaiah 10:22-23.
He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness,
God will decisively dispense salvation for the remnant. The Lord Jesus will execute His Word at the Second Advent. The 490 years of divine discipline on Israel (including the 7 years of Tribulation) come to an end. At that time the Millennium will begin.
Because the Lord will make a short work upon the earth.”
God executed judgment of Judah through the Babylonians, but He cut it short by saving a remnant. Unless God had left a remnant, Israel would have been wiped out as a nation.
In the future God will save a remnant out of the Tribulation. The majority of Jews will have been slain during the Tribulation. God will make short work of the Tribulation period. This period will close both the times of the Gentiles but also the protracted period of divine discipline upon Israel.
9:29
And as Isaiah said before:
This verse is a quotation from Isaiah 1:9 whereby Paul shows that, if it were not for the remnant, Israel would had been cut off completely.
“Unless the Lord of Sabaoth [armies] had left us a seed [the remnant],
Unless God had intervened, even the remnant would not have been saved. The “LORD of Sabaoth” is the Lord of Armies. The Lord Jesus is a mighty warrior. At the Second Coming, if not for His sparing by grace the remnant who embraced Him as Messiah, He would completely wipe out Israel.
We would have become like Sodom, And we would have been made like Gomorrah.”
Israel was no better than Sodom and Gomorrah, which God wiped out because of sexual perversion. These cities were the epitome of evil and experienced swift judgment. Israel did not deserve salvation but had to depend on the grace and mercy of God for salvation. God tempered His judgment and saved the regenerate remnant because of His grace.
The Lord so decisively cut Israel off that the remnant appeared like a greatly reduced entity of the nation. Yet no matter how small the remnant might be, there will be a great restoration in the latter days.
PRINCIPLE:
God is completely faithful to His system of salvation by grace to Israel.
APPLICATION:
God’s plan of salvation continues in a remnant. He is always consistent in His plan of salvation by grace. Natural Israel rejected this system of grace, so God turned to a remnant. His salvation is always by grace whether in the New or Old Testament. He will never change the nature of salvation, even though few believe it.
You mentioned that Judah was sent into exile by Sennacherib to Babylon. I have tried to find more info on that exile, but have not succeeded. All references to Judah’s exile were by Nebuchadnezzar who I know was a later king of Babylon. What year was Judah captive in Babylon by Sennacherib – and it must have been before Sennacherib destroyed Babylon?
Donna,
2 Ki 18:13–16
In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you impose…
2 Ch 32:1
After these things and these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and encamped against the fortified cities, thinking to win them for himself.
Is 36:1
In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them.
Donna, A massive wall encompassing the current archaeological site was built about the period of Solomon and may correspond to other major building projects during his reign (Kochavi, “Debir,” 12; 1 Kgs 9:15–19). Although the accounts in 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, and Isaiah do not mention Debir by name, a destruction layer at the site demonstrates that the city was destroyed during the invasion of Judah by the Assyrians under Sennacherib ca. 701 BC (2 Kgs 18:13–18; 2 Chr 32:1–19; Isa 36:1–22). Archaeological evidence suggests the Babylonians also destroyed Debir during their conquest of Judah (2 Kgs 24:2; Jer 35:17; 18).
A small settlement existed briefly after the exile, approximately the time of Nehemiah during the 5th century BC in the Persian period, but specific details of this town are unknown (Kochavi, “Debir,” 12). Around the time of the New Testament, a small fort or watchtower may have been in use at the site, but there was no town or city in existence.
Kennedy, T. M. (2016). Debir of the South Hill Country. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
SENNACHERIB (סַנְחֵרִיב, Σενναχηρείμ, Assyr. Sin-akhi-erba, ‘the Moon-god has increased the brethren,’ from which we may infer that he was not the eldest son of his father, Sargon).—Sennacherib succeeded Sargon on the 12th of Ab, B.C. 705. His first campaign was against Babylonia, where Merodach-baladan (or another prince of the same name) had reappeared. (See, however, MERODACH-BALADAN). After a reign of six months the latter was forced to fly for his life. Sennacherib made a certain Bel-ibni king of Babylon, and then turned against the Kassi or Kossæans in the western mountains of Elam. After this he swept Ellipi, north of Elam, with fire and sword. In B.C. 701 came the campaign against Palestine, which had rebelled after Sargon’s death. Lulia (Elulæus), king of Tyre, fled to Cyprus, and Sidon and other Phœnician cities were sacked by the Assyrians, Ethbaal being appointed king of the country. Ashdod, Ammon, Moab, and Edom now sent tribute, Judah with the dependent Philistine cities of Ashkelon and Ekron alone holding out. Ashkelon and Ekron were captured, and Hezekiah was compelled to restore to the throne of the latter city the anti-Jewish prince Padi, who had been imprisoned in Jerusalem. The Egyptians, now ruled by the Ethiopian Tirhakah, came to the help of Hezekiah, but they were defeated at Eltekeh and driven back. Sen. thereupon swept the country of Judah, capturing 46 fortresses and carrying into exile 200,150 persons. While he was besieging Lachish, Hezekiah sent rich presents to him, in the vain hope of buying off his attack. The presents consisted of 30 talents of gold, 800 talents of silver, precious stones, couches and seats inlaid with ivory, girls and eunuchs, male and female musicians (?). But all was of no avail: Lachish was taken and plundered, and the Rabshakeh or Vizier sent a letter to Hezekiah demanding the surrender of his city (2 K 19:5 ff.). Then came the catastrophe, which obliged Sen. to leave Judah without punishing his rebellious vassal, and over which he draws a veil of silence in his annals. The events and the date of this campaign are fully discussed by Prášek in a series of articles in the Expos. Times, xii., xiii. (1901–2). Prášek contends that there were two campaigns of Sennacherib to the West and against Judah.
Sayce, A. H. (1911–1912). SENNACHERIB. In J. Hastings, J. A. Selbie, A. B. Davidson, S. R. Driver, & H. B. Swete (Eds.), A Dictionary of the Bible: Dealing with Its Language, Literature, and Contents Including the Biblical Theology (Vol. 4, p. 436). New York; Edinburgh: Charles Scribner’s Sons; T. & T. Clark.