From Splendor to Shadow

Final Success Assured

The prophet's duty was plain—he was to lift his voice against the prevailing evils. But he dreaded to undertake the work without some assurance of hope. “Lord, how long?” he inquired. Verse 11. Are none of Thy chosen people ever to repent and be healed? SS 163.3

His mission was not to be wholly fruitless, yet the evils that had been multiplying for generations could not be removed in his day. He must be a patient, courageous teacher—a prophet of hope as well as of doom. A remnant should be saved. That this might be brought about, messages of entreaty were to be delivered to the rebellious nation. SS 163.4

The ten tribes of the northern kingdom were soon to be scattered among the nations; the destroying armies of hostile nations were to sweep over the land again and again; even Jerusalem was finally to fall and Judah to be carried away captive; yet the Promised Land was not to remain forsaken forever. The assurance of the heavenly visitant to Isaiah was: SS 164.1

In it shall be a tenth,
And it shall return, and shall be eaten:
As a teil tree, and as an oak,
Whose substance is in them, when they cast their
leaves:
So the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.
Verse 13

This assurance brought courage to Isaiah. He had seen the King, the Lord of hosts; he had heard the song of the seraphim, “The whole earth is full of His glory.” Verse 3. He had the promise that the messages of Jehovah would be accompanied by the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, and the prophet was nerved for the work before him. Throughout his long, arduous mission he carried the memory of this vision. For sixty years or more he stood as a prophet of hope, predicting the future triumph of the church. SS 164.2