The Holy Remnant Left in Zion

Isaiah 4:3 speaks of those "left in Zion," whom the prophet calls qodesh (holy ones)—separated from the world and consecrated to Elohim's purposes. F. Delitzsch observed that holiness means separation from worldly corruption, superior in character. These saints inhabiting Jerusalem represent what remains after divine smelting, their purity the consequence of washing.

Yahweh has never abandoned creation to complete corruption. He drowned the world yet preserved Noah's seed to build an altar. He consumed Gomorrah yet allowed the faithful to escape, establishing a new progeny. Throughout history, there persists always a remnant—the true heart, the faithful among the faithless.

J. Parker, D.D., emphasized this pattern: God maintains a nucleus of heaven within the world. The ermine, that delicate creature, becomes paralyzed by the slightest defilement upon its snow-white fur, so sensitive is it to contamination. Christians should possess equal sensibility to holiness, abstaining from even the appearance of evil, as the Sunday School Chronicle reminded Victorian congregants.

This illustration demands contemporary application: the remnant witnesses to Adonai's faithfulness across generations. Holiness is not merely personal purity but prophetic stance—the sanctified few preserving covenant truth when the many abandon it. The "one left" becomes the seed of restoration.