我们今天来到以赛亚书第六章这段伟大经文的结束，一起看看最后这句话：「我就说：『主啊，这到几时为止呢？』……『直到城邑荒凉，无人居住，房屋空闲无人，地土极其荒凉。并且耶和华将人迁到远方，在这境内撇下的地土很多。境内剩下的人若还有十分之一，也必被吞灭；像栗树、橡树虽被砍伐，树墩子却仍存留，这圣洁的种类在国中也是如此』」（赛六11-13）。

以赛亚明显要看到以色列变成荒地。他前面有漫长和艰难的工作要做。他要向基本上不想听他说话的人说预言。不过，我们在这一章最后一句话看到一丝盼望。当代圣经（The Living Bible）表达得最有力：「不过，十分一──余民──会存活；虽然以色列被一再入侵和破坏，但它会好像一棵被砍下的树，树墩子会存留，再次生长。」

百姓甚么时候会聆听？只有在他们走投无路，除了转向神外再没有别的出路时。当国土被入侵的军队破坏，百姓被掳，这情况便会出现。余民是指那些在被掳后留在故土，或者那些从巴比伦回来重建耶路撒冷的人。

啊，为甚么我们不听从神？我们会好像以色列那样，追求自己的路，只有在走投无路时才回到神身边吗？神今天是否在向你讲述这事？如果是的话，好好想一想祂在告诉你甚么，并趁还有时间赶紧顺服神的美意。

As we draw to the close of the great passage in Isaiah 6 we examine the final words: "Then I said, 'For how long, O Lord?'... 'Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and field ruined and ravaged, until the Lord has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken. And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land' " (Isa. 6:11-13).

Clearly Isaiah is going to witness Israel becoming like a wasteland. He has a long hard job ahead of him, prophesying to a people who, in the main, just do not want to hear. There is one ray of hope which we see in the last phrase of the chapter. The Living Bible puts it most effectively: "Yet a tenth - a remnant - will survive; and though Israel is invaded again and again and destroyed, yet Israel will be like a tree cut down, whose stump still lives to grow again."

When would the people listen? Only after they had come to the end and had nowhere to turn but to God. This would happen when the land was destroyed by invading armies and the people taken into captivity. The remnant referred to are those who either remained in the land after the captivity, or those who returned from Babylon to rebuild Jerusalem.

Oh, why don't we listen to God? Will we, like Israel, pursue our own paths and come back to Him only when we have nowhere left to turn? Is God speaking to you about this today? If so, consider what He may be telling you and obey Him while there is time.