<p>9:27 <em>And Isaiah cried out concerning Israel- </em>Paul perceived through the Spirit that Isaiah <em>cried aloud</em> with passion the idea that although there were many people theoretically &quot;of Israel&quot; in that they were the seed of Abraham, only a remnant of them would be saved. And Paul implies that this holds true in our dispensation too (Is. 10:22 cp. Rom. 9:27). One can sense how much Paul felt the passion of God's word. It wasn't just black print on white paper to him. Thus he speaks of how &quot;Esaias is very bold, and saith... Esaias also <em>crieth</em> concerning Israel...&quot; (Rom. 9:27; 10:20). Paul had meditated deeply upon Isaiah's words, even to the point of considering the tone of voice in which he first spoke them. See on Acts 13:27.</p><p><em>Even if the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, it is only the remnant that shall be saved</em>- Again we have the idea of two seeds of Abraham. Those who are indeed &quot;as the sand of the sea&quot;, fulfilling the promise about the multiplication of Abraham's seed, are not thereby saved. Salvation is for the remnant; see on :6. Truly not all Israel are of Israel.</p><p>There may also be particular reference to the saving of Israel in the last days. The Isaiah quotation is from Is. 10:20-23, which says that in the context of the Assyrian invasion, &ldquo;the remnant of Israel&rdquo;, those who survive it, will trust in the Lord alone and &ldquo;in truth&rdquo;, i.e. in covenant relationship with Him. It seems that all others of natural Israel will perish in the latter day holocaust upon Israel. (as in Is. 4:2-4). This language of the remnant &lsquo;returning&rsquo; unto the Lord is quoted here about the repentance of the Jewish people and their turning to Christ. Israel were intended to repent because of Sennacherib&rsquo;s invasion (Is. 37:31,32), and then &ldquo;the consumption&rdquo; of God&rsquo;s plan could have happened. But the prophecy has been reinterpreted with reference to Israel in the last days, repenting finally as the result of the latter day Assyrian invasion. Isaiah 10 speaks of how Israel&rsquo;s affliction by Assyria leads them to repentance; a &ldquo;remnant shall return&hellip; unto the mighty God&rdquo; (Is. 10:21)- and the &ldquo;mighty God&rdquo; has just been defined in Is. 9:6 as a title for the Lord Jesus. This will be a result of God using the Assyrian invader to &ldquo;make a consumption&hellip; in the midst of all the land&rdquo; of Israel (Is. 10:23). The &ldquo;yoke&rdquo; of Assyria &ldquo;shall be destroyed because of the anointing&rdquo; (Is. 10:27)- i.e. the coming of Christ, the anointed one, in response to the remnant returning unto Him.</p>