I’ve recently been asked what “brace the remnant” means. After I’ve explained it a few times and only receiving puzzled stares in response, I figure this would be a good time to put it in writing. I took the phrase “brace the remnant” from an essay by Albert Jay Nock, entitled Isaiah’s Job. The essay explores the biblical notion of Isaiah’s job and its relation to contemporary society.

From Isaiah’s Job:

Isaiah had been very willing to take on the job – in fact, he
had asked for it – but the prospect put a new face on the situation. It raised the obvious question: Why, if all that were so – if the enterprise were to be a failure from the start – was there any sense in starting it? “Ah,” the Lord said, “you do not get the point. There is a Remnant there that you know nothing about. They are obscure, unorganized, inarticulate, each one rubbing along as best he can. They need to be encouraged and braced up because when everything has gone completely to the dogs, they are the ones who will come back and build up a new society; and meanwhile, your preaching will reassure them and keep them hanging on. Your job is to take care of the Remnant, so be off now and set about it.”

The body of liberty sometimes feels like its slowly being smothered. In fact, most of the items I post are just that, reports of a slow death by collectivism. I sincerely wish I could be optimistic about current happenings, but I cannot. If society is a pendulum, we are on the apex of the swing away from liberty. So why should I even bother fighting a losing war?

It is the understanding of Isaiah’s job that gives me some hope. The tide of collectivism may be unstoppable for the present but the remnant will persist. It is the eventuality of the Remnant that makes Isaiah’s job fruitful. The Remnant that eventually creates the Italian and Greek city states, or the Roman and American republics are often a small group of people who take the lessons of the past to heart. I took the name bracetheremnant.com with such in mind.