(The
objective of these ‘Frameworks' is to provide an easy-to-read
layout of the text in order then to use these individual verses
for verse-by-verse study or meditation. To focus each
verse we have also added in italic a description of what is happening)
FRAMEWORKS:
Isaiah 4:
A Chapter of Hope
For
structure & preliminaries, see chapter 1
v.1
Continuation
v.2-6
The Branch of the Lord & Restoration of Zion
v.1
Continuation
v.1
(with
most men gone, self-sufficient women will seek identity)
In
that day seven women will take hold of one man and say, “We
will eat our own food and provide our own clothes; only let us
be called by your name. Take away our disgrace!”
v.2-6
The Branch of the Lord & Restoration of Zion
v.2
(see
the notes below. Yet there will be glorious survivors of
the Lord's judgment) In
that day
the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the
fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors
in Israel.
v.3
(the
surviving remnant in Jerusalem will be holy) Those
who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called
holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem.
v.4
(the
Lord will have cleansed them of the sin that previously prevailed)
The
Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse
the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit
of fire.
v.5
(He
will set His glorious presence over them as it had been during
the Exodus [Ex 13:21]) Then
the Lord will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who
assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire
by night; over everything the glory will be a canopy.
v.6
(
and he will shelter them and be a refuge for them ) It
will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge
and hiding place from the storm and rain.
Note
1: The surprise
about this chapter is not so much its shortness as the fact that
it didn't start at what is seen as verse 2, the first verse being
a continuation of the previous chapter. Having said that, it's
position here is, in one sense, as a continuation.
Note
2: ‘the
day of the Lord'
•
announced, 2:12 The
Lord Almighty has a day in store
•
its effects, 2:17,20 The
arrogance of man will be brought low and human pride humbled;
the Lord alone will be exalted in that day … (and
they will throw away their idols)
•
its infliction, 3:18 In
that day the Lord will snatch away their finery
•
its poverty inflicted, 4:1 In
that day seven women will take hold of one man
It
is a day of judgment. The only query
about it is whether it will be in the near future or it is the
Final Judgment that scripture often speaks about. We should note
that there is a feeling that in all this there is an implied ongoing
existence of the people of God after the judgment.
Note
3: The ‘Branch of the Lord'
seen in verse 2, that appears often in the prophetic scriptures
(e.g. Isa 11:1, Jer 23:5, 33:15, Zech 3:8, 6:12) is either an
individual (the Messiah) or, as some commentators suggest, the
holy remnant if Israel, the nation, from within which the Messiah
comes.
Note
4: The point of this chapter
must surely be to insert hope. This is something that always happens
in the Scriptures. Yes, there will be judgment, God will
deal with the ungodly and the unrighteous, and as this specifically
applies to Israel (Judah), the fear will be that this means the
ultimate destruction of the nation. But that is never so, there
are always references to ‘remnants' and, as we now find here,
the Lord's declaration is that His intent is to ultimately bring
good to the nation:
•
the end result will be beautiful
and glorious (v.2)
•
a holy people will still inhabit
Jerusalem (v.3)
•
they will be a cleansed-of-sin
people (v.4)
•
His protection and guidance will
hang over them the whole time (v.5)
•
thus Jerusalem will be a shelter
and protection for them (v.6)
Yes,
we have gone along with the popular division of the book calling
the first 39 chapters, “Words of Judgment” but we should always
be on the lookout for these words of hope that occur in this division
that explode in number in the second division so often titled
“Words of Comfort”
Continue
to Chapter 5