Isaiah 4

“In that day the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious; and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing for those of Israel who have escaped.”  Isaiah 4:2 (NKJV)

Isaiah’s message was clear: judgment is coming upon Judah and Jerusalem.  Why?  While they had continued in certain religious practices commanded by the Lord, they had largely abandoned His Word.  Their worship consisted of rote religious actions, but it was void of a personal daily pursuit of God in His Word as led by His Spirit.  If we understand Isaiah’s exhortation, we can make the connection to Messiah Jesus’ Words to his disciples:

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.  You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.  Abide in Me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  I am the vine, and you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.  By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” John 15:1-8 (NKJV)

While we can focus on the negative aspects of Isaiah’s preaching, namely the judgment of the Lord against apostasy-laden Hebrew worship, we are amiss if we do not also recognize the great grace offered in the midst of Isaiah’s pronouncement.

“And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy – everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem.  When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning, then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night.  For over all the glory there will be a covering.” Isaiah 4:3-5 (NKJV)

Yes, judgment will come.  And Jeremiah will be the “on the scene reporter” (many years later) telling the people of Jerusalem that the Word prophesied by Isaiah is coming true in their day.  But the message of encouragement (even giving a 70-year time limit for exile) in Jeremiah 29 echoes the hope of Isaiah 4.  For the remnant, those bent on repenting and returning to the Word of the Lord will again inhabit Jerusalem, experiencing the same signs of the Lord’s presence that accompanied Moses and the exiles from Egypt.  And for believers of Jesus, we expect the same signs of His presence in the New Jerusalem.  (Revelation 21:1-4)