23/04/17 Isaiah 4:1-6 “The
redemption of Zion by the Messiah in that
day”
Isaiah 4:1 – And in that day seven
women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear
our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.
Some commentaries suggest that
this verse really belongs to the end of Ch 3 (dealing with the judgment of the
daughters of Zion), but I disagree. It does appear to be a new passage dealing
with the redemption of the daughters of Zion – see Vs 4). And, while Isaiah
primarily means Judah and Jerusalem in his prophecies here, I will apply it
today to Israel in general as a single nation again one day.
Isaiah 3:6 shows a man taking hold
of another man to be their ruler, and here today the passage shows women also
taking hold of a man, but not as ruler but for leadership of their family.
Isaiah 3:6 – When a man shall take
hold of his brother of the house of his father, [saying], Thou hast
clothing, be thou our ruler, and [let] this ruin [be] under thy
hand:
These women (who may be identified
as the daughters of Zion) do not want any provision (such as food and clothing)
but to simply have some legal status such as wives of Israel sought. In today’s
world, an unmarried mother is common, even apparently desirable for some, yet
only a couple of generations ago an unmarried mother was almost unheard-of;
three or more generations ago an unmarried mother might have been married off
quickly to someone to literally take away her reproach. (Sometimes called “shotgun”
marriages with the unmarried father being threatened with being “shot” if they
didn’t!)
Likewise, children were considered
a blessing and the lack of children a reproach.
Genesis 30:22-23 – 22 And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and
opened her womb. 23 And she conceived, and bare a son; and
said, God hath taken away my reproach:
1 Samuel 1:5-6 – 5 But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved
Hannah: but the Lord had shut up her womb. 6 And her
adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the Lord had
shut up her womb.
Luke 1:24-25 – 24 And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and
hid herself five months, saying, 25 Thus hath the Lord dealt
with me in the days wherein he looked on [me], to take away my reproach
among men.
In a way, this may be seen as a
picture of Judah (or Israel) where the judgment has come upon the nation
because of spiritual harlotry with other gods. The reproach then would be
related to God’s divorcement of His “wife” Israel because of her wickedness.
Jeremiah 3:8 – And I saw, when for
all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her
away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared
not, but went and played the harlot also.
The re-establishment of Israel as
God’s nation (which will happen “in that day”) will mean the redemption of
Israel with the consequent removal of her reproach (that of being divorced,
therefore single or unmarried). The rest of this chapter clearly follows along
this theme of the end-times and millennium re-establishment of Israel as the
special people of God. This would make the identity of that “one man” God, or
probably more correctly, the Messiah, the Christ, when He comes to take up His
millennium reign on earth. Christ will take away their reproach; Christ will
let them be called by His name, as indeed Christians are today.
Ezekiel 37:22-24 – 22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the
mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be
no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more
at all: 23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with
their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their
transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces,
wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people,
and I will be their God. 24 And David my servant [shall
be] king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also
walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
Joel 2:31-32 – 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into
blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come. 32 And
it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the
Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be
deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall
call.
Ezekiel 39:7 – So will I make my
holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not [let them] pollute
my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I [am] the Lord,
the Holy One in Israel.
And in that day seven women
(representing Israel) shall take hold of one man (their Messiah, the Christ),
saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be
called by thy name, to take away our reproach.
Revelation 11:13 – And the same hour was
there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city (Jerusalem) fell, and
in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were
affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
Isaiah 4:2 – In that day shall the
branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth [shall
be] excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.
It appears that the judgment of
Israel and the restoration of Israel are two parts of the same event, noting
“In that day”.
Isaiah 3:18 – In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of [their] tinkling
ornaments [about their feet], and [their] cauls, and [their] round
tires like the moon,
Israel will be judged, both man
and woman. However, the judgment will be for the purpose of purging out those
who will not desire the Lord God (and their punishment which follows) and the
restoration of the remnant who will have called upon the name of the Lord and
consequently become the remnant called by the Lord for redemption.
Joel 2:32 – And it shall come to
pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be
delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord
hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.
The branch refers to the coming of
the Messiah, noting the following where a different word is used for “branch” (netser – always
used figuratively for sprout, shoot or branch; it is the same word from which
Nazareth derives).
Isaiah 11:1-2 – 1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of
Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 2 And the
spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the
Lord;
This branch of the Lord, the
Messiah, will be beautiful and glorious to Israel in a way that they as a
nation have never really seen before.
Zechariah 12:10 – And I will pour upon
the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace
and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and
they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for [his]
only [son], and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in
bitterness for [his] firstborn.
And the ensuing millennium will be
a time of excellent provision, a comely (delightful; appealing) place; they
will now fully appreciate the goodness and provision of the Lord their God.
Jeremiah 33:15-16 – 15 In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch
of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and
righteousness in the land. 16 In those days shall Judah be
saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this [is the name] wherewith
she shall be called, The Lord our righteousness.
the escaped of Israel – this is the remnant of Israel that will be redeemed in
the last days (according to Joel 2:32) before the millennium reign of the
Messiah.
Also see Isaiah 37:31 – And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah
shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
Isaiah 4:3 – And it shall come to
pass, [that he that is] left in Zion, and [he that] remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, [even] every
one that is written among the living in Jerusalem:
holy – set apart; holy. That is, set apart from all that God
has chosen to set apart from Himself: namely, sin, evil, wickedness etc.
It shall come to pass that the
remnant (those remaining) in Zion (Jerusalem) – note that we have two
synonymous phrases here, an example of synonymous Hebrew parallelism for
emphasis: he that is left in Zion = he that remains in Jerusalem. All who
remain shall be declared holy; they will be purged of their sin of apostasy
against the Lord their God. They will be a separated people for God. This
appears to occur near the end of the tribulation period at which time Israel
finally sees what they have never seen before, the true nature of their God.
Revelation 11:13 – And the same hour was
there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the
earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted,
and gave glory to the God of heaven.
These will be the same ones who
are written among the living (literally “written for life”) in Jerusalem; that
is, they have been redeemed and will now forever be God’s people and He will be
their God. This probably relates to the Book of Life in which the names of all
the redeemed of God, both Israel and Church, have been written.
Unless God had redeemed this
remnant, Israel would surely have been destroyed.
Isaiah 1:9 – Except the Lord of
hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, [and]
we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
However, note that the remnant is
not unconditionally chosen by God but according to Joel 2:32 is chosen on the
basis of those who have called upon the name of the Lord!
Joel 2:32 – And it shall come to
pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be
delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord
hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.
And for those who irrationally
demand that the election of God be unconditional upon any of the works of man,
just note the following where election to be written among the redeemed of
Israel clearly excludes those who speak against the word of God.
Ezekiel 13:8-9 – 8 Therefore thus saith the Lord
God; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I [am]
against you, saith the Lord God. 9 And
mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies:
they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written
in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land
of Israel; and ye shall know that I [am] the Lord God.
However, if this doesn’t say it
clearly enough, then see the following:
Psalm 69:27-28 – 27 Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come
into thy righteousness. 28 Let them be blotted out of the
book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.
Clearly God has a definite condition here for election: people who commit iniquity will not be written in the book of life! Or what about:-
Galatians 5:19-21 – 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are [these]; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told [you] in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Of course, calvinists will try to say that these symptoms
are the consequence of being of the non-elect, yet why not just say so in this
passage? Clearly, it is their unrepentant behaviour (and not their lack of
election) that prevents the entry of these wicked ones into heaven in this
passage!
Isaiah 4:4 – When the Lord shall
have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the
blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the
spirit of burning.
filth – dung; excrement; manure.
See Malachi 2:3 – Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon
your faces, [even] the dung of your solemn feasts; and [one] shall
take you away with it.
This filth has to refer to the
description of the daughters of Zion (see Isaiah 3:16-24), all their worldly
accessories that would be burned up as by fire in the judgment.
Malachi 4:1 – For, behold, the day
cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do
wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither
root nor branch.
purged the blood of Jerusalem – see Isaiah 1:15 – And when ye spread
forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many
prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
Also Isaiah 59:1-3 – 1 Behold,
the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy,
that it cannot hear: 2 But your iniquities have separated
between you and your God, and your sins have hid [his] face from you,
that he will not hear. 3 For your hands are defiled with
blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue
hath muttered perverseness.
This purging will be through the
breath (blast) of judgment (justice will be restored) and by the breath (blast)
of burning as in a fiery furnace.
1 Corinthians 3:12-13 – 12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver,
precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 Every man’s work
shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be
revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
Psalm 51:7 – Purge me with hyssop,
and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Isaiah 1:18 – Come now, and let us
reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be
as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool.
Isaiah 48:10 – Behold, I have
refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of
affliction.
Isaiah 4:5 – And the Lord will
create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a
cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon
all the glory [shall be] a defence.
dwelling place – fixed or established place; place of habitation. It
could refer to the whole of the habitation in Jerusalem, particularly the
temple, but is more likely to mean that every person who dwells in the new
Jerusalem will be a part of this divine presence.
This refers to the presence and
protection of God during their time in the wilderness, where the tabernacle in
the desert was patterned upon the real temple in the heavens.
Exodus 13:21 – And the Lord went
before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night
in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:
Numbers 9:15 – And on the day that
the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, [namely], the
tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the
appearance of fire, until the morning.
Every dwelling place in Jerusalem (and
not just the temple [tabernacle]) now will have God’s personal presence, as
well as at all their assemblies (their gatherings to worship the Lord God
wherever that might be, probably even in their houses – similar to the usage of
the Greek ekklesia
– “church”). And, by this means, all dwelling places will have the defence of
God’s glory, where the term “defence” actually means “canopy” or
“overshadowing”. God’s glory will be a canopy that overshadows every dwelling
place in the new Jerusalem. It is translated as “chamber” in Psalm 19:5 and
“closet” in the following:
Joel 2:15-16 – 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn
assembly: 16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation,
assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let
the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. (where “closet” is the same word as “defence”). It appears
to signify a canopy that was held over (apparently even today) newly married
Jewish couples.
This appears to be the people of
the old covenant now transferred into the new covenant agreement where all may approach
the throne of God with boldness, and not just through a priest of even high
priest such as in the Old Testament. Only holy ones may approach holy God, yet
all are holy now, having been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb as per the new
covenant requirements.
Isaiah 4:6 – And there shall be a
tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of
refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.
tabernacle – translated also in Old Testament as booth, pavilion,
cottage, covert, tents. A dwelling place for the purposes of protection and
shelter.
Psalm 27:4-5 – 4 One [thing] have I desired of the Lord, that will
I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my
life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple. 5
For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion:
in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a
rock. (where “pavilion” is the root word for
that used for “tabernacle” in Vs 6 above).
This tabernacle is a shelter from
the heat of the sun, a refuge from danger, and a covering overhead in stormy
and wet weather. However, spiritually speaking, it would signify a shelter from
spiritual heat (hell?), a refuge from spiritual danger (fear only Him who can
condemn both body and soul in hell?) and a spiritual covering from the tempests
of life (the sabbath-rest?)
Barnes says – The sinner is exposed to the burning wrath of God, and to
the storms of divine vengeance that shall beat forever on the naked soul in
hell. From all this burning wrath, and from this raging tempest, the Messiah is
the only refuge. Through him God forgives sin; and united to him by faith, the
soul is safe. There are few images more beautiful than this. Soon the storms of
divine vengeance will beat on the sinner. God will summon him to judgment. But
then, he who has fled to the Messiah - the Lord Jesus - as the refuge of his
soul, shall be safe. He shall have nothing to fear, and in his arms shall find defense and salvation.
One thing may be noted, though:
this is Judah in this prophecy, not the Church. Although the Church will be
endowed with all similar spiritual blessings, this prophecy is primarily to
God’s nation of Israel (or Judah, as Isaiah often refers to it). Calvinists
(and others such as British Israelites etc) have tried hard to remove God’s
elect nation of Israel effectively from the Bible and from God’s prophetic
timeline, yet such false teachings will never prevent God’s will from being
imposed upon His nation Israel. Why do the calvinists despise Israel so much?
For such is certain from their overwhelming desire to take the place of Israel
in all its entirety. I can only strongly suggest that the calvinists are
jealous of the special attention that God has given Israel, and that their
jealousy has led to them refusing to accept the reality that Israel will always
remain God’s special and elect nation, always with some sort of pre-eminence
over the bride of Christ, the Church. For only Israel will inherit the eternal
land of Israel, not the Church, although the Church will have blessings and
provision that are in no way any less in worth than that bestowed upon Israel.
But, the fact remains, that Israel and the Church are two separate “nations” in
the eyes of God, and will always remain so, according to what I see Scripture
as saying!
Instead of being glad for the sake
of Israel as God’s people in their redemption and re-establishment in God’s
favour, the calvinists (and others too) want that very redemption and
restoration for themselves, and in doing so, have denied their own salvation
which today can only be through the Church, the bride of Christ, and not
through the covenant that God has made with His people Israel. And this
jealousy of the calvinists (and others who would deny Israel her special place
in the will of God) will destroy them, for no-one may oppose God’s people and
expect to remain unjudged for such!
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