Isaiah 4:2–6 (ESV)
2 In that day the branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. 3 And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, 4 when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. 5 Then the LORD will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy. 6 There will be a booth for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.
This passage closes out the larger section that began in chapter two. In chapter two and leading up to this passage, the emphasis is on the fact that Judah, Jerusalem, and the people of God have fallen. They’ve given themselves over to their wealth, which has become an idol for them, and in the process, they have ignored and forgotten the Lord. Chapters two and three served as a warning to the people of the judgment to come unless they repented from their wickedness and idolatry.
In those chapters, the people were warned of the consequences of their arrogance and pride. They had lost their way and were no longer the source through which the world would come to know the Lord. Instead, they are the ones who are seeking to become like the world, and as a consequence, the Lord will remove His blessing from them, and ultimately, there will come a day when Jerusalem and Judah are held accountable for their sin and idolatry. That day comes at the hands of the Babylonians, who destroy the southern kingdom of Judah and the city of Jerusalem and carry away the people into exile (2:18-4.1 describes what that day will look like).
But God. That day of judgment will not be the end for God’s people. It’s not that God just wipes out evil and then leaves a vacuum. A vacuum needs to be filled, and so the Lord is going to fill it in the future as the Lord speaks of a new day to come. This new day is what is being talked about in this passage.
The “branch of the Lord” is Jesus, and the fruit that is born are God’s people, now made holy. The Lord doesn’t just pass out judgment and then leave things in total destruction and chaos.
This passage reveals to us the Lord’s love for us as seen in three promises in this passage.
One, that the people will be made holy and belong to Him (vs. 3).
Two, that they will be cleansed from their sinfulness (“filth” and “bloodstains” in verse 4).
Three, they will experience the presence of God not as a threat, but as a blessing (vs. 5)
All of these promises are fulfilled in and through Jesus, and as we entrust our lives to Him, we become the fruit of God in the land. In short, through Jesus, you and I share in these promises from the Lord.
As I think about this passage, I’m floored by God’s love for us. The Lord doesn’t want us to be lost in our brokenness and mess. The Lord’s desire is for us to be whole and clean and to be in relationship with Him. The Lord loves all of us so much that He gave His only Son so that you and I would not perish, but have eternal life through Him. Jesus was sent into the world not to condemn, but to save us, to save you!
As we entrust our lives to Jesus, we are called to follow Him. In fact, Jesus said that we are sent into the world just as He was sent into the world.
John 20:21
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
So here is the question for each of us today: what are you carrying that feels too heavy, too broken, too far gone? Because this passage is a direct word to you. The same God who looked at exiled, idolatrous, defeated Judah and said "but I am not finished" looks at you and says the same thing. The branch of the Lord is beautiful and glorious, and His fruit — His people, you — are His pride and honor.
Your mess does not define you. Your failures or your wandering does not define you. You are defined by what God has declared over you in Jesus: holy, cleansed, covered. The cloud by day and the fire by night that once led Israel through the wilderness is the same presence of God that now rests over every believer. Not as a threat. As a shelter.
And the best part?
God is sending you into the world to carry the message that God can make everything new.
God bless you.
Scott