Cleansing and Restoration of the Remnant of Jerusalem. Isaiah 4:2-6

Transcription

1 1 Commentary and Questions by Clyde M. Miller Cleansing and Restoration of the Remnant of Jerusalem Isaiah 4:2-6

2 2 Text: Isaiah Chapters 2-4 Exaltation of God and the Humbling of Man Part 3, Isaiah 4:2-6 Cleansing and Restoration of the Remnant of Jerusalem Isaiah 4:2-6, Commentary and Questions by Clyde M. Miller 2. 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. 3. Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem. 4. 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. 5. 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 all the glory will be a canopy. 6. It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain. NIV

3 3 Commentary: Isaiah 2:2-5, In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD. NIV Isaiah 4:2-6, 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. Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem. 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. 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 all the glory will be a canopy. It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain. NIV As previously indicated, In that day in the context of a hope oracle introduces Jerusalem redeemed. The glory of Jerusalem was introduced in Isaiah 2:2-5 as the mountain of the LORD S temple (house). In Isaiah 4:2-6, the concept of the Branch of the LORD is introduced, and it is developed in later prophetic writings.

4 4 Isaiah 2:6-22, You have abandoned your people, the house of Jacob. They are full of superstitions from the East; they practice divination like the Philistines and clasp hands with pagans. Their land is full of silver and gold; there is no end to their treasures. Their land is full of horses; there is no end to their chariots. Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made. So man will be brought low and mankind humbled do not forgive them. Go into the rocks, hide in the ground from dread of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty! The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. The LORD Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled), for all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty, and all the oaks of Bashan, for all the towering mountains and all the high hills, for every lofty tower and every fortified wall, for every trading ship and every stately vessel. The arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day, and the idols will totally disappear. Men will flee to caves in the rocks and to holes in the ground from dread of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to shake the earth. In that day men will throw away to the rodents and bats their idols of silver and idols of gold, which they made to worship. They will flee to caverns in the rocks and to the overhanging crags from dread of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to shake the earth. Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he? NIV Isaiah 3:1-26, See now, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, is about to take from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: all supplies of food and all supplies of water, the hero and warrior, the judge and prophet, the soothsayer and elder, the captain of fifty and man of rank, the counselor, skilled craftsman and clever enchanter. I will make boys their officials; mere children will govern them. People will oppress each other man against man,

5 5 neighbor against neighbor. The young will rise up against the old, the base against the honorable. A man will seize one of his brothers at his father's home, and say, "You have a cloak, you be our leader; take charge of this heap of ruins!" But in that day he will cry out, "I have no remedy. I have no food or clothing in my house; do not make me the leader of the people." Jerusalem staggers, Judah is falling; their words and deeds are against the LORD, defying his glorious presence. The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves. Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds. Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them! They will be paid back for what their hands have done. Youths oppress my people, women rule over them. O my people, your guides lead you astray; they turn you from the path. The LORD takes his place in court; he rises to judge the people. The LORD enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of his people: "It is you who have ruined my vineyard; the plunder from the poor is in your houses. What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor?" declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty. The LORD says, "The women of Zion are haughty, walking along with outstretched necks, flirting with their eyes, tripping along with mincing steps, with ornaments jingling on their ankles. Therefore the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion; the LORD will make their scalps bald." In that day the Lord will snatch away their finery: the bangles and headbands and crescent necklaces, the earrings and bracelets and veils, the headdresses and ankle chains and sashes, the perfume bottles and charms, the signet rings and nose rings, the fine robes and the capes and cloaks, the purses and mirrors, and the linen garments and tiaras and shawls. Instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a sash, a rope; instead of well-dressed hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, branding. Your men will fall by the sword, your warriors in bat-

6 6 tle. The gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground. NIV Isaiah 4:1, 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!" NIV The general concept of the metaphor of the branch as set forth in the prophets is that it is a vibrant growing thing. The exalted figure in this setting is The Branch of Yahweh/the LORD. In contrast to the shameful conditions described in oracles 2-4, the Branch described here is beautiful and glorious. A worldly false glory was intimated in 2:6 4:1, but here a pure divine glory is revealed in the person of the branch. Isaiah 4:2, 3, 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. Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem. NIV The first application of the branch in Isaiah 4:2 is that the branch is connected with the remnant left in Jerusalem during the captivity when the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel. The word survivors here refers to the remnant, those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem (Isa. 4:3) when the captivity of Judah occurred in three stages in 605, 597 and 587 B.C. Isaiah 11:1, 11, A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea. NIV

7 7 Jeremiah 23:5, "The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. NIV Jeremiah 33:15, In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David's line; he will do what is just and right in the land. NIV Zechariah 3:8, Listen, O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. NIV Zechariah 6:12, 13, Tell him this is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the LORD. It is he who will build the temple of the LORD, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two. NIV Ezra 3:8, In the second month of the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak and the rest of their brothers (the priests and the Levites and all who had returned from the captivity to Jerusalem) began the work, appointing Levites twenty years of age and older to supervise the building of the house of the LORD. NIV Ezra 5:2, Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak set to work to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, helping them. NIV Haggai 1:1-14, In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came through the

8 8 prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest: This is what the LORD Almighty says: "These people say, 'The time has not yet come for the LORD's house to be built.'" Then the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: "Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?" Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it." This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored," says the LORD. "You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?" declares the LORD Almighty. "Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands." Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD. Then Haggai, the LORD's messenger, gave this message of the LORD to the people: "I am with you," declares the LORD. So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God, NIV

9 9 Zechariah 4:6-10, So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty. "What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of 'God bless it! God bless it!'" Then the word of the LORD came to me: "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you. "Who despises the day of small things? Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. "(These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which range throughout the earth.)" NIV Hebrews 7:11-8:2, If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law. He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. For it is declared: "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him: "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: 'You are a priest forever.'" Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because

10 10 Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever. The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man. NIV Hebrews 8:1, 2, The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man. NIV John 18:33-37, Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" "Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about me?" "Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied. "It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?" Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." "You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." NIV

11 11 1 Peter 2:21, To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. NIV Isaiah develops the concept of the Branch to inform the reader that the branch is of the stock of Jesse (Isa. 11:1,11), namely, David. David is often used as a type of Christ. About a century later than Isaiah s time, Jeremiah develops the concept of the Branch still further. He will be a righteous Branch and a king who will execute justice and righteousness (Jer. 23:5). This will be a work of Yahweh (Jer. 33:15; Zech. 3:8). Zechariah (6:12-13) uses the word Branch as a personal name and further declares that he will be a priest and king who would help to rebuild the temple. The Old Testament application of this prophecy is to Zerubbabel who was the one responsible for this project (Ezra 3:8; 5:2; Hag. 1:1-14; Zech. 4:6-10). The double roles of priest and king are ultimately fulfilled in Christ (Heb. 7:11 8:2; Jn. 18:33-37). In its developed usage, the concept of the Branch becomes an analogue of the Messiah (Christ) who reigns in righteousness and justice and commands obedience, that is, that people walk in His paths (1 Pet. 2:21). Isaiah 3:16-26, The LORD says, "The women of Zion are haughty, walking along with outstretched necks, flirting with their eyes, tripping along with mincing steps, with ornaments jingling on their ankles. Therefore the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion; the LORD will make their scalps bald." In that day the Lord will snatch away their finery: the bangles and headbands and crescent necklaces, the earrings and bracelets and veils, the headdresses and ankle chains and sashes, the perfume bottles and charms, the signet rings and nose rings, the fine robes and the capes and cloaks, the purses and mirrors, and the linen garments and tiaras and shawls. Instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a sash, a rope; instead of well-dressed hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, branding. Your men will fall by the sword, your warriors in bat-

12 12 tle. The gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground. NIV Isaiah 4:1, 4, 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!" 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. NIV The filth of the women of Jerusalem described in Isaiah 3:16 4:1 will be washed away, and the spiritual fruit of righteousness will replace it (4:4). A spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire (4:4b) are phrases that refer to the refining of the survivors of Jerusalem. Isaiah 4:5, 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 all the glory will be a canopy. NIV Exodus 13:20-22, After leaving Succoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people. NIV The cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night (Isa. 4:5) remind the reader of God s guiding hand over the Israelites as they came out of Egypt under Moses (Ex. 13:20-22). God s guidance would again be over his faithful people in exilic days. Isaiah 4:5, 6, 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 all the glory will be a canopy. It

13 13 will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain. NIV The words canopy, shelter, shade, refuge and hiding place (4:5, 6) are all metaphors of protection, and the words storm and rain are metaphors of the difficulties of life.

14 14 Questions Isaiah 4:2-6 Questions by Clyde M. Miller 1. With what period of Israel s history is the word branch used in Isaiah 2:2-6? 2. In what three years did the three stages of Judah s exile to Babylonia occur? 3. What is the general meaning of the word branch as used in the prophets?

15 15 4. Who is designated as the Branch in Isaiah 11? 5. What role will the Branch perform according to Jeremiah 23:5? 6. What two roles will the Branch perform according to Zechariah (6:12-13)? 7. Who fulfills these two roles according to Heb. 7:11 8:2; Jn. 18:33-37? 8. What do the phrases, a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire mean in (4:4b)?

16 16 9. What do the metaphors canopy, shelter and refuge mean? 10. What do the metaphors storm and rain mean?