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About Jesus Steve Sweetman Isaiah 4 The
Branch (ch. 4:2 - 6)
In
verse 2 the prophet speaks of the branch of the Lord.
The "branch" is in reference to the Messiah.
If you do a word study and look up the word "branch",
You will note this to be true. The
text reads, "in that day".
In that day the branch will be glorious and the survivors will
benefit from the glory of the Messiah Branch.
The branch will reach down from heaven and restore that which was
lost in judgment. Most
Biblical Futurists believe this is in reference to the end of this
present age when Jesus will return and restore the fortunes of Israel. We
must ask, when Judah
returned from 70 years of Babylonian captivity, was she restored to the
degree verse 2 suggests here? The
answer is clearly no. This is yet to be fulfilled. In
verses 3 and 4 we see what restoration looks like.
The remnant of Israel
will finally be holy and righteous.
Their women who were once living in shame will be cleansed of
their shame. "All
those who are recorded among the living" is in reference to those
who have survived the last great battle of this age.
A spirit of grace and supplication will be poured out on them,
causing them to return to their God in genuine repentance. Note
in verse 4 that the blood stained city of Jerusalem
will be cleaned "by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of
fire". The Hebrew
word translated as " It
is God's judgment that brings the remnant of Note
the word "fire". God's
judgment is often seen as fire in the Bible.
The whole point to fire, and God's judgment, is meant to bring
people to their knees in order to be cleansed of their sin. Fire is all
about the refining fire of God, both in the lives of individuals and
nations. Verses
5 and 6 remind us of the cloud and the fire that aided Israel
in their wanderings in the desert after the Lord freed them from
Egyptian bondage. The text
here says that the same cloud and smoke will return to Jerusalem. Some might think this is
symbolic language, but I think it's not.
If this were symbolic, then I believe we'd have to say the cloud
and smoke in the desert was symbolic. We see this cloud and smoke from
time to time in the Old Testament. It
represents both the glory of protection of the Lord on His people.
So, at least we know, whether literal or symbolic,
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