Starting with Isaiah 2.1, we discover the future of God’s people, through whom God’s law would be revealed to a hopeful world. However, this vision was very different from Israel’s current state.
In chapters two and three, we see that instead of teaching the world, Israel was being influenced by it. They were relying on human greatness rather than the Lord. But depending on humans does not elevate—it humiliates.
Chapter four emphasizes that God will never abandon His people.
On that Day
On that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and glory of the survivors of Israel (Isaiah 4:2).
God’s final day is not about destruction; it’s about cleansing and restoring his people.
In Isaiah, we learn that God strips away the honor Israel created for herself and bestows upon her a new sense of exaltation and honor through the Messiah.
When God grants her glory, she will recognize her true greatness—the greatness that had eluded her when she tried to achieve it on her own.
The Messiah, known to us as Jesus, is the branch of the Lord who will bring about Israel’s glory. This applies both to his arrival on earth and in the end times.
A Jesus-Kind-Of-Life
A nation that has increasingly strayed from God’s moral character will one day become holy. The purpose of judgment and redemption is for people to embody God’s nature.
Whoever is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem,
Once the Lord has 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 (Isaiah 4:3-4).
Dallas Willard talks about living a Jesus-kind-of-life. I think this gives a good idea of what holiness means. We model the character of the Lord.
We learn about his character by reading the gospels. One of my favorite authors, Frank Laubach, would spend about two hours each day reading the gospels and talking to Jesus about who he is and who we should be. I think this is a fantastic practice to consider.
Sin must be addressed, and it is never resolved without bloodshed. Isaiah describes how Jesus ultimately conquered our sin problem.
Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:4-6).
We are saved because we have responded to God’s initiative. Sadly, if we do not respond, we will not be saved.
God’s Ultimate Intention
God’s ultimate goal is to share His presence and glory with people.
Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over its places of assembly a cloud by day and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night. Indeed, over all the glory there will be a canopy.
It will serve as a pavilion, a shade by day from the heat and a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain (Isaiah 4:5-6).
The cloud symbolizes God’s care, offering protection and guidance. This divine presence is no longer confined to the temple but is available to everyone who worships the Lord.
The fire that once cleansed us of sin now gives us protection and hope. Under God’s shelter, nothing in the created universe can harm those who belong to God.
Reflections
Scholars often mention living between “the already and the not yet.”
Jesus has already come to earth and established His kingdom. On the cross, Satan and his minions were defeated by God’s powerful love. These events are established facts.
However, the full implications of God’s rule has not yet been realized fully. When it is, we will experience everything God has promised.
For now, we must grasp by faith what God has done and live in that reality.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today.
Real Voices 