Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 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.
2. The luxuriant vegetation of the Holy Land in the latter days will reflect glory on the inhabitants as a proof of Jehovah’s signal favour a frequent thought in Messianic prophecy: Amo 9:13; Hos 2:21. f.; Isa 30:23; Jer 31:12; Eze 34:26-30; Eze 36:34 f.; Zec 9:16 f.; Mal 3:12; Joe 3:18; and cf. Lev 26:3-5; Deu 28:3-5; Deu 28:10-12. The verse has a close resemblance to ch. Isa 28:5.
the branch of the Lord ] better, the growth of Jehovah, that which Jehovah causes to grow. The word occurs in the same sense in Gen 19:15 (A.V. “that which grew”) and Isa 61:11 (“bud”). It stands in parallelism with the fruit of the land (not earth) in the next clause, and both expressions are to be understood quite literally. The reference to a personal Messiah is thus excluded by the context; for few will be prepared to apply both expressions to Christ, the former to His divine sonship and the latter to His human birth (although this view is defended by Delitzsch on the analogy of Eze 17:5). It is true that afterwards the Heb. word for “growth” ( ema) came to be used as a, title of the Messiah (Zec 3:8; Zec 6:12), but this usage rests on Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15, where the Messiah is described as a scion ( ema) of the Davidic house. Observe that it is an entirely different word which is translated “Branch” in Isa 11:1.
beautiful and glorious excellent and comely ] better, for beauty and glory for a pride and a renown.
to the escaped of Israel ] those who have been spared in the day of the Lord’s anger. Cf. ch. Isa 10:20, Isa 37:31.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
2 6. The Final State of Zion and the Redeemed Israel
Beyond the great judgment there is revealed to the prophet a vision of the ideal religious community, blessed with an exuberant supernatural fertility imparted to the soil ( Isa 4:2), purified from sin ( Isa 4:3-4), and overshadowed by the protecting presence of Jehovah ( Isa 4:5-6). It is a picture of the glorious Messianic age which immediately follows the day of the Lord. Those who inherit its glories are the survivors of the catastrophe ( Isa 4:2-3). Although the section has no definite historical background, it is obviously written as the sequel to ch. 2. 3; the allusion to the “daughters of Zion” ( Isa 4:4) would scarcely be intelligible apart from Isa 3:16 ff., and possibly the glory of nature mentioned in Isa 4:2 may form an antithesis to the artificial glories of civilisation in Isa 2:7 ff. At the same time it is reasonable to suppose that the verses have only a literary connexion with the preceding oracles, and formed no part of Isaiah’s spoken message in the time of Ahaz.
By some recent critics (Duhm, Hackmann, Cheyne) the passage is assigned to a later editor of Isaiah’s prophecies, and even so cautious a scholar as Dillmann hesitates with regard to the last two verses.” The objections are based chiefly on considerations of style, and on the alleged post-Exilic character of the ideas and the symbolism. It is true that some leading words (such as those rendered “branch,” “create,” “defence,” “covert”) do not occur elsewhere in genuine writings of Isaiah. The imagery also is of a more pronounced apocalyptic cast than we might expect from Isaiah, and the style seems somewhat laboured and cumbrous. But on the other hand the main ideas the salvation of a remnant, purification through judgment, the regeneration of nature can all be paralleled from Isaiah, and this fact must be allowed some weight in favour of his authorship.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The branch of the Lord – yehovah tsemach. The sprout of Yahweh. This expression, and this verse, have had a great variety of interpretations. The Septuagint reads it, In that day God shall shine in counsel with glory upon the earth, to exalt, and to glorify the remnant of Israel. The Chaldee renders it, In that day, the Messiah of the Lord shall be for joy and glory, and the doers of the law for praise and honor to those of Israel who are delivered. It is clear that the passage is designed to denote some signal blessing that was to succeed the calamity predicted in the previous verses. The only question is, to what has the prophet reference? The word branch ( tsemach) is derived from the verb ( tsamach) signifying to sprout, to spring up, spoken of plants. Hence, the word branch means properly that which shoots up, or sprouts from the root of a tree, or from a decayed tree; compare Job 14:7-9.
The Messiah is thus said to be a root of Jesse, Rom 11:12; compare Isa 11:1, note; Isa 11:10, note; and the root and offspring of David, Rev 22:16, as being a descendant of Jesse; that is, as if Jesse should fall like an aged tree, yet the root would sprout up and live. The word branch occurs several times in the Old Testament, and in most, if not all, with express reference to the Messiah; Jer 23:5 : Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a king shall reign; Jer 33:15 : In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; Zec 3:8; Zec 6:12. In all these places, there can be no doubt that there is reference to him who was to spring up from David, as a sprout does from a decayed and fallen tree, and who is, therefore, called a root, a branch of the royal stock. There is, besides, a special beauty in the figure.
The family of David, when the Messiah was to come, would be fallen into decay and almost extinct. Joseph, the husband of Mary, though of the royal family of David Mat 1:20; Luk 2:4, was poor, and the family had lost all claims to the throne. In this state, as from the decayed root of a fallen tree, a sprout or branch was to come forth with more than the magnificence of David, and succeed him on the throne. The name branch, therefore, came to be significant of the Messiah, and to be synonymous with the son of David. It is so used, doubtless, in this place, as denoting that the coming of the Messiah would be a joy and honor in the days of calamity to the Jews. Interpreters have not been agreed, however, in the meaning of this passage. Grotius supposed that it referred to Ezra or Nehemiah, but mystically to Christ and Christians. Vogellius understood it of the remnant that should return from the Babylonian captivity. Michaelis supposed that it refers to the Jews, who should be a reformed people after their captivity, and who should spring up with a new spirit. Others have regarded it as a poetic description of the extraordinary fertility of the earth in future times. The reasons for referring it to the Messiah are plain:
(1) The word has this reference in other places, and the representation of the Messiah under the image of a branch or shoot, is, as we have seen, common in the Scriptures. Thus, also, in Isa 53:2, he is called also shoresh, root, and yoneq, a tender plant, a sucker, sprout, shoot, as of a decayed tree; compare Job 8:16; Job 14:7; Job 15:30; Eze 17:22. And in reference to the same idea, perhaps, it is said, Isa 53:8, that he was ngezar, cut off, as a branch, sucker, or shoot is cut off by the vine-dresser or farmer from the root of a decayed tree. And thus, in Rev 5:5, he is called riza Dabid – the root of David.
(2) This interpretation accords best with the magnificence of the description, Isa 4:5-6; and,
(3) It was so understood by the Chaldee interpreter, and, doubtless, by the ancient Jews.
Shall be beautiful and glorious – Hebrew, Shall be beauty and glory; that is, shall be the chief ornament or honor of the land; shall be that which gives to the nation its chief distinction and glory. In such times of calamity, his coming shal be an object of desire, and his approach shall shed a rich splendor on that period of the world.
And the fruit of the earth – pery ha’arets correctly rendered fruit of the earth, or of the land. The word earth is often in the Scriptures used to denote the land of Judea, and perhaps the article here is intended to denote that that land is particularly intended. This is the parallel expression to the former part of the verse, in accordance with the laws of Hebrew poetry, by which one member of a sentence expresses substantially the same meaning as the former; see the Introduction, Section 8. If the former expression referred to the Messiah, this does also. The fruit of the earth is that which the earth produces, and is here not different in signification from the branch which springs out of the ground. Vitringa supposes that by this phrase the Messiah, according to his human nature, is meant. So Hengstenberg (Christology, in loc.) understands it; and supposes that as the phrase branch of Yahweh refers to his divine origin, as proceeding from Yahweh; so this refers to his human origin, as proceeding from the earth. But the objections to this are obvious:
(1) The second phrase, according to the laws of Hebrew parallelism, is most naturally an echo or repetition of the sentiment in the first member, and means substantially the same thing.
(2) The phrase branch of Yahweh does not refer of necessity to his divine nature. The idea is that of a decayed tree that has fallen down, and has left a living root which sends up a shoot, or sucker; and can be applied with great elegance to the decayed family of David. But how, or in what sense, can this be applied to Yahweh? Is Yahweh thus fallen and decayed? The idea properly is, that this shoot of a decayed family should be nurtured up by Yahweh; should be appointed by him, and should thus be his branch. The parallel member denotes substantially the same thing; the fruit of the earth – the shoot which the earth produces – or which springs up from a decayed family, as the sprout does from a fallen tree.
(3) It is as true that his human nature proceeded from God as his divine. It was produced by the Holy Spirit, and can no more be regarded as the fruit of the earth than his divine nature; Luk 1:35; Heb 10:5.
(4) This mode of interpretation is suited to bring the whole subject into contempt. There are plain and positive passages enough to prove that the Messiah had a divine nature, and there are enough also to prove that he was a man; but nothing is more adapted to produce disgust in relation to the whole subject, in the minds of skeptical or of thinking men, than a resort to arguments such as this in defense of a great and glorious doctrine of revelation.
Shall be excellent – Shall be for exaltation, or honor.
Comely – Hebrew, For an ornament; meaning that he would be an honor to those times.
For them that are escaped of Israel – Margin, The escaping of Israel. For the remnant, the small number that shall escape the calamities – a description of the pious portion of Israel which now escaped from all calamities – would rejoice in the anticipated blessings of the Messiahs reign, or would participate in the blessings of that reign. The idea is not, however, that the number who would be saved would be small, but that they would be characterized as those who had escaped, or who had been rescued.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 4:2-6
In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious
The first personal reference in Isaiah to the Messiah
If this is a reference to Christ, critics are agreed that it is the first personal reference to the Messiah which Isaiah has yet given.
(J. Parker, D. D.)
A pleasing contrast
What so beautiful as that a branch should appear in this wilderness of lava! Blessed are they who can turn away from the desert and look at the garden. (J. Parker, D. D.)
A branch
Then the fountains of life and energy are not dried up. (J. Parker, D. D.)
A branch
That is to say, fruitfulness, beauty, sufficiency, energy, summer. This is what the Son of God same to be and to do–to fill the earth with fruitfulness, to drive away the ghastly, all-devouring famine, and to feed the world with the fruit of heaven. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The Branch of the Lord
I. THE GENERAL MEANING OF THE PASSAGE. The time spoken of by the prophet is clearly the time of the Christian dispensation, called the last days (ch. 2). And we need not stop to prove that the Branch of the Lord is a name or title of the Messiah. We have, therefore, a prophecy of the glory of Christs kingdom.
II. THE INNER MEANING OF THE PASSAGE.
(1) Why is it said In that day, specifying a particular time, the Branch of the Lord shall be glorious? And
(2) what is the special force or meaning of the title, the Branch of the Lord?
1. The glory of Christ is surely the glory which He had with the Father from the beginning. How then can it be said of Him that at any assigned time He is glorious, rather than at another? The word glory, when spoken of God or Christ, cannot have precisely the same sense as when spoken of a man. A man may gain glory by some act above the average of human nature. But starting from infinite perfection, nothing greater or nobler can be conceived. Glory, therefore, with reference to God is not the gaining of any higher excellence, but the manifestation of excellence which existed already. The creation was the first manifestation of the glory of God. And if the glory of God was made manifest in creation, it is yet more fully revealed in those mysteries of redemption which angels desired to look into.
2. But why in this connection is the Saviour called the Branch of the Lord? If the appropriateness of the figure does not at once appear, it will at least remind us of–I am the Vine, ye are the branches. The expression thus sets Christ before us in His character as the Mediator–Himself the Branch of the Lord, and His people branches of that true Vine. Thus we are enabled further to connect the title with the glory spoken of. The glory and beauty of the vine is in its fruit (Joh 15:8). (A. K. Cherrill, M. A.)
Gods perpetual presence with His people
I. THE PREPARATION FOR THE PROMISE. In the earlier verses of the chapter you will find that two things are presented as antecedent to the gifts of blessing–that is, the coming of the Divine Saviour, and His discipline for holiness within His Church.
1. The transition from the gloomy judgment to the grandeur of deliverance is abrupt and striking, as if from a savage wilderness one were to emerge suddenly into green pastures and among gay flowers. And surely this is a true representation of the change which passes upon human destinies when Christ the Lord comes down. We are naturally heirs of judgment. There is not a family, there is not a heart, upon which the curse has not descended in disastrous entail; there is a stain upon the birth, there is a feebleness in the nature of us all. But there comes a sound of help and of deliverance, for a Saviour has been provided–a Saviour who, in the mysterious union of natures, combines perfection of sympathy and almightiness of power.
2. It would at once correct our estimate and restrain our pride if we could remember always that with God the greatest thing is holiness. And then, further, we are told that to work this holiness in His people, God subjects them to discipline, and, if necessary, to the spirit of judgment and to the spirit of burning. Mark the exquisite fitness and the exquisite kindness of the discipline. There are some stains that water can wash away. If the water will avail, there is no need of the fire. There are some stains so deep and foul and crimson that the fire must purge them.
II. THE PROMISE ITSELF (verse 5). As we read these words, we are translated to a former scene of deliverance. We go back to the older ages; and there, in the fierce wilderness, where no groves of palm trees wave with shade, a vast host marching steadily, now in their van for guidance, now in their rear for protection, there rises by day a pillar of cloud and by night a pillar of flame; and, as we gaze, we listen to the snatches of their song: Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea. This was the vision prominent in the mind of the prophet when he symbolised by it Gods presence and protection to His chosen Church.
1. The central thought is the presence of God. Then, there are right-hand and left-hand thoughts or aspects in which that presence manifests itself.
2. The presence of God for counsel.
3. The presence of God for defence. (W. M. Punshom.)
Gods promise to the remnant
I. THE PERSONS INTENDED. The remnant, the escaping, the evasion of Israel, as the word signifies (Isa 4:2) they that are left, that remain (Isa 4:3), who escape the great desolation that was to come on the body of the people, the furnace they were to pass through. Only in the close of that verse, they have a further description added of them, from the purpose of God concerning their grace and glory–they are written among the living, or rather, written unto life; Everyone that is written, i.e., designed unto life in Jerusalem.
II. THE CONDITION WHEREIN THEY WERE. This is laid down in figurative expressions concerning the smallness of this remnant, or the paucity of them that should escape, and the greatness of the extremities they should be exercised withal.
III. THE PROMISES HERE MADE TO THIS PEOPLE are of two sorts: Original, or fundamental; and then consequential thereon.
1. There is the great spring, or fountain promise, from which all others, as lesser streams, do flow; and that is the promise of Christ Himself unto them, and amongst them; He is that Branch of Jehovah, and that fruit of the earth, which is there promised (Isa 4:2). He is the foundation, the fountain of all the good that is or shall be communicated unto us; all other promises are but rivulets from that unsearchable ocean of grace and love that is in the promise of Christ.
2. The promises that flow from hence–
(1) Of beauty and glory (Isa 4:2).
(2) Of holiness and purity (Isa 4:3-4).
(3) Of preservation and safety (Isa 4:5-6). (J. Owen, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 2. The branch of the Lord – “the branch of JEHOVAH”] The Messiah of JEHOVAH, says the Chaldee. And Kimchi says, The Messiah, the Son of David. The branch is an appropriate title of the Messiah; and the fruit of the land means the great Person to spring from the house of Judah, and is only a parallel expression signifying the same; or perhaps the blessings consequent upon the redemption procured by him. Compare Isa 45:8, where the same great event is set forth under similar images, and see the note there.
Them that are escaped of Israel – “the escaped of the house of Israel.”] A MS. has beith yisrael, the house of Israel.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In that day; about and after that time; when the Lord shall have washed away (as this time is particularly expressed, Isa 4:4)
the filth of Zion by those dreadful judgments now described. The branch of the Lord; either,
1. The church and people of Israel, oft called Gods vine or vineyard, as we saw before, and the branch of Gods planting, Isa 60:21. Or,
2. The Messiah, who is commonly defined in Scripture by this title, the Branch, Isa 11:1; Jer 23:5; 33:15; Zec 3:8, whose name is expressly said to be the Branch, Zec 6:12, of whom not only Christians, but even the Hebrew doctors, understand it. For after the foregoing miseries were brought upon the Jews, by the remainders of the Grecian empire, of which Daniel prophesies of exactly and particularly, and afterwards by the Roman empire, the Messiah was born; and after that utter destruction brought upon the Jewish city, and temple, and nation by Titus, the kingdom of the Messiah became
beautiful and glorious, as it here follows.
The fruit of the earth shall be excellent; the land which for the sins of the people was made barren, upon their repentance and return to Christ, shall recover its former fertility. Under this one mercy he seems to understand all temporal blessings, which, together with spiritual and eternal, God shall confer upon them; and withal to intimate the fruitfulness of the people (the earth or land being oft put for its inhabitants,) in knowledge, and grace, and all good works.
That are escaped; that shall survive all the forementioned calamities.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. In contrast to those on whomvengeance falls, there is a manifestation of Jesus Christ to the”escaped of Israel” in His characteristic attributes,beauty and glory, typified in Aaron’s garments (Ex28:2). Their sanctification is promised as the fruit oftheir being “written” in the book of life by sovereign love(Isa 4:3); the means of it arethe “spirit of judgment” and that of “burning”(Isa 4:4). Their “defense”by the special presence of Jesus Christ is promised (Isa 4:5;Isa 4:6).
branchthe sprout ofJEHOVAH. Messiah (Jer 23:5;Jer 33:15; Zec 3:8;Zec 6:12; Luk 1:78,Margin). The parallel clause does not, as MAURERobjects, oppose this; for “fruit of the earth” answers to”branch”; He shall not be a dry, but a fruit-bearingbranch (Isa 27:6; Eze 34:23-27).He is “of the earth” in His birth and death, whileHe is also “of the Lord” (Jehovah) (Joh12:24). His name, “the Branch,” chiefly regards Hisdescent from David, when the family was low and reduced(Luk 2:4; Luk 2:7;Luk 2:24); a sprout with morethan David’s glory, springing as from a decayed tree (Isa 11:1;Isa 53:2; Rev 22:16).
excellent (Heb 1:4;Heb 8:6).
comely (Son 5:15;Son 5:16; Eze 16:14).
escaped of Israeltheelect remnant (Ro 11:5); (1) inthe return from Babylon; (2) in the escape from Jerusalem’sdestruction under Titus; (3) in the still future assault onJerusalem, and deliverance of “the third part”; eventsmutually analogous, like concentric circles (Zec 12:2-10;Zec 13:8; Zec 13:9;Zec 14:2; Eze 39:23-29;Joe 3:1-21).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious,…. When the beauty of the Jewish women shall be taken away, and their men shall he slain; by whom is meant, not the righteous and wise men left among the Jews, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra; nor Hezekiah; which is the sense of some, as the latter observes: but the Messiah, as Kimchi, and so the Targum, which paraphrases the words thus,
“at that time shall the Messiah of the Lord be for joy and glory;”
and the Septuagint understand it of a divine Person appearing on earth, rendering the words, “for in that day God shall shine in counsel with glory upon the earth”; and so the Arabic version. Christ is called “the branch”, not as God, but as man, not as a son, but as a servant, as Mediator; and it chiefly regards his descent from David, and when his family was very mean and low; and a branch being but a tender thing, it denotes Christ’s state of humiliation on earth, when he grew up as a tender plant before the Lord, and was contemptible in the eyes of men: and he is called the branch “of the Lord”, because of his raising up, and bringing forth; see Zec 3:8 and yet this branch became “beautiful”, being laden with the fruits of divine grace, such as righteousness, reconciliation, peace, pardon, adoption, sanctification, and eternal life; as well as having all his people as branches growing on him, and receiving their life and fruitfulness from him: and “glorious”, being the branch made strong to do the work of the Lord, by his obedience and death; and especially he became glorious when raised from the dead, when he ascended up to heaven, and was exalted there at the right hand of God; and when his Gospel was spread and his kingdom increased in the Gentile world, as it did, both before and after the destruction of Jerusalem, the time here referred to; and which will he in a more glorious condition in the last days; and now he is glorious in the eyes of all that believe in him, and is glorified by them; and when he comes a second time, he will appear in his own and his father’s glory, and in the glory of the holy angels.
And the fruit of the earth [shall] be excellent and comely; not the children of the righteous, as Jarchi; nor , “the doers of the law”, as the Targum; see Ro 2:13 but the Messiah, as before, as Kimchi well observes; called “the fruit of the earth”, to show that he is not a dry and withered, but a fruitful branch, and which should fill the earth with fruit; and because he sprung from the earth as man, and was the fruit of a woman, that was of the earth, earthly; and so this, as the former, denotes the meanness of Christ in human nature, while here on earth; and yet he became, as these words foretold be should, “excellent”: he appeared to be excellent in his person as the Son of God, and to have a more excellent name and nature than the angels, and fairer than the sons of men; to be excellent as the cedars, and more excellent than the mountains of prey; to have obtained a more excellent ministry than Aaron and his sons; to be excellent in all his offices of Prophet, Priest, and King; and particularly in the fruits and blessings of grace, which grew upon him, and came from him; see De 33:13 “and comely”, in his person, as God and man, in the perfections of his divine nature, and in the fulness of his grace; and so are his people, as considered in him, who are made perfectly comely, through the comeliness he puts upon them: and so he is
for them that are escaped of Israel; not beautiful and glorious; excellent and comely, in the view of all men, only them that believe, who have seen his glory, and have tasted that he is gracious; these are the remnant according to the election of grace, the preserved of Israel, the chosen of God, and precious, who were saved from that untoward generation, the Jews, and escaped the destruction of Jerusalem, and were saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“In that day will the sprout of Jehovah become an ornament and glory, and the fruit of the land pride and splendour for the redeemed of Israel.” The four epithets of glory, which are here grouped in pairs, strengthen our expectation, that now that the mass of Israel has been swept away, together with the objects of its worthless pride, we shall find a description of what will become an object of well-grounded pride to the “escaped of Israel,” i.e., to the remnant that has survived the judgment, and been saved from destruction. But with this interpretation of the promise it is impossible that it can be the church of the future itself, which is here called the “sprout of Jehovah” and “fruit of the land,” as Luzzatto and Malbim suppose; and equally impossible, with such an antithesis between what is promised and what is abolished, that the “sprout of Jehovah” and “fruit of the earth” should signify the harvest blessings bestowed by Jehovah, or the rich produce of the land. For although the expression zemach Jehovah (sprout of Jehovah) may unquestionably be used to signify this, as in Gen 2:9 and Psa 104:14 (cf., Isa 61:11), and fruitfulness of the land is a standing accompaniment of the eschatological promises (e.g., Isa 30:23., compare the conclusion of Joel and Amos), and it was also foretold that the fruitful fields of Israel would become a glory in the sight of the nations (Eze 34:29; Mal 3:12; cf., Joe 2:17); yet this earthly material good, of which, moreover, there was no lack in the time of Uzziah and Jotham, was altogether unsuitable to set forth such a contrast as would surpass and outshine the worldly glory existing before. But even granting what Hofmann adduces in support of this view – namely, that the natural God-given blessings of the field do form a fitting antithesis to the studied works of art of which men had hitherto been proud – there is still truth in the remark of Rosenmller, that “the magnificence of the whole passage is at variance with such an interpretation.” Only compare Isa 28:5, where Jehovah Himself is described in the same manner, as the glory and ornament of the remnant of Israel. But if the “sprout of Jehovah” is neither the redeemed remnant itself, nor the fruit of the field, it must be the name of the Messiah. And it is in this sense that it has been understood by the Targum, and by such modern commentators as Rosenmller, Hengstenberg, Steudel, Umbreit, Caspari, Drechsler, and others. The great King of the future is called zemach , in the sense of Heb 7:14, viz., as a shoot springing out of the human, Davidic, earthly soil – a shoot which Jehovah had planted in the earth, and would cause to break through and spring forth as the pride of His congregation, which was waiting for this heavenly child. It is He again who is designated in the parallel clause as the “fruit of the land” (or lit., fruit of the earth), as being the fruit which the land of Israel, and consequently the earth itself, would produce, just as in Eze 17:5 Zedekiah is called a “seed of the earth.” The reasons already adduced to show that “the sprout of Jehovah” cannot refer to the blessings of the field, apply with equal force to “the fruit of the earth.” This also relates to the Messiah Himself, regarded as the fruit in which all the growth and bloom of this earthly history would eventually reach its promised and divinely appointed conclusion. The use of this double epithet to denote “the coming One” can only be accounted for, without anticipating the New Testament standpoint,
(Note: From a New Testament point of view we might say that the “sprout of Jehovah” or “fruit of the earth” was the grain of wheat which redeeming love sowed in the earth on Good Friday; the grain of wheat which began to break through the ground and grow towards heaven on Easter Sunday; the grain of wheat whose golden blade ascended heavenwards on Ascension Day; the grain of wheat whose myriad-fold ear bent down to the earth on the day of Pentecost, and poured out the grains, from which the holy church not only was born, but still continues to be born. But such thoughts as these lie outside the historico-grammatical meaning.)
from the desire to depict His double-sided origin. He would come, on the one hand, from Jehovah; but, on the other hand, from the earth, inasmuch as He would spring from Israel. We have here the passage, on the basis of which zemach (the sprout of “Branch”) was adopted by Jeremiah (Jer 23:5 and Jer 33:15) and Zechariah (Zec 3:8; Zec 6:12) as a proper name for the Messiah, and upon which Matthew, by combining this proper name zemach (sprout) with nezer (Isa 11:1, cf., Isa 53:2), rests his affirmation, that according to the Old Testament prophecies the future Messiah was to be called a Nazarene. It is undoubtedly strange that this epithet should be introduced so entirely without preparation even by Isaiah, who coined it first. In fact, the whole passage relating to the Messiah stands quite alone in this cycle of prophecies in chapters 1-6. But the book of Isaiah is a complete and connected work. What the prophet indicates merely in outline here, he carries out more fully in the cycle of prophecies which follows in chapters 7-12; and there the enigma, which he leaves as an enigma in the passage before us, receives the fullest solution. Without dwelling any further upon the man of the future, described in this enigmatically symbolical way, the prophet hurries on to a more precise description of the church of the future.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Future Glory of Zion. | B. C. 758. |
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. 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: 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. 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. 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.
By the foregoing threatenings Jerusalem is brought into a very deplorable condition: every thing looks melancholy. But here the sun breaks out from behind the cloud. Many exceedingly great and precious promises we have in these verses, giving assurance of comfort which may be discerned through the troubles, and of happy days which shall come after them, and these certainly point at the kingdom of the Messiah, and the great redemption to be wrought out by him, under the figure and type of the restoration of Judah and Jerusalem by the reforming reign of Hezekiah after Ahaz and the return out of their captivity in Babylon; to both these events the passage may have some reference, but chiefly to Christ. It is here promised, as the issue of all these troubles,
I. That God will raise up a righteous branch, which shall produce fruits of righteousness (v. 2): In that day, that same day, at that very time, when Jerusalem shall be destroyed and the Jewish nation extirpated and dispersed, the kingdom of the Messiah shall be set up; and then shall be the reviving of the church, when every one shall fear the utter ruin of it.
1. Christ himself shall be exalted. He is the branch of the Lord, the man the branch; it is one of prophetical names, my servant the branch (Zec 3:8; Zec 6:12), the branch of righteousness (Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15), a rod out of the stem of Jesse and a branch out of his roots (ch. xi. 1), and this, as some think, is alluded to when he is called a Nazarene, Matt. ii. 23. Here he is called the branch of the Lord, because planted by his power and flourishing to his praise. The ancient Chaldee paraphrase here reads it, The Christ, or Messiah, of the Lord. He shall be the beauty, and glory, and joy. (1.) He shall himself be advanced to the joy set before him and the glory which he had with the Father before the world was. He that was a reproach of men, whose visage was marred more than any man’s, is now, in the upper world, beautiful and glorious, as the sun in his strength, admired and adored by angels. (2.) He shall be beautiful and glorious in the esteem of all believers, shall gain an interest in the world, and a name among men above every name. To those that believe he is precious, he is an honour (1 Pet. ii. 7), the fairest of ten thousand (Cant. v. 10), and altogether glorious. Let us rejoice that he is so, and let him be so to us.
2. His gospel shall be embraced. The success of the gospel is the fruit of the branch of the Lord; all the graces and comforts of the gospel spring from Christ. But it is called the fruit of the earth because it sprang up in this world and was calculated for the present state. And Christ compares himself to a grain of wheat, that falls into the ground and dies, and so brings forth much fruit, John xii. 24. The success of the gospel is represented by the earth’s yielding her increase (Ps. lxvii. 6), and the planting of the Christian church is God’s sowing it to himself in the earth, Hos. ii. 23. We may understand it of both the persons and the things that are the products of the gospel: they shall be excellent and comely, shall appear very agreeable and be very acceptable to those that have escaped of Israel, to that remnant of the Jews which was saved from perishing with the rest in unbelief, Rom. xi. 5. Note, If Christ be precious to us, his gospel will be so and all its truths and promises–his church will be so, and all that belong to it. These are the good fruit of the earth, in comparison with which all other things are but weeds. It will be a good evidence to us that we are of the chosen remnant, distinguished from the rest that are called Israel, and marked for salvation, if we are brought to see a transcendent beauty in Christ, and in holiness, and in the saints, the excellent ones of the earth. As a type of this blessed day, Jerusalem, after Sennacherib’s invasion and after the captivity in Babylon, should again flourish as a branch, and be blessed with the fruits of the earth. Compare Isa 37:31; Isa 37:32. The remnant shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. And if by the fruit of the earth here we understand the good things of this life, we may observe that these have peculiar sweetness in them to the chosen remnant, who, having a covenant–right to them, have the most comfortable use of them. If the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious in our eyes, even the fruit of the earth also will be excellent and comely, because then we may take it as the fruit of the promise, Psa 37:16; 1Ti 4:8.
II. That God will reserve to himself a holy seed, v. 3. When the generality of those that have a place and a name in Zion and in Jerusalem shall be cut off as withered branches, by their own unbelief, yet some shall be left. Some shall remain, some shall still cleave to the church, when its property is altered and it has become Christian; for God will not quite cast off his people, Rom. xi. 1. There is here and there one that is left. Now, 1. This is a remnant according to the election of grace (as the apostle speaks, Rom. xi. 5), such as are written among the living, marked in the counsel and fore-knowledge of God for life and salvation, written to life (so the word is), designed and determined for it unalterably; for “what I have written I have written.” Those that are kept alive in killing dying times were written for life in the book of divine Providence; and shall we not suppose those who are rescued from a greater death to be such as were written in the Lamb’s book of life? Rev. xiii. 8. As many as were ordained unto eternal life believed to the salvation of the soul, Acts xiii. 48. Note, All that were written among the living shall be found among the living, every one; for of all that were given to Christ he will lose none. 2. It is a remnant under the dominion of grace; for every one that is written among the living, and is accordingly left, shall be called holy, shall be holy, and shall be accepted of God accordingly. Those only that are holy shall be left when the Son of man shall gather out of his kingdom every thing that offends; and all that are chosen to salvation are chosen to sanctification. See 2Th 2:13; Eph 1:4.
III. That God will reform his church and will rectify and amend whatever is amiss in it, v. 4. Then the remnant shall be called holy, when the Lord shall have washed away their filth, washed it from among them by cutting off the wicked persons, washed it from within them by purging out the wicked thing. They shall not be called so till they are in some measure made so. Gospel times are times of reformation (Heb. ix. 10), typified by the reformation in the days of Hezekiah and that after captivity, to which this promise refers. Observe, 1. The places and persons to be reformed. Jerusalem, though the holy city, needed reformation; and, being the holy city, the reformation of that would have a good influence upon the whole kingdom. The daughters of Zion also must be reformed, the women in a particular manner, whom he had reproved, ch. iii. 16. When they were decked in their ornaments they thought themselves wondrously clean; but, being proud of them, the prophet call them their filth, for no sin is more abominable to God than pride. Or by the daughters of Zion may be meant the country towns and villages, which were related to Jerusalem as the mother-city, and which needed reformation. 2. The reformation itself. The filth shall be washed away; for wickedness is filthiness, particularly blood-shed, for which Jerusalem was infamous (2 Kings xxi. 16), and which defiles the land more than any other sin. Note, The reforming of a city is the cleansing of it. When vicious customs and fashions are suppressed, and the open practice of wickedness is restrained, the place is made clean and sweet which before was a dunghill; and this is not only for its credit and reputation among strangers, but for the comfort and health of the inhabitants themselves. 3. The author of the reformation: The Lord shall do it. Reformation-work is God’s work; if any thing be done to purpose in it, it is his doing. But how? By the judgment of his providence the sinners were destroyed and consumed; but it is by the Spirit of his grace that they are reformed and converted. This is the work that is done, not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord of hosts (Zech. iv. 6), working both upon the sinners themselves that are to be reformed and upon magistrates, ministers, and others that are to be employed as instruments of reformation. The Spirit herein acts, (1.) As a spirit of judgment, enlightening the mind, convincing the conscience,–as a spirit of wisdom, guiding us to deal prudently, (Isa. lii. 13),– as a discerning, distinguishing, Spirit, separating between the precious and the vile. (2.) As a Spirit of burning, quickening and invigorating the afflictions, and making men zealously affected in a good work. The Spirit works as fire, Matt. iii. 11. An ardent love to Christ and souls, and a flaming zeal against sin, will carry men on with resolution in their endeavours to turn away ungodliness from Jacob. See Isa 32:15; Isa 32:16.
IV. That God will protect his church, and all that belong to it (Isa 4:5; Isa 4:6); when they are purified and reformed they shall no longer lie exposed, but God will take a particular care of them. Those that are sanctified are well fortified; for God will be to them a guide and a guard.
1. Their tabernacles shall be defended, v. 5.
(1.) This writ of protection refers to, [1.] Their dwelling places, the tabernacles of their rest, their own houses, where they worship God alone, and with their families. That blessing which is upon the habitation of the just shall be a protection to it, Prov. iii. 33. In the tabernacles of the righteous shall the voice of rejoicing and salvation be, Ps. cxviii. 15. Note, God takes particular cognizance and care of the dwelling-places of his people, of every one of them, the poorest cottage as well as the statliest palace. When iniquity is put far from the tabernacle the Almighty shall be its defence, Job 23:23; Job 23:26. [2.] Their assemblies or tabernacles of meeting for religious worship. No mention is made of the temple, for the promise points at a time when not one stone of that shall be left upon another; but all the congregations of Christians, though but two or three met together in Christ’s name, shall be taken under the special protection of heaven; they shall be no more scattered, no more disturbed, nor shall any weapon formed against them prosper. Note, we ought to reckon it a great mercy if we have liberty to worship God in public, free from the alarms of the sword of war or persecution.
(2.) This writ of protection is drawn up, [1.] In a similitude taken from the safety of the camp of Israel when they marched through the wilderness. God will give to the Christian church as real proofs, though not so sensible, of his care of them, as he then gave to Israel. The Lord will again create a cloud and smoke by day, to screen them from the scorching heat of the sun, and the shining of a flaming fire by night, to enlighten and warm the air, which in the night is cold and dark. See Exo 13:21; Neh 9:19. This pillar of cloud and fire interposed between the Israelites and the Egyptians, Exod. xiv. 20. Note, Though miracles have ceased, yet God is the same to the New-Testament church that he was to Israel of old; the very same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. [2.] In a similitude taken from the outside cover of rams’ skins and badgers’ skins that was upon the curtains of the tabernacle, as if every dwelling place of Mount Zion and every assembly were as dear to God as that tabernacle was: Upon all the glory shall be a defense, to save it from wind and weather. Note, The church on earth has its glory. Gospel truths and ordinances, the scriptures and the ministry, are the church’s glory; and upon all this glory there is a defence, and ever shall be, for the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church. If God himself be the glory in the midst of it, he will himself be a wall of fire around about it, impenetrable and impregnable. Grace in the soul is the glory of it, and those that have it are kept by the power of God as in a strong-hold, 1 Pet. i. 5.
2. Their tabernacle shall be a defence to them, v. 6. God’s tabernacle was a pavilion to the saints (Ps. xxvii. 5); but, when that is taken down, they shall not want a covert: the divine power and goodness shall be a tabernacle to all the saints. God himself will be their hiding-place (Ps. xxxii. 7); they shall be at home in him, Ps. xci. 9. He will himself be to them as the shadow of a great rock (ch. xxxii. 2) and his name a strong tower, Prov. xviii. 10. He will be not only a shadow from the heat in the daytime, but a covert from storm and rain. Note, In this world we must expect change of weather and all the inconveniences that attend it; we shall meet with storm and rain in this lower region, and at other times the heat of the day no less burdensome; but God is a refuge to his people in all weathers.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verse 2:
1. “In that day” refers, in this context, to the future “day of the Lord” – the millennial era, (comp. Isa 2:20-21).
2. “The branch of the Lord” is a progressively developed reference to the coming Messiah, (Isa 11:1; Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15; Zec 3:8; Zec 6:12).
a. When He came the first time, “not to be ministered unto, but to minister”, Israel saw in Him “no beauty” that she should desire Him; thus, despised, rejected and crucified her king – the “Lord of glory” and “Prince of Life”, (Isa 53:2; Act 3:15; Act 5:31; 1Co 2:8).
b. When He comes the second time, in power and great glory, a severely chastened and humiliated people will not only welcome Him as their Deliverer; they will exalt, honor and extol His name, crying: “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the LORD!” (Rom 11:26-27; Mat 23:37-39; Isa 28:5-6).
3. Whatever else one may see in “the fruit of the earth” (by way of abundant provision in the Messianic kingdom, Psa 72:16), he should not fail to recognize its significance in connection with the resurrection of Jesus, as “the firstfruits of them that slept”, whereby He was “declared to be the Son of God” and possessor of universal authority, (1Co 15:20; Rom 1:4; Mat 28:18; Joh 5:22; Joh 5:27).
4. Thus, from beneath the prophet’s denunciation of the darkest sin, and its consequent judgment, there bursts forth a song of praise for the preservation of a remnant through whom God’s faithful covenant may be fulfilled, (Isa 10:20-23; Isa 37:31-32; Joe 2:32; Oba 1:17).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
2. In that day shall the branch of the Lord be for beauty and glory. (71) This consolation is seasonably added; for the announcement of a dreadful calamity might have alarmed the godly, and led them to doubt as to the stability of God’s covenant being maintained amidst the destruction of the people. For there is a wide difference between the two statements, that the people will be like the sand of the sea, (Gen 22:17; Isa 10:22,) and yet that they would be cut down by such a frightful massacre, that in the remnant there would be found no dignity, no magnificence, and hardly any name. Isaiah, therefore, according to the custom generally followed by himself and by the prophets, provides against this alarm, and, by adding a consolation, assuages their excessive terror, that believers may still rest assured that the Church will be safe, and may strengthen their hearts by good hope. As he spoke of the restoration of the Church in the second chapter, so he now promises that a new Church will arise, as a bud or shoot springs up in a field which was formerly uncultivated.
This passage is usually expounded as referring to Christ; and the opinion, plausible in itself, derives additional probability from the words of the prophet Zechariah:
Behold the man whose name shall be The Branch. (Zec 6:12.)
It is still further strengthened by the consideration, that the Prophet does not barely name this Branch, but mentions it with a title expressive of respect, as if he had intended to honor the Divinity of Christ. When he afterwards adds the fruits of the earth, they consider this as referring to his human nature. But after a careful examination of the whole, I do not hesitate to regard the Branch of God and the fruit of the earth as denoting an unusual and abundant supply of grace, which will relieve the hungry; for he speaks as if the earth, barren and exhausted after the desolation, would hold out no promise of future produce, in order that the sudden fertility might render the kindness of God the more desirable; as if the parched and barren fields would yield unexpected herbage.
This metaphor is frequently employed in Scripture, that the gifts of God spring up in the world.
Truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven. (Psa 85:11.)
In like manner the Prophet afterwards says:
Let the earth open and bring forth salvation. (Isa 45:8.)
These words unquestionably denote a rich supply both of spiritual and of earthly blessings. That such is the meaning of the passage now under consideration is evident from the context; for Isaiah immediately afterwards adds, that it will be for honor and lustre to the delivered of Israel, (72) that is, to the number left, whom the Lord will rescue from destruction.
The word פליטת ( pheletath) is commonly translated escape, but here, as in many other passages, it is a collective noun, denoting those who have escaped. He declares that the elect will enjoy that happy fertility which he had promised, and therefore (verse 3) that those who shall be left will be holy. The meaning of the Prophet is, that the glory of God will be illustriously displayed when a new Church shall arise; as if he would create a people for himself out of nothing, and to enrich it with every kind of blessings.
They who limit it to the person of Christ expose themselves to the ridicule of the Jews, as if it were in consequence of scarcity that they tortured passages of Scripture for their own convenience. But there are other passages of Scripture from which it may be more clearly proved that Christ is true God and true man, so that there is no need of ingenious glosses. Yet I acknowledge that the Prophet speaks here about the kingdom of Christ, on which the restoration of the Church is founded. But it ought to be observed, that the consolation is not addressed indiscriminately to all, but only to the remnant, which has been marvellously rescued from the jaws of death.
Besides, as it might be deemed a cold consolation if he had only said that a small number would be saved, he discourses about the magnificent glory and dazzling brightness, to lead believers to hope that this diminution will do no harm; because the excellence of the Church does not consist in multitude but in purity when God bestows splendid and glorious communications of the Spirit of God on his elect. Hence we ought to draw a very useful doctrine, that though believers be exceedingly few, when they are like brands plucked out of the fire, (Zec 3:2,) yet that God will glorify himself amongst them, and will display in the midst of them a proof of his unspeakable greatness not less illustrious than amidst a large number.
(71) In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious. — Eng. Ver. The marginal reading is, beauty and glory. — Ed.
(72) Excellent and comely [Heb. beauty and glory ] for them that are escaped of Israel, [Heb. for the escaping of Israel. ] — Eng. Ver.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE DIVINE IDEAL OF ISRAEL REALISED
Isa. 4:2-6. In that day shall the Branch of the Lord, &c.
That day is the glorious period described in Isa. 2:1-4, and those verses and our text should be read together, as the beginning and conclusion of one prophecy. At the beginning, the prophet fixes his gaze upon the sun-illumined peaks of holiness and blessing in the far future, and his spirit rises within him in exultant gladness (Isa. 2:5); and then he begins to survey the spaces of time that lie between. Immediately at his feet he sees almost the whole nation given over to utter ungodliness, the men and the women vying with each other in their pride and luxuriousness, and in their contempt and oppression of the poor; and then he beholds the clouds of Divine vengeance gathering and bursting over the stout-hearted sinners; he sees the nation spoiled of the men who had constituted its strength, and the enfeebled people utterly desolated by war. All is blackness and darkness. But he lifts his eyes again, and there still shines before him the true Zion, dwelling in inviolable peace beneath the manifestations of the presence of her God. This was the vision which was granted him, and which he recorded for the instruction of men in all after-time.
Confining our attention to the closing section of it, we are instructed
I. That underneath all Gods purposes of judgment He has designs of mercy. In certain portions of this great prophecy God comes forth in terrible majesty, and were we to have regard to them only we should be moved to pray that He would not speak to us any more (Exo. 20:19). But these judgments that cause us to tremblewhat is their purpose? Not merely the infliction of righteous vengeance, but also and more that a way may be opened for manifestations of the Divine goodness. If into Zion He sends the spirit of judgment and burning, it is that by the purging away of her filth and blood-guiltiness she may be made meet to be the dwelling-place of God.
II. That God resolved to carry out His purposes of mercy by a suitable agent. He is here designated by a twofold description, the parts of which appear to be contradictory. He is at once the Branch of the Lord and the Fruit of the earth. The significance of the first of these titles becomes more plain as we trace it in prophecy (Jer. 23:5; Jer. 33:15; Zec. 3:8; Zec. 6:12). So that the Branch of the Lord is a man, the son of David, that son concerning whom he sang in the Seventy-second Psalm, the Messiahour Lord Jesus Christ! As soon as we arrive at this great truth, we perceive what is the explanation of the mysterious contradiction in the two parts of the title of the great Deliverer whom God was about to raise up for Zion (1Ti. 3:16; Rom. 1:3-4).
III. That in the day when Gods designs of mercy are fulfilled, the suitability and glory of the Agent whom God resolved to employ will be universally recognised. We know how He was treated when He came forth on His great mission: He was despised and rejected of men. Yet not long after He had been put to the most ignominious of deaths, an apostle could write, Unto you that believe He is precious. So even on earth there was a commencement of the fulfilment of the prediction that He should be beautiful and glorious excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. We have been permitted also to see how He is regarded by the ransomed ones who have entered into the rest in which they await the manifestation of the sons of God (Rev. 5:6-14). By this disclosure we are enabled to form some conceptions of the manner in which this portion of the prophecy will be fulfilled in that day when upon the new earth the holy city, New Jerusalem, has come down from God out of heaven.
IV. That Gods great design both in the infliction of His judgments and the operation of His mercy is the creation of universal holiness. The work entrusted to the Messiah was to wash away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and to purge the blood-guiltiness of Jerusalem from the midst thereof. There were some written down for life in Jerusalem (Act. 13:48),doubtless those whom God foresaw would tremble at His threatenings and accept His gracious offers of mercy; and these the Messiah was so to purify that they should be worthy to be called holy. Thus one part of GODS IDEAL CONCERNING ISRAEL (Exo. 19:6) was to be realised. It was for the accomplishment of this great purpose that Christ died (Eph. 5:25-27). It was for this end that He was exalted to Gods right hand (Act. 5:31). It is for the accomplishment of this great purpose that He now sometimes subjects His people to painful discipline (Heb. 12:10) [574]
[574] As God makes use of all the seasons of the year for the harvest, the frost of winter as well as the heat of summer, so doth He of fair and foul, pleasing and unpleasing providences for promoting holiness. Winter providences kill the weeds of lusts, and summer providences ripen and mellow the fruits of righteousness. When He afflicts it is for our profit, to make us partakers of His holiness (Heb. 12:10). Bernard compares afflictions to the teasel, which though it be sharp and scratching, is to make the cloth more pure and fine. God would not rub so hard if it were not to fetch out the dirt that is ingrained in our natures. God loves purity so well that He would rather see a hole than a spot in His childs garments. When He deals more gently in His providences, and lets His people sit under the sunny bank of comforts and enjoyments, fencing them from the cold blasts of affliction, it is to draw forth the sap of grace, and hasten their growth in holiness.Gurnall, 16171679.
V. That the day of universal holiness will be a day of universal blessing. This great truth is set forth by symbols which would appeal most powerfully to the imagination and the hopes of the godly among Isaiahs contemporaries (Isa. 4:5-6). That which had been the distinguishing glory of the Tabernacle was to become the common glory of every dwelling in the New Jerusalem. Moreover, the whole city was to be a coveringa canopy such as in a Jewish wedding was held over the bride and bridegroom; the symbol of Gods protecting love. Beneath it, as in a tabernacle, they should dwell securely. Thus the second portion of Gods ideal concerning Israel was to be realised (Deu. 28:9-10; Deu. 33:28). First purity, then peace; perfect purity, perfect peace. A little later Isaiah had another vision concerning this tabernacle (Isa. 32:2). Gods protecting love for His people is embodied in our Lord Jesus Christ; in Him all the promises of God are Yea and Amen.
GODS PERPETUAL PRESENCE WITH HIS PEOPLE
Isa. 4:2-5. In that day shall the Branch of the Lord, &c.
The contrast between the preceding chapter, in which denunciations fall upon the ear like thunder, and the sunny promises of this. The references to Zion both in the Psalms and in the Prophecies are frequent and striking. Originally crowned by the Jebusite citadel, it was besieged and taken by David, who transferred his court from Hebron thither; he afterwards erected a tabernacle upon its height, and it there became the chosen resting-place of the ark of the Lord. Hence, in Scripture language, it came sometimes to denote the entire city of Jerusalem, and sometimes the Church or commonwealth of the faithful, which the Highest has promised to establish, and out of which God, the perfection of beauty, shines. You will have no difficulty in thus understanding the reference in the words before us. Applied to the ancient Zion, or even to the entire city of Jerusalem, the words are extravagant and unmeaning; applied to the Church of GodHis living, spiritual templethey are sober, comforting truths. Consider
I. THE PREPARATION FOR THE PROMISE(Isa. 4:2-4). Two things are presented as antecedent to the gifts of blessingthe coming of the Divine Saviour, and His discipline for holiness within His Church. 1. The coming of the Divine Saviour (Isa. 4:2). The transition from the gloomy judgment to the grandeur of deliverance is abrupt and striking, as if from a savage wilderness one were to emerge suddenly into green pastures and among gay flowers. So great a change passes upon human destinies when Christ the Lord comes down. We are naturally heirs of judgment. But a Saviour has been provideda Saviour who, in the mysterious union of natures, combines perfection of sympathy and almightiness of power. Without Christ, we are hopeless and lost. Give us Christ, and we are heirs to all the fulness of God.
2. The Saviours discipline for holiness within His Church (Isa. 4:3-4). With God the great thing is holiness. To work this holiness in His people, God subjects them to discipline, and, if necessary, to the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning. There are some stains so deep that the fire must purge them. The constant superintendence over human affairs which these words imply is assured to us by the experience of our own witnessing hearts, which corroborate the declarations of the inspired Word. In this superintendence the Christian will rejoice. In his anxiety to be conformed to the whole image of God, he will not be careful or delicate about the means God may use. Here is a test by which to try yourselves. Are you willing to submit to this preparation for the promise? Do not shrink from the hissing brand; it will only burn away the core of the ulcer.
II. THE PROMISE ITSELF (Isa. 4:5). As we read these words, we go back to former ages and a fierce wilderness, where a pilgrim host marches, and there, now in their van for guidance, now in their rear for protection, rises a pillar of cloud by day, and by night a pillar of flame. This was the vision prominent in the prophets mind, when he symbolised by it Gods presence and protection to His chosen Church. We are the heirs of the glorious things thus spoken of the city of God. There is the presence of God with His Churchthat is the central thought; then there are right-hand and left-hand thoughts or aspects in which that presence manifests itself, radiating itself on the one hand for counsel, and on the other hand for defence.
1. The central thought, The presence of God. It was in cloud and in fire that God specially revealed Himself to His people in days of old (Gen. 15:17; Exo. 19:18; Exo. 33:9; 1Ki. 8:10; Hab. 3:3-5). So long as the cloud and fire were in the camp, so long the wilderness lost half its terror, because the Israelites knew that God was in the midst of them for good. That God is still present in His Church is no impious fanatics dream. To be sure He does not come as He did in former times, bewildering the sight and overawing the mind. The dispensations are different. The Divine manifestations of terror which made even Moses fear and quake, would not suit this later and better dispensation of love. Yet our tabernacles are not merely places of human assembly; they are tabernacles of Gods presence, and our worship ascends not to a remote or absent God.
2. The right-hand thought, The presence of God for counsel. You remember that this was the primary purpose for which the pillar of cloud and fire was given. Consider how much it was needed by the Israelites in the trackless wilderness.
(1.) For guidance in their perplexities, Gods presence is promised to the churches of to-day. Nobody can look upon the history of the Church with eyes that are not blinded by infidel films without discovering traces of a presence and counsel higher than that of the mightiest and wisest men. What chance had she at the beginning but in the support and upholding that was itself Divine! Through what perils she has been safely guided since!
(2.) If I were to come nearer home, if I were to ask you to look not at the history of the Church, but at your own history, is there not something that would cause you to respond with a joy not less deep and solemn, as you think how the Lord through all your wanderings has been a guide and counsel for you?
3. The left-hand thought, The presence of God for defence. You know what the pillar of fire wasto the Israelites a lamp, brilliant, exquisite, and heartening; to the Egyptians that followed, a consuming fire. There is defence as well as counsel for the Church to-day. Expositors have differed a little about the reading of the last clause in this verse. Some tell us it ought to read, upon all the glory shall be a defence; that is, there shall be protection round about the glory which is created by this luminous cloud and by this kindled fire. Some tell us it should be read, upon all the glory shall be a defence; that is, the luminous cloud and the brilliant fire shall be itself the defence of the Church. What does it matter which way we take it? The defence is sure, the salvation of the Lord is for bulwarks equally in the one case as in the other; and so the Church is safe, whatever betide. Powerful adversaries have banded themselves for her destruction, and yet she still lives, while their names are forgotten, or remembered with accusation and shame. Let us, then, not be afraid of future assaults (Num. 23:23). The defence is not merely for Zion as a whole, but for every dwelling-place therein. Every believer has a pillar of cloud and fire over his own homestead, visible not to your eyes, but to those of the angels. There cannot be a cloud upon the assembly unless there are first clouds upon the dwelling-places. Consecrated homes furnish consecrated congregations; consecrated houses bring the baptism of fire. Dear brethren, this promise is yours, if you like to have it. It is the simple, quiet soul that sits at the feet of Jesus and listens to His voice, that has all this done for him (Heb. 1:14).
Which of the petty kings of earth
Can boast a guard like ours,
Encirled from our second birth
With all the heavenly powers?
W. Morley Punshon, LL.D.,
Christian World Pulpit, ii. 372377.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER FOUR
4.
THE VICTORY OF THE CLEANSED Isa. 4:2-6
TEXT: Isa. 4:2-6
2
In that day shall the branch of Jehovah be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.
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;
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 justice and by the spirit of burning.
5
And Jehovah will create over the whole habitation of mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory shall be spread a covering.
6
And there shall be a pavilion for a shade in the daytime from the heat, and for a refuge and for a covert from storm and from rain.
QUERIES
a.
Who is the branch of Jehovah?
b.
Why is Jehovah going to create a cloud and a flaming fire over Zion?
c.
What is the pavilion?
PARAPHRASE
In those latter days when the glorious future of the mountain of the house of the Lord comes to pass, the Messiah, the Branch of the house of David, will bring Gods people their true beauty and glory; this Branch in His humanity will be the offspring of Israel and will exhibit the true beauty and godliness which only Gods saved-ones recognize as the true glory of humanity. And all those who have escaped the wrath of God and have found salvation in Zion will be named holy. These have their names written down in Gods book of life. This will all be done for Gods people when God has brought about a washing away of the filth of sin like that which has contaminated the women of Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit of God will accomplish this through a judgment and purging. Then the Lord will create over the whole covenant people, wherever they may assemble, divine guidance, divine protection and divine access. Over all of His saved people God will create a shelter which will afford them divine protection and refreshment sufficient to meet every danger and need.
COMMENTS
Isa. 4:2 THE MESSIAH: In that day, is a flashback to chapter Isa. 2:2, . . . in the latter days. Israel and Judah have been punished Isa. 2:6 to Isa. 4:1; a remnant has escaped; out of that remnant another day (far in the future) a better day, has come. This branch has to be The Branch, The Messiah (Cf. Jer. 23:5; Jer. 33:15; Zec. 3:8; Zec. 6:12) if the context is to be taken into account. The Branch, Jesus Christ, is to come and demonstrate the true beauty and glory of Israel. The fruit of the land probably refers to the Messiahs humanity having its connection to the nation of Israel (Cf. Numbers 13 for the land of Canaan, which God gave to Israel). The writer of Hebrews probably had this prophecy in mind when he wrote, For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah . . . (Heb. 7:14). Edward J. Young points to four reasons the fruit of the land refers to the Messiah: (a) The parallelism between branch and fruit (Cf. Joh. 12:24); (b) In many passages of Scripture there is reference to the fruitfulness of the Messianic age; (c) The text provides no contrast between fruitfulness and barrenness; (d) Only when the phrase fruit of the land refers to the Messiah is there a satisfactory connection with what follows. It might be, however, that the fruit of the land is the product of the Branch, and not the Branch Himself. In this case it would be the redeemed community, the church, Christians.
Isa. 4:3 MESSIANIC PEOPLE: In those latter days the people who have escaped the wrath of God and have had their names recorded in Gods book of life will have done so because they have been washed and cleansed (Isa. 4:4). An important parallel to this whole context is the passage in Joe. 2:28 to Joe. 3:3 where practically the same figurative language is used to describe the Messianic age. Those left in Zion will be truly called holy in contrast with those of Jerusalem of Isaiahs day who were claiming to be holy but were filthy. The apostle Paul leaves no doubt that the Zion of prophecy is the New Testament church (Cf. Heb. 12:22 ff).
Isa. 4:4 THE MESSIANIC CLEANSING: The Lord Himself will take action to cleanse Zion of the filth of sin such as the women of Jerusalem were guilty. The only point at which God could have brought about cleansing, in any ultimate sense, through perfect justice was at the cross of Christ (Cf. Rom. 3:21-26). God punished mans sins in Christ and was perfectly just in keeping His word of judgment upon sin, while at the same time He was perfectly merciful in imputing to man the righteousness of Christ (Cf. 2Co. 5:14-21). Zechariah proclaims this great cleansing (Zec. 12:10 to Zec. 13:9). This spirit of burning is portrayed in Malachi as taking place when the Messiah came to purge the sons of Levi (Cf. Mal. 3:1-4). All this cleansing began to take place when Jesus came and offered Himself as both the divine agent to satisfy Gods demands and the divine power to meet mans needs for purification. It is still taking place through the work of the Holy Spirit as His message of conviction (John 16) is preached and men respond in faith. But it will find its consummation in Gods great and final Day of Judgment and Salvation.
Isa. 4:5-6 THE MESSIANIC PRESENCE: It is significant that the word create is from the same Hebrew word, bara, used in Genesis 1! That which is to come to pass will be brought into being exclusively by the personal and direct power of God. When the future glory of Zion comes, God is going to create a new Jerusalem (Cf. Isa. 65:17-25; Isa. 66:22-23, etc.). The cloud and the flaming fire are figures borrowed from the wilderness wandering of the covenant people. They depict Divine guidance, protection and access to Gods presence. Over the whole redeemed community of the new Zion God is going to spread a canopy. Just as over the Jewish wedding ceremony there was a protective canopy, so here there will also be one to protect Gods bride, the church. There will also be a booth (pavilion) for refreshing shelter and rest and a refuge from the storms. The booth was a small, protective structure, such as was used by Israel in the wilderness at the Feast of Booths. The covert is a hiding place. There are so many New Testament figures brought to our mind hereJesus speaks of the man who builds his house upon the rock for protection from the storms; our life is said to be hid with Christ in God, etc.
It is reassuring to listen to these sweet words of hope from the prophet squarely in the midst of his thundering of the judgment? of God upon sin. It reminds us that the message of God is always two-fold; judgment upon sin, but salvation for faith and repentance.
QUIZ
1.
What day is referred to in Isa. 4:2?
2.
Who are those that are escaped of Israel?
3.
How are they to be named holy?
4.
What is the spirit of justice?the spirit of burning?
5.
How does the N.T. become the fulfillment of all these figures of protection?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(2) In that day . . .The dark picture of punishment is relieved by a vision of Messianic glory, like that of Isa. 2:1-4. The day is, as in Isa. 3:18, the time of Jehovahs judgments.
The branch of the Lord . . .The thought of the branch, though not the Hebrew word, is the same as in Isa. 11:1. The word itself is found in the Messianic prophecies of Jer. 23:5-6; Jer. 33:15; Zec. 3:8; Zec. 6:12. The two latter probably inherited both the thought and the word from this passage. Here, then, if we thus interpret the words, we have the first distinct prophecy in Isaiah of a personal Messiah. He is the Branch of Jehovah, raised up by Him, accepted by Him. And the appearance of that Branch has as its accompaniment (the poetic parallelism here being that at once of a resemblance and of contrast) the restoration of outward fertility. That thought Isaiah had inherited from Psa. 72:16; Hos. 2:21-22; Joe. 3:18; Amo. 9:13. He transmitted it to Eze. 34:27; Zec. 9:16-17. The interpretation which takes the branch [or growth] of the Lord in its lower sense, as used collectively for vegetation, and, therefore, parallel and all but synonymous with the fruits of the earth, seems to miss the true meaning. Rabbinic exegesis may be of little weight, but the acceptance of the term as Messianic by Jeremiah and Zechariah is surely conclusive. It will be noted that the prophecy of the Branch (tsemach) here comes after a picture of desolation, just as that of the Branch (netzer) does in Isa. 11:1. The thought seems applied by our Lord to Himself in Joh. 12:24.
For them that are escaped of Israel.These are, of course, identical with the remnant of Isa. 1:9; Isa. 6:13, to whom the prophet had been taught to look as to the trusted depositaries of the nations future.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. And now the counterpart to this fearful prophecy, which was begun in chap. Isa 2:1-5, is resumed, and brings this long discourse to an end. Isaiah, as with a single bound, retires from the dreary scene he has pictured, and is again rejoicing in engrossment with the future Messianic times.
In that day The day of Messiah, the antitype of David.
Shall the branch , ( tzemach,) sprout, the outgrowth from Jehovah. Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15. In these citations the word “branch” directly, and in other passages indirectly, refers evidently to the Messiah. It is that which shoots up, or sprouts, from the root of a tree. The Messiah is, in chap. Isa 11:1; Isa 11:10, (where see notes,) said to be a root of Jesse. David is ever the type of a more glorious ruler, whose sway shall be over the whole earth.
Beautiful glorious It shall be for ornament and glory. Nouns, in the Hebrew, expressive of quality indeed, but of stronger meaning as nouns than as adjectives.
Fruit excellent and comely Literally, for majesty and honour. The Messiah’s reign shall ennoble its subjects by the moral beauty, glory, dignity, and honour conferred on them.
Them that are escaped of Israel The remnant, the small number that escaped calamities. The emphasis is not on small number, but on the “escaped of Israel.” Figuratively this means those who continue true to Jehovah; who, against all odds, remain his firm and believing followers, of whom those who stood the test at Babylon, and were restored to Jerusalem, were types. The Messiah’s reign is to extend on to the end of the world.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Chapter Isa 4:2-6 The Restoration.
It is important to recognise here that Isaiah is looking forward and seeing the whole future as one. He is not just referring to the long distant future, but to the whole future stretching into time. He sees imminent judgment as coming, judgment which is not always necessarily to be seen as final judgment, although often including that idea, for it is a precursor to it. And he recognises that inevitably one day God’s final judgment will come, followed by restoration for His own, without any idea of how long that too will take or how it will be accomplished and in what stages.
It is thus wrong to refer all the judgments the prophets foresaw to the distant future as though they were specifically only to happen in the end days. The prophets saw near and far as though the future was composed of distant peaks, mountain after mountain rising up one after the other, going far into the distance with no awareness of what lay between them. There was no time scale, only an awareness of what God was going to do through the time to come, and indeed must do in accordance with His promises. We look back and divide up, and in so doing often go too far. They looked forward to the working of God, and saw it all as one large whole stretching before them.
We must ever remember that the main purpose of prophecy was not to foretell the future so that the events could be marked off, but to proclaim what Yahweh was going to do with the future, in judgment and deliverance. So chapter 3 fits happily between chapters 2 and 4 without necessarily indicating the same period of time, and indeed Isa 2:2-4 can cover what we might call a whole dispensation.
This adequately explains many so called difficulties, difficulties such as the immediate judgments on Tyre and Babylon, and their resultant destructions which occurred centuries later (Isa 13:17-18 with Isa 13:19-22; Eze 26:7-12 with Isa 26:3-4; Isa 26:14), being seen as one, and why they could all be included in one prophecy. He saw the picture as a whole.
Here, having looked at the coming judgment of God’s people, Isaiah follows it with the description of further refining judgements (Isa 4:3), followed by final restoration and the everlasting kingdom, without necessarily implying that the two are close timewise. (He did not know whether they were or not).
Analysis.
a In that day will the branch (shoot, sprouting) of Yahweh be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be excellent and comely, for those who have escaped of Israel (Isa 4:2).
b And it will come about that he who is left in Zion, and he who remains in Jerusalem, each will be called holy, even everyone who is written among the living in Jerusalem (Isa 4:3).
c When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion (Isa 4:4 a).
c And shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from its midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning (Isa 4:4 b).
b And Yahweh will create over the whole dwellingplace of Mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory a canopy (Isa 4:5).
a And there will be a pavilion for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a refuge and for a covert from storm and from rain (Isa 4:6).
In ‘a’ we have the picture of a glorious future in a fruitful land, while the Branch of Yahweh may well refer to the ‘hoped for’ king, and the people who will spring from Him, and in the parallel a picture of total protection from all forms of trouble. In ‘b’ the people will now all be truly set apart in true holiness, and in the parallel will thus enjoy the visible signs of the presence of Yahweh, and will be under His wedding canopy. In ‘c’ the Lord will have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and in the parallel will have purged the blood of Jerusalem from its midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning.
Isa 4:2-6
The Time Of Restoration ( Isa 4:2-6 ).
Isaiah now points forward to the time of restoration which will follow His judgments. For Yahweh’s whole purpose is to produce for Himself a people holy to Him. Its fulfilment lay in ‘the Israel of God’ which would one day spring from the old Israel (Gal 6:16).
Isa 4:2
‘In that day will the branch (shoot, sprouting) of Yahweh be beautiful and glorious,
And the fruit of the land will be excellent and comely,
For those who have escaped of Israel.’
‘In that day.’ This is a vague connecting time reference meaning a time when God is going to act. It indicates that what is to happen will spring out of what has been described, it will spring from God’s activity some time in the future. In other words following Israel’s low point God will act to improve the situation. Chapter 3 had continual reference to Israel from that time onwards, and ‘in that day’ is simply bringing out that God will not finally leave things like that. He will not for ever leave His people helpless.
Many interpret this ‘branch or shoot of Yahweh’ as referring to the flourishing of the vegetation and the fruit of the land once the judgment in chapter 3 has taken place and those who remain are left in the land, and thus a parallel to the second part of the verse. They see this as what is intended by ‘the sprouting of Yahweh’ (compare its use in Isa 61:11). Compare the desert blossoming like a rose in Isa 35:1 and see Isa 32:15-18 where the pouring out of the Spirit like rain is similarly referred to the fruitfulness of the land, where ‘the fruitful field’ will ‘become a forest’. Thus, they say, God will reveal through the luxurious growth in the land His great favour and graciousness to His own. This it is suggested is especially so in the light of the fact that there has as yet been no reference to the coming king. Had there been we might well have seen it as referring to Him as in Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15; Zec 3:8; Zec 6:12.
The whole verse certainly does have the revival of nature in mind, but along with it we should undoubtedly see the reviving of men’s hearts. Compare Isa 32:15-18 with Isa 44:1-5; Isa 61:11. Thus we may see in this description of ‘the sprouting of Yahweh’ the seeds of the idea of the new birth, the regeneration of His people. Compare Isa 55:10, ‘making it bring to birth and bud’ (the particular mood of the verb ‘bring to birth’ almost always means literal birth). The result being that not only the land but also the people are transformed, for they are ‘called holy’ (Isa 4:3). This would certainly tie in with the teaching of John the Baptiser about the coming Great Harvest (Mat 3:7-12).
However, it may well be that the terminology of ‘the Branch’ as referring to the coming king was already in use (compare Isa 11:1-2) and was already current in the hopes of the people as referring to the hoped for future king, as they looked forward into their future, in which case we may also include that here. For they looked to a king like David who would rule over them wisely and make them triumphant over their enemies and set them high above the nations of the world (Psalms 2), and such a king would elsewhere be likened to the effects of the falling down of rain (Psa 72:6). Thus we may well see ‘the Branch of Yahweh’ here as representing such a king, as part of God’s overall pouring out of blessing, especially so in the light of the fact that one of Isaiah’s later themes is the failure of the house of David and the raising of a new and glorious king under Yahweh Who will rule triumphantly for ever.
This would then explain how the Davidic king is later seen as the Branch (Shoot), (Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15; compare ‘the true Vine’ of which His people are the branches – Joh 15:1-6) once the revelation about Him has been made clear. See Isa 11:1, although the word used for ‘Shoot’ there is not the same. The root used here is also found in Isa 61:11; Gen 19:25; Psa 65:10; Eze 16:7; Eze 17:9-10; Hos 8:7. Thus the ‘sprouting of Yahweh’, which is referring to His renewed people, later certainly becomes especially identified with the One Who sums up His people in Himself, the coming great Davidic king (Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15; Zec 3:8; Zec 6:12), Who is Himself the representative of His people. And we may therefore see this ‘Shoot of Yahweh’ as being both the coming king and the regenerated people over whom He will reign. We can compare how the true Israel as the great servant of Yahweh (Isa 42:1-4; Isa 49:1-6) is finally seen as summed up in the One Who is the Suffering Servant (Isa 50:4-9; Isa 52:13 to Isa 53:12) Who Himself bears their sin. It thus has in mind the fruitful reign of Christ over His people in this age, and the eternal blessing in the age to come.
For the fact is that the ‘shoot’ here was regarded as a messianic reference as early as the Targums, the Aramaic interpretive translation of the Old Testament that grew up after the Babylonian exile and possibly began during it. The Targums arose as a result of the fact that Aramaic became the language of the people so that the reading of the Hebrew text needed to be supplemented with Aramaic explanatory material, which gradually became formalised and was later committed to writing. The earliest extant written Targumic material is from 2nd century BC (from Qumran). So messianic ideas were early seen as included here when the Targums were written.
Isa 4:3-4
‘And it will come about that he who is left in Zion,
And he who remains in Jerusalem,
Each will be called holy, even everyone who is written,
Among the living in Jerusalem,
When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion,
And shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from its midst,
By the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning.’
It is noteworthy that there is at this stage no mention of returning from exile. That is not yet in view. The idea is rather of the remnant remaining after a massively destructive invasion. Once God has judged and refined His people through judgment and fire, those remaining will be called ‘holy’ to Yahweh. The language is apocalyptic. The thought is that they will not only be called ‘holy’ (set apart to God) but will be accepted by God as holy (made so that they are seen as worthy of that separation to God). So the basic pattern is simple. There will be refining judgment, resulting in a holy remnant remaining, who are purified and cleansed from sin and made acceptable to God through His Spirit.
The vision ties in with Isa 2:2-4. The people of God, refined and purified through God’s judgments, will be sheltered by God’s heavenly tabernacle (see Isa 4:5-6). God will have a pure people for Himself. The aim is therefore to describe God’s method of redeeming for Himself a true people for eternity. What will be left when God’s judgmental and refining work is over will be that true people.
Isaiah, who like all the prophets was limited by his understanding that the future must lie in this world, even though new and recreated (Isa 66:22), is depicting the final result in terms that his hearers can appreciate. But the New Testament reveals its deeper significance. The sovereign Lord will separate for Himself a new Israel (Romans 11; Gal 3:7; Gal 3:29; Gal 6:16; Eph 2:19-20 with 12; Jas 1:1; 1Pe 1:1; Rev 7:4-8; Rev 14:1) who will have their part in the heavenly Jerusalem (Gal 4:26; Heb 12:22) once those who are unworthy have been rejected (Rom 11:17; Rom 11:20). And the names of those who are His true people will be written in heaven (Luk 10:20). This will follow God’s judgments on the rejected part of the old Israel through judgment and burning, which will root out and wash away the filthiness (dung, vomit, that which disgusts) and purge the bloodguiltiness (Isa 1:15; Isa 1:21), resulting in the new Israel made up of those still part of (the faithful in Israel), or grafted into (the saved nations), the olive tree (Rom 11:16-17).
‘He who is left in Zion, and he who remains in Jerusalem, each will be called holy.’ The idea is that what God had aimed at in Exo 19:6 will be achieved. This could only literally happen in the everlasting kingdom unless we are to adulterate the meaning of ‘holy’. They are not so in any so-called millennial kingdom, for even to those who believe in such a kingdom that fails in the end. Nor will earthly Israel ever be so. They were called to be a ‘holy nation’ (Exo 19:6), but they failed. So God will now raise up His own holy nation, consisting of holy individuals, each separated to God and endued with His holiness. They will be truly holy. This is the ultimate, not an intermediate stage.
‘Even everyone who is written among the living in Jerusalem.’ In those days cities had their lists of citizens which contained the names of all alive in the city. When they died their names would be expunged. That God has such a list of His own comes out regularly (Psa 69:28; Dan 12:1; Mal 3:16; Luk 10:20; Php 4:3; Rev 3:5; Rev 13:8; Rev 17:8; Rev 20:15). Those whose names God has recorded are the ones who will be made holy. They will be the ones who will be in the new Jerusalem.
‘When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from its midst.’ A thorough washing and purging is necessary. As it is wrought by the Spirit of judgment and burning it clearly includes the destruction of the wicked as well as the purifying of the righteous. It is not the same as Isa 1:16, although we need not doubt the Spirit’s work of cleansing on all those who respond to God.
The filth of the daughters of Zion referred to here has been described in Isa 3:16-24 (note especially the rottenness instead of sweetness in Isa 3:24) demonstrating that God does not treat such behaviour lightly. But it is the arrogance and total selfishness and superficiality that is being rebuked rather than the specific details referred to, although the latter were symbolic of the former. The men are seen as blood guilty (Isa 1:15; Isa 1:21). Their sins are hatred, violence and a determination to get what they can at any cost.
‘By the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning.’ This could refer to a ‘wind’ of judgment from God seen as blowing over Jerusalem, bringing judgment and wafting the flames. Or it could refer to the Spirit of God so active. In view of the purifying nature of the activity, and its purpose, it is probably better to see a reference to the Spirit of God, depicting God’s personal activity in the events. It is the action of the sovereign Lord. The difference between ‘spirit’ and ‘Spirit’ in such contexts is marginal. Both are depicting the direct activity of God.
Isa 4:5-6
‘And Yahweh will create over the whole dwellingplace of Mount Zion,
And over her assemblies,
A cloud and smoke by day,
And the shining of a flaming fire by night.
For over all the glory a canopy.
And there will be a pavilion for a shadow in the daytime from the heat,
And for a refuge and for a covert from storm and from rain.’
The word used here for ‘dwellingplace’ regularly refers to God’s heavenly dwellingplace or the ‘foundation’ of His throne (Psa 33:14; Psa 89:14; Psa 97:2; Isa 18:4; 1Ki 8:39 ; 1Ki 8:43; 1Ki 8:49; 2Ch 6:30 ; 2Ch 6:33; 2Ch 6:39) and only rarely to the earthly temple as God’s dwellingplace (1Ki 8:13; 2Ch 6:2; Dan 8:11). Thus there is a heavenly air about it. ‘Her assemblies’ are those who gather there, His purified people (compare Isa 4:2-4; Rev 14:1-5).
He ‘creates’ over it. The word is only used of God creating, and the verb never takes an object. Thus it appears to signify creation out of nothing. It is used of God’s activity in producing something new that only He can produce (compare Gen 1:1; Gen 1:21; Gen 1:27).
The cloud by day and fire by night are reminiscent of God’s presence as revealed with His people in the wilderness journey where He acted in this way as guide and protector (Exo 13:21-22 and often). Thus Yahweh will be personally present with His people in His heavenly dwellingplace as He was with His people of old when He redeemed them from Egypt and made His covenant with them.
‘Over all the glory a canopy.’ Over His revealed glory will be a ‘canopy’, a chuppa. This is the name used for the wedding canopy under which the bride and groom sat during the wedding feast. This would instantly spring to the mind of the hearer when he heard the word. Yahweh is here seen as ‘married’ to His people through the covenant (compare Isa 54:5; Isa 62:5). They do not have to go desperately seeking a husband like the women in Isa 4:1, for Yahweh is their husband and lord.
There will also be a pavilion to provide protection from heat, rain and storm, that is from trials and troubles and the vicissitudes of life. Thus will God watch over His people in the everlasting kingdom.
The word for ‘pavilion’ when connected with Yahweh is used of a place of divine mystery and protection, a place where He and His own are secreted in mystery and safety, away from where men can interfere (Psa 18:11; Psa 31:20). It is regularly used of temporary booths in which men found shelter (Isa 1:8), especially at the Feast of Booths (or Tabernacles). Its whole idea is that of protection.
The picture behind this chapter is glorious. It describes those who are the sprouting of Yahweh, His true people, made beautiful and glorious; gives a guarantee to them of full provision for all their needs; describes their being accepted by God as made holy; declares that all sin will have been washed away; and guarantees the continual presence of God with them in cloud and fire; and declares that over all the glory will be a ‘chuppa’, a wedding canopy, signifying the closest possible relationship with God. And this accompanied by full protection from all that could harm them. And all possibly under the tender rule of ‘the Shoot of Yahweh’.
While it is in the end a picture of the final state the principle is continuous. We need not doubt that it includes the present state, for those who have come under the Kingly Rule of God have thereby already become citizens of Heaven (Php 3:20; Eph 2:6) and are under His special protection. They are already in the Kingdom of His Beloved Son (Col 1:13). He is the Vine and we are the branches.
Chapter 5 The Sinful Condition of His People and Coming Judgment.
This chapter takes us back to chapter Isa 1:2-15; Isa 1:21-23; Isa 3:1-12; Isa 3:16 to Isa 4:1 and on to chapter 6. It is a penetrating analysis of the sins of Israel, and explains why God must deal with them severely. It prepares us for the revelation to Isaiah in chapter 6 of his own deep sinfulness, which he shares with his people. But it is also a warning to us that God does not treat sin lightly.
It commences with the description of God’s supposed people as His fruitless vineyard who have avoided all His ministrations. And it declares on them six woes, which will then lead on to Him bringing distant nations from afar against them.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Isa 4:2. In that day, &c. The third part of this discourse begins here; in which is set forth the flourishing state of the remnant of the Jewish people after the times of the former calamity, under the care and providence of an illustrious person whom the prophet here calls the BRANCH of Jehovah. In this period we have, first, a prophecy of the Branch of Jehovah; and the fruit of the earth; to be seen in Sion as the king of the people congregated in his name. Secondly, the internal state of this remnant is described; that is, its singular quality or virtue of true internal spiritual holiness, with a certain sign of the time adjoined Isa 4:3-4. Thirdly, the internal state of this people is shewn, with respect to the providence, care, and defence, wherewith it should be favoured by the Lord: Isa 4:5-6. There can be no doubt that the Branch of the Lord means the Messiah. See Zec 6:12. Isa 28:5; Isa 60:21 and Vitringa.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
C.The second prophetic lamp, which, in the light of the glorious divine fruit of the last time, makes known the bad fruits of the present
Isa 4:2 to Isa 5:30
1. THE SECOND PROPHETIC LAMP ITSELF AND THE GLORIOUS DIVINE FRUIT OF THE FUTURE DISPLAYED BY IT
Isa 4:2-6
2In that day shall 1the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious21,
And the fruit of the earth shall be 3excellent and comely
4For them that are escaped of Israel,
3And 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 5among the living in Jerusalem;
4When 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 6 spirit of judgment, and by the cspirit of 7 burning.
5And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion,
And upon her assemblies,
8A cloud and smoke by day,
And the shining of a naming fire by night:
For 9upon all the glory shall be 10a defence.
6And there shall be a 11tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heat,
And for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa 4:2. vid. Isa 13:19; Isa 23:9; Isa 24:16; Isa 28:1; Isa 28:4-5. and occur again together only Isa 13:19. abst., pro concr., comp. Isa 3:25; Isa 10:20; Isa 15:9; Isa 37:31 sq.
Isa 4:3. Niph. is a peculiarity of Isaiah. It is found in no book of the Old Testament, relatively so often as in our prophet: Isa 19:18; Isa 32:5; Isa 61:6; Isa 62:4 (bis.).The construction is dubious, in this sense is nowhere else construed with , unless perhaps Isa 44:5 (wh. see) may be compared. may be abstractum (vita) or concretum (vivi).
Isa 4:4. occurs again in Isaiah only Isa 1:16. in Isaiah again only Isa 28:8, and Isa 37:12, Kri.The verb is found only in the Hiphil; in Isaiah it occurs only here; it is found elsewhere only in Jer 51:34; Eze 40:38; 2Ch 4:6. As the parallel passages show, it means: wash away, rinse away, and thereby cleanse. It is therefore synonymous with .
Isa 4:5. which occurs here and Isa 1:13 in Isaiah, and in Neh 8:8 (where it seems to mean lecture), occurs elsewhere only in the Pentateuch. There, too, with the exception of Num 10:2, where the convocatio coetus is indicated as the object of the use of the trumpets, it is always joined with : Exo 12:16; Lev 23:2 sq.; Num 28:18; Num 28:25 sq; Isa 29:1; Isa 29:7; Isa 29:12. It is therefore a liturgical term, and means the assembling of the congregation. occurs again in Isaiah only Isa 44:22. But he often uses: Isa 6:4; Isa 9:17; Isa 14:31; Isa 34:10; Isa 51:6; Isa 65:5. Moreover , which does not occur in the Pentateuch, is peculiar to Isa 50:10; Isa 60:3; Isa 60:19; Isa 62:1; comp. Isa 9:1; Isa 13:10. So too flame never occurs in the Pentateuch, except in Num 21:28, where it is not used of the pillar of fire. But it is found in Isa 5:24; Isa 10:17; Isa 43:2; Isa 47:14. He intimates by it that one must picture to himself, not an even, steady gleam of fire, but an agitated flaming fire. . I join these words to what follows, as Hitzig also does. The Masoretic division is probably occasioned by the fact that the preceding sentence from to present no strongly marked point for setting an Athnach. But this, as is well known, is not at all necessary; comp. Isa 4:4; Isa 5:3. And besides, if one disjoins these words from the following, he must conceive such a verb as decet supplied, or at least a , shall be. But this is hardly admissible, which those, too, maintain who take as Pual (For all that is glorious shall be defended Gesenius; Knobel somewhat differently. occurs beside this place only in Psa 19:6, and Joe 2:16 in the sense of bridal chamber, bridal canopied bed. And so it means here a protecting cover, and sheltering baldachin.
Isa 4:6. On booth, see Isa 1:8, the only other place where it occurs in Isaiah.The expressions and recur Isa 25:4 vid. Isa 16:3; Isa 25:5; Isa 30:2; Isa 49:2 etc. Isa 25:5; Isa 61:4. Isa 28:15; Isa 28:17. (comp. Isa 32:2 and Isa 45:3) is . . is a word of frequent recurrence in the first part of Isaiah. Besides the passages already cited see Isa 28:2 (bis.); Isa 30:30. Beside those only Job 24:8, and Hab 3:10. again in Isa 5:6; Isa 30:23.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. Just at that time, i.e., at the time to which the parallel passage Isa 2:2-4 refers, the rescued ones of Israel shall partake of a glory that shall appear as fruit of the life that Jehovah Himself shall produce (Isa 4:2). In consequence of that all that still remain in Jerusalem shall be called holy, all whose names shall be written in the book of life (Isa 4:3). But the ones left remaining are those that shall be present when all moral filth and all blood-guiltiness shall have been cleansed away by the tempest of the divine judgment (Isa 4:4). Then shall Jehovah hover over each house and over the assembled total of the dwellers of Jerusalem, as formerly over the tabernacle, with a cloud by day, with smoke and appearance of fire by night (Isa 4:5), for the presence of the glory of Jehovah shall be protection and shelter against every attack (Isa 4:6).
2. I regard this section as parallel member to Isa 2:2-4. Like that, it transports us into the last time: like that, it sets before our eyes the glory that Israel shall then enjoy. Only there is this difference, that, whereas Isa 2:2-4 describes the outward eminence and exaltation of Zion, as the central point of dominion over all nations, Isa 4:2-6 rather describes the inward glory of Zion as one that is now purified and sanctified. For the tempest of judgment has cleansed away all morally impure and ungodly elements. Whatever personal life remains in Zion is a divine scion, and therefore whatever the land produces must be glorious divine fruit. And as in the wilderness the cloud by day and the appearance of fire by night was over the Tabernacle, so shall every single house in Israel and the whole congregation in its entirety be marked as the holy abode of Jehovah by the glorious signs of His presence warding off every hostile storm. This is the second prophetic lamp with which the prophet, so to speak, stretches his arm far out and illuminates the distant future. But as in Isa 2:5 to Isa 4:1 he sets the present that lies between (we comprehend all that precedes that last time as present) in the light of that prophetic word Isa 2:2-4, and by this means makes manifest the immense difference between the present and the future, so he does likewise here. I am of the opinion therefore that 5. has the same subordinate relation to Isa 4:2-4 that Isa 2:5 to Isa 4:1 has to Isa 2:2-4. That 5. is not independent, but integral part of the prophecy that begins with Isa 2:1, has already been asserted by Forerius, Vogel, Doederlein, Jahn, Hitzig, Ewald (comp. Caspari, Beitr, p. 234). I maintain the same, only I have other grounds for it than they. If one were to assume with Caspari (int. al. p. 300) that the passage Isa 2:2-4, is not in the proper sense prophecy; they are repeated, quoted, recited by Isaiah, as a prophecy given to Israel by another prophet, for the purpose of joining on to it the warning and reproof of Isa 2:5-8,then indeed must Isa 4:2-6 be regarded as the promise appertaining to Isa 2:5 to Isa 4:1.
But that assumption of Caspari is as unnatural as can be. The glorious words of Micah must be no prophecy! But they are so per se. This cannot be controverted. They must serve only as points of departure and connection! That would need to be indicated. Then Isaiah must have presented them in a form that would reveal at once that he employs the words only as introduction to his address proper. They must be separated from the discourse of Isaiah, and be expressly designated as a citation by some sort of historical reference. But such is not the case. Isaiah make the words entirely his own. He does not say that they are borrowed from another: those informed know it and draw their own conclusion; but that is another thing. The main thing is that the Lord has so said, and therefore Isaiah too may use the words and found his discourse on it.
It is clear as day and undisputed that Isaiah from Isa 2:2 to Isa 4:1 shows the false estimate of human glory in the light of the divine. But just as clear, it seems to me, is it that Isaiah, in 4 and 5, also contemplates, as it were, the condition of the fruits in the field of the hearts of Israel in the present in the light of the fruitage that, in the last time, shall be produced on the soil of the judged and purified Israel. For Isa 4:2, the Branch, and Fruit of the earth are evidently the main ideas. These both shall become glorious. This, however, is explained Isa 4:3 : all that then remain in Zion shall be called holy, because the tempest of judgment has removed from Zion all pollution and all guilt. Then shall both, each individual and the totality, be fully as secure a dwelling place of Jehovah as once the Tabernacle was.
Therefore the prophet speaks Isa 4:2-6 also of a glory indeed, but of a different one from Isa 2:2-4. In the latter place he has in view more that glory which in that time Israel shall develop externally: it shall as the solitary eminence of the earth shine far around, and all nations shall flow to this eminence. But Isa 4:2 sq. speaks of that glory that is identical with holiness, the notion holy taken in the sense of sanctus and sacer: this glory, however, is first of all inward. But as that outward glory takes the inward for granted, which is indicated Isa 2:3 by the terms out of Zion shall go forth the law, etc., so, too, the inward glory cannot last without the outward, which is expressed Isa 4:2 by the terms beautiful and glorious, excellent and comely, and plainly enough in Isa 4:5-6. When now we read in chap. 5 of a vineyard that produces wild grapes instead of grapes, and when Isa 5:7, this is expressly interpreted to mean that Jehovah has found in the field of the hearts of Israel bloodshed and the cry of woe instead of judgment and righteousness, and when, after that, this evil fruit is more particularly characterized in the following sixfold woe, can we then in the least doubt that the section that treats of the bad fruits of the present stands in the same relation to the section immediately preceding which describes the glorious fruits of the last time, that the section Isa 2:5 to Isa 4:1 concerning false great things does to the section that immediately precedes it, and that describes the true divine greatness.
I do not suppose that this would ever have been doubted, did not chap. 5 appear so independent, so peculiar, so distinct in itself and well rounded, and were not suddenly Isa 4:1, a totally different tone assumed; I mean the parable tone. But we must not overlook the relationship of the contents because of the difference in the form. This relationship will appear plainer as we contemplate the particulars: but we must at this point draw attention to one thing. As Isa 2:5 to Isa 4:1 the outward decay appears as symptom and consequence of the inward, so in chap. 5 the inward decay appears as the root from which the outward develops by an inevitable necessity. According to this the two dominant passages Isa 2:2-4 and Isa 4:2-6 stand in an analogous inverted relation, like the sections governed by them Isa 2:5 to Isa 4:1, and chap. 5.
Finally let it be noticed here, what we shall prove in particular further on, that in Isa 4:2-6, as a matter of course, there occur back looks or references to what has preceded. (Comp. e. g. Isa 4:4) This cannot be otherwise, in as much as Isa 4:2 to Isa 5:30 is the second organic half of the great second portal of Isaiahs prophecies. But noticing this does not in the least hinder the assertion that section Isa 4:2-6 in the main looks forward and not backward.
3. In that day,spirit of burning.
Isa 4:2-4. By the words in that day the prophet refers back to in the last days Isa 2:2. For according to all that we have just laid down, Isa 4:2-6 stands parallel with Isa 2:2-4, both as to time and subject matter. This last time may have begun since the birth of Christ, but it is not finished; it is fulfilled by degrees through many a rising and subsiding. In this last time, therefore, shall the branch and the fruit of the earth be for beauty and honor, splendor and glory to the saved ones of Israel. What is branch? The word means germinatio, the sprouting, and means first of all, not a single sprout, but sprouting in general, and the total of all that sprouts. Thus it means Gen 19:25 : And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground ( ). So again we read, Eze 16:7 : I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field ( ) i.e. I have made thee like the vegetation of the field. Again Hos 8:7 : It hath no stalk, the bud () shall yield no meal. The word has the same meaning also Isa 61:11; Psa 65:11. In Eze 17:9-10, the abstract meaning germinatio predominates. If now we compare Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15, we find that there righteous Branch ( ) means a single personality. I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as King, and shall prosper, and execute judgment and justice in the land; in his days, etc. Notice the singular after Branch. So too, Jer 33:15. In Zechariah, however, we find Tzemach, has become altogether a proper name. Behold I will bring forth my servant Tzemach, (Branch), Zec 3:8. And Zec 6:12 : Behold the man whose name is Tzemach, and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. If we agree with expositors that refer the Tzemach of Jer. and Zech. (which in them, beyond all doubt, means the Messiah), to our passage as its original source, still the conclusion must not be countenanced that the word is to be taken in the same meaning in our passage as in Jer. and Zech. For in our passage a condition, habitus, is evidently described, not a personality. Fruit of the land stands as correlative of Branch of Jehovah. This is so general and comprehensive an expression, that it is impossible to understand by it any single fruit, even though it were the noblest. The passages Isa 11:1; Isa 11:10; Isa 53:2, do not contradict this. For just in those passages the Messiah is designated, not as the fruit of the land, (or of the earth), in general, but a shoot out of the root of Jesse. Fruit of the land in the general and indefinite form of its expression, can only signify the products of the land in general (not of the earth, for, according to the context, only Israel is spoken of). Thus what grows of Jehovah and what grows of the land stand in antithesis; spiritual and corporal fruits, the products of the heavenly and of the earthly life.
But what are the products of the heavenly, spiritual, divine life? This, it seems to me, Isa. himself tells us Isa 61:11 : For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before the nations. Thus, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue and if there be any praise Php 4:8 (and may not Paul have had Isa 61:11 in his mind?) that is Tzemach of Jehovah. That is the divine fruit with which the fruit of the land stands in contrast, viz.: all corporal life that the land produces in all the kingdoms of nature. Therefore Tzemach of Jehovah comprehends the entire sphere of the free, conscious, personal life, all that is product of the breath of life (Gen 2:7); whereas fruit of the land designates the entire impersonal, corporal life, all that is the production of the earth (Gen 1:12). If this is the meaning of Tzemach of Jehovah in our passage, then this general notion may easily condense and, so to speak, crystallize to the conception of a definite personality. Thus, for instance, the idea of the seed of the woman (Gen 3:15) proceeding originally from a conception general and indefinite, gradually, in the consciousness of believing Israel, condensed to the notion of a definite personality.
According to this I cannot agree with those that understand Tzemach of Jehovah of the Messiah only (as many Jewish and Christian expositors), or of the Church alone (so Jerome: nomen Christianum), or of the people of Israel alone (thus Knobel, who confounds with ), or of Christ and the church (thus Zwingli: both expressions suit to the Branch Christ and to His body the church. Hofmanns explanation (Schriftbew. II. 2, p. 503 sq.): What Jehovah causes to grow and the land brings forth, the Prophet opposes to the thousands of human productions with which the previously rebuked luxury decked itself, especially in the case of women, seems to me to construe the idea of Tzemach of Jehovah too narrowly, and too little in its distinction from Fruit of the land, as well as too much with reference to Isa 3:16 sqq.
Therefore, the entire products, both of the spiritual and the corporal life shall be such that the rescued ones of Israel shall be highly honored and glorified thereby. That which has its immediate source of life in Jehovah Himself, which is the fruit of His Spirit (Gal 5:22) must redound to the honor of those in whom it makes its appearance (comp. Rom 2:7 sqq.). We read elsewhere (Isa 28:5) that Jehovah Himself shall be for a crown of glory and for a diadem of beauty unto the residue of His people. Both amount to the same thing. For where Jehovah is, there He is with His life and with His power; and where He lives and works, there He makes glory. Moreover the fruits of the earth, where the Lord alone becomes the principle of spiritual life, must themselves become glorious and, as it were, the cause of a glory like Paradise. All, in fact, will become new: body and soul, nature and history, heaven and earth.
(or ) never means anything else than the products of the ground. The expression is found often in the Pentateuch (Gen 4:3; Lev 25:19; Num 13:20; Num 13:26), most frequently in Deut. (Isa 1:25; Isa 7:13; Isa 26:2; Isa 26:10; Isa 28:4; Isa 28:11; Isa 28:18, &c). Beside these only in Jer 7:20, and Psa 105:35. But all this splendor and glory shall exist only for the escaped of Israel. This is the conception so frequent in Isa., which he elsewhere designates as remnant, him that remaineth, residue, (, , , comp. Isa 4:3; Isa 6:13; Isa 10:20-22; Isa 11:11; Isa 11:16; Isa 28:5; Isa 37:31 sq.; Isa 46:3), and which expresses that, not all Israel, but only the remnant left after the judging and sifting shall partake of the salvation.
Isa 4:3 says expressly, that the glory of which Isa 5:2 speaks shall depend on inward purity and spotlessness, on that light that is said to be the garment of God (Psa 104:2). This verse, therefore, contains the more particular definition of Isa 5:2. The left over ( comp. Isa 37:31) and the remaining over ( comp. Isa 7:22, and Delitzsch, in loc.) in Zion and Jerusalem (vid.Isa 2:3) shall be called holy, i.e., not only be so, but be recognized and called such.
This holiness, which becomes Gods house, Psa 93:5, is, any way, to be construed objectively as well as subjectively. It includes the sacer and the sanctus. But these holy men of God are His elect in reference to whom He has made the counsel of His love documentary by entering their names in the book of life.
To be written to the living or to the life calls to mind Psa 69:29, , let them not be written with the righteous, or Jer 22:30, where it is said: write this man childless. This book of life is not that in which are written those destined to earthly life (1Sa 25:29, Psa 139:16), but that wherein stand written those appointed to everlasting life. What sort of a book that may be, and how the entry in it comports with free self determination in men we cannot here investigate. This book is first named Exo 32:32-33. Later Isa. in this place, and Psa 69:29; Psa 87:4-6; Dan 12:1 mention it. In the N. Test, we read of it Luk 10:20; Php 4:3; Rev 3:5; Rev 13:8; Rev 17:8; Rev 20:12; Rev 20:15; Rev 21:27. Some, not without propriety, have reminded, in connection with Isa 10:19; Eze 13:9; Exo 30:12, etc., of the genealogical registers or roll of citizens, in so far as those inscribed for life are at once citizens of the kingdom of God and of the city of God (Gal 5:26; Heb 12:22; Rev 21:2).
When the Lord shall have washed.
Isa 4:4. It seems to me that the contents of Isa 4:4 show decidedly that it is no premis to Isa 4:5, but is to be regarded as specification of the time and conditions in reference to Isa 4:2-3. For only the purifying and sifting judgments of God, that cleanse away all filth, bring it about that any holy, divine life still remains in Jerusalem. The filth of the daughter of Zion is not only her moral degradation, but all that appears as fruit of it and means for furthering it; thus the entire apparatus of luxury discoursed of in Isa 3:16 sqq. Though outwardly showy and splendid, regarded from the Prophets point of view it was only vile filth. The blood-guiltiness of Jerusalem (comp. Isa 1:15; Isa 9:4; Isa 26:21; Isa 33:15) proceeds from the innocent blood shed by the injustice and tyranny of the powerful (Isa 1:15 sqq.). Concerning Zion and Jerusalem, see Isa 2:3. This cleansing shall be brought about by a spiritual force that is analogous to that force of nature that purifies, viz., the wind. Like that rushes over the earth and bears away all impure vapors, so shall God let loose His judgments over Israel, destroy the wicked and drive to repentance those in whom the Spirit of God finds still a point of contact, thus spiritually purify the nation. I do not think, therefore, that here is to be translated spirit. The context evidently demands the meaning wind. In Isa 30:28, also is the breath of God, as one sees from the connection with the lips and tongue (4:27). Comp. Isa 41:16, the wind shall carry them away. Meier translates our passage breath of wrath. In the kindred passage Isa 28:6, however, the meaning spirit seems to predominate. Whether is kindred to that that means to burn, to kindle (see Isa 4:5; Isa 40:16; Isa 44:15; 2Ch 4:20; 2Ch 13:11) is doubtful. Our is, like Isa 6:13, used in the sense of to cast off, cut away, brush off, in which sense the word often occurs in Deut. in reference to exterminating the scabby sheep out of the holy theocratic congregation (Deu 13:6; Deu 17:7; Deu 19:19; Deu 26:13 sq., comp. Num 24:22, &c.) The word therefore involves the notion of a sifting. After the purification is accomplished by judgment and sifting, measures shall be taken against further corruption in that the Lord shall hover with the pillar of smoke and fire over the individual dwellings of Mount Zion and over the whole assembly of the holy nation for their protection.
Isa 4:5 therefore introduces a complementary idea of what precedes. (again in Isaiah only Isa 18:4) is sedes, habitatio parata, stabilita. It is used almost exclusively of the divine indwelling. For with the exception of Psa 104:5, where the (foundations) of the earth are named (which any way are a divine work too), stands only for the earthly, (Exo 15:17, &c) or the heavenly (1Ki 8:39; 1Ki 8:43; 1Ki 8:49, etc.) dwelling-place of God. One is tempted, therefore, to understand here of the temple as Gods dwelling place. But then the would be incomprehensible. Or if this be translated whole, then there must be an article. We must, therefore, understand by it all the dwellings that were found on Mount Zion (comp. Isa 2:2-3, naming of the city Jerusalem a potiori). The whole of these have become holy dwellings of God, too, inasmuch as their inhabitants are themselves scions of God (Isa 4:2).
Assemblies, is evidently in contrast with every dwelling, and declares that the sign of Jehovah shall hover over both the dwellings of individual families and over the assembled total of the nation. Every single house, as well as the house of Jacob as a whole, shall be Gods holy tabernacle, as formerly the typical Tabernacle was alone. Even before the passage of the Red Sea, the pillar of cloud and fire went before the Israelites (Exo 13:21 sq.). It stood as a protection between the armies of Israel and Egypt (Exo 14:19 sq). But when the Tabernacle was completed, the pillar of cloud and fire rested over it (Exo 40:34 sqq.).
In the Pentateuch the expression , smoke, is never used for this wonderful phenomenon. It is put in here in such a way that one does not know whether to join it to cloud, or to shining, etc. According to the accents the former should be done. Moreover it may be urged that smoke is not seen by night. But why then is placed after ? Some consider the construction a hendiadys: cloud and smoke = smoke cloud; for an ordinary vapor cloud it was not. This may be correct. But from the nature of things smoke belongs to fire. For there is no fire without smoke, nor smoke without fire. Like Hengstenberg, therefore, I refer , and smoke to what follows. Precisely as smoke would the cloud at night be most plainly visible, for then the smoke was seen mounting out of the fire and illuminated by it.
For upon all glory, etc.If the Prophet, as has been shown, regards every single house as Gods holy tabernacle, then he can call it glorious too, like in Exo 40:34 sq., that which filled the dwelling of the sanctuary is called the glory of Jehovah. Comp. on Exo 4:13. This glory of Jehovah in the pillar of cloud and fire served on the one hand for Israels protectionviz., standing between them and the Egyptians,on the other for a guide in the desert. The sanctified Israel of the last time will not need a guide, for they will no more wander. They are to be firmly founded on the holy mountain. But they will still need protection. For if even the majority of the nations flow to them, shall then at once all enmity in the world against Gods sanctuary be extinguished? Is it not conceivable that both in the world of men and of devils hostile powers may exist, inclined to and capable of doing harm? (Rev 20:7 sqq.)
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On Isa 2:2. Domus Dei, etc. The house of God is built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, who, themselves, too, are mountains, quasi imitators of Christ. (They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, Psa 125:1) Whence, also, upon one of the mountains Christ founded the Church and said: Thou art Peter, etc., Mat 16:18. Jerome.We can understand Jerusalem by the mountain of God, for we see how the believing run thither, and how those that have accepted the testimony come thither and seize the blessing that proceeds thence. But we may also by the house of God understand the churches spread over land and sea, as we believe St. Paul, who says, we are the house of God, Heb 3:6. And so we may recognize the truth of the prophecy. For the Church of God stands shining forth, and the nations, forsaking wickedness that has long had dominion over them, hasten to her and are enlightened by her. Theodoret.Ecclesia est, etc. The church is a mountain exalted and established above all other mountains, but in spirit. For if you regard the external look of the church from the beginning of the world, then in New Testament times, you will see it oppressed, contemned, and in despair. Yet, notwithstanding, in that contempt it is exalted above all mountains. For all kingdoms and all dominions that have ever been in the world have perished. The church alone endures and triumphs over heresies, tyrants, Satan, sin, death and hell, and that by the word only, by this despised and feeble speech alone. Moreover it is a great comfort that the bodily place, whence first the spiritual kingdom should arise, was so expressly predicted, that consciences are assured of that being the true word, that began first to be preached in that corner of Judea, that it may be for us a mount Zion, or rule for judging of all religions and all doctrines. The Turkish Alcoran did not begin in Ziontherefore it is wicked doctrine. The various Popish rites, laws, traditions began not in Ziontherefore they are wicked, and the very doctrines of devils. So we may hold ourselves upright against all other religions, and comfort our hearts with this being the only true religion which we profess. Therefore, too, in two psalms, Psalms 2, 110, mount Zion is expressly signified: I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion; likewise: The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion. Luther.
2. On Isa 2:2. Luther makes emphatic, as something pertaining to the wonderful nature of this kingdom, that other kingdoms are established and administered by force and arms. But here, because the mountain is lifted up, the nation shall flow (fluent), i.e., they shall come voluntarily, attracted by the virtues of the church. For what is there sweeter or lovelier than the preaching of the gospel? Whereas Moses frightens weak souls away. Thus the prophet by the word fluent, flow, has inlaid a silent description of the kingdom of Christ, which Christ gives more amply when He says: Mat 11:12, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force, i.e. they are not compelled, but they compel themselves. Morever rivers do not flow up mountains, but down them; but here is such an unheard-of thing in the kingdom of Christ.Starke.
3. Luther remarks on and shall say: come, etc. Here thou seest the worship, works and efforts and sacrifices of Christians. For they do only the one work, that they go to hear and to learn. All the rest of the members must serve their neighbors. These two, ears and heart, must serve God only. For the kingdom rests on the word alone. Sectaries and heretics, when they have heard the gospel once, instantly become masters, and pervert the Prophets word, in that they say: Come let us go up that we may teach him his way and walk in our paths. They despise, therefore, the word as a familiar thing and seek new disputations by which they may display their spirit and commend themselves to the crowd. But Christians know that the words of the Holy Ghost can never be perfectly learned as long as we are in the flesh. For Christianity does not consist in knowing, but in the disposition. This disposition can never perfectly believe the word on account of the weakness of the sinful flesh. Hence they ever remain disciples and ruminate the word, in order that the heart, from time to time, may flame up anew. It is all over with us if we do not continue in the constant use of the word, in order to oppose it to Satan in temptation (Matthew 4). For immediately after sinning ensues an evil conscience, that can be raised up by nothing but the word. Others that forsake the word sink gradually from one sin into another, until they are ruined. Therefore Christianity must be held to consist in hearing the word, and those that are overcome by temptations, whether of the heart or body, may know that their hearts are empty of the word.
4. Vitringa remarks on the words, Out of Zion goes forth the law, Isa 5:3. If strife springs up among the disciples concerning doctrine or discipline, one must return to the pattern of the doctrine and discipline of the school at Jerusalem. For shall go forth, stands here only as in Luk 2:1, There went forth a decree from Csar Augustus. In this sense, too, Paul says, 1Co 14:36, What? came the word of God out from you? The word of God did not go forth from Corinth, Athens, Rome, Ephesus, but from Jerusalem, a fact that bishops assembled in Antioch opposed to Julius I. (Sozom. hist. eccl. III. 8, the orientals acknowledged that the Church of Rome was entitled to universal honoralthough those who first propagated a knowledge of Christian doctrine in that city came from the East). Cyril took in the false sense of , has forsaken Zion. When the Lord opened the understandings of the disciples at Emmaus, to understand the Scriptures and see in the events they had experienced the fulfilment of what was written concerning Him in the law, Prophets and Psalms, He cannot have forgotten the present passage. Of this we may be the more assured since the words: Thus it is written and thus it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem. Luk 24:46-47, point clearly to Isa 2:2-3 of our passage. Therefore too, Justin Martyr Apol. i. (commonly ii.), 49, says: But where the prophetic spirit predicts the future, he says: from Zion shall go forth the law, etc. And that this finally came to pass in fact, you may credibly assure yourselves. For from Jerusalem have men gone forth into the world, twelve in number, and these were unlearned, that knew not how to speak. But by the might of God they have proclaimed to all mankind that they were sent by Christ in order to teach all the word of God.
Zion is contrasted here with Mount Sinai, whence the law came, which in the Old Testament was the foundation of all true doctrine: But in the New Testament Mount Zion or Jerusalem has the privilege to announce that now a more perfect law would be given and a new Covenant of God with men would be established. Thus Zion and Jerusalem are, so to speak, the nursery and the mother of all churches and congregations of the New Testament.Starke.
5. Frster remarks on the end of Isa 2:3, that the gospel is the sceptre of Jesus Christ, according to Psa 110:2; Psa 45:7 (the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre). For by the word Christ rules His church (Rom 10:14 sqq.).
6. On Isa 2:4. Pax optima rerum. Foerster. The same author finds this prophecy fulfilled by Christ, who is our peace, who has made of both one, and broken down the partition that was between, in that by His flesh He took away the enmity (Eph 2:14). Foerster, moreover, combats the Anabaptists, who would prove from this passage that waging war is not permitted to Christians. For our passage speaks only against the privata Christianorum discordia. But waging war belongs to the publicum magistratus officium. Waging war, therefore, is not forbidden, if only the war is a just one. To be such, however, there must appear according to Thomas, part. 2 th. qust. 40. 1) auctoritatis principis, 2) causa justa, 3) intentio bellantium justa, or ut allii efferunt: 1) jurisdictio indicentis, 2) offensio patientis, 3) intentio finem (?) convenientis.
7. On Isa 2:4. Jerome regarded the time of Augustus, after his victory at Actium, as the fulfilling of this prophecy. Others, as Cocceius, refer the words, they shall turn their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning-hooks, to the time of Constantine the Great; and the words nation shall not lift up sword against nation to the period of the restoration of religious peace in Germany,finally the words: they shall no more learn war, to a future time that is to be hoped for. Such interpretations are, however, just as one-sided as those that look only for a spiritual fulfilment of prophecy. For how is an inward fulfilment of this promise of peace to be thought of which would not have the outward effects as its consequence? Or how is an outward fulfilment, especially such as would deserve the name, conceivable without the basis of the inward? Or must this peaceful time be looked for only in heaven? Why then does the promise stand here? It is a matter of course that there is peace in heaven: for where there is no peace there can be no heaven. The promise has sense only if its fulfilment is to be looked for on earth. The fulfilment will take place when the first three petitions of the Lords prayer are fulfilled, i.e. when Gods name shall be held holy by us as it in itself is holy, when the kingdom of God is come to everything, without and within, and rules alone over all, when the will of God is done on earth as in heaven. Christendom makes this prayer quite as much with the consciousness that it cannot remain unfulfilled, as with the consciousness that it must find its fulfilment on earth. For, if referred to heaven, these petitions are without meaning. Therefore there is a time of universal inward and outward peace to be looked for on earth. It is not every days evening, i.e. one must await the event, and our earth, without the least saltus in cogitando, can yet experience a state of things that shall be related to the present, as the present to the period of trilobites and saurians. If one could only keep himself free from the tyranny of the present moment! But our entire, great public, that has made itself at home in Philistia, lives in the sweet confidence that there is no world beside that of which we take notice on the surface of the earth, nor ever was one, nor ever will be.
8. On Isa 2:4. Poets reverse the figure to portray the transition from peaceful to warlike conditions. Thus Virgil, Georg. I. 2:506 sq.:
Non ullus aratro
Dignus honos, squalent abductis arva colonis.
Et curv rigidum falces conflantur in ensem.
Aeneide VII. 2:635 sq.:
Vomeris huc et falcis honos, huc omnis aratri
Cessit amor; recoquunt patrios fornacibus enses.
Ovid, Fast. I. 2:697 sqq.:
Bella diu tenuere viros. Erat aptior ensis
Vomere, cedebat taurus arator equo.
Sarcula cessabant, versique in pila ligones.
Factaque de rastri pondere cassia erat.
9. On Isa 2:5. As Isaiah puts the glorious prophecy of his fellow prophet Micah at the head, he illuminates the future with a splendid, shining, comforting light. Once this light is set up, it of itself suggests comparisons. The questions arise: how does the present stand related to that shining future? What difference obtains? What must happen for that condition of holiness and glory to be brought about? The Christian Church, too, and even each individual Christian must put himself in the light of that prophetic statement. On the one hand that will humiliate us, for we must confess with the motto of Charles V.: nondum! And long still will we need to cry: Watchman what of the night (Isa 21:11)? On the other hand the Prophets word will also spur us up and cheer us. For what stronger impulse can be imagined than the certainty that one does not contend in vain, but may hope for a reward more glorious than all that ever came into a mans heart? (Isa 64:4; 1Co 2:9).
In the time of the second temple, in the evenings of the first days of the feast of Tabernacles, great candelabras were lighted in the forecourt of the temple, each having four golden branches, and their light was so strong that it was nearly as light as day in Jerusalem. That might be for Jerusalem a symbol of that let us walk in the light of the Lord. But Jerusalem rejoiced in this light, and carried on all sorts of pastime, yet it was not able to learn to know itself in this light, and by this self-knowledge to come to true repentance and conversion.
10. On Isa 2:8, their land is full of idols. Not only images and pictures are idols, but every notion concerning God that the godless heart forms out of itself without the authority of the Scripture. The notion that the Mass is effective ex opere operato, is an idol. The notion that works are demanded for justification with God, is an idol. The notion that God takes delight in fasts, peculiar clothes, a special order of life, is an idol. God wills not that we should set up out of our own thoughts a fashion of worshipping Him; but He says: In all places where I record My name, I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee, Exo 20:24Luther.
11. On Isa 2:9-21. When men have brought an idol into existence, that is just to their mind, whether it be an idolum manu factum, or an idolum mente excogitatum, there they are all wonder, all worship. Great is Diana of the Ephesians. Then the idol has a time of great prosperity and glory. But sooner or later there comes a time when the judgment of God overtakes the idol and its servants. God suffers sin to become ripe like men let a conspiracy, like they let fruit ripen. But when the right time comes then He steps forth in such a fashion that they creep into mouse-holes to hide themselves, if it were possible, from the lightning of His eye and His hand. Where then are the turned-up noses, the big mouths, the impudent tongues? Thus it has often happened since the world began. But this being brought to confession shall happen in the highest degree to the puffed-up world at that day when they shall see that one whom they pierced, and whom they thought they might despise as the crucified One, coming in His glory to judge the world. Then they shall have anguish and sorrow, then shall they lament and faint away with apprehension of the things that draw nigh. But those that believed on the Lord in His holiness, shall then lift up their heads for that their redemption draws nigh. At that time, indeed, shall the Lord alone be high, and before Him shall bow the knees of all in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and all tongues must confess that Christ is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12. On Isa 2:22. Of what do men not make idols! The great industrial expositions of modern times often fill me with dismay, when I have seen how men carry on an actual idolatrous worship with these products of human science and art, as if that all were not, in the end, Gods work, too, but human genius were alone the creator of these wonders of civilization. How wickedly this so-called worship of genius demeans itself ! How loathsome is the still more common cultus of power, mammon and the belly!
13. On Isa 3:1 sqq. Causa , etc. The saving cause of the commonwealth is the possession of men of the sort here mentioned, which Plato also knew, and Cicero from Plato, each of whom judge, commonwealths would be blessed if philosophers, i.e., wise and adept men were to administer them.Foerster. The same writer cites among the causes why the loss of such men is ruinous, the changes that thence ensue. All changes in the commonwealth are hurtful. Xenoph. Hellen. Isaiah 2 : . Aristot. Metaph. Isaiah 2 : .
14. On Isa 3:1. The stay of bread, etc. Vitringa cites Horat. Satir. L. II., 3 5:153 sq.:
Deficient inopem ven te, ni cibus atque
Ingens accedit stomacho fultura ruenti.
And on Isa 3:2 sq. he cites Cicero, who, De Nat. Deorum III., calls these prsidia humana, firmamenta reipublic. On Isa 3:6 sq. the same author cites the following passage from Livy (26 chap. 6): Cum fame ferroque (Capuani) urgerentur, nec ulla spes superesset iis, qui nati in spem honorum erant, honores detrectantibus, Lesius querendo desertam et proditam a primoribus Capuam summum magistratum ultimus omnium Campanorum cepit! On Isa 3:9 he quotes Seneca: De vita beata, chap. xii.: Itaque quod unum habebant in peccatis bonum perdunt peccandi verecundiam. Laudant enim ea, quibus erubescant, et vitio gloriantur.
15. On Isa 3:4; Isa 3:12. Foerster remarks: Pueri, etc. Boys are of two sorts. Some are so in respect to age, others in respect to moral qualifications. So, too, on the contrary there is an old age of two sorts: For honorable age is not that which standeth in length of time, nor that is measured by number of years. But wisdom is the true gray hair unto men, and an unspotted life is the true old age. Wis 4:8-9. Examples of young and therefore foolish kings of Israel are Rehoboam (the young fool gambled away ten whole tribes at one bet 1 Kings 12). Ahaz, who was twenty years of age when he began to reign (2Ki 16:2). Manasseh who was twelve years (2Ki 21:1,) and Amon who was twenty-two years (2Ki 21:19).
16. On Isa 3:7. Foerster remarks: Nemo se, etc. Let no one intrude himself into office, especially when he knows he is not fit for it, and then cites: Seek not of the Lord pre-eminence, neither of the king the seat of honor. Justify not thyself before the Lord; and boast not of thy wisdom before the king. Seek not to be judge, being not able to take away iniquity. Sir 7:4-6.Wen aber Gott schickt, den macht er auch geschickt.
17. On Isa 3:8. Their tongue and their doings are against the Lord. Duplici modo, etc. God may be honored by us in two outward ways: by word and deed, just as in the same way others come short; to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds, which they have committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. Judges 15.Vitringa.
18. On Isa 3:9. They hide not their sin. Secunda post, etc. The next plank after shipwreck, and solace of miseries is to hide ones impiety.Jerome.
19. On Isa 3:10. Now He comforts the pious as in Psalms 2. His anger will soon kindle, but it shall be well with all that trust in Him. So Abraham, so Lot was delivered; so the apostles and the remnant of Judah when Jerusalem was besieged. For the Lord helps the righteous (Psa 37:17; Psa 37:39).Luther.
20. On Isa 3:13-14.
Judicabit judices judex generalis,
Neque quidquam proderit dignitas papalis,
Sive sit episcopus, sive cardinalis,
Reus condemnabitur, nec dicetur qualis.
Rhythmi vulgo noti, quoted byFoerster.
21. On Isa 3:16 sq. Usus vestium, etc. Clothes have a four-fold use: 1) they are the badge of guilt, or souvenir of the fall (Gen 3:7; Gen 3:10; Gen 3:21); 2) they should be coverings against the weather; 3) they may be ornaments for the body, (Pro 31:22; Pro 31:25); 4) they may serve as a mark of rank (2Sa 13:18).The abuse of clothes is three-fold; 1) in regard to the material, they may be costlier or more splendid than ones wealth or rank admits of; 2) in respect of form, they may betray buffoonery and levity; 3) in respect to their object, they may be worn more for the display of luxury and pride than for protection and modest adornment.Foerster.
22. On Isa 4:2. Germen Jehovae est nomen Messi mysticum, a nemine intellectum, quam qui tenet mysterium Patris et Christi. Idem valet quod filius propago Patris naturalis, in quo patris sui imago et gloria perfectissime splendet, Jessaiae in seqq. (Isa 9:5) ,, filius, Joanni , , processio Patris naturais. Est hic eruditi cujusdam viri elegans observatio, quae eodem tendit, quam non licet intactam praetermittere. Comparat ille inter se nomina Messi (Jer 23:5) et in hoc loco. Cum autem prior appellatio absque dubitatione innuat, Messiam fore filium Davidis, docet posteriorem non posse aliud significare quam filium Jehovae, quod nomen Christi Jesu est , omni alio nomine excellentius. Addit non minus docte, personam, quae hic germen Jehovae dicitur, deinceps a propheta nostro appellari Jehovam (Isa 28:5).Vitringa. This exposition, which is retained by most Christian and orthodox commentators, ignores too much the fundamental meaning of the word , Branch. It is, nevertheless, not incorrect so far as the broader meaning includes the narrower concentrically. If Branch of Jehovah signifies all that is the personal offshoot of God, then, of course, that one must be included who is such in the highest and most perfect sense, and in so far the passage Isa 28:5 does not conflict with exposition given by us above.
[J. A. Alexander joins with Vitringa and Hengstenberg in regarding the fruit of the earth, as referring to the same subject as the branch of the Lord, viz.: the Messiah; and thus, while the latter term signifies the divine nature of the Messiah, the former signifies His human origin and nature; or if we translate land instead of earth, it points to his Jewish human origin. Thus appears an exact correspondence to the two parts of Pauls description, Rom 1:3-4, and to the two titles used in the New Testament in reference to Christs two natures, Son of God and Son of Man.Tr.].
23. On Isa 4:3-4. Great storms and upheavals, therefore, are needful, in order to make the fulfilment of this prophecy possible. There must first come the breath of God from above, and the flame of God from beneath over the earth, and the human race must first be tossed and sifted. The earth and mankind must first be cleansed by great judgments from all the leaven of evil. [J. A. Alexander, with Luther, Calvin, Ewald, maintains concerning the word Spirit in Isa 4:4, that the safest and most satisfactory interpretation is that which understands by it a personal spirit, or as Luther expresses it, the Spirit who shall judge and burn.Tr.]. What survives these judgments is the remnant of which Isaiah speaks. This shall be holy. In it alone shall the Lord live and rule. This remnant is one with the new humanity which in every part, both as respects body and soul, will represent the image of Christ the second Adam. This remnant, at the same time, comprehends those whose names are written in the book of life. What sort of a divine book this may be, with what sort of corporal, heavenly reality, of course we know not. For Himself God needs no book. Yet if we compare the statements of the Revelation of John regarding the way in which the last judgment shall be held, with certain other New Testament passages, I think we obtain some explanation. We read Mat 19:28, that on the day of the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of His glory, the twelve apostles, too, shall sit on twelve thrones to judge the generations of Israel. And 1Co 5:2, we read that the saints shall judge the world. But, Rev 20:11, we find again the great white throne, whereon sits the great Judge of the living and the dead, after that, just before (Rev 4:4), it was said: And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them. Afterwards it reads (Rev4:12): And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And (Rev 4:15). And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. From this description there seems to me to result that the books necessarily are meant for those who are, by the Supreme Judge charged with the judgment of particular ones. To this end they need, in the first place, many books that contain the works of individuals. God has a book-keeping for the life of every man. This divine record will be produced to every single one at the day of judgment. Is he a Jew? by one of the twelve Apostles. Is he a heathen? by some other saint. No man shall be able to remonstrate against this account for it will carry the evidence of truth in itself, and in the consciences of those to be judged. Should such a protest occur, the arraigned will be referred to the book of life. This is only one. For it contains only names. After this manner will the separation be accomplished, spoken of in Mat 25:32 sq. For those whose names are found in the book of life go to the right side; the rest to the left. Then the great Judge Himself takes up the Word in the manner described in Mat 25:34 sqq., and calls the righteous to Himself, that they may inherit the kingdom that is prepared for them. But the wicked He repulses from Him into everlasting fire, that is prepared for the devil and his angels, in regard to which the account of the judgment in Matthew 25, as far as the end is concerned, harmonizes entirely with Rev 20:15.
24. On Isa 4:5-6. The pillar of fire and cloud belongs to the miraculous graces by which the founding of the Old Testament kingdom of God was glorified just as the New Testament kingdom was by the signs that Jesus did, and by the charismata of the Apostolic time. But that appearance was quite appropriate to the state of developed revelation of that time. This had not reached the New Testament level, and not even the prophetic elevation that was possible under the Old Testament, but only the legal in which the divine stands outwardly opposed to the human. God is present among His people, but still in the most outward way; He does not walk in a human way among men; there is, too, no inward leading of the congregation by the Holy Spirit, but an outward conducting by a visible heavenly appearance. And, for these revelations to the whole people, God makes use entirely of nature, and, when it concerns His personal manifestation, of the elements. He does so, not merely in distinction from the patriarchal theophanies, , but, particularly in contrast with heathenism, in order to accustom the Israelitish consciousness from the first not to deify the visible world, but to penetrate through it to the living, holy God, who has all the elements of nature at command as the medium of His revelation.Auberlen.
As at the close of Johns Revelation (chaps. 21, 22) we see the manifestation of the Godhead to humanity return to its beginning (Genesis 2, 3, 4), in as much as that end restores just that with which the beginning began, i.e. the dwelling of God with men, so, too, we see in Isa 4:5-6, a special manifestation of the (relative) beginning time recur again in the end time; the pillar of fire and cloud. But what in the beginning was an outward and therefore enigmatical and unenduring appearance, shall at last be a necessary and abiding factor of the mutual relation between God and mankind, that shall be established for ever in its full glory. There shall come a time wherein Israel shall expand to humanity and humanity receive power to become Israel, wherein, therefore, the entire humanity shall be Israel. Then is the tabernacle of God with men no more a pitiful tent, made of mats, but the holy congregation is itself the living abode of God; and the gracious presence of Almighty God, whose glory compares with the old pillar of fire and cloud, like the new, eternal house of God, with the old perishable tabernacle, is then itself the light and defence of His house.
25. On Isa 4:5-6. But give diligence to learn this, that the Prophet calls to mind, that Christ alone is destined to be the defence and shade of those that suffer from heat and rain. Fasten your eyes upon Him, hang upon Him as ye are exhorted to do by the divine voice, Him shall ye hear! Whoever hearkens to another, whoever looks to any other flesh than this, it is all over with him. For He alone shelters us from the heat, that comes from contemplating the majesty (i.e. from the terror that Gods holiness and righteousness inspire), He alone covers us from the rain and the power of Satan. This shade affords us a coolness, so that the dread of wrath gives way. For wrath cannot be there where thou seest the Son of God given to death for thee, that thou mightest live. Therefore I commend to you that name of Christ, wherewith the Prophet adorns Him, that He is a tabernacle for shade against the heat, a refuge and place of concealment from rain and tempest.Luther.With some modification, we may apply here the comprehensive turn Foerster gives to our passage: 1) The dwelling of Mount Zion is the church; 2) the heat is the flaming wrath of God, and the heat of temptation (1Pe 4:12; Sir 2:4-5); 3) tempest and rain are the punishments of sins, or rather the inward and outward trials (Psalms 2.; Isa 57:20); 4) the defence or the pillar of cloud and fire is Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 10).
26. On Isa 5:1-7. This parable has a brother in the New Testament that looks very much like it. I might say: the head is almost the same. For the beginning of that New Testament parable (Mat 21:33; Mar 12:1), A man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a wine-fat and built a tower, is manifestly imitated after our passage. But here it is the vineyard that is bad, while there, in the New Testament, the husbandmen are good for nothing. Here the Lord appears as at once owner and cultivator of the vineyard; there the owner and cultivators are distinguished. This arises from the fact that the Lord Jesus apparently had in His mind the chiefs of the people, the high-priests and elders (Mat 21:23-24). From this it is manifest that here as there the vineyard is the nation. In Isaiah, however, the vineyard, that is to say the vine itself is accused. The whole people is represented as having equally gone to destruction. In the Synoptists, on the other hand, it is the chiefs and leaders that come between the Lord and His vineyard, and would exclude Him from His property, in order to be able to obtain it wholly for themselves, and divide it amongst them. Therefore there it is more the wicked greed of power and gain in the great that is reproved; here the common falling away of the whole nation.
27. Isa 5:8. Here the Prophet denounces the rich, the aristocracy, and capital. Thus he takes the part of the poor and lowly. That grasping of the rich and noble, which they display sometimes like beasts of prey, at other times gratify in a more crafty and legal fashion, the Prophet rebukes here in the sharpest manner. Gods work is opposed to every sin, and ever stands on the side of those that suffer oppression, no matter what may be their rank. God is no respecter of persons (Deu 10:17 sq.).
28. Isa 5:11-17. The morning hour, the hour when light triumphs over darkness, ought to be consecrated to works of light, as it is said: Aurora Musis amica, , (Hesiod. . . . 540) Morgenstund hat Gold im Mund. It was, says Foerster, a laudable custom among the Persians, that the chamberlains entering in to their kings early in the morning, cried out with a loud voice: Arise, O king, attend to business, as Mesoromastes commands. On the other hand, they that be drunken are drunken in the night, 1Th 5:7 sq. So much the worse, then, when men do the works of night even in the early hour, and dare to abuse the light. Plenus venter despumat in libidines, says Augustine. In vino (Eph 5:18). Corpus, opes, animam luxu Germania perdit. Melancthon. On Isa 5:15 Foerster cites the expression of Augustin: God would not suffer any evil to be done in the world unless some good might thence be elicited.
29. Isa 5:18. Cords of vanity are false prejudices and erroneous conclusions. For example: no one is without sin, not even the holiest; God does not take notice of small sins; he that is among wolves must howl with them; a man cannot get along in the world with a scrupulous, tender conscience; the Lord is merciful, the flesh is weak, etc. By such like a man draws sin to him, binds his conscience fast, and resists the good motions of preventing grace. Thick cart-ropes signify a high degree of wickedness, the coarsest and most revolting prejudices. For example: God has no concern about human affairs; godliness delivers no one from misery and makes no one blessed; the threatenings of the prophets are not to be feared; there is no divine providence, no heaven, no hell (Deu 29:17-19). Out of such a man twists and knots a stout rope, with which he draws to him manifest blasphemy, entangles himself in it, so that often he cannot get loose, but is sold as a servant under sin (Rom 6:16; 1Ki 21:20; 1Ki 21:25). Starke.
30. Isa 5:19. The wicked mock at the patience and long-suffering of God, as if He did not see or care for their godless existence, but forgot them, and cast them out of mind (Psa 10:11), so that the threatened punishment would be omitted. They would say: there has been much threatening, but nothing will come of it; if God is in earnest, let Him, etc.; we dont mind threats; let God come on if He will! Comp. Isa 22:12-13; Isa 28:21-22; Amo 5:18; Jer 5:12; Jer 8:11; Jer 17:15; Eze 12:21 sqq. Starke.
31. Isa 5:20. To make darkness of light, means to smother in oneself the fundamental truths that may be proved from the light of nature, and the correct conclusions inferred from them, but especially revealed truths that concern religion, and to pronounce them in others to be prejudices and errors. Bitter and sweet have reference to constitution, how it is known and experienced. To make sweet of bitter means, to recommend as sweet, pleasant and useful, what is bad and belongs to darkness, and is in fact bitter and distasteful, after one himself believes he possesses in the greatest evil the highest good. Starke.
32. Isa 5:21. Quotquot mortales etc. As many as, taking counsel of flesh, pursue salvation with confidence of any sort of merit of their own or external privilege, a thing to which human nature is much inclined, oppose their own device to the wisdom of God, and, according to the prophet, are called wise in their own eyes (Isa 28:15; Isa 30:1-2; Jer 8:8-9; Jer 9:23 sq.; Jer 18:18). Vitringa.
33. Isa 5:26 sqq. The Prophet here expresses in a general way the thought that the Lord will call distant nations to execute judgment on Jerusalem, without having in mind any particular nation. Vitringa quotes a remarkable passage from the excerpts of John Antiochenus in Valesius (p. 816), where it is said, that immediately after Titus had taken Jerusalem, ambassadors from all the neighboring nations came to him to salute him as victor and present him crowns of honor. Titus refused these crowns, saying that it was not he that had effected these things, but that they were done by God in the display of His wrath, and who had prospered his hands. Comp. also the address of Titus to his soldiers after the taking of Jerusalem in Joseph. B. Jud. VII. 19.
HOMILETICAL HINTS
1. Isa 2:6-11. Idolatry. 1) What occasions it (alienation from God, Isa 2:6 a); 2) The different kinds: a. a coarse kind (Isa 2:6 b, Isa 2:8), b. a more refined kind (Isa 2:7); 3) Its present appearance (great honor of the idols and of their worshippers, Isa 2:9); 4) Its fate at last (deepest humiliation before the revelation of the majesty of God of all that do not give glory to Him (Isa 2:10; Isa 2:18).
2. Isa 2:12-22. The false and the true eminence. 1) False eminence is that which at first appears high, but at last turns out to be low (to this belongs impersonal as well as supersensuous creatures, which at present appear as the highest in the world, but at last, in the day of the Lord of Hosts, shall turn out to be nothing); 2) The real eminence is that which at first is inconspicuous and inferior, but which at last turns out to be the highest, in fact the only high one.
3. Isa 3:1-9. Sin is the destruction of a people. 1) What is sin? Resisting the Lord: a. with the tongue, b. with deeds, c. with the interior being (Isa 3:8-9); 2) In what does the destruction consist (or the fall according to Isa 3:8 a)? a. in the loss of every thing that constitutes the necessary and sure support of the commonwealth (Isa 3:1-3); b. in insecure and weak props rising up (Isa 3:4); c. in the condition that follows of being without a Master (Isa 3:5); d. in the impossibility of finding any person that will take the governance of such a ruinous state (Isa 3:6-7).
4. Isa 3:4. Insurrection is forbidden by God in express words, who says to Moses that which is altogether just thou shalt follow, Deu 16:20. Why may not God permit an intolerable and often unjust authority to rule a land for the same reason that He suffers children to have bad and unjust parents, and the wife a hard and intolerable husband, whose violence they cannot resist? Is it not expressly said by the Prophet I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them? I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath, Hos 13:11. Tholuck.
5. Isa 3:10-13. Let us learn to distinguish between false and real comfort. 1) False comfort deals in illusion: the real deals in truth; 2) The false produces a present effect; the real a lasting one; 3) The false injures the one comforted; the real is health to him. Harms.
6. Isa 4:2-6. The holiness of Gods Church on earth that is to be looked for in the future. 1) Its preliminary: the judgment of cleansing and purifying (Isa 4:4); 2) What is requisite to becoming a partaker? a. belonging to the remnant (Isa 4:2-3); b. being written in the book of life (Isa 4:3); 3) The surety of its permanence: the gracious presence of the Lord (Isa 4:5-6).
7. Isa 5:21. The ruin of trusting in ones own Wisdom 1) Those that have such confidence set themselves above God, which is: a. the greatest wickedness, b. the greatest folly; 2) They challenge the Divine Majesty to maintain its right (Isa 5:24).
Footnotes:
[1]that which sprouts of Jehovah.
[2]Heb. beauty and glory
[3]for splendor and glory.
[4]Heb. For the escaping of Israel.
[5]Or, to life.
[6]wind.
[7]sifting.
[8]A cloud by day, and smoke together.
[9]Or, above.
[10]Heb. a covering.
[11]a booth.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
The Holy Ghost is still harping upon that blessed string, the gospel day, and comforting the church with the view of it. Jesus is the righteous branch, which Jehovah declared he would raise up in Zion. And as Jesus shall be glorious in every eye of his people, so his people which are the fruits and effects of his great salvation, shall be lovely in him, and to him also. See those scriptures, Zec_3:8; Zec_6:12-13 ; Isa 11:1 ; Jer 33:15-16Jer 33:15-16 ; Joh 15:5 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 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.
Ver. 2. In that day the branch of the Lord. ] Here the prophet draweth to a close of this excellent sermon, and he concludeth it as he began, with a gracious promise of the coming and kingdom of Christ, and of the felicity of his subjects, which consisteth, first, In their sanctity; Isa 4:3-4 secondly, In their security. Isa 4:5-6 This is more amply set forth in Isa 11:1-16
The branch of the Lord.
Shall be beautiful and glorious, excellent and comely.
a Evasores Israelis.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Isa 4:2-6
2In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel. 3It will come about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy-everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem. 4When the LORD has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning, 5then the LORD will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy. 6There will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain.
Isa 4:2 In that day This refers to a future time when YHWH comes (for blessing or judgment) to His people (cf. Isa 2:2; Isa 2:11-12; Isa 2:20; Isa 3:7; Isa 3:18; Isa 4:1-2). This is a recurrent theme in Isaiah. It is hard to be certain if this referred in Isaiah’s mind to
1. restoration from exile by Zerubabbel and Joshua in the Persian period (i.e., Ezra and Nehemiah)
2. restoration by the Maccabees in the Seleucid period
3. Jesus’ first coming (inauguration of the New Age)
4. Jesus’ second coming (consummation of the New Age)
Notice how the Prophet swings from radical, complete judgment to radical complete forgiveness and restoration! This is typical in the prophetic literature. One could not be presented without the other! The purpose of judgment is always restoration.
the Branch of the LORD To describe this title (BDB 855, Targums interpreted it as the Messiah) let me quote from my commentary on Daniel and Zechariah where the term is also used (but just a note of caution, we must be careful about assigning a technical meaning everywhere a word or phrase is used-context, context, context is crucial). This term may have developed over time from a reference to ideal abundance to God’s special Servant who will restore that abundance (i.e., a shoot, a branch).
Let me share notes from my commentary on Zechariah.
Zec 3:8 the Branch This may be sprout (BDB 855). This is another Messianic title (cf. Isa 6:12; Isa 4:2; Isa 11:1; Isa 53:2; Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15). See full discussion and Special Topic: JESUS THE NAZARENE .
This title is used of Zerubbabel in Isa 6:12 as a symbol of the royal Davidic line. It is surprising that it is used in this context, which emphasizes the priestly aspect of the Messiah. The twin aspects of redeemer (priestly, cf. Isaiah 53) and administrative leader (kingly, cf. Isa 9:6-7) are merged in the book of Zechariah (cf. chapter 4).
Zec 6:12 Branch This word (BDB 855) means sprout (cf. Isa 3:8; Isa 6:12; Isa 4:2; Isa 11:1; Isa 53:2; Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15). This is a title for the Messiah. In Zechariah it refers to Zerubbabel as a type of the Messiah (cf. Ibn Ezra and Rashi). The name, Zerubbabel, in Akkadian, means shoot of Babylon. This was possibly a play on his name since he rebuilt the temple in 516 B.C., but it is really an ultimate reference to Jesus. This title and the matching VERB (will branch out, Qal IMPERFECT) appear together in this verse.
SPECIAL TOPIC: JESUS THE NAZARENE
A description of YHWH’s Branch (NKJV, NRSV, JB)
1. beautiful, BDB 840, cf. Jer 3:19 (often used of Promised Land in Dan 8:9; Dan 11:16; Dan 11:41)
2. glorious, BDB 458 means abundance, honor, and glory (glory, BDB 802, also in this verse)
These two terms are often used together (cf. Isa 13:19; Isa 28:1; Isa 28:4-5).
Some versions take this verse as a reference to plant growth in the period of restoration (LXX, Peshitta, TEV, NJB, REB, NET Bible). In a sense the Messiah and the age of restoration are lexically linked (first part of Isa 4:2; second part fruitful Promised Land).
the survivors of Israel Isaiah addresses them and describes them often (cf. Isa 10:20; Isa 37:31-32; see Special Topic: The Remnant, Three Senses ), but which group did he address? See opening comment on Isa 4:2.
The Spirit is the true author of Scripture. In prophecy and apocalyptic passages often the human author did not fully realize the full extent of his own messages. I do think this means that these passages had multiple meanings (i.e., Sensus Plenior), but that progressive revelation clarified the intended meaning. Often the concept of multiple fulfillment is what links the full intent of the Spirit’s message (i.e., Isa 7:14). However, proper hermeneutics must begin with authorial intent as the place to begin and evaluate an interpretation of any biblical text and any genre.
Isa 4:3 This verse is probably what caused the Jews of Jeremiah’s day who were not exiled to view themselves as YHWH’s favored people, but Ezekiel shows this was not the case. YHWH would primarily deal with the returnees (cf. Ezra and Nehemiah).
everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem There are two interpretive issues.
1. Is this referring to life in Jerusalem the capital of Judah or new Jerusalem, the symbol of the new age (cf. Revelation 21)? Is it historical or eschatological?
2. The book of life (see Special Topic following)
SPECIAL TOPIC: THE TWO BOOKS OF GOD
Isa 4:4 This verse has two metaphors for spiritual cleansing.
1. washing
a. wash away, BDB 934, KB 122, Qal PERFECT
b. purged (lit. rinsed away), BDB 188, KB 216, Hiphil IMPERFECT (had sacrificial connotation, cf. 2Ch 4:6; Eze 40:38)
2. fire
a. by a spirit of judgment, cf. Isa 28:6
b. by a spirit of burning, cf. Isa 1:31; Isa 9:19 (see Special Topic: FIRE ).
It is quite possible that spirit (ruah) should be understood as a violent, destructive wind of YHWH’s judgment. Judah will be judged and cleansed of her willful rebellion.
filth This is a strong term (BDB 844) which is used of sin.
1. Isa 28:8 of human vomit
2. Isa 36:12 of human feces (cf. Deu 23:14; Eze 4:12)
the daughters of Zion This is the metaphor used of Jerusalem in Isa 3:16-26. It is parallel with Jerusalem.
bloodshed This (BDB 196) is metaphorical for the premeditated taking of life. Here it probably refers to the exploitation of the poor and socially ostracized (i.e., from her midst).
Isa 4:5 This is a historical allusion to YHWH’s personal presence and care during the Exodus and Wilderness Wandering Periods. It refers to the Shekinah cloud of glory (i.e., Exo 13:21-22; Exo 40:38; Num 9:15-23; Psa 78:14; Psa 99:7; Psa 105:39). He (or His angel) would personally lead His people again and provide for all their needs in abundance.
the LORD will create This VERB (BDB 135, KB 153, Qal PERFECT) is used only of God’s creating (cf. Gen 1:1).
canopy The term (BDB 342 I) can refer to
1. a protective covering like the Shekinah cloud (over the whole of the people, like the Exodus and Wilderness Wanderings)
2. a covering for a wedding (cf. Psa 19:5; Joe 2:16)
Some link this wedding metaphor to the desperate women of Isa 4:1, while other commentators link it to the Tabernacle and a future restored Temple in Jerusalem, which would denote the union of YHWH/ Messiah and His people in a marriage metaphor (cf. Isa 5:1; Hosea 1-3; Eph 5:21-33).
Isa 4:6 There are several metaphors combined to show YHWH’s protection (from heat and storm)
1. shelter, BDB 697, cf. Isa 1:8; Psa 27:5; Psa 31:20; same concept in Isa 32:2
2. refuge, BDB 340
a. NOUN, Isa 25:4
b. VERB, Isa 14:23; Isa 57:13
c. in Psalms, Psa 14:6; Psa 46:1; Psa 61:4; Psa 62:7-8; Psa 71:7; Psa 73:28; Psa 91:2; Psa 91:9; Psa 94:22; Psa 142:5
3. from other texts in Isaiah, a defense, BDB 731, cf. Isa 17:10; Isa 27:5
Often these metaphors refer to YHWH as
1. a protective mother bird (i.e., under the shelter of its wings, see Special Topic: Shadow As a Metaphor for Protection and Care )
2. a high fortress or stronghold (cf. Psa 18:1)
Believers can trust the protection and tender care of their covenant God! He is with us and for us, if we only repent, believe, obey, serve, and persevere. The covenant has promises (benefits) and responsibilities (obligations). Both have consequences!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
CHAPTER 4
Zions Future Cleansing and Glory
1. Israel regathered and cleansed (Isa 4:2-4) 2. Jehovahs visible glory revealed (Isa 4:5-6)The Branch of the Lord (Jehovah) is the Lord Jesus Christ. After judgment has been executed cleansing is promised and glory is established on Mount Zion.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
branch
A name of Christ, used in fourfold way:
(1) “The Branch of Jehovah” (Isa 4:2), that is, the “Immanuel” character of Christ Isa 7:14 to be fully manifested to restored and converted Israel after His return in divine glory Mat 25:31.
(2) the “Branch of David” Isa 11:1; Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15 that is, the Messiah, “of the seed of David according to the flesh” Rom 1:3 revealed in His earthly glory as King of kings, and Lord of lords;
(3) Jehovah’s “Servant, the Branch” Zec 3:8 Messiah’s humiliation and obedience unto death according to; Isa 52:13-15; Isa 53:1-12; Php 2:5-8.
(4) the “man whose name is the Branch” Zec 6:12; Zec 6:13 that is His character as Son of man, the “last Adam,” the “second Man” 1Co 15:45-47 reigning, as Priest-King, over the earth in the dominion given to and lost by the first Adam. Matthew is the Gospel of the “Branch of David”; Mark of “Jehovah’s Servant, the Branch”; Luke of “the man whose name is the Branch”; John of “the Branch of Jehovah.”
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
the branch: Isa 11:1, Isa 60:21, Jer 23:5, Jer 33:15, Eze 17:22, Eze 17:23, Zec 3:8, Zec 6:12
beautiful and glorious: Heb. beauty and glory, Exo 28:2, Zec 9:17, Joh 1:14, 2Co 4:6, 2Pe 1:16
the fruit: Isa 27:6, Isa 30:23, Isa 45:8, Psa 67:6, Psa 85:11, Psa 85:12, Hos 2:22, Hos 2:23, Joe 3:18
them that are escaped: Heb. the escaping, Isa 10:20-22, Isa 27:12, Isa 27:13, Isa 37:31, Isa 37:32, Jer 44:14, Jer 44:28, Eze 7:16, Joe 2:32, Oba 1:17, Mat 24:22, Luk 21:36, Rom 11:4, Rom 11:5, Rev 7:9-14
Reciprocal: Num 17:8 – budded 2Sa 1:19 – beauty 2Sa 23:4 – tender 2Sa 23:5 – to grow Job 40:10 – glory Son 2:3 – the apple tree Isa 33:5 – he hath Isa 35:1 – desert Isa 45:20 – escaped Jer 33:8 – General Eze 34:27 – the tree Eze 34:29 – I will Eze 36:8 – ye shall Eze 38:14 – in that Luk 2:32 – and Luk 13:17 – and all Joh 1:45 – and the Joh 15:1 – vine Act 26:6 – the promise
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE BRANCH OF THE LORD
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.
Isa 4:2
The symbolism of the text is double. He who is the branch of the Lord is also the fruit of the earth. A comparison with the other passages in which precisely the same word occurs (Jer 23:5; Zec 3:8; Zec 6:12) will make it clear that this phrase means the King Messiah. He was the Branch of the Lord. The words for glory and for beauty are used to describe the priestly robes (Exo 28:2-40). The Branch of the Lord was thus to possess the holiness of priesthood, while as the fruit of the earth, the grain of wheat cast into the ground, He was to be a sacrifice for sins, holy and acceptable for them that are escaped of Israel, for the remnant of Gods people, who should believe in Him, and form the nucleus of the Church of Christ. We are thus taught with regard to our Lords advent and work:
I. His holy manhood.The perfect God-man in His sinless two-fold nature, exhibits to us not merely the holiness of the God, but the holiness of the Branch, the descendant of David according to the flesh, the offspring of Mary the Virgin, that was found in our Lord. (1) That He was perfect Man is demonstrable from Gods Word. (2) That His holiness was perfect, and a human holiness, is equally provable. The holy attire of the Mosaic priest was a figure of the personal holiness of the Lord. Even the enemies of the faith admit that His character is beautiful and glorious. Such should He be Who was to come.
II. His Divine sacrifice.Delitzsch says: He was the grain of wheat (the fruit of the earth) which redeeming love sowed in the earth on Good Friday; which began to strike through the ground and grow toward heaven on Easter Sunday; whose golden blade ascended heavenward on Ascension Day; whose myriad-fold ear bent down to the earth on the Day of Pentecost and poured out the grains from which the Holy Church not only was born, but still continues to be born. And the descriptive word excellent is used in this prophet for the majesty of God. The Branch was thus the fruit of the earth. He was to be a holy man and a holy sacrifice.
III. The holy manhood and the Divine sacrifice the life of the Church.For them that are escaped of Israel. The doctrine of the remnant appears frequently in Isaiah and is treated of by St. Paul. The remnant was the foundation of the ever widening and spreading Catholic Church, and that Church has her foundation deep in the sacrificial manhood of the Saviour.
Illustration
The Branch can be no other than our Lord. He alone is worthy to be described in these adjectives, as beautiful and glorious, excellent and comely. It is a conception of the Messiah which is taken up by later prophets, as Jeremiah and Zechariah (Jer 23:5; Zec 3:8), and has some analogy with the figure of the Vine. He is the Branch of the Lord, in His Divine nature, and of the fruit of the earth, as the Son of Mary.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Isa 4:2. In that day About and after that time, when the Lord shall have washed away (as this time is particularly expressed, Isa 4:4,) the filth of Zion, by those dreadful judgments now described. The third part of this discourse, the reader will observe, begins here, in which is set forth the flourishing state of the remnant of the Jews after the times of the former calamity. Shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious The church and people of Israel may be here intended by the branch of the Lord, being often called Gods vine, or vineyard, as we have seen before, and the branch of his planting, Isa 60:21. It is a metaphorical expression, taken from a tree cut down, which, notwithstanding, sprouts forth anew from the root, by young suckers, and brings forth many trees. And thus the prophet foretels, that, notwithstanding the grievous calamities and great destructions which he had predicted, and which would certainly come to pass, yet, nevertheless, the small remainder of them which should return out of captivity, with those that should be left in the land, when it was laid desolate by the Chaldeans, should increase into a great people. And to them the fruit of the earth should be excellent and comely That is, through the abundant produce of the land they should be made rich, and should be rendered respectable to the neighbouring nations. This seems to be the primary and most obvious meaning of the passage, considered in connection with what precedes and follows. The Chaldee Paraphrast, however, says, the branch here means the Messiah of Jehovah, and of him many Jewish doctors, as well as Christian commentators, understand the expression. Certainly he is frequently signified, in Scripture, by this title, the branch: see Isa 11:1; Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15; Zec 3:1; and, in one place, namely, Zec 6:12, his name is expressly said to be the branch. Understood of him, the meaning of the passage must be, that after the foregoing miseries had been brought upon the Jews, and they had been restored to their own land; and after they had been chastised and purified still more, by the calamities brought upon them by Antiochus Epiphanes and other princes of the Grecian empire, and by the Romans under Pompey, the Messiah should be born; and that, after the utter destruction which should be brought upon the Jewish city, temple, and nation, by Titus, the Roman general, the kingdom of the Messiah should become beautiful and glorious, as is here expressed. According to this interpretation, the expression, in that day, in the beginning of the verse, must be considered as used with great latitude, as it often is by this prophet, signifying, as Lowth observes, not the same time with that which was last mentioned, but an extraordinary season, remarkable for some signal events of providence, called elsewhere, by way of excellence, the day of the Lord, just as that day denotes the day of judgment in the New Testament, as being a time of all others the most remarkable; see 2Th 1:10; 2Ti 1:12; 2Ti 1:18; 2Ti 4:8. It is usual, says Grotius, for the prophets to pass from the threatenings that relate to their own times, to the promises which belong to the times of the gospel. It may be further observed here, that the Scriptures often speak of great tribulations, as preceding, and preparing the way for, the enlargement and prosperity of Christs kingdom. In consistency with this application of the passage, by the fruit of the earth, here said to be excellent and comely, must be meant the spiritual blessings of the gospel, frequently described under the emblems of the fruitfulness of the earth and plenty. And by them that are escaped of Israel, we must understand those Jews who, the prophet foresaw, would be converted by the preaching of Christ and his apostles, and should thereby escape that vengeance which would involve the rest of their nation. This accords well with the following verses of the chapter.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 4:2-6. Zions Happy Estate.Probably post-exilic on grounds of style, ideas, and imagery. In the blessed future the land will be glorious with vegetation and fruit for the holy remnant, that will escape the sifting judgment with which Yahweh will cleanse Jerusalem from its impurity and bloodshed. Then over the whole city and its assemblies He will create, as in the wilderness, cloud by day and flame by night, and a shelter from heat and storm.
Isa 4:2. branch of the Lord: that which Yahweh causes to spring from the ground. There is no reference to the Messiah, as is clear from the unambiguous parallel the fruit of the land. Predictions of Canaans fertility are frequent in such prophecies.
Isa 4:3. written unto life (mg.): their names are in the Book of Life: when the great judgment falls on Israel they will survive it and live on into the Messianic era, while others die. The reference is not to the life after death, but to life in the regenerate community on earth.
Isa 4:5 f. difficult; RV gives the general sense, but read in Isa 4:6 And he will be (LXX).
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
4:2 In that day shall the {d} branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth [shall be] the pride and glory of them that have escaped of Israel.
(d) He comforts the Church in this desolation which will spring up like a bud signifying that God’s graces should be as plentiful toward the faithful as though they sprang out of the earth, as in Isa 45:8 . Some by the bud of the Lord mean Christ.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
3. God’s determination for Israel 4:2-6
Having begun this oracle by clarifying God’s desire for Israel (Isa 2:1-4), the prophet proceeded to contrast her present condition. She depended on people rather than Himself, a condition that would result in divine discipline (Isa 2:5 to Isa 4:1). Next, and in conclusion, he revealed that God would indeed bring what He determined for His chosen people to completion in the future (Isa 4:2-6). Israel’s destiny would be glorious-in spite of intervening judgment.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
"In that day" connects this section of the oracle with its earlier parts and shows that all of it deals with a future time (cf. Isa 2:12; Isa 2:17; Isa 2:20; Isa 3:8; Isa 3:18; Isa 4:1). However, here we learn that "that day" will be a day of glory and vindication for Israel, as well as retribution and judgment.
In a general sense "The Branch of the Lord" refers to Israel, but this is also a messianic title here as elsewhere (cf. Isa 11:1; Isa 53:2; Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15; Zec 3:8; Zec 6:12). It was regarded as a messianic reference here as early as the Targums, the Aramaic interpretive translation of the Old Testament that dates after the Babylonian exile or possible during it. [Note: See Joyce G. Baldwin, "Semah as a Technical Term in the Prophets," Vetus Testamentum 14 (1964):93-97.]
"[The branch is] a name of Christ, used in a fourfold way: (1) ’the branch of the LORD’ (Isa 4:2), i.e. the Immanuel character of Christ (Isa 7:14) to be fully manifested to restored and converted Israel after His return in divine glory (Mat 25:31); (2) ’the Branch’ of David (Isa 11:1; Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15), i.e. the Messiah, ’of the seed of David according to the flesh’ (Rom 1:3), revealed in His earthly glory as King of kings, and Lord of lords; (3) the LORD’s ’servant, the Branch’ (Zec 3:8), Messiah’s humiliation and obedience unto death according to Isa 52:13-15; Isa 53:1-12; Php 2:5-8; and (4) the ’man whose name is THE BRANCH’ (Zec 6:12), that is, His character as Son of man, the ’last Adam,’ the ’second man’ (1Co 15:45-47), reigning as Priest-King over the earth in the dominion given to and lost by the first Adam. Matthew is the Gospel of the Branch of David; Mark, of the LORD’s Servant, the Branch; Luke, of the Man whose name is the Branch; and John, of the Branch of the LORD." [Note: The New Scofield . . ., p. 716.]
God would provide a source of fruitfulness and blessing, which a tree branch (stemming from David and ultimately from the Lord) is, to Israel (cf. 2Sa 23:5). The nation would not produce this on her own by trusting in people, but God Himself would provide it. "The fruit of the earth" probably refers to the fruitfulness of the earth that God would provide through Israel and, specifically, the Messiah. God promised earlier to judge Israel with lack of fruitfulness because of her sin (Isa 4:1).
Many conservative interpreters have understood "the fruit of the earth" to be a second messianic title, which is possible. Some of them felt that the first title referred to Messiah’s divine nature, and the second to His human nature. [Note: E.g., Delitzsch, 1:152-53. ] Others favored taking "the fruit of the earth" simply as a reference to the future agricultural abundance of the land. [Note: E.g., Chisholm, "A Theology . . .," p. 317.]
"The survivors of Israel" refers to those who would live through the judgments mentioned earlier in this passage. Since the time of these judgments includes the Exile and the Tribulation, and since the reference to the Branch points to messianic times, these survivors will probably be Jews who will still be alive at the end of the Tribulation (cf. Zec 13:8). The daughters of Jerusalem previously sought to beautify themselves (Isa 3:16; Isa 3:18; Isa 4:1), but now the Lord would adorn them with fruitfulness.