As we continue through Isaiah, we come to another passage of hope in 4:2-6.  There is some debate about just what the nature of the hope described here is.  Those who work hard to deny the presence of the Messiah in the Old Testament may have an easier time with this one than with other passages.  One professor I know takes most of the traditional “messianic” Isaiah passages to refer to the Messiah, but not this one.  So if you don’t see what I see here, that doesn’t mean that we have forevermore parted ways.  This passage is more difficult, for reasons I will demonstrate below.

It’s best to read the passage in full, even though the only clear reference to the Messiah is in verse 2.

Isaiah 4:2-6 (ESV) “In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. 3 And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, 4 when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. 5 Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy. 6 There will be a booth for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.”

Let’s start with what is obvious and undisputed.  First, the wicked people previously described (in chapters 1-3) are now made holy.  Their “filth” is washed away and they are purified.  Second, the Lord is present.  The reference to the cloud, smoke, fire, glory, and canopy all recalls God’s glory with the Israelites in the wilderness (see Exodus 40:34-38).  This is glorious enough, even if the Messiah is not mentioned in verse 2.  Something radical has occurred such that the people are changed and God can remain in their midst.  Those who are going into exile, those who are in exile, and those who have returned from exile all long for this reality.

Is something necessary to make this cleansing (of the people) and dwelling (of the Lord) possible?  Isaiah will answer that very explicitly when he describes the Servant who “was pierced for our transgressions” (Isa 53:5-9).  But is there a hint here?  Does verse 2 speak about the Messiah?

In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel.

In my opinion, the “branch of the Lord” is the Messiah.  But I am not sure that even the most astute listener/reader would have understood it when Isaiah first declared it.  That is to say, there is nothing in the immediate context that makes it obvious that the branch is a person.  When used earlier in the OT, the Hebrew word for “branch” is translated “vegetation” (Gen 19:25), “growth” (Ps 65:10), or “heads [of grain]” (Hos 8:7).  And it could be understood here in the same sense – the vegetation will be beautiful and glorious.  This is the view of the NET Bible.  But this word can also be understood as “branch,” as is indisputable from Jer 23:5 and Zech 3:8 and 6:12.  While I think it would have been unusual for this to be the “crops of the Lord” (note: it is not “fruit of the land” as in Num 13:20, but the “crops/branch of the Lord”), I think it might have been a legitimate view for a few years.  That is, until Isaiah gave more revelations about the “stump” (Isa 6:13), the “shoot from the stump of Jesse” (Isa 11:1), and the “tender shoot” (Isa 53:2).  Then, when Jeremiah comes along a hundred years later, he seems to intentionally develop this very idea.  Note the many parallels:

Jeremiah 23:5-6 (ESV) “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness. ‘”

Jeremiah is talking about the same thing that Isaiah is.  First, in both passages, there is explicit reference to this occurring in a future time.  I don’t think they ‘re communicating the generic idea of “some time in the future,” but rather “at a specific time.”  Second, the “branch of the Lord” is in Jeremiah a branch that the Lord raises up.  (Note for the advanced: see how the NET interprets the two clauses of Isa 4:2 to stress the parallelism and obscure the contrast: “the crops given by the Lord/the produce of the land.”  A better way to preserve the ambiguity in the Hebrew is “the crops of the Lord/the produce of the land.”  Thus the careful reader sees a distinction between Lord and land which, especially later, becomes important.  Unfortunately, the NET Bible typically adds debatable interpretive elements into the text of Scripture with the specific goal of precluding a messianic interpretation.)  Third, both passages speak of righteousness in the land.  Fourth, both passages speak of Israel being protected and living in safety.  If I expanded the references to also include Isa 11 and 53, there would be even more obvious connections, but I am refraining from doing that in order to demonstrate that according to Jeremiah, the Messiah is in Isaiah 4.  Jeremiah is not the only one to use the exact same word, “branch,” for the Messiah, for Zechariah does so twice (Zech 3:8; 6:12; cf. Jer 33:15).

Here’s the bottom line, and it’s a key concept for everything to come:  Because Isaiah (and other prophets) use common terminology, it is possible to take a non-messianic interpretation if you fail or refuse to look at the near context (the verses before and after), the immediate context (the book), and the greater context (all of Israel’s prophets).  In other words, Isaiah 4:2 alone can appear to be speaking about vegetation.  But the more you “pull back,” the clearer it becomes that this is a subtle reference to the Messiah.  It is subtle because 1) this is the first time the term “branch” is used in a messianic sense; 2) a non-messianic interpretation (“crops”) makes sense and does not jar the reader as being impossible; 3) it is Isaiah’s strategy to be subtle.  This last point is very important, and I will develop it when we look at chapter 6 next time.

If you’ve ever watched an artist at work, the first few strokes on the canvas may not give you a clear sense of the portrait.  You may in fact misinterpret the image initially.  But as the artist expands the scene and fills in details, those early strokes are shown to be foundational to the whole.  It’s very important to me that I am not changing the meaning of Isaiah 4, but rather I am understanding it in light of the finished portrait.  Understand, this does not mean that I am reading something back into the text that was not there initially.  Instead, I am recognizing what was there all along.  Indeed, it is the Messiah who m
akes the people holy and who himself is God with us.  To use another analogy, in this passage Isaiah draws the dots, and later he will connect them.

I want to make two suggestions that will help you as you read and try to understand Isaiah.  One is what you should do, and the other what you should not do.  First, do NOT get bogged down in judgment passages.  These are the majority of the material in the first 39 chapters.  Since Isaiah is difficult enough to understand, don’t allow yourself to be derailed by these.  Furthermore, they were more relevant to the Judeans who were going to experience that judgment than they are to you and me.  Giving full attention to the judgment passages may make your mind numb so that when you get to a passage of glorious hope, you kinda fly right by it (and they generally are short).

Second, DO connect what you are reading to what Isaiah has ALREADY said.  Remember, Isaiah wrote a book.  He didn’t write disconnected poems or an anthology.  To read it as a book, you have to be asking questions of the text.  Again, this is particularly important in reading the sections of glorious hope.  And it will be more important as we get further into the book.  Since we ‘re fresh into Isaiah, we don’t have as much to look back to at this point, but we can certainly ask some important questions, and that’s what we ‘ll do now as we look at chapter 2.

Isaiah 2:1-4 (ESV) “The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2 It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, 3 and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

The first question that we get an answer for is when?  When will this prophecy occur? Answer: “in the latter days.”  You might dismiss that as unhelpful, but I would point out that it must mean one thing: this hasn’t already happened yet.  (I know, you thought that the UN was the fulfillment; sorry to burst your bubble.)

The next question is where?  The answer: Since this is a message to Judah and Jerusalem, and it mentions the “mountain of the Lord” twice, Zion once, and Jerusalem once, we don’t have to struggle on this one.  But here I want to remind you of something: do not forget this when we come to later prophecies.

The “what” question is much bigger.  What is this describing?  I would sum it up this way: God will rule from Jerusalem with perfect justice in a time of perfect peace.  Of course this raises more questions: Will the mountains be changed literally or is this just metaphorical language?  How exactly will God rule in Jerusalem?  Is this the same thing as his presence in the temple as was true in Isaiah’s day?  Why (and how) will the nations submit to God?

It is important to ask questions.  Some of them will be answered by Isaiah as we read further.  Others will not be.  But if you ‘re not asking questions, it’s possible that you ‘re not really thinking about what is going on.

Two observations in closing:  First, there are two general approaches to reading future-oriented passages in Isaiah (and all the prophets).  I ‘ll call them the painting and photograph approaches.  The painting approach sees Isaiah as a literary Monet, brushing with broad strokes to give a general picture of future happiness.  The photograph approach reads Isaiah for the details, believing that the prophet was very precise in his descriptions.  The first approach doesn’t see the details as meaningful either because they don’t fit with what has already occurred and/or because they don’t seem to line up with what the New Testament seems to predict.  For instance, Isaiah’s comment that Jerusalem will be “the highest of the mountains” is not true now and it won’t be true (physically) because there’s no place in the future when it can be true (so they believe).  The second approach sees marvelous fulfillment in some of Isaiah’s prophecies (e.g., 7:14; 44:28-45:3; 52:13-53:12), sees similar prophecies in other prophets, and does not believe that the New Testament denies (or overrides or re-interprets) prophecies that have not yet been fulfilled.  The latter approach is generally slapped with the label “dispensational,” and the former approach is more typical of everyone else.

Second, this exact same prophecy is given in Micah 4:1-3.  Now, if you ‘re a scholar you get distracted by trying to figure out who copied whom.  I suggest something else is more significant: the fact that God recorded it twice alerts us to its importance.  My belief is that this passage has not yet been fulfilled, but will certainly be fulfilled, in its details.  That doesn’t mean that I couldn’t understand the mountain being elevated as a metaphor.  I think that’s possible.  But my basis for making that decision is going to be based on the rest of the book.  That’s an important point.  Too many, I think, simply can’t conceive that land masses might move and therefore it automatically becomes figurative language.  That is a premature conclusion.  And if one makes that metaphorical, is the “beating of swords into plowshares” metaphorical?  Why  not?  And if that, then is the “peace” that it is describing also metaphorical?  In fact, we may be enjoying that peace right now.  Maybe we are living in the “latter days” and Isaiah’s and Micah’s prophecies are now fulfilled in the our present experience of the kingdom of God.  My response: read Isaiah more carefully.  The only way you can get to a “present fulfillment of the kingdom of God” from Isaiah is by turning down the lights, taking off your glasses, crossing your eye
s, and just getting an “impression” from Isaiah, as you would from Monet.  I can’t tell you what you ‘re missing!  (Well, if you keep reading this series, I will!)

In one sense, you can see the whole book of Isaiah as the weaving together of two threads.  The first thread is judgment, and the second is hope.  Judgment is decreed because God’s people are guilty.  But God’s promises require that judgment is not alone.  When the Lord blasted the Philistines, he didn’t say, “but later, I will restore you.”  But he did to Judah.  And he did it more than once.  This in fact is one thing that makes Isaiah so delightful – though he has to condemn Judah for its sin, he keeps coming back to the glorious future.  But he doesn’t do so in formulaic terms.  He doesn’t keep repeating some generic phrase.  Instead, he plants a little idea, maybe a phrase long.  Later, he ‘ll say something somewhat similar, but also a bit different, and probably a little longer.  When he comes back to it later, you may see the same idea but with exciting new aspects.  Thus Isaiah, if you read him carefully from the beginning, creates the joy of discovery. 

The impact would probably be greater if you received Isaiah’s prophecies the way his hearers did.  The first year, Isaiah gave one chapter.  You thought about that, you meditated on it, you stayed awake at night wondering what he meant.  Then next year, he gave a new message.  Having been steeped in the first one, you were very conscious of the similarities and the differences of his new message.  Do this for the next 40 years.  I am quite confident that if you took this approach, you would get much more out of it than reading the 66 chapters in the next month.  But since you probably won’t spend the next 40 years allowing this book to unfold in your life, let me encourage you to try to think this way.  Think about the progression.  Think about how one builds upon the other.  Think about how ideas are enlarged.  Think about how similar but different ideas relate.  This, of course, is what I am going to try to help you with in this series.

Chapter 1 is like the preface to the book.  As an author sometimes summarizes what the book is about in his introductory comments, Isaiah certainly prepares the reader for the rest of this book.  As with the whole book, you have the two threads of judgment and hope.  The thread of judgment is very thick (~25 verses); the thread of hope is thin (4 verses).  Concerning judgment, God calls the universe as witnesses and he lays out the sin of Judah.  By the time he declares their sacrifices worthless, you ‘re wondering if there’s any hope for Judah.  This reality runs throughout Isaiah: words of judgment are not minced even though God will restore.  God’s fury against sin is not “balanced” or tamed but rather is given full vent.  God does not offer hope on the basis of restrained judgment.  All judgment that is deserved is apportioned.  Hope comes another way.  And this idea Isaiah will “tease” us with until the second half of the book.

The emphasis of this series will decidedly be on the hope thread, and not on judgment.  Even though judgment is often more prominent, the more lasting message for later generations and us, I believe, is his message of hope.  So let me conclude this post with a few words about 2 of the verses of hope in chapter 1.

Isaiah 1:26-27 (ESV) “And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.” 27 Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness.”

Most importantly, the question that should be ringing in your head (and was certainly ringing in the ears of the first hearers) is: HOW???  Given all of what Isaiah just said about judgment, and our filthy rags, and our murder, and our harlotry, and our worthless sacrifices, HOW can God restore the city?  HOW can Jerusalem be called a “city of righteousness”?  This is the great question that is continually raised throughout Isaiah.  And we get snips of the answer in ever-increasing measure.  Oh, what a glorious solution the Lord has!

While I had two other courses, and the third was about the “Latter Prophets” as a whole (16 books), I could in some ways characterize this as my Isaiah semester.  This was not only because I wrote two major papers related to Isaiah in the Prophets class, but I also studied the use of Isaiah 7:14 in Matthew 1:23 for the Hermeneutics class.  Of the last, a common approach (indeed the approach of the others in the class who wrote on this topic) is to study 7:14 in near isolation.  After all, if you want to understand Isaiah 7:14, you have to study Isaiah 7:14.  They ‘ll relate it to the chapter to some degree, and possibly also to chapter 8, but no further.  The problem, here, (and LISTEN UP, THIS IS IMPORTANT), is that Isaiah wrote a BOOK, and he expected his readers to start in chapter 1 and continue beyond chapter 8.  Indeed, I will argue that any ambiguity in 7:14 is cleared up once you read chapters 6, and 9, and the rest.  [Footnote: 5 minutes ago I finished reading through 1-2 Chronicles in two sittings.  This cleared up a problem I’ve long had: was Josiah’s death at the hands of Neco the result of his sin?  The answer, if you read all of Chronicles, is clearly yes.  What is not necessarily clear from the immediate text is clear from the larger context.  The details are for another day, but I think this a relevant supporting point.]

Isaiah has meant much more to me in the past months than an academic assignment.  He is with me always.  There’s rarely a sermon in church, a passage of Scripture, a movie (tonight we watched The Nativity Story) that doesn’t send me to Isaiah.  Friends, the guys who wrote the Bible loved Isaiah.  We should too.

You will see, in the course of this series, that the messianic thread in Isaiah is very important to me.  You will see my delight in Isaiah’s revelation of who the coming ruler and deliverer is.  You will likely wonder at times if I had ever read my Bible before this semester.  You will certainly be correct if you sense that I’ve not spent much time studying the messianic prophecies of the OT.  And you ‘ll know that I am destined for some delightful years ahead as I learn what I long ago should have known.  But, here’s a key to this Isaiah study: I did not study Isaiah in order to ferret out messianic prophecies.  Frankly, I wasn’t even thinking about them.  I studied Isaiah to understand Isaiah.  What came out surprised me in significant and wonderful ways.  What I’m going to share in this series is what I learned from Isaiah. 

There certainly are other relevant references to the truths found in Isaiah, and you may well wonder why I’m not talking about those too.  Frankly, I am ignorant of them.  I do not know how they connect and interrelate.  I should know.  I certainly should never confess such bald ignorance.  But I do so for this purpose: I intend to lay out for you the teaching of one prophet.  I want to understand him first.  That is, I want to interpret Isaiah on Isaiah’s terms before I am influenced by Jeremiah, Daniel, or Zechariah.  I believe this is a more appropriate and profitable approach.  How so?  Well, this is how God revealed it and the ancients heard it.  First, Isaiah prophesied and then Jeremiah who knew Isaiah’s message well prophesied and added some new details.  Later Zechariah.  Those guy are important, I am sure.  But here’s what I’m challenging.  Don’t go read a book about messianic prophecies or a theology of the OT.  Instead study Isaiah.  Figure him out.  Then go to Jeremiah.  Figure him out.  Etc.  By going straight to a systematized work you are skimming the top of the forest and missing out on the wonderful and delightful development of God’s revelation of Messiah.

My goal is to get you excited about Isaiah, or rather, about his message, which is about God’s glorious promises to his people, including a righteous judgment and a gracious salvation through a glorious Servant.  To get you excited, you have to read what I write.  I know that you ‘ll only read if it’s interesting and readable.  I am going to try my best.  That means that 1) posts will be briefer; 2) therefore the series will be longer; 3) I will avoid non-exciting detail and other technical matters.  This last point means that I do not anticipate recycling anything I previously wrote this semester.  All of this is from my head and an open Bible.  The reason I can do this is that I don’t have disconnected pieces of a puzzle in my head, but rather I see the whole picture.  Thus I can describe the picture to you without consulting notes. 

I wish that I could have written this series before Christmas, because I think it makes a great preparation for the birth of Jesus.  I guarantee you that Simeon and others who were so longing for the coming of the Messiah were steeped in this book.  Unfortunately, I have not been able to begin writing until now.  I choose to do so rather than wait until next Christmas because, frankly, I can’t wait.  More in the days ahead.