April 7, 2011

Isaiah 4
Many people have trouble with Isaiah because he moves so fluidly between judgment and restoration. In my mind that is what really establishes the unity of the book of Isaiah. It is his style. It is the way the Lord communicated using Isaiah’s personality. He constantly presented judgment for the cleansing of sin followed by the comfort given to a cleansed and restored people. Verse one of chapter four really belongs with the judgment of the previous passage. But as the Lord burns away the sin of the nation in judgment, He brings back the beauty of the nation in restoration. The Branch of verse two speaks of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Some interpret it as the fruitfulness of the land under the Messiah. Others interpret it as fruitfulness of the nation under the Messiah. Others, like myself, view the Branch as the Messiah. This term seems to also be applied to Messiah in Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15; and Zechariah 3:8; 6:12.
This Messiah, our Jesus, shall come upon the heels of judgment. When He cleanses His people, He sets up a canopy, a tabernacle, a place for dwelling in fellowship with His people. That is the beauty of our Jesus. He loves us too fiercely to permit us to live in sin. He orients everything so that we will be holy, even as He is holy. When we are clean as He is clean, then He opens to us the pleasures of fellowship with Him. Do you want to see Him in His beauty? It will require some burning. He is a consuming fire and burns away those things that are displeasing to Him, but the result is the sweet privilege of communion with Him. Communion with Him is the sweet fruit of the earth. It is excellent and appealing. It is what our hearts long for. It is that for which we were created. Oh Lord, burn the chaff out of my life so that I may continually walk in the glory of Your presence! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john