Isaiah 3 and 4
IN these chapters we reach the end of the first section, the introductory part, of the book of Isaiah. There was soon to fall upon Judah and Jerusalem a partial fulfilment of the promise of unsparing judgment, but what is spoken of, in its direct application, waits for the last days, when the Jews are again to be in their homeland.
Verse 1: We have before called attention to the habit of the translators of our English Bible of substituting “the LORD” for Jehovah which means “HE WHO IS,” a name expanded into “Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come” in Revelation 1:44John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; (Revelation 1:4). Only four times (in Exodus 6:33And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. (Exodus 6:3); Psalm 83:1818That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth. (Psalm 83:18); Isaiah 12:22Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. (Isaiah 12:2) and 26:4) have the translators preserved the name Jehovah in our Bible. It is God’s name in relationship with man, first appearing in Genesis 2, and often thereafter until Malachi 4.
The Hebrew word Adonai translated “the Lord” is also often found in the Old Testament; it first appears in Genesis 15: 2, where Abram speaks to God as “Lord Jehovah” (Adonai Jehovah); lord, or master is its meaning, but it is only used for God.
In verse 1 we have “the Lord, Jehovah of hosts,” a name of God first to be found in 1 Samuel 1:33And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there. (1 Samuel 1:3), after Israel had become weak and corrupt. It tells of His power, the mighty hosts of angels and all the forces of nature at His command for use in behalf of His people, or in dealing with the wicked as in our chapter.
Men have been learning ways of making war upon each other in terrible fashion, but when God begins to deal with this world, every man will tremble (see Revelation 6:12-1712And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 13And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 14And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? (Revelation 6:12‑17)).
Here in chapter 3 everything upon which mankind rests—food and drink, men for war, judges, prophets, the wise and the elderly, the honorable, and statesmen, clever mechanics and inventors, and those who deal in enchantments—all will be removed from Jerusalem and from Judah. Unfit persons will be the rulers, and oppression and insolence will abound. Sin will be open, unconcealed. They will have brought evil upon themselves.
Nevertheless, it shall be well with the righteous; they, like the wicked, will eat the fruit of their doings, or the desert of their hands. The leaders of the people, who have misguided and robbed them, will be dealt with according to their guilt.
Note that in verse 13 the Gentiles are meant; it is properly “the peoples,” not “the people,” which might be limited to Israel or Judah; mankind will be judged
In considering verses 18 to 23 we are reminded of the verse in Psalm 94:99He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see? (Psalm 94:9): “He that formed the eye, shall He not see?” He from whom nothing is hidden, noticed the ways and the details of the dress of the daughters of Zion, and passed judgment upon them. Fashions have changed many times since Isaiah’s day; the things of vanity of today have been substituted for those of 2,700 years ago.
In the last days there will be fearful losses of men in war (verse 25), so that women will far outnumber the men (verse 1, chapter 4).
The short fourth chapter, after verse 1, presents a glorious picture of the coming age, when once the judgments are past.
“In that day there shall be a Branch (the true meaning is Sprout) of Jehovah for beauty and glory, and the fruit of the earth for excellency and for ornament for those that are escaped of Israel.” (N. T.)
The Branch is the Lord Jesus. (See Jeremiah 23:5, 65Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. (Jeremiah 23:5‑6), where we are told His name, — “Jehovah our Righteousness,” and Zechariah 6:1212And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord: (Zechariah 6:12)).
Every blessing, whether to the redeemed of earth, or the heavenly saints, comes through Christ, and as the result of His God-glorifying, sin-atoning death. The blessing of this earth will however not be brought about through the gospel, as some think, but by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning (verse 4).
Over Mount Zion in the Millennium a cloud by day, and brightness of a flame of fire by night, will be as a covering or canopy over all the glory. These tokens of God’s presence were over the tabernacle during Israel’s journey of old (Exodus 40:3838For the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys. (Exodus 40:38)).
ML 04/02/1933