Chapter Four
And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach. 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. 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: 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. 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 defense. 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 (verses 1-6).
THE fourth chapter, though very brief, depicts conditions which were to prevail, not only in the days following the threatened Babylonian captivity, but also in the dark days of the great tribulation; for Isaiah looked far beyond his own age to days yet to come.
As so often happens in times of prolonged warfare, the proportion of women to men would become very great, so much so, that seven women should take hold of one man and seek to claim him as an husband in order to take away their reproach. Such polygamous suggestions followed the recent world wars, as many will remember.
When times are darkened, deliverance will come through the Branch of the Lord, the promised Messiah of Israel, and the loveliest of the sons of men. Those left in Zion and remaining in Jerusalem will be the special objects of His favor and will be set apart to the Lord who will wash away their filth in His own blood and cleanse their hearts with the spirit of burning, in accordance with the promises made through many other prophets.
Then Mount Zion and Jerusalem will become a center of blessing to the whole earth, and the glory of the Lord that once was seen over the sanctuary of old will be as a cloudy pillar over all the homes of the redeemed city, both as a glory and a defense. “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” (verse 6). Thus, like Israel in the wilderness so long ago, will the restored nation be under Jehovah’s gracious care when He has cleansed them from their iniquities and turned their hearts back to Himself.