Chapter 4
Vs 1 seems to belong in chapter 3. Women will need husbands, but too many men will have died. There is implication that unmarried women will be looked upon very negatively. What a turn around. From being at the top of the food chain to being food for those they displaced. From being independent and haughty to being willing to share a man with other wives. To be just one of the wives of a man, of any man, just so they can say they are married.
2024 - In the ESV, 4:1 is included with the previous verses in Chapter 3, and a new section begins at 4:2. So I am not the only one that sees it all going together in that way.
2025 - In the Hebrew it is more obvious that 4:1 belongs with Chapter 3 because "will take hold" is a sequential imperfect. It point BACK to a non-sequential that came before, and that verb had to be back in 3.
2021 - Not sure I'm right about this belonging in Chapter 3. It is really a new thought. It is about the aftermath of 16-26. Once the upside down system falls. I wonder if this could be tied to the fall of Babylon in Revelation. Is this the worldwide system that will break down? Hmm...unlikely. Revelation is pretty clear that men will be in charge. Even so, this is about women desperate to be under the protection of men. This is not about today - except in Afghanistan, when the Taliban came in. Independent women likely scrambled to change their status. Perhaps also in Jerusalem, when Babylon came in. In Babylon, I doubt women were parading up and down in high status. More likely, that culture was fully male dominated, as were most in that time. But in Jerusalem, they'd turned that upside down. And Babylon would have been ambitious to slap that down in a hurry. Just like the Taliban did. Wow. This makes sense. Look at what is going on here right now. ESPN has more female talkers than male. NASCAR has female reporters. Look at the percentage of legislators - state and federal - who are female now. Look at the trend. Tell me this is not happening. Tell me this is not where it's going. Oh!!! Having the wrong gender in leadership inevitably results in a weakening of the whole system, and ultimately to the fall of that system to a conquering power. An external power of some sort. The US is going to fall if we keep this up. And it won't be the fall from within that Khrushchev prophesied, it will be a conquest from without. This is surely a possible conclusion from these verses.
I don't know that this one has been fulfilled. Maybe after Jerusalem falls and the captives are taken off the women who remained - in a survival scenario - would have come to this point.
But enough about the women...
Vss 2-6 seem to take us back to a vision of the Millennial Kingdom. It refers to the branch (lower case in ESV). Zion will be exalted. Jerusalem a beacon to all nations.
2025 - In vs 2 we get the phrase "In that day", and the verb "will be" is of imperfect type. It breaks that sequential verb sequence from 4:1, and we have a change. We are talking about something else, another aspect, or a completely different time. We are being signaled unambiguously that this is "new".
2025 - And we get this reference to the Branch. The Branch is Jesus, and then we get a reference to "the survivors" of Israel. So this term by be about those who survive the Babylonian invasion or it might be about those who survive some future trouble. Since we know in hindsight that the Branch is Jesus, this is about those who survive the 70th week and go into the Millennial. This is therefore, by my previous definition, a "far" prophecy.
2025 - As we look at the rest of Chapter 4, it is not really much of a stretch to see this as the new Temple in Jerusalem during the Millennial. The cloud will come back and the fire by night, as in the days of Israel after Egypt. We see that this "far" prophecy is a continuation of God's working with the people of Israel because it takes us right back to that same imagery. There is no church here. The church will have been rapture out and Isaiah has no knowledge of that, but is seeing an unbroken timeline from the desert to the Millennial.
2025 - This confirms the applicability of that whole sequential verbs thing, even though in this particular case we could probably have pulled it out anyway.
2024 - I think beginning in 4:2 we jump ahead to the Millennial. I do note that the term "in that day" is used here as it was back in 3:18. In 3:18 we have "the Lord will take away", which is Hiphil Imperfect, but in 4:2, we have "the Lord will be", which is Qal Imperfect. I cannot figure out the significance of that difference...but they are different kinds of verbs, and so I would - in my ignorance of the Hebrew language - argue that "the day" spoken of in 3:18 is a different day than the one spoken of in 4:2. BOTH are in the imperfect, which means they are continuous and ongoing. Perhaps they denote an epoch, an age when these things will go on. Consider just how long Jerusalem was in ruins after Babylon.
2024 - Next, note the reference to "the Branch" in 4:2. This is a term used in Messianic prophecies. This is about Jesus. We have gone far beyond the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon here and we are looking much further out. I believe we are looking past the church age also and to the second coming. The survivors of Israel will be those who survive the persecution of the SoP during the 70th week. These are the Jews who make it all the way to the end. They will rule and reign with Christ during the Millennial. They will be judged by Jesus at the pre-Millennial judgment and be rewarded with positions in Christ's earthly kingdom. The Temple will be re-established - Ezekiel's Temple - and the pillar and the cloud will again be present. This has not yet happened. This WILL happen.
2024- Look at the end of vs 4: "by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning". Does that not tie into these verses:
22 On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' [Mat 7:22-23 ESV]
And then here, even more distinctly:
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: [Mat 25:41 KJV]. I believe this part of Matt 25 is about the pre-Millennial judgment of the living. I think this is also what Isaiah is referencing in 4:2-6. This is the restoration of Jerusalem to the world power it is supposed to be - at the coming of the Branch, at the setting up of Christ's kingdom on the earth. What a progression, what a different nation that will be than the nation of which Isaiah has spoken up to this point.
I do not believe the things in Chapter 3 are near far. I think they are near, and I think 4 is far, and that the use of "in that day" tells us we are seeing a DIFFERENT day in 4 than we are in 3.
2021 - [Isa 4:2 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.
The use of survivors here could refer to those left alive after the Babylonian captivity. But it seems like it could also be about the survivors of Great Tribulation. There is much in Revelation about surviving to the end. In Matthew 24 also.
2021 - What is this about?
[Isa 4:5 ESV] 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.
A protective dome over Jerusalem during the Millennial reign? MSB sort of says that's what it is, and mentions the return of the Shekinah glory mentioned in Eze 43. Read a few other MSB notes on this chapter, and it does seem to be about the Millennial Kingdom. Perhaps this protection will be necessary, since we know enough evil will remain on the earth to lead to one final conflict between the followers of Satan and those of Christ, even after 1000 years of glory.
2023 - Vss 2-6 seem pretty certainly about the Millennial. I just don't think we can point to any time since Isaiah when these things have been true of Israel. When they came back from Babylon they didn't even have a wall. They got that together and then built a Temple that was such a far cry from the original that the old men still living who had seen the original just cried that they 'd come to this. Israel has never had a King rule them since the return from Babylon. Since 70 AD they haven't had a High Priest either. They have never been the envy of the whole world. So I think this part of the prophecy is still future.
Chapter 4 is pretty short after those first three...
First notes, 9/4/18
Condemnation of Jerusalem and Judah. They are so proud and all their sacrifices are about them. Their rulers are corrupt, their women corrupt.
Pride.
Read today in an airplane waiting to leave Iceland for Glasgow.
10/25/21
"Discovered" these notes today, I presume from the time I tried studying just Isaiah as a separate study. I don't think I got very far, but I'm going to try and paste in what I have and delete the other notes. Found a note on Isaiah 3 that says these started in January 2017, so before any of the notes above.
1
vs 1 tells us who Isaiah is and when he was prophesying.
vs 2-4 begin to indict Israel, saying that even dumb animals know where their food comes from but this nation has provoked God and angered him, and have backed up in order to rebel against God.
vs. 5-6, The problem is widespread, it is systemic. Not only are there wounds and sores and outward signs that they are in bad shape, but they aren't even bothering to bind their wounds, not even trying to repair the damage. Anybody can see they are in decay, but they don't even dress their own wounds. Even a dog licks his wounds. They just let it fester.
vs. 7-8, All that's left is a small house in a poor plot of land. Barely enough to survive on.
vs. 9, Judah has grown as bad as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the only thing keeping her from the same fate is that God is saving a remnant so that he can ultimately fulfill his promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. They don't deserve any forbearance, but to keep His own promises, God has not destroyed them outright.
vs. 10-15, Listen up! The sacrifices that you make, ritualistically, as obligatory, and not with your hearts and souls, are not going to appease God. He's up to here with false worship, with playing at worship. God won't even hear the prayers of those who do such things.
vs 16-17, Change your ways. This is an invitation and a remedy offered by God to cure their current condition. They have to change on the inside. He doesn't tell them to bring better sacrifices, more valuable sacrifices, or anything along those lines. It is not the outward trappings of worship that He is interested in. He wants the hearts of those who worship Him.
vs 18, This one needs to be quoted: "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." God promises that all can be forgotten, put behind, never brought to mind, and with no stain left.
vs 19-20, Here are the choices. Only two, one or the other, nothing in between. Be obedient and live, continue as you are and die by the sword. God is saying this to Judah. This is implied in vs 1 when only the kings of Judah are mentioned.
vs 21-23, More accusation. They forget those that God instructs them to look after, and they instead seek their own good, and in fact take advantage of those God has told them to protect.
vs 24, Therefore. All the above being taken into consideration, God has decided that...
vs. 25-31, Everything has to be renewed, by the destruction of the old, of the unfaithful, of the sinners. Then everything will be restored to the way it once was, fair judges will be put in place.
More notes after reading Chapter 2 - Does vs. 27 refer to the Millennial kingdom when the faithful will live under the direct earthly rule of the Lamb? And vs 28 to those who will have been destroyed in the wrath following opening of the sixth seal?
Zion shall be redeemed with judgment and her converts with righteousness. An interesting phrase. Zion - as a nation? will be pulled back, bought out, of it's current situation with the destruction described in the previous verses. Analogy is made to melting ore and skimming the dross off the top and leaving the good behind. But those who truly love God, the remnant of vs 9, will be redeemed by their righteousness. It says that those who are unfaithful will all go down together (vs 28), but it does not say that the good will go down with them.
Returning here after making notes on Chapter 2, I would say that Chapter 1 seems to point to the immediate consequences of Judah's disobedience to God. These consequences are coming right around the corner, almost immediately. Chapter 1 seems to be directed specifically at those currently living, and only to that one nation. Chapter 2 seems to take those consequences to the whole world.
2
vs 1, States clearly that this prophecy is about Judah and Jerusalem. The northern kingdom is not specifically named.
vs 2, Says that what is about to be related will come to pass in the "latter days". Obviously this was future to the time of writing but we don't know how far in the future? Was it talking about what would happen after the return from exile, since the northern kingdom would never be established? There really was no golden age of worship in Israel's future, except maybe the time immediately after the return from Babylonian captivity. I hardly see how that could be equated with being exalted above the hills;, and all nations flowing into it. So based on that, at this point I would say it is pretty far in the future.
Need a study of the phrase "latter days". Does Jesus use the same term? If so, then we know it was future when Jesus walked.
vs 3, People of all nations will desire to seek the house of the God of Jacob, and to learn His ways and to follow His teachings. This could be referring to the age of the Gentiles, to the time of Jesus even, as people from everywhere came to see Jesus. In Acts, when Peter preaches the first time, there were people from all nations presumably part of the throng begging to know what they should do?
vs 4, I don't think there's any way to claim that the prophecy of this verse has ever yet been true. God Himself judging nations in plain view (though he judges them through what happens them even now). Don't know about swords into plowshares though, and don't know a time when there was peace on the whole planet. This would seem to refer to the millennial reign, when Jesus sits on the throne in Zion for a 1000 years. Most of these things seem to fit what little I have heard about that time.
vs 5 is an entreaty to the people to turn back to God in view of His coming reign from Zion.
vs 6 Judging by the capitalization in the NKJV, Isaiah is stating that God had forsaken his people because of their "eastern ways". The x-ref to Numbers 23:7 says that Balaam was from the east, with his sorcery and foretelling, and was brought from there to curse Israel. These practices must have been common there. Those in the east were like the Philistines to the SW who were soothsayers. I don't understand the phrase "they are pleased with the children of foreigners". Intermarriage maybe?
vs 7, the lands to the east were rich in goods like silver, gold, horses and chariots,
vs 8, but it was also full of idols. These people made things with their own hands, and then worshiped it and prayed to it as if it could do something. They know it is something made with human hands from materials, yet they will still worship it. They even bow down to these idols, and Isaiah in the last sentence of vs 9 asks God to NOT forgive them.
vs 10 seems to start a warning to the people of God's vengeance. He warns them to hide in the dust and enter the rocks (caves?). There is a cross ref to Rev 6, staring in vs 12 where the sixth seal is opened. A lot of things happen when this is opened: Earthquake, sun goes black, moon turns red, stars fall to earth. The sky recedes like a scroll, and islands and mountains all move from their places. When they see these things, even the mightiest of men and rulers on the earth hide in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and beg the rocks to fall on them to avoid having to face the wrath of the Lamb. So maybe this is the primary clue to the age this prophecy is about. This wrath (I think) precedes the millennial reign though. The language of Isaiah and the language of John in Revelation is almost the same. Surely they are speaking of the same time.
So maybe Isaiah starts off talking about the millennial reign and what it will be like, peaceful and calm. Then tells them that they should watch what they do and turn back to God because else they will get to experience the events of the sixth seal, at least in so far as having their sins - or their national sin? - judged by the Lamb Himself.
vs 11, The lofty among men will be brought low, and the haughty will bow before the Lamb, and only the Lord will be worshiped.
vs 12-18 refer to the "day of the Lord", possibly contrasting it to the "latter days" to make it clear that two separate times are spoken about here. It goes into a repetition of the fact that the haughty and proud will be brought low, and makes it clear that the entire world, not just Israel, will be included in this bringing low, this judgement, and that the whole world will exalt only the Lord. And in addition to bering man, and the earth itself low, He will specifically and utterly abolish idols.
vs 19 seems to tie back to vs 10 as man will be hiding in holes in rocks and caves of the earth (dirt pits, bunkers, tunnels?) trying to hide from the terror of the Lord and his power over all things, including the earth itself.
vs 20, 21 During this judgement man will rid himself of his idols, of whatever nature and value and throw them to "moles and bats" in order not to be found with them. Again, he will hide in the rocks and crags to escape the terror of the Lord and His glory.
vs 22. Says "sever yourselves from such a man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for of what account is he? I don't know who this refers to? The proud and haughty who ruled before the appearance of the Lamb? Or from those who cower in terror in the holes and clefts of the rocks? Maybe that implies that there will be people on earth during this time who, if they are God's people, won't have to run and hide in fear? Maybe this judgement is only on men and nations that are guilty of idol worship, self worship, pride in their own abilities and without previous fear or respect for God or the Lamb? It seems to be urging the people of Isaiah's day to turn away from these idols now immediately, because this wrath is coming, and if you are an idol worshipper when it happens, you have worse to fear than just death. Hmm...going back to vs 20, it says "In that day a man..." It says a man, referring to those who try to get rid of the evidence of their idol worship and who hide in terror at the wrath because they are caught red-handed. Those are the ones Isaiah urges Judah to separate from.
To summarize my current understanding of this verse:
Peace and harmony are promised to Judah and Jerusalem, and indeed all mankind (the Millennial Reign) with the Lamb ruling from Zion and settling disputes between nations from his throne in Jerusalem. This reign is only for the faithful, the true worshipers of God and not the worshipers of idols made with human hands. The idolators will know, when they see these signs and see the Lamb, that His wrath is imminent and that they will be the receivers of their due portion of that wrath, and they will be in utter panic to avoid these consequences, abandoning everything in an effort to hide themselves and avoid the wrath, the punishment, that is due them. It will be time to pay up, with no extensions possible. A good case can be made, based on similarity of description, that the wrath refers to the opening of the sixth seal, and the signs in heaven and earth that the day of judgement - pre-Millennial - has arrived.
Dakes, p. 732 says that the caves and dens are NOT about the 6th seal. Dakes says the sixth seal will occur several years before the second advent of Christ. I suspect this has to do with where you stand on the whole pre-Wrath, mid-trib, and so on of the end times. Further reading on this page has the prophecies jumping back and forth between the immediate fate of Judah and the latter days. I don't see what justification there is for all this jumping around. He says 2-4 are about the millennial, 6-21 are about the captivity of Isaiah's day by those from the east. Then when he starts talking about the caves and dens, he's jumped into the future again. By this reasoning, the people of the east have nothing to do with...what?...the early days of the tribulation? Before the mid-trib advent? Dake also implies that Mt 24:29-31 is about the caves and dens, but not about the 6th seal.
Well...this is why I wanted to study it. So much here. So much to know. It all has to be here - John understood it, and so did Jesus. It has to be understandable. So I want to go as far as I can with it.
3
Chapter 3 does NOT begin with an introduction of what it is and who wrote it. One might think that's because it is a continuation of Isaiah 2, but it seems to me that Isaiah 3 is talking again about near term prophecy and belongs with Chapter 1.
vs 1, The Lord takes away all the food and water from Jerusalem. Seems to prophesy a famine or maybe a siege. Says the whole supply of bread and water will be taken away from Judah and Jerusalem, so seems to be about the southern kingdom.
vs 2, 3, Seems to say that everyone, from the lowliest to the loftiest, will be in the same boat. however, these two verses in the NKJV don't seem to constitute a complete sentence. They seem to be a subject lacking a verb and/or object, unless they refer back to vs 1. But you need a from in there somewhere for it to do so. RSV and KJV make it no plainer.
vs 4, 5, Start with "I will" and again, could possibly go with vs. 2,3 but there is no "connector". These verses say that Judah and Jerusalem will be oppressed, by children as princes and babes as rulers. ( I read this first thing this morning in my Bible app. I would swear it said "women shall rule over them" in that app. Doesn't say it now, nor is women used in any other translation I can find. I am at a loss...
Verse 5 goes on to say that no one will be unoppressed, and that it won't just be enemies. Neighbor against neighbor, young towards old, base towards honorable. These are "classes" of people. In the first case, equals will oppress each ohter, and then after that each class oppresses it's opposite. But it is interesting that man against woman is not here, not is race against race.
vs 6, This looks like some sort of cultural thing of the time. No one has anything, so if one is found who does have something, he is expected to rule over the ruins. But no one will want the job, they will deny that they have any possessions, and ask not to be ruler.
vs 8, states the reason for these consequences. Jerusalem stumbled. They speak and do things that are against God, right in His sight, as if the things they do are designed to provoke Him.
vs 9, expands on vs 8. They're demeanor condemns them. They are proud of their sin, revel in it, as did Sodom. They don't even try to conceal their sin, and the result is woe to their souls. This so reminded me of the Democratic convention this year, with women speakers proud of their previous abortions and the "freedom" it gave them, transgenders accepted as fine and dandy and without rebuke, and they called themselves the protectors of LGBT's - protectors of sin, accepting of sin, condemning nothing and no one. And proud of what they consider their magnaminity!
vs 10, 11, contrast that the righteous will receive as they have given, but the wicked should fear. They too will receive as they deserve.
vs 12, Indicts the leaders of Jerusalem and Judah. Here is the verse I remembered from this morning. The point seems to be that God's people are being oppressed by children, ruled by women (both contrary to God's ordained order of things), and these leaders are causing the people to err, the people are being led astray by their leaders. So even though the leaders are instigating these things, the people are following them, and judgement seems to be coming to both. Though the people maybe don't know any better, they are still guilty. Only the righeous of vs. 10 have nothing to fear. We cannot blame our sin, our error, on our leaders. We still pay for our own sins.
vs 13-15, God Himself stands up to indict, to accuse the elders and the princes of His people, telling them they are guilty of taking advantage of the disadvantaged, and calling them to account for it.
vs 16, Describes the daughters of Zion that God will strike. Isaiah would surely not call men "daughters". So this is about the women there. Had they allowed women to assume positions of power and authority, to usurp the role of men in fulfillment of the curse in Genesis 3? They walk about with their heads held high, with wanton (seductive) looks, and calling attention to themselves with their clothing. (Or am I just interpreting this with my own culture and time? I've never heard anyone preach that the women of Judah were out of hand just before they went into captivity, and were in fact part of it, with elevated "rights" for women and children above the men).
vs 17, but God will strike them "with a scab to the crown of their heads, and uncover their secret parts. So they get some kind of injury or degeneration of the head? And they're naked? Seems like it would say naked if that's what it meant, but secret parts? It could also mean that their true, deepest, intent is made obvious to all. Their actions are the curse, not something to be embraced by the culture. God makes the truth of their "movement" obvious.
vs 18-23, the various bodily adornments and distractions these women wear will be taken away. They will be reduced to being just who they are, not what they are made up to be. In my vernacular, their shoes will come off and everybody will know their feet stink! They are just as human and fallible as everyone else.
vs 24, starts with And so...contrasting the finery and elegance of how these women are with how they will be after God's judgement.
vs 25, the men don't escape either. They will fall in battle, die violently.
vs 26, uses Her and she for the city of Jerusalem and for Judah (I think). She will be reduced to the meanest level, and will sit on the ground. Not on a throne, or even in a chair. There will only be the ground.
So everything in vs. 16-24 could be referring not to actual women but to Jerusalem, and it's people as the bride of Christ. There is that place in Jeremiah where God says he will divorce Jerusalem for playing the harlot, and turning to the worship of false gods instead of remaining faithful to the one true God. This could be that same sort of word picture. The only place it breaks down is where it says they are ruled by women, and then it starts to describe these women. Sure seems to be about too much authority being given to women and about them reveling in it.
4
Only 6 verses in this chapter.
vs 1, Starts off with "in that day". So when are we talking about? No introduction to the chapter tells us. I don't recall having read about such a time as is then described anywhere else:
It says that multiple women will ask to be called wives of one man, though they won't ask him to take care of them, they'll take care of themselves, they just won't want to reproach of being single, independent women? (Again, I've never heard this preached. I am afraid my own current personal circumstances and the culture I live in and the news I read every day are influencing me to interpret the Bible in light of the present. That is wrong. It must be interpreted in the culture that is being written about and what was (or will be) going on at that time. This does fit with my weird interpretation of Chapter 3, but I think I'm way out in left field there too).
vs 2, Some more info on when "that day" might be. It says the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious. This sounds like the millennial again. This morning, they talked about the Branch being the growing, expanding church of the first century. From 120 to 8000 in 6 months. Hmm...Is that the time this refers to? The early days of the age of the Gentiles? I still don't recall a time when women would beg to be called wives.
vs 3, He who is left in Zion...this sounds like it could be referring to the remnant in Jerusalem and Judah after it falls. Maybe vs 2 is the same. If the women are attached, they don't get hauled off as slaves to where ever? Maybe this is still referring to the immediate future of Isaiah. But were the survivors called holy?
vs 4-6, Once Zion is purified by God, there will be the cloud and smoke by day and the fire by night. This reference is back to the wandering in the wilderness when God directly and visibly led His people, in a daily, unmistakable way. I don't think that happened with the remnant of the fall of Jerusalem. And a tabernacle that can be used for shade and refuge from the heat or from storms will also be in Zion. In Solomon's temple, the Lord appeared, but there was no tabernacle unless it was the temple. I don't think this refers back to Solomon, nor does it refer to the imminent captivity.
I don't know what it refers to. So just because I'm taking the time to read this verse by verse and think about it, does not mean that it is easily understood. Just seems to be getting more jumbled up, not less.