The Gospel of Isaiah: Highlights of Chapter Four

The Gospel of Isaiah: Highlights of Chapter Four.

“In that day, the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious.” (Isaiah 4:2).

The Branch of Yahweh. When the royal tree of King David’s line was chopped down, the reign of David’s kingdom seemed nothing but a dead stump. But God’s word covenant with David remained in place. The ideal king, the Messiah, would somehow emerge in Israel in due time. When Jesus was called “the son of David,” the people were acknowledging that He was indeed the fulfillment of the prophecy given so long ago. A Messiah, a righteous Branch, will shoot out miraculously from that dead stump. And Jesus is the Branch. Jesus is that new growth springing forth from that old root beneath the ground, given up for dead. And so as we read the Hebrew Bible, we find time and again that “Branch” remained an important prophetic title for the Messiah. Isaiah once gain proclaimed in 11:1 that, “a Shoot will spring forth from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.” And Jeremiah repeated this messianic image when he said in 23:5, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and rule wisely, and will do what is just and right throughout the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely, and this is His name by which He will be called, ‘the Lord is our Righteousness’;” and in 33:15, “In those days and at that time, I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth.” And we can’t forget Zechariah as he proclaimed in 3:8: “Now listen, Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you – indeed they are men who are a symbol, for behold I am going to bring in my servant the Branch;”  and in his prophetic word from 6:12: “Thus says the Lord of Hosts, Behold, a Man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is, and He will build the temple of the Lord. Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the Lord, He who will receive royal honor and will rule as king on His throne. Thus He will also serve as priest from His throne, and there will be perfect harmony between His two roles.” And lo and behold, what little village becomes Jesus’ home? Nazareth, a word meaning “Branch.” Certainly the biblical scholars witnessing the crucifixion must have realized that Pilate’s sign on the cross, right there above Jesus’ head, confirmed the messianic prophecy, proclaiming “Jesus the Branch, King of the Jews.”

The Beautiful Branch. “And the people were astonished beyond measure, saying, ‘Everything He does is beautiful, and is done with excellence!” (Mark 7:37). Isaiah used a term in 4:2 that meant beautiful, magnificent, delightful, full of splendor. “Kalos” is the Greek term used in this gospel, and it means beautiful, perfect, excellent, very good, well done, admirable, wonderful, morally virtuous and honorable. Kalos was used over 100 times in the New Testament in a variety of contexts. It was often translated as “good” in passages such as good fruit, good ground, a good tree, and good works. But when applied to a person, it often referred to the moral character and the overall beauty of someone’s inner nature and outer work. In Jesus’ case, kalos was referring to His whole personhood that was beautiful inside and out; His attractive purity; the beautiful excellence He demonstrated in His everyday life; the beautiful sweetness in His interactions with those in need; the beauty of His inner goodness and virtue; the excellent usefulness and practical wisdom of His demonstrations of power. According to the people surrounding Him and watching His every move, everything Jesus did was beautiful, excellently done, and profoundly useful. Kalos is the gospel term used in “I Am the Good Shepherd,” and so it could just as easily be translated the Beautiful Shepherd.”

The Glorious Branch. The biblical meaning of God’s glory tends to emphasize the weighty splendor of God’s personal Presence; God’s supreme worthiness to be honored and praised; the overwhelming greatness of God’s beauty and power; the eternal weight of God’s substance; the heaviness of God’s inherent majesty.  The weight of God’s presence outweighs the world; His presence is more substantive and heavier than the universe. His eternal glory remains constant, whether or not He decides to reveal Himself to us. God’s essential glory is forever Real in the heavens, whether or not we experience Him here with our senses on earth. When God’s glory makes an appearance, we can get everything from angels and trumpets and fire and earthquakes, to lightning and clouds and wind and thunder, to smoke and voices and blinding lights and foreign languages, to open graves and resurrected bodies and torn curtains and noontime darkness, to miracles galore. In light of all this, how do we go about glorifying our God? We acknowledge and applaud the awesome reality of God’s presence in the world; we make His presence heavier and more obvious; we magnify Him by enlarging His name and reputation in the world; we live in a way that strengthens God’s credibility; we honor God in a way that reveals His truth and makes Him less hidden; we live in a way that preserves God’s glorious Name and Personhood; we follow God in a way that helps others to recognize God as the ultimate Person of Substance; we publicize and promote His glorious name by demonstrating His character; we seek to remain a guardian of God’s goodness and spiritual power in the world; we recognize the true and eternal status of God in a life-changing way.

“And the Lord has washed way the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem by a Spirit of justice and by a Breath of Fire, a Spirit of Burning.” (4:4)

The Messiah’s Spirit of Burning. What did Messiah Jesus mean when He said that He “came to send fire on the earth?” (Luke 12:49). Of all the heavenly fires in Scripture, the fire brought by Christ is perhaps the most perplexing. What kind of fire did Jesus want to spread when He came to earth from the eternal divine fire in heaven? Jesus came to set the world on fire and He did exactly that, but in what way? What was Jesus thinking when He said He wanted to kindle a fire? Here are a few fires that Jesus started in the world:

1. The fire of conflict. He may be the Prince of Peace, but he also brought the sword of division and controversy. “I have come not to bring peace but a sword.” (Matt. 10:34). Jesus was, after all, the holy alternative to the tainted righteousness of the fallen world. With Jesus, He introduced either-or predicaments. It follows that He would bring unrest, conflict, division in His wake. Conflict is inevitable when choosing to remain loyal to Christ at all costs. To be loyal to Jesus is in many ways to be disloyal to that which is not in Christ, to those people who would not accept the Lord’s ways of doing things. So Jesus threw division into homes, into intimate relationships. Often enough, the fiery trials of believers began in divided homes and communities. He warned of this happening, and His warnings came true, of course. There will indeed be fires of conflict wherever Jesus goes and wherever His Word is heard.  Christ came to be a Firestarter. “Don’t think for a moment that I came to grant peace and harmony to everyone. No, for my coming will change everything and create hostility among you. From now on, even family members will be divided over me and will choose sides against one another.” (Luke 12:51, TPT).
2. The fire of passion. Jesus wanted His disciples to be characterized by a zeal, a spiritual enthusiasm, that would turn the world upside down. Or maybe it’s right-side up. He wanted the hearts to be ablaze, eager to spread the Good News, zealous to walk the Christian life, to deepen a passion for Christ. Jesus wanted the initial brush fire of the Spirit to expand into a raging inferno of love and blessing, spreading into foreign lands, crisscrossing the Roman Empire and even encircling it. Christ yearned for the day the eternal fire of His presence would cover the earth with a fire that could not be put out. Christ wanted everyone to know that the kingdom of God was worthy of one’s highest passions. The passionate believer St. Paul encouraged us to “Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it – because it does. Give yourselves to the gifts God gives you. Most of all, try to proclaim His truth.” (1 Corinthains 14:1-2, MSG).
3. The fire of the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist foretold that Jesus would baptize us with the Holy Spirit and with fire. (Luke 3:16-17). John’s words were fulfilled at Pentecost, when the Spirit descended to a gathered group of believers and appeared as tongues of fire, flames lighting on each believer present. (Acts 2:1-4). The fire of God had come, flames from the ancient pillar of fire, and the world has never been the same. The fires of Christ’s Spirit were kindled, and the fire raged around the world. Jesus said that He came to set the world on fire, and He was true to His word through the Holy Spirit. Those first Christian believers were baptized with fire, and the fire will never be snuffed out.
4. The fire of God’s Word. Perhaps the fire Jesus yearned to bring to the earth was the powerful fire of His Word. Jeremiah said it best… “His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones.” (20:9); “Is not my word like a fire?” (23:29); “Behold, I will make my words in your mouth fire.” (5:14). Nothing can quite burn its way into one’s mind, conscience, and heart like the Word. Jesus wanted God’s Word to blaze hot on the earth, igniting the people, allowing them to almost self-combust when given the privilege of reading God’s mind in His Word. Perhaps Jesus wanted His Father’s eternal Word to rage across the earth, giving spiritual insight and understanding to those who are open to His wisdom. The Word-made-flesh brings a holy fire wherever He goes, a heavenly fire whenever His Word is proclaimed. The flames of the Word bring the fire of salvation.
5. The fire of purification. Perhaps the fire that Jesus brings is the fire that purifies the heart, burning away the guilt and shame of sin. His fire of goodness will awaken the conscience and expose the shame of unrighteousness. The refiner’s fire may even come in the form of burning coals of shame on the heads of those convicted of sin. “If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. For so you will heap coals of fire on his head, and the Lord will reward you.” (Proverbs 25:21-22). Just as the fires of purification in the Tabernacle burned out foreign objects and the taint of death and sin, Jesus’ fire of purification will burn away those parts of one’s life that are foreign to God’s goodness and life. (Numbers 31). So maybe Jesus wanted to set the fires on earth that would purge sin and death from the people.
6. The fire of judgment. In many ways Jesus pronounced judgment on evil simply by being righteous. He also wasn’t shy about denouncing evil and unrighteousness in no uncertain terms.  Everywhere He went, people would see what goodness looks like and repent of their sinful heart. Jesus too might have been referring to the final judgment. It shouldn’t be surprising that we speculate that Jesus was yearning for the final day of moral accountability, to set the world right. He looked forward to the time when God’s purity and holiness would finally be revealed for the whole world to see. On the one hand, Jesus is waiting patiently for the final judgment so more people could come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). On the other hand, perhaps the fires of judgment will add the needed closure to world history, establishing that God’s justice is eternal, and sin and death are no more. There is no doubt Jesus was looking forward to that day. So perhaps Jesus wanted the fire of judgment to rage on the earth to hasten the day of His coming.

“Then the Lord Yahweh will spread over the whole site of Mount Zion, over every dwelling place and over every gathering there, a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night. And all of this dazzling glory will spread over them like a canopy of divine love and protection. It will be a tabernacle tent for shade from the scorching heat of the day and a safe shelter, a place of refuge, to protect them from the storm and rain.” (4:5-6).

Tabernacle Shade. Isaiah’s dramatic and poetic vision here anticipates the messianic rule at the close of time, when Jesus would “tabernacle” among us, as John declared in John 1:14. The Lord is promising to be present just as during the wilderness wanderings, could by day and fire by night. The word for “canopy” in this prophetic vision is the word used for the wedding canopy overshadowing the Jewish couple during a marriage ceremony. Could there be a more poignant picture of how God wants to spiritually marry us and take us on as His bride?

Fulfillment of Heavenly Shade. John’s vision of the messianic rule at the close of time completely confirms Isaiah’s anticipation… “The One Who is sitting on the throne will spread His tabernacle tent over them and shelter them with His presence. They will never hunger or thirst again; the sun and scorching heat will never plague them.” (Revelation 7:15-16).