In
the midst of Isaiah’s strong condemnations of injustice and corruption, is a
beautiful ray of hope. A day of peace and justice will come.
Isaiah 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
branch is a frequently used image in the book of Isaiah. A branch goes
somewhere new, but it is part of the same source, not something entirely
different. The fruit of a branch is healthy and mature because of the health of
the plant from which the branch comes. In Isaiah, the image of a vine is the
nation of Israel, the covenant people of God. The branch is the promised coming
Messiah, the King who will judge the corrupt and bring peace to the covenant
people of God.
The beautiful thing about this promise of Messiah and a coming peace in this short chapter is that it is included as part of the whole story of salvation that Isaiah is prophesying. Though so much corruption and injustice is being called out, and warnings of judgment are being declared, this hope for redemption still exists in the midst of the darkness.
The beautiful thing about this promise of Messiah and a coming peace in this short chapter is that it is included as part of the whole story of salvation that Isaiah is prophesying. Though so much corruption and injustice is being called out, and warnings of judgment are being declared, this hope for redemption still exists in the midst of the darkness.
The
gift of the branch, Messiah, was the incarnation of eternal God in humanity. Though
God’s people had been corrupt, by the interjection of the very being of Holy God
into the family of God, all the branches of the vine could be made holy. The
good news of the branch in this chapter of Isaiah is that this salvation from
corruption was not an afterthought. God did not respond to sin with the
incarnation of Messiah, a cleanup project because of a world gone wrong. This
story of salvation is the original plan since before time.
1 Peter 1:17-21
(ESVUK)
And if you call
on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct
yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were
ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with
perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of
Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before
the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the
sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead
and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
The
salvation offered by Jesus Christ was foreknown before the creation of the
world, before there ever was corruption or injustice. Every one of us is in
exile before receiving this salvation. Israel will be in exile by the judgments
Isaiah prophesies. We too are separated from our spiritual Father because of
our own corruption. In Ephesians, it says that we were also chosen in Christ before
the foundation of the world, to be adopted into the family of God. We may, by
faith, be grafted into the branch of God, and receive from him the source of
all goodness and life in order to live justly and love mercy and walk humbly,
as we are empowered by Jesus to do so. All of this was planned from the
beginning. Like the nation of Israel in the book of Isaiah, even in the midst
of our condemnation, the hope of our salvation is sure.
Isaiah 4:3-4
(ESVUK)
And he who is
left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has
been recorded for life in Jerusalem, when the Lord shall have washed away the
filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from
its midst by a spirit of judgement and by a spirit of burning.
The
worship of the people of God could not be received for the blood in their hands
from injustice in Isaiah 1:15. God promises that because of the branch, the
blood and the filth of God’s people will be cleaned. In 1 Peter 1, it says that
it is by the blood of Christ we are ransomed from our exile. Peter describes
Jesus as being without any blemish or spot. When we are grafted into his branch,
all our guilt is washed away, and we are able to begin fresh in the power of
his life, the life of God.
Isaiah 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. There will be a booth for shade by day from the heat,
and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.
The
chapter ends with a beautiful reminder of Israel’s experience of God’s presence
while they were in the wilderness after their liberation from Egypt. In the
book of Exodus, the people of Israel could see the presence of God among them
in the form of a pillar of smoke to give them shade during the day, and fire at
night for light and warmth. The pillar would rise and move when it was time for
the nation to move, and they would follow (e.g., Exodus 13:21-22). God's
presence was always there. It protected them. It led them. Isaiah says that
when the Messiah comes, the people of God will once again have the presence of
God among them as they did then.
The
book of Acts tells a powerful story of the coming of the presence of God in a
new way on Jesus’ followers. The disciples were all waiting together in an
upper room during the feast of Pentecost, Israel’s celebration of the giving of
God’s law at Sinai in the wilderness. It was after Jesus’ death and
resurrection. They had been told that they would soon receive a gift from God.
Acts 2:2-3
(ESVUK)
And suddenly
there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the
entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared
to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy
Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
The
presence of God had come again to the people of God. This time, instead of a
single pillar before the entire community, every person in the family of God
was able to personally experience the presence of God with them. By their faith
in Jesus Christ, they were filled with the very spirit of God, grafted to the branch,
part of the family, according to God’s very nature.
Even
this is not the end of the salvation story. Isaiah describes a time when the
family of God will all be together in one place, gathered from their exile, living
together in justice and peace with the presence of God among them. The book of
Revelation agrees with this hopeful future.
Revelation
20:1-7 (ESVUK)
Then I saw a new
heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,
and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down
out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I
heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God
is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God
himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their
eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying,
nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.”
And he who was
seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said,
“Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me,
“It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the
thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The
one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be
my son.
By
the life of the living branch of God does the family of God in exile among the
nations live according to the justice, love, and peace of the spirit of God,
who fills them with true life. We live in hope every day for the day when the
fulfillment of God’s justice, love, and peace will be seen on earth, surrounded
by the protecting and refreshing presence of God, living among us. God will
complete the good work that began even before Creation.
☠
Tomorrow: Isaiah 5 - Replanting the Vineyard
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