That Day Isaiah 4

Isaiah 4:2 "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."

I think the 'escaped' is talking about the judgment of Israel that we have been talking about. For those left, the land will be a good place.

Whether this is after their return from captivity or well into the future (I think the future), it is the result of a cleansing of evildoers.

v4 "And 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."

Some horribly things took place at the height of idol worship in Jerusalem. We get some information in the Kings and Chronicles. There was a time when even the children were sacrificed in the manner of those not of Israel.

Chronicles 33:6 "And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom; also he observed times and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards; he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger, v7 And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God,..."

So, it is difficult to see how anyone could argue against the judgment. It is one thing for blinded eyes to commit such evil but for those who had been taught otherwise for generations, it was cause for judgment.

But in this short chapter, we find hope from Isaiah's writings. "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."

It has never been my intention to dive deep into the prophecy of these books but since they are mostly prophetic by nature, it is impossible to bypass. I think if we keep in mind that Israel is the centerpiece of the Old Testament and that it points to redemption in the person of Jesus Christ, we will be able to deal with the more difficult passages simply by accepting them. What we don't understand will, no doubt, be explained in later passages.