IN THAT DAY: Cp Isa 3:18; 4:2 -- thus Isa 4 is one with
Isa 3.
SEVEN WOMEN: Some few -- a remnant -- of the women who
served in the Temple (Isa 3), reprobated (by Hezekiah, at the time of his
reforms: 2Ch 30), who repent and ask to be allowed to keep their positions (WIsa
116,117). (NT) A faithful remnant in Israel in LD, who turn to Christ and are
spared!
TAKE HOLD: Heb "chazak": a very obvious word play on
the name Hezekiah.
WE WILL EAT OUR OWN FOOD AND PROVIDE OUR OWN CLOTHES:
'Please let us stay, even if it means we have no share in the food and other
perquisites normally provided for temple staff.'
ONLY LET US BE CALLED BY YOUR NAME: That is, 'Only let
us remain in your service.'
Isa 4:2
IN THAT DAY: Cp Isa 3:18; 4:1.
THE BRANCH OF THE LORD: "This v foretells (even before
Isa 7:14) the birth of a scion of the house of David who will be 'beautiful and
glorious', both in the eyes of his God and before the nation" (WIsa
117).
(NT) "But 'the Branch' (Heb 'tzemach') is also undoubtedly the
Messiah (Jer 23:5; 33:15; Zec 3:8; 6:12). In a whole lot of places the
corresponding verb also carries this idea (consider Isa 43:19; 45:8; 55:10;
58:8; 61:11; Psa 85:12; 132:17; Eze 29:21; Luk 1:78 [LXX]; Heb 7:14)... There is
also a different word 'netzer', but with essentially the same idea, in the
familiar prophecy (Isa 11:1) of 'a Branch out of the stem of Jesse' (the same
root comes in the Heb text of Isa 26:3; 42:6; 49:8 -- all Messianic passages"
(WIsa 117).
GLORIOUS... PRIDE: Words used in Exo 28 to describe the
"beauty and glory" of the High Priest garments.
THE FRUIT OF THE LAND: Anticipates the unequaled
prosperity of the countryside in the year of Jubilee which God explicitly
promised (2Ki 19:29,30), and then gave (Isa 61) -- after the overthrow of
Sennacherib's army. (NT) The "riches" of the Gentiles: Isa 55:5; 61:6;
66:12.
THE SURVIVORS IN ISRAEL: A phrase foretelling the
amazing deliverance of the multitude of captives who will have been driven off
into slavery by Sennacherib (cp, eg, Isa 49:8-13; Joel 2:32).
Isa 4:3
...WILL BE CALLED HOLY TO THE LORD: A separate and
dedicated nation (Jer 2:3), a nation of priests (1Pe 2:9). Cp Zec 14:20. In this
instance, all who remained in Jerusalem to keep the Passover (cp Isa 26:20;
29:1; 30:29; 31:5; 33:20) at the time of Sennacherib's invasion, and thus were
spared.
ALL WHO ARE RECORDED AMONG THE LIVING IN JERUSALEM: The
"Book of life": cp Exo 32:32; Eze 13:9; Mal 3:16; Psa 139:16; 69:28; 87:5,6; Luk
10:20; Phi 4:3; Rev 13:8; 3:5; 17:8; 20:15; 21:27; Heb 12:23; Dan
12:1).
Isa 4:4
FILTH: Lit, the "excrement" (Isa 36:12); also "vomit"
(Isa 28:8): Isaiah's assessment of the elaborate finery of the women in Isa
3:16-23, or his impression of their "inner" defilement, despite their outward
"beauty". Cp, generally, the "righteousness as filthy [diff wd] rags" (Isa
64:6); Pro 30:12.
BLOODSTAINS: The murders (Isa 1:15,21), esp the fiery
offerings of babies to Molech (2Ch 28:3).
A SPIRIT OF FIRE:
Isa 4:5
ALL OF MOUNT ZION: All the buildings on the Temple
mount.
THOSE WHO ASSEMBLE THERE: A holy convocation, like the
Passover, for example!
A CLOUD: Almost certainly the Shekinah Glory of the
Lord.
SMOKE: Used in the same way, for the Glory of Yahweh:
eg Isa 6:4; Psa 18:8; Gen 15:17; Joe 2:30.
GLOW: "Nogah" = brilliance; also always refs the
Shekinah glory: Psa 18:12; Isa 50:10; 60:19; 62:1; Eze 1:4,13,27,28; 10:4;
etc).
FLAMING FIRE: Frequently, the same idea: the Glory of
God: Isa 10:17; 29:6; 30:30.
CANOPY: This may allude to Exo 40:34,35, where a cloud
overshadows the meeting tent as it is filled with God's glory. The Shekinah
Glory to overshadow and protect the city and its people, when the fire of His
wrath is poured out to consume Sennacherib's army. (NT) Like a "bridal canopy"
(see Psa 19:6; Joe 2:16), for Christ will have come to be united with his
Bride.