A Promise of Loving Care

Next Isaiah shows how the inhabitants of the restored land will come to be holy and what blessings await them.  He says: "When Jehovah will have washed away the excrement of the daughters of Zion and he will rinse away even the bloodshed of Jerusalem from within her by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning down, Jehovah will also certainly  create over every established   place  of Mount Zion and over her convention place a cloud by day and a smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; because over all the glory there will be a shelter." -Isaiah 4:4, 5.

Earlier Isaiah rebuked "the daughters of Zion," whose moral corruption was hidden beneath their showy ornaments.  He also exposed the bloodguilt of the people  generally, urging them to wash themselves.  (Isaiah 1:15, 16; 3:16-23)  Here, though, he looks ahead to the time when God himself will have "washed away the excrement,"  or moral filth, and 'cleansed the bloodstains.'  (Isaiah 4:4, New International Version)  How will this cleansing be effected?  By "the spirit of judgment" and by "the spirit of burning down."  The coming destruction of Jerusal3em  and the exile in Babylon  will be blasts of God's judgment and burning anger on an unclean nation.  The remnant that  survives these calamities and returns home will have been humbled, refined.  That is why they will be holy to Jehovah and receive  mercy. -Compare  Malachi 3:2, 3.

Jehovah through Isaiah, promise that he will take this cleansed remnant into his loving care.  The expressions  "a cloud,"  "a smoke," and "a flaming fire" are reminiscent of how Jehovah cared for the Israelites  after they left Egypt.  A "pillar of fire and cloud" protected them from the pursuing Egyptians; it also led them in the wilderness. (Exodus 13:21, 22; 14:19, 20, 24)  When Jehovah manifested himself at Mount Sinai, the mountain "smoked all over."  (Exodus 19:18) The cleansed exiles, then, will not need to fear.  Jehovah will be their Protector.  He will be with them whether they gather in their own homes or meet together in holy conventions.

Isaiah concludes his description of divine protection by focusing on everyday life.  He writes:  "There will come to be a booth for a  shade by day  from the dry heat, and for a  refuge and for a hiding place from the rainstorm and from the precipitation."  (Isaiah 4:6) A booth, or hut, was often built in a vineyard or in a field to provide much needed shelter from the burning sun of the dry season and from the cold and storms of the rainy season. -Compare Jonah 4:5.

Next time: Conclusion of A Promise of Loving Care

From the Book Isaiah's Prophecy Light for all Mankind