Verses 1-6, “And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, “We will eat our own food and wear our own apparel; Only let us be called by your name, To take away our reproach.” In that day the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious; And the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing For those of Israel who have escaped. And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem. When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning, then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering. And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain.”
What we see here is the result of God's coming judgement. In the previous chapter we read that the women were haughty, making them ripe for judgement, and the men would fall by the sword. Isaiah 3:16-17, Moreover the Lord says: “Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, And walk with outstretched necks And wanton eyes, Walking and mincing as they go, Making a jingling with their feet, Therefore the Lord will strike with a scab The crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, And the Lord will uncover their secret parts.” The daughters of Zion will be brought low by God. As a result, there will be such a shortage of men, that seven women will be willing to share one man for their husband. The women, being so desperate for one, will even be willing to provide for themselves (food and clothing).
The Bible says that a man who will not provide for His house is worse than an unbeliever. I Timothy 5:8, “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” I've seen Christian women become so desperate for a husband that they are willing to accept all types of ungodliness apart from God's will. They deceive themselves into thinking they are gaining, when in reality, they are losing what's most important...their soul. Matthew 16:26, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” When you take your eyes off eternity to focus on some temporary sinful pleasure, you are being terribly short sighted, and run the risk that you might never come back to the Lord.
Sin is filth to our souls. The Lord washes the filth away with judgment and burning, because He is righteous. You probably have not heard much about the spirit of judgement and the spirit of burning, because the wickedness of man would rather focus God's "positive" qualities, such as love and mercy and wisdom. We need to have a full view of God if we are going to walk out our salvation with fear and trembling. The loving, forgiving "Jesus" that people have imagined, is not the God we read about in the Bible. He does not overlook sin. Everything that God says He will do, will come to pass, including His promises of judgment. Matthew 5:18, “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.”
“And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, “We will eat our own food and wear our own apparel; Only let us be called by your name, To take away our reproach.” In that day the Branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious; And the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing For those of Israel who have escaped.”
ReplyDeleteIsaiah 4:1-2
Because the Lord had killed most of the men, seven women were with one man at a time. They were so desperate for a husband, that they were willing just to take their name and nothing else.
Many times the Lord will bring us to a low, when we think that we are awesome. We become too prideful and the Lord humbled us. Like the women, who thought they were awesome, we too can act in that same way. We start be successful and begin to think it is us, when we start to think this is when God most likely will humble us. He will brings us to our knees and plead. We need to stay humble and not be like these women lest we get humbled as well.