Scripture Reading: Isa. 4:2-6; 7:14; Matt. 1:22-23; John 1:14; Luke 1:42; Heb. 2:14; John 12:24; Exo. 40:34-35, 38; Num. 9:15-16; 2 Cor. 12:9
Isaiah is a rich book concerning Christ. In this series of messages, we want to see the all-inclusive Christ in the book of Isaiah. We need to thank the Lord, our Immanuel, that in these last days, He has opened up the depths of this book to us.
In this message we would like to read a new translation of Isaiah 4:2-6:
2In that day the Shoot of Jehovah will be beauty and glory, and the Fruit of the earth, excellence and splendor, to those of Israel who have escaped.
3And he who is left over in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been written down in Jerusalem for life;
4When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and has cleansed away the bloodstains of Jerusalem from her midst, by the judging Spirit and the burning Spirit.
5Jehovah will create over the entire region of Mount Zion and over all her convocations a cloud of smoke by day, and the brightness of a fiery flame by night; for over all, the glory will be a canopy.
6And there will be a tabernacle as a daytime shade from the heat and as a refuge and a cover from storm and rain.
In Isaiah we can see that our God is an active and aggressive God. He is moving. He has a personal desire, His heart's pleasure. Before the foundation of the world He made a plan in Himself. That plan is His eternal economy to create the universe and man so that He may have a people to express Him in a marvelous way. Isaiah's central point is to show us how God made Christ the centrality and universality of His great move for the accomplishment of His economy. This is why Isaiah reveals so many items of Christ. Christ has to be many items; otherwise, He could not fulfill God's economy.
Isaiah can be considered as a book of poetry, and Hebrew poetry is composed in pairs. In Isaiah 4:2 there is a pair of aspects of Christ — the Shoot of Jehovah and the Fruit of the earth. In this pair there is a comparison. "The Shoot" is in comparison to "the Fruit," and "Jehovah" is in comparison to "the earth." The title Immanuel includes "Jehovah" and "the earth" because it means God with us, that is, God with man. God is eternal, and man came from the earth. The Fruit of the earth refers to a man made from the dust (Gen. 2:7). Hebrews 2:14 says that the Lord Jesus shared in man's blood and flesh. Furthermore, Christ is the eternal God. John 1:1 says that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was God. Then verse 14 says that the Word became flesh. Christ as God came from eternity, but as man He came from the earth, so He is the Shoot of Jehovah and also the Fruit of the earth.
The Shoot of Jehovah is a new development of Jehovah God for His increase and spreading through His incarnation (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:22-23). "The Shoot of Jehovah" indicates that Jehovah is a big tree, a big plant. The shoot of this plant is a new development for Jehovah to be increased and to spread through His incarnation.
Christ as the Shoot of Jehovah is for the branching out of Jehovah God, in His divinity, into humanity (John 1:14). When Jehovah God branched Himself out, He did it in His divinity to branch Himself into humanity. Before Jesus was born, our unlimited God was existing merely in the territory of His divinity. He did not possess humanity before His incarnation. Approximately two thousand years ago, God was incarnated. In that incarnation, He branched Himself out in His divinity into humanity. From the year of Christ's birth, our God is in both divinity and humanity. This is the difference between the unbelieving Jews' God and our God. Their God is merely in divinity without any element of humanity, but the God we Christians have is One who is in divinity and in humanity. Jesus is the incarnated God, the complete God and the perfect Man.
Jesus was the divine title given by God. Jesus means Jehovah the Savior, or Jehovah the salvation. Immanuel, meaning God with us, was the name called by man. According to our experience of Jesus, we have to call Him Immanuel, which means God with man. Our Jesus is the God-man. He is both God and man, both divine and human. For God to be in humanity is His spreading, His branching out, from one territory to another territory. Today our God exists in two territories — divinity and humanity. Our God today is both divine and human.
The incarnated God, in His divinity, will be the beauty and glory of God's chosen people in the day of restoration. Because Christ lives in us, we are partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). In this sense, we are not only human but also divine. The divine nature is our beauty and our glory. When worldly women go to a special place, they may adorn themselves with the best material and jewelry. This is for their beauty and glory. The uniform of generals in an army is full of stars and badges. This is also for their beauty and glory. Our beauty and glory is not in such outward adornment. Our God with His divine nature is our beauty and our glory. In the day of restoration, if we are faithful, we will be the most beautiful and glorious creatures in this universe because we will have our God in a full way as our beauty and as our glory. Even today if we live Christ, those around us will see that we are weighty and dignified. When a man lives Christ, people will consider that he is a weighty man, a man of gravity, a man of beauty and glory beyond description. Whatever we do and say in Christ is full of dignity and gravity. We should not forget our divine genealogy. We are sons of God in the family of God. His divinity is our beauty and our glory.
Christ is also the Fruit of the earth (Isa. 4:2b). When Mary came to Elizabeth, Elizabeth said to Mary, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!" (Luke 1:42). The fruit in the womb of Mary was Jesus. He was in her womb as the Fruit of the earth.
As the Fruit of the earth, Christ was a man born of human blood and flesh from the earth (Heb. 2:14). The earth is the source of Christ's humanity, just as eternity is the source of His divinity.
Christ as the Fruit of the earth is for the multiplication and reproduction of the divine life in humanity (John 12:24). God in Himself, in His divinity, has no way to be multiplied. Christ as the Fruit of the earth is for multiplication. He was a grain of wheat who died so that many grains could be produced. For His multiplication and reproduction, He needed humanity. Humanity is the soil, the earth, for the Triune God to be multiplied and reproduced.
Such a man, the Man Jesus, in His humanity, which expresses His divine beauty and glory, will be the excellence and splendor of God's chosen people in the day of restoration. Even today in the age of grace, we need to experience the excellence and splendor of Jesus in His humanity. On the one hand, a proper Christian should have the divine beauty and glory of Jesus. On the other hand, he should also have the human excellence and splendor of Jesus. A Christian must be both divine and human. Our own human excellence and splendor are very low, but when we live Christ, the human excellence and splendor which we live out are very high. We must live a life which expresses Christ's beauty and glory in a divine way and which expresses Christ's excellence and splendor in a human way. We may not realize much of this today, but when the time of restoration comes, those of us who overcome will be raptured, transformed, and glorified. Then we will fully realize that we have the divine beauty and glory of Jesus and the human excellence and splendor of Jesus.
There are two pairs of what Christ is in Isaiah 4. The first pair is the Shoot of Jehovah and the Fruit of the earth. The second pair is in verses 5 and 6 where Christ is seen as a covering canopy of glory and an overshadowing tabernacle of grace. The second pair is the issue of the first pair and is produced by the first pair. The canopy is covering, and the tabernacle is overshadowing. The canopy is of the divine glory, and the tabernacle is of Christ's grace in His humanity. When Christ was incarnated, He was full of grace and the disciples beheld His glory (John 1:14).
The Shoot of Jehovah and the Fruit of the earth, as the God-man in His divinity and His humanity as well, will be a covering canopy of the divine glory and an overshadowing tabernacle of grace in humanity.
Christ as a covering canopy of glory is the divine glory covering all the interests of Jehovah God in His holy mountain (Isa. 4:5). The holy mountain is Mount Zion. God's temple was on Mount Zion, and God's people were there having all kinds of convocations. These convocations, these meetings of God's people, were the interests of God on the earth. God's interests on the earth need such a covering canopy of glory.
This covering canopy of glory is also a cloud of smoke as a shade by day from the heat and the brightness of a fiery flame by night against the darkness. Both the cloud of smoke and the brightness of a fiery flame are created by God (Exo. 40:34-35, 38; Num. 9:15-16). When the day of restoration comes, there will be over Mount Zion a cloud of smoke in the day and the brightness of a fiery flame in the night. We should not consider that the cloud of smoke and the brightness of a fiery flame are physical things. Isaiah tells us that Jehovah will create them. This means that they will be something which has never before existed, something which will be created by God. God's glory as the cloud of smoke and the brightness of the fiery flame will remain on Mount Zion all the time. In the day His glory will be as a covering cloud of smoke to be a shade from the heat. In the night His glory will be as the shining brightness of a fiery flame to keep God's people away from darkness. God Himself as the glory expressed in Christ will remain as a canopy over Mount Zion to cover His interests, which include His holy temple, His holy people, and all His holy convocations.
Our revised translation of Isaiah 4:5 conveys the proper spiritual meaning of Christ being a covering canopy of glory. This verse says, "Jehovah will create over the entire region of Mount Zion and over all her convocations a cloud of smoke by day, and the brightness of a fiery flame by night; for over all, the glory will be a canopy." The comma in the phrase "for over all, the glory will be a canopy" is very crucial. If the comma were removed from this phrase, this would mean that the canopy and the glory are two separate items and that the canopy covers and protects God's glory. This is against the spiritual principle. God's glory does not need anything to cover or protect it. Instead, His glory is always covering other things. The Concordant Version of Isaiah also puts a comma between "all" and "the glory." According to our revised translation, over Mount Zion, over the temple, and over the holy convocations, the glory will be a canopy.
Christ will also be an overshadowing tabernacle of grace in humanity (Isa. 4:6, John 1:14).
This overshadowing tabernacle of grace is Christ in His humanity, which expresses His divinity (John 1:14b).
He is presently overshadowing His believers in His grace as a daytime shade from the heat and as a refuge and a cover from storm and rain (2 Cor. 12:9). Christ is the canopy to cover God's interests, and He is also a tabernacle to be our shade and our refuge. The tabernacle is a shade, a refuge, and a cover. Our experience of this is fully explained in 2 Corinthians 12:9, which describes Christ overshadowing His believers in His grace as their strength. The Shoot of Jehovah and the Fruit of the earth are one pair of items of Christ in Isaiah 4. This pair produces another pair — Christ as a covering canopy of glory and an overshadowing tabernacle of grace in humanity.
According to Isaiah 4, our Christ is the new development of God. He is the branching out of God in His divinity into humanity. As such a One, He will be the beauty and glory of God's chosen people in the day of restoration. This glory will be a great canopy to cover all of God's interests on earth. Christ is also the Fruit of the earth for the multiplication and reproduction of the divine life in humanity. This reproducing Fruit of the earth will be the excellence and splendor of God's chosen people. Christ is also a shade to us from the heat and a refuge and a cover to protect us from the storm and rain. Have we ever considered that Christ is so many items in Isaiah 4? Christ is God's development, God's branching out, and the Fruit for God's reproduction; He has the divine beauty and glory with the human excellence and splendor. Therefore, He can cover us as a canopy and overshadow us as a tabernacle to be our shade and refuge. Isaiah 4 shows that Christ is everything to us.
Isaiah 4:2-4 reveal the requirements for partaking of Christ.
The following four requirements are the conditions for God's chosen people to partake of Christ in the age of restoration.
The first requirement is that they have escaped, having been released, from captivity (Isa. 4:2b). We should be people who have escaped any kind of bondage or slavery. We should have an absolute release from captivity.
The second requirement is to live and remain in a holy life in God's chosen place — Zion and Jerusalem (v. 3a). Today the local church is Zion, and the Body of Christ is Jerusalem. We must live and remain in the church to live a holy life. This is a condition for our partaking of Christ.
Third, we must be chosen by God according to His record of life (v. 3b). Our being chosen by God qualifies us to partake of Christ.
Fourth, the filth should be washed away and the bloodstains should be cleansed away by the Lord with His judging and burning Spirit (v. 4). The judging and burning Spirit should work within us to wash away our filth and to cleanse away our bloodstains. We "kill" the saints through our gossiping and spreading of rumors. We need the judging and burning Spirit to cleanse us inwardly from these bloodstains.
The age of grace is a foretaste of the age of restoration; hence, the above requirements are also the conditions for the believers to partake of Christ in the New Testament economy. The age of grace is a foretaste of the age of restoration, and we are the people who can enjoy such a foretaste. We have the privilege of partaking of Christ if we meet the requirements, the conditions.
