The Remnant of Jerusalem (4:2-6)
--------------------------------

After prophesying of the loss of leadership, the wickedness of the
people and their destructions, Isaiah now introduces the coming of
the Lord.  He opens this new section with the phrase, "that day..."

   That day, the branch of Yahweh
     shall be beauty and glory,
   and the fruit of the earth
     shall be the pride and adornment
         of Israel's survivors.

        (Isaiah 4:2 JB)

The branch of the Lord is talked about in Isaiah 11.

   A shoot springs from the stock of Jesse,
     a scion thrusts from his roots.
   on him the spirit of Yahweh rests,
     a spirit of wisdom and insight,
     a spirit of counsel and power
     a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Yahweh.

        (Isaiah 11:1-2 JB)

In the KJV the words are as follows:

   And there shall com forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse,
    and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.

        (Isaiah 11:1 KJV)

The idea is that there is a part of the tree which gathers the
nourishment from the earth and passes it on to a branch.  That
branch then produces the fruit.  The branch is the part of the tree
that we see.  Here the base is that of Jesse.  Jesse was the father
of King David.  Part of the imagery here is that the top of the
tree is lopped off and that all that remains is a stump.  From this
stump a Messiah will emerge.  This Messiah is talked about by
Jeremiah as well.

   Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture, says
   the Lord:

     As king he shall reign and govern wisely,
       he shall do what is just and right in the Land.
     In his days Judah shall be saved,
       Israel shall dwell in security.
     This is the name they give him:
       "The Lord our justice."

        (Jer 23:1-6)

Jeremiah then goes on about the false prophets that led Israel.
Jeremiah is most likely prophesying of the same events that Isaiah
has outlined here in the first set of prophecies.  We have the rise
of idolatry, poor leaders, we then have the leaders destroyed
leaving Judah despearate for leaders.  At this time the Messiah
will look very good to the Jews indeed.

Zechariah also talks about this branch.

     I now mean to raise my servant Branch, and I intend to put
     aside the iniquity of this land in a single day.  On that day -
     it is Yahweh Sabaoth who speaks - you will entertain each other
     under your vine and fig tree.
        (Zech 3:9-10)

The Branch that Zechariah is speaking of here is not the Messiah,
but Zerubbabel, a descendent of David, who rebuilt the temple.
(See Zechariah 8:9-15)  To the Jews who were both in captivity and
who were watching the rising up of the Temple, Zerrubbabel was
indeed a Mesaiah.

At this time Ezra refocused the Jews minds upon the Torah.  From
that day forth the Jews never again were led into traditional
Idolatry.  Unfortunately the rise of philosophy created a new idol
for them.  But all of the prophecies from Isaiah 2-5 can be
considered to be literally a prophecy of the return of the exiles
from Babylon.  Most of the imagery of the previous chapters of
Isaiah were also fulfilled during the destructions of both Babylon
and Assyria.

While Isaiah was prophesying of the destruction and restoration of
Israel that started within his lifetime, he also was using these
events as a type of the destructions that would accompany the
second coming.

As prophecy of the second coming an important line is verse 3

   He who remains in Zion
     and he that is left in Jerusalem         (note: can be the two cities)
   Will be called Holy
     evenyone marked down for life in Jerusalem

       When the Lord
         washes away the filth of the daughters of Zion and
         purges Jerusalem's blood from her midsts
       with a blast of searing judgment

        (Isaiah 4:3-4 NAB)

The idea is that those who will be left, the remnant will be holy.
This parallels the desire for Moses to make his people Holy.  "Ye
shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy."  Those marked down
for life are those whose names are written down in the Lamb's book
of life.  This is an imagery that is used throughout the
scriptures, and is especially prominent in John's Revelation which
covers much of the same information as Isaiah here.  The first
instance of this imagery in the Bible is from Moses.  After the
children of Israel built the calf, Moses prayed to the Lord for an
atonement for them.  If you examine the previous chapters of Isaiah
you will find numerous parallels to the story of the children of
Israel in Exodus 32.

    "This people have committed a grace sin, making themselves a god of gold,
  and yet, if it pleased you to forgive this sin of theres...!  But if not,
  then blot me out from the book that you have written."
    Yahweh answered Moses, "It is the man who has sinned against me that I
  will blot out from my book.  Go now, lead the people to the place of which
  I told you."
        (Ex 32:32-34)

This imagery of types of Messiahs is important.  We have many
Messiahs in history.  Moses, of course, is a Messiah to the
children of Israel.  He led them out of Egypt, ascended the mount
of the Lord, and attempted to lead Israel up the mount.
Zerrubbebel led the children of Israel out of Babylon (to a
degree), rebuilt the Temple, and with Ezra purified the Jews.
Christ did much the same thing on a spiritual level at his first
advent.  Joseph Smith was a Messiah to us both spiritually and to a
degree temporally.  He too led us out of "Babylon", built temples,
and attempted to lead us to God.  All of these men were types of
the final Messiah, when Christ will come again.  Only when he comes
again he will come as the Lord of Hosts, and will bring judgement
against us.


/// Clark Goble //// cgoble@fiber.net ///