Having begun this oracle by clarifying God's desire for Israel (2:1-4), the prophet proceeded to contrast her present condition. She depended on people rather than Himself, a condition that would result in divine discipline (2:5-4:1). Next, and in conclusion, he revealed that God would indeed bring what He determined for His chosen people to completion in the future (4:2-6). Israel's destiny would be glorious in spite of intervening judgment.
4:2 "In that day"connects this section of the oracle with its earlier parts and shows that all of it deals with a future time (cf. 2:12, 17, 20; 3:7, 18; 4:1). However here we learn that "that day"will be a day of glory and vindication for Israel as well as retribution and judgment.
In a general sense "The Branch of the Lord"refers to Israel, but this is also a messianic title here as elsewhere (cf. 11:1; 53:2; Jer. 23:5; 33:15; Zech. 3:8; 6:12).53God would provide a source of fruitfulness and blessing, which a tree branch (stemming from David and ultimately from the Lord) is, to Israel (cf. 2 Sam. 23:5). The nation would not produce this on her own by trusting in people, but God Himself would provide it. "The fruit of the earth"probably refers to the fruitfulness of the earth that God would provide through Israel and, specifically, the Messiah.54God promised earlier to judge Israel with lack of fruitfulness because of her sin (4:1).
"The survivors of Israel"refers to those who would live through the judgments mentioned earlier in this passage. Since the time of these judgments includes the Exile and the Tribulation, and since the reference to the Branch points to messianic times, these survivors will probably be Jews who will still be alive at the end of the Tribulation. The daughters of Jerusalem previously sought to beautify themselves (3:16, 18; 4:1), but now the Lord would adorn them with fruitfulness.
4:3-4 The divine judgments that God will bring on the Israelites in the future (in the Tribulation) will have a purifying effect on many of them, specifically the elect (cf. 1:25; Ezek. 36:25-26; 39:23-26; Dan. 9:4-19; Mal. 3:2-5; Matt. 3:11). Those left alive to the end will be holy in conduct as well as set apart by God for His purposes.55This was only true to a very limited extent of those Israelites who returned from the Exile, as the post-exilic books of the Old Testament reveal.
The "daughters of Zion"throughout this oracle represent all the Israelites, not just the females in the nation (cf. 3:16, 17). The "spirit"in view (v. 4) is probably the abstract concept of "process"(cf. 19:14; 28:6; 29:10; 37:7).56
4:5-6 God definitely would not abandon His people Israel in the coming judgment but would share His presence with them and care for them by providing protection and guidance. Failure in leadership marked Israel in Isaiah's day (3:2-7), but God Himself would lead the nation in the future. In the past, God had done this by sheltering the wilderness wanderers with a cloudy pillar, but in the future a similar covering would protect the dwellers at Mount Zion. The daughters of Jerusalem tried desperately to secure husbands (v. 1), but God Himself would finally provide a marriage canopy (chamber) for His beloved in the future.
The same fire that judged His people, God Himself, would warm and protect them in all of their circumstances (cf. Ps. 91). He would control the forces of nature that the pagans believed the gods controlled. The Israelites saw a literal cloudy pillar in the wilderness, and perhaps this one in the future will be literal too, symbolic of His presence.
This oracle (2:1-4:6) reveals events that would happen in a "day"yet future from Isaiah's perspective. History has shown that some of the predictions of judgment found partial fulfillment in the exiles of Israel that preceded Messiah's appearing. However most of the judgment, and all of the blessing connected to Messiah, lies in the future from our perspective (cf. Matt. 24:4-30). It is mainly the Tribulation and Messiah's blessing of Israel in the Millennium to follow that is in view here.
