Isaiah 4

Does it seem like a small matter to us that we are called by the name of Christ? Is it still a wonderful thing to us that our shame and guilt have been removed through the ministry of our Savior? This very brief chapter begins with a verse that speaks of the urgency of seven women who are begging to be named by the name of one man. They will not ask that this man to provide for them as would have been his customary obligation. They will simply be satisfied with the honor of an association with this one man. The church has the blessing of her husband's name, and far from having to provide for ourselves, he will care for us and give us Himself. He is the bread from heaven that will always sustain us and the clothing of perfect righteousness that will forever be the basis of our acceptance by God.

As if anticipating these New Covenant and heavenly realities, every phrase in the next five verses seems to insist on a meaning that moves us toward the future fulfillment of the Kingdom of God in Christ. Jesus and the Church connected to Him will be beautiful and glorious. How is it that we have gone so quickly from talking about the nation of God as a "heap of ruins" in the third chapter, and just a few verses later we now read that "the fruit of the land" will be "the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel." Something has happened here. There is a new day beyond the disgrace of the Old Covenant people, and Isaiah is serving as a herald of that coming day.

We who have come to the Kingdom only by the name of Israel's Messiah are now the Jerusalem of God. We are holy in Him, and our names have been recorded in the Lamb's book of life. God has washed away our filth through the blood of Jesus, and through a spirit of judgment that came upon Him on the cross instead of us we have a solid hope. Even now we enjoy the presence of the Lord by faith, but the day will come when the fact of that divine presence with us will be obvious to our senses. In that day there will be no need for any lamp or sun, because the Lord our God will be our ever-present light. We know this already in our best moments, but then we will see this clearly and continually.

God is our protection even now, yet like Job, we can face horrific loss, and we need to remind ourselves continually that godliness with contentment is great gain. One day that kind of reminder will simply not be necessary. The Lord's canopy of love will be seen. The Lord's protective shelter will be our heavenly mansion. The sun will not strike us in any harmful way by day, and there will be no terrors of the night for us.

These things we lay hold of today by faith. The Old Testament saint would also have heard these words of promise, and would have believed with wonder. There is still an element of wonder for us as well, but we have the better assurance of the incarnation of Christ, his miracles, his death, and his resurrection. We also have the Spirit of God granted to us as a downpayment of the fullness of God's goodness that has been promised to us. All of this has come to us because of our association with one great man. He has taken away our reproach.