The Believing Remnant in the Messianic Kingdom
4: 2-6
Isaiah now ends the larger section beginning in 2:1. He started with the announcement of Isra’el’s destiny, meaning both the northern and southern Kingdoms, as a people of God, through whom the Torah could be made known to the world. That vision, however, stood in direct contrast to their present condition during Isaiah’s lifetime. Basically she was reduced to Judah and Jerusalem, and even then Judah was being taught by the world instead of teaching it. She was learning dependence on human leadership for her survival. But in a series of stunning contrasts, Isaiah demonstrates how such dependence does not elevate, but rather, humiliates (2:6 to 4:1). The climactic contrast appears in 3:16-4:1, where Jerusalem is compared to the haughty ladies of Jerusalem who will be reduced to abject misery by the coming Babylonian Captivity.
Nonetheless, does this prophetic destruction mean that the LORD has given up on Isra’el? Had her sins piled up too high? Was her destiny unreachable? There are those, even today, that would agree with that. But ADONAI refutes this and answers those critics in 4:2-6. He will not give up on His people Isra’el. In fact, the coming purification of the Babylonian Exile will only serve to mold His people into what He always wanted them to be (4:4). Isaiah reinforces his belief that the redeemed nation is unified with her past by using a number of allusions from the Exodus (4:5-6). They will not lose their royal priesthood (see the commentary on Exodus, to see link click De – You Will Be For Me a Kingdom of Priests), indeed, they will find it (Malachi 3:3-4).
The fact that God will not give up on Isra’el because of her sins is good news for you and me today. If we are united in Christ by faith, nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Messiah Yeshua our Lord (Romans 8:39b). If He would have given up on Isra’el because of her sin, then He could give up on you because of your sin! But because He is the Promise Keeper, that will never happen. You can be secure in your relationship with Him. You can count on Him. Praise God!
This is a further description of the Messianic Kingdom and the happy state of the believing remnant, the survivors of the storm in which all the wicked have been swept away. The Land will be purified and the Sh’khinah glory of the LORD visible, while His divine protection will ensure safety and eternal peace. This is a vision of redemption just before the long message of indictment and judgment in Chapter 5. ADONAI, through His prophet Isaiah, always tempers His judgment with hope.
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