OUR LORD WHO CLEANSES HIS PEOPLE

Isaiah chapter 4 verses 1 - 5 says this;

In that day seven women  will take hold of one man and say, “We will eat our own food and provide our own clothes only let us be called by your name. Take away our disgrace!”

 In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel.  Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem. The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire.Then the Lord will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over everything the glory will be a canopy.

This passage reveals some surprising aspects of the day of the Lord which is the day of judgement as revealed in Isaiah chapter 3 verse 13 which says; "The Lord takes his place in court; he rises to judge the people."

Starting off, the women scramble to get the attention of a limited number  of men asking them if they could be called by their names in order to "take away their disgrace."

This verse implies that on the day of judgement, there will be a category of women who will realise that they are in a state of insufficiency that could potentially be mitigated by attaching themselves to a man and so a bidding war begins with women trading their requirements down to even where they would cover  their own expenses as long as they could be called by a man's name.

Next, the branch of the Lord, which is the church (as Jesus said, "I am the vine and you are the branches"),  is described as "beautiful and glorious" the fruit of whom is the pride of Israel.

The passage goes on to say that those who are holy will be the ones who remain and are found in Jerusalem.

The passage then speaks of the filth of the women being washed away by the Lord and the bloodstains of Jerusalem being cleansed by a spirit of judgement and a spirit of fire which reveals that the Lord himself will wash away residual stains among His people so that they are presented holy and blameless. 

Then, the Lord will create a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming  fire by night as a canopy over everything. This canopy will provide shade and shelter for God's people which is reminiscent of the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire that led the children of Israel in the wilderness.

Amen.