Isaiah 4

I love the book of Isaiah and the picture it gives us of God.  That no matter how much we rebel, the Lord is abounding in love and no matter how disastrous the situation looks, there is always hope.  After the gloom and doom of chapter 3, chapter 4 reassures the faithful that all hope is not lost.  A remnant will remain and one day that branch will bloom and restoration will come to Zion because of the Lord's goodness and faithfulness and his presence among them will again be a shelter and shade, a refuge and hiding place.

The Branch of the Lord

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.  It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain.

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