Isaiah 4

AND in that day Of which he has hitherto been speaking, Chap. 2. & 3. and still continueth to speak. In that calamitous time. seven Many. A certain number for an uncertain. women shall take hold Shall sue to him, and even lay hands upon him, contrary to their Custom, and their natural Modesty. of one man Because few Men shall survive that dreadful Stroke. They who before were not contented with their own Husbands, are now glad of a Seventh part of an Husband., saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel We will ease thee of that Charge, which otherwise would fall upon thee by Gods Law, Exod. 21. 10.: only let us be called by thy name Own us for thy Wives., to take away our reproach Virginity was esteemed a Reproach, especially among that People, because it was a Token of Contempt from Men, and of the Curse of God; Children, the usual Fruit of Marriage, being both an Honour to their Parents before Men, and a great Blessing of God, especially to that People, from some of whose Loins the Mess... ah was to spring..

In that day About and after that time: when the Lord shall have washed away (as this time is particularly expressed, v. 4.) the filth of—Zion, by those dreadful Judgments now described. shall the Branch of the LORD Either, 1. the Church and People of Israel, oft called Gods vine or vineyard, as we saw before, and the Branch of Gods planting, Isa. 60. 21. or, 2. the Messiah, who is commonly defined in Scripture by this Title, the Branch, Isa. 11. 1. Ier. 23. 5. & 33. 15. Zech. 3. 8. whose name is expresly said to be the Branch, Zech. 6. 12. of whom not only Christians, but even the Hebrew Doctors understand it. For after the foregoing Miseries were brought upon the Iews, by the Remainders of the Grecian Empire, of which Daniel prophecies so exactly and particularly, and afterwards by the Roman Empire, the Messiah was born; and after that utter Destruction brought upon the Jewish City, and Temple, and Nation, by Titus, the Kingdom of the Messiah became beautiful and glorious, as it here follows. be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent The Land which for the Sins of the People was made barren, upon their Repentance and return to Christ shall recover its former Fertility. Under this one Mercy he seems to understand all temporal Blessings, which, together with spiritual and eternal, God shall confer upon them; and withal to intimate the Fruitfulness of the People (the earth or land being oft put for its Inhabitants) in Knowledge, and Grace, and all good works. and comely for them that are escaped That shall survive all the forementioned Calamities. of Israel.

And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy i. e. Shall be really holy, as is said Chap. 60. 21. To be called is oft put for to be, as Gen. 21. 12. Isa. 1. 26. & 44. 5., even every one that is written among the living So this is a Restriction of the foregoing indefinite Proposition. Not all that are left, but a great number of them, shall be holy, even all that are written, &c. i. e. all the Elect, who are frequently described by this Character, that they are written in Gods or the Lambs book, or in the book of life, or of the living, Psal. 69. 28. Dan. 12. 1. Phil. 4. 3. Rev. 3. 5. & 13. 8. & 17, 8. &c. But this last Clause of the Verse is by some Learned Interpreters rendred thus, all that are in Ierusalem (i. e. a very great number of them, as such general Expressions are frequently used, or the generality of them) shall be written unto life, i. e. shall be such as are elected unto Salvation through Sanctification: Which may deserve consideration. So he notes the singular Priviledge of this People at this time, above the former Ages, in which many were called, but few were chosen. in Jerusalem Of the People living in or belonging to Ierusalem.:

When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughter of Zion This shall be accomplished when God has thorowly cleansed the Iewish Nation from their Sins., and shall have purged the blood The Bloodguiltiness, and especially that of killing the Lord of Life, their own Messiah. of Jerusalem from the midst thereof, by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning This is opposed to the former Legal way of Purification, which was by Water. By the spirit he seems to understand the Holy Spirit of God, to which this washing and purging Work is commonly ascribed, as 1 Cor. 6. 11. and elsewhere; which Spirit did accompany the Preaching of the Gospel, and did this Work in part in some of the Iews, and will do it more fully in the Body of the Nation. And this Spirit may well be called a spirit of judgment, because it executes Judgment in the Church, and in the Consciences of Men, separating the precious from the vile, convincing men of Sin, and Righteousness, and Judgment, Ioh. 16. 8, 9. manifesting the Secrets of mens Hearts, in the Preaching of the Word, 1 Cor. 14. 25. accusing and terrifying and punishing some, witnessing for and with others, and filling them with Peace and Joy in believing, hardning some, and softning and subduing others to God, as this Spirit is particularly promised to do the Iews, Zech. 12. 10. And the same Spirit may be fitly called the spirit of burning, as he is compared to fire, Mat. 3. 11. because he does burn up and consume the Dross which is in the Church, and in the Minds and Hearts of men, and enflames the Souls of Believers with Love to God, and Zeal for his Glory..

And the LORD will create Will in a marvellous manner produce, as it were by a new Work of Creation. upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud, and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night A Pillar of Cloud and Fire, like that wherewith the Lord directed and protected and honoured the Israelites, when they came out of Egy... t: Whereby he implies, That God would be their Protector, and their Glory.: for upon all the glory Upon all that Church and People, which God will make so glorious, not only in his own Eyes, but even in the Eyes of the World; upon all holy Assemblies of sincere Christians. shall be a defence.

And there shall be a tabernacle Or, he, i. e. the Lord, shall be a tab... rnacle, or a tent, to defend them from the violent Heat of the Sun, and other Injuries of the Weather, which was the Use and Benefit of Tents. for a shadow in the day time from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.