When F14 Or, "for the Lord shall wash away"; so Noldius, in Ebr. Concord. Part. p. 88. No. 428. which gives a reason why he "that is left in Zion, &c; shall be called holy"; because "the Lord", &c.; so the Septuagint version, οτι εκπλυνει ; and Aben Ezra observes, that אם , "if", is used for כי , "because." read more
The spirit of burning - Means the fire of God's wrath, by which he will prove and purify his people; gathering them into his furnace, in order to separate the dross from the silver, the bad from the good. The severity of God's judgments, the fiery trial of his servants, Ezekiel ( Ezekiel 22:18-22 ;) has set forth at large, after his manner, with great boldness of imagery and force of expression. God threatens to gather them into the midst of Jerusalem, as into the furnace; to blow the fire... read more
Restoration. It is uncertain whether-there is a secondary allusion here to the coming of the Messiah; but it is certain that, in its primary sense, the passage refers to the condition of Judah after the return from exile. Treating it in this latter signification, we learn— I. THAT THE END OF DIVINE JUDGMENT IS HUMAN TRANSFORMATION . ( Isaiah 4:4 .) The Lord would "wash away the filth of the daughters of Zion … by the spirit [or, 'power'] of judgment." It may be that... read more
As the present prophecy (Isaiah 2-4.), though in the main one of threatening and denunciation, opened with a picture that was encouraging and comforting ( Isaiah 2:2-4 ), so new it terminates with a similar picture. The evangelical prophet, like the great apostle of the Gentiles, is unwilling that any one should be "swallowed up with overmuch sorrow." He will not separate the mercies of God from his judgments. read more
The glories of the restored Church. Three principal glories are here noted by the prophet as belonging to "that day"—the day of judgment upon Judah and Jerusalem for their manifold sins, and of restoration and re-establishment of the mountain of God's Church at the head of the mountains ( Isaiah 2:2 ). These are— I. THE COMING OF MESSIAH TO FOUND HIS CHURCH LIES AT THE ROOT OF ALL . The glorious "Branch"—the new shoot of the house of David ( Isaiah 11:1 ... read more
Glimpse of future prosperity. There will come a day when the cleansing fire will have run its course through the spiritual field, consuming the tares. The impurity of licentious luxury will have been washed away, the stain of blood effaced from Judah's rulers ( Isaiah 3:14 ; comp. Isaiah 1:25 ; Isaiah 6:13 ; Matthew 3:11 ). Then, and then only, can the glorious day come in the vision of which the prophet exults. I. NATIONAL CONDITIONS OF PROSPERITY . "The shoot of... read more
When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion (see Isaiah 3:16-24 ). Sin must not be merely repented of and pardoned; it must be put away. There could be no Jerusalem, in which all should be "called holy," until the moral defilement of the daughters of Zion was swept away. Purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst (comp. Isaiah 1:15 ; Isaiah 59:3 ). It is possible, however, that the murder of infants in sacrifice to Moloch may be in the prophet's mind.... read more
Christ's purified Church. We are often addressing the truths revealed in Christ Jesus to the individual, but perhaps we unduly neglect their bearings on the Church as a whole which Christ has founded in the earth; those relations in which Christ himself stands to the Church, as the kingdom over which he is now actually ruling. It would be well for us distinctly to apprehend this truth, that the gospel only completes its work when, having renewed the individuals, it has also brought them into... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 4:2-6
By the foregoing threatenings Jerusalem is brought into a very deplorable condition: every thing looks melancholy. But here the sun breaks out from behind the cloud. Many exceedingly great and precious promises we have in these verses, giving assurance of comfort which may be discerned through the troubles, and of happy days which shall come after them, and these certainly point at the kingdom of the Messiah, and the great redemption to be wrought out by him, under the figure and type of the... read more