Isaiah 4:4 - Printer Friendly

ESV: when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.

NIV: 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.

NASB: When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning,

CSB: when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodguilt from the heart of Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning.

NLT: The Lord will wash the filth from beautiful Zion and cleanse Jerusalem of its bloodstains with the hot breath of fiery judgment.

KJV: When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.

NKJV: When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning,

Isaiah is describing a beautiful time in Israel's future. Then, the Messiah will reign over the survivors of Israel in Jerusalem. Instead of being a wicked, rebellious people, they will have become a holy people . That holiness will come after the Lord washes away Israel's sin and the consequences that resulted from it.

It would be easy to read this verse to mean that the Lord will use His severe judgment to clean all the sin from the people of Israel. But that is not how sin is atoned for under the Old Testament law or in the teaching about Christ, the Messiah, in the New Testament. Instead, sin is cleansed away by atonement temporarily through the blood of animals (Leviticus 1:4; 16:20–22) and permanently through the blood of Christ (Isaiah 53:4–5; Matthew 26:28).

That's why some scholars read this "spirit of judgment and spirit of burning" with results of cleansing the sin of Israel as being directed toward the Messiah when Christ suffered and was killed on the cross. That's what Isaiah will describe when looking forward to the coming of the Messiah in Isaiah 53:5, "But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed."

Isaiah 4:2–6 finds Isaiah returning to depict the end-times version of Israel he began to describe in Isaiah 2:1–5. The "branch of the Lord" will reign over the survivors of Israel and the world. Those Israelites left in Zion will be called a holy people with their names recorded for life. By then, the Lord will have purged their sin and the bloodstains of Jerusalem . A cloud by day and fire by night will serve to protect Israel from any harm the natural world can produce.

After concluding his words about the desperate situation following the Lord's judgment for the formerly wealthy women of Judah, Isaiah returns to picturing a time in Israel's distant future: when the branch of the Lord, the Messiah, will reside in the land as the pride of Israel's survivors. Unlike now, Israel will be a holy people cleansed of all sin and the bloodstains of Jerusalem. This will be done by a "spirit of judgment and burning", perhaps endured by the Messiah on the cross. Then a cloud by day and fire by night will rest over the glory of the Lord on Mount Zion.

Isaiah 4 begins with a phrase which is meant to end the previous chapter. Isaiah describes the desperate situation for the formerly arrogant and rich women of Judah. Isaiah then describes the time in Israel's far future when the fruit of the land, the Messiah, is among them. Then the people will have been made holy by the Lord, cleansed of their filth by a "spirit of judgment and burning". Cloud and fire will hang over the glory of the Lord at Mount Zion. Later chapters will give more details about this future time.

Isaiah is among the most important prophetic books in the entire Bible. The first segment details God's impending judgment against ancient peoples for sin and idolatry (Isaiah 1—35). The second part of Isaiah briefly explains a failed assault on Jerusalem during the rule of Hezekiah (Isaiah 36—39). The final chapters predict Israel's rescue from Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 40—48), the promised Messiah (Isaiah 49—57), and the final glory of Jerusalem and God's people (Isaiah 58—66).