NOTES for Isa 4:2-6
In the messianic prophecies of Isaiah of Jerusalem, the Messiah is often called a "shoot" or "branch." And yet the image of the Messiah in this prophet is not yet as clear as in the prophets of later eras. But the image of the messianic Kingdom is revealed to him with astonishing clarity. The point, of course, is not its earthly details, but spiritual realities. And the center of this Kingdom turns out to be not the Messiah Himself, who is revealed to Isaiah of Jerusalem in the image of an earthly ruler, a righteous king appointed by God, but the presence of God. That very presence accompanies the people throughout their entire historical path.
It is the presence that makes the people of God the people of God; without it the Jewish people would be no different from any other people on earth. In the text it is called glory, as it was customarily called in priestly circles. And it is described in the way the texts traditionally connected with the time of Moses describe it. A cloud by day, a radiance like fire by night: everything is as it was during the exodus, when God Himself led His people. Here there is symbol, but in this symbol there is a revelation about the messianic Kingdom. About the Kingdom where God's presence will be revealed in all its fullness. About the Kingdom that will be wholly permeated by God's breath. About the Kingdom where each person is sanctified in such fullness that it completely changes and transforms his human nature. And the prophet also speaks about this renewal. It is no accident that he calls the inhabitants of the renewed Jerusalem revealed to him in vision sanctified, or "holy." To be sanctified, one must approach the altar, ascend and enter the Temple court, the place where God's glory, God's presence, dwells. It is this presence that sanctifies a person, changing his nature. Then the person leaves. And as he leaves, over time he becomes his former self again: fallen nature takes its own.
But for the Kingdom something else is needed. To be there, one must preserve what was received at the altar and remain sanctified forever. This is not given automatically: the prophet does not speak of the Judgment that all who seek new life will have to pass through by accident. "By the breath of judgment and by the breath of fire" God washes the inhabitants of the city renewed by His presence. Defilement, the consequences of sins committed by a person, has no place in the Kingdom. Therefore the Judgment becomes fiery. God's breath is the breath of love, which receives the person but does not receive what kills the beloved. It is terrible for sin, which substitutes itself for a person's genuine life, but it is not terrible for the person who seeks the fullness of life.