A Beautiful and Glorious Branch
Isaiah 4:2
Introduction.
Leaders have a lot of influence on the people.
We see that time and again in the history of the Israelite nation.
When a king is righteous, typically the people follow in that righteous.
Certainly not always, as we see with King Jotham.
But if a king is evil, the righteous people in the nation become few and far between.
For many, a righteous king is a breath of fresh air after decades of wickedness.
Our leaders matter, just as their leaders mattered, both in the country, but more importantly in the church.
There is no leader more beautiful and glorious than our Lord Jesus Christ!
In Isa. 3, Isaiah talks of the vacuum of righteous leadership, and how wonderful the day will be when that glorious leader, the Branch, arrives in Ch. 4.
Isaiah 1 introduces us to the prophet Isaiah and to the problems facing Judah at this time.
Isaiah 2–5 goes into more details on the judgments facing Judah should they continue on this errant path.
Recall, the king at this time is Jotham, though Uzziah is perhaps still alive, Jotham his son is on the throne calling the shots (2 Chron. 26).
But even then, while these two kings were not evil, many of the people were very corrupt (2 Chron. 27:2).
There are two locations in these four chapters (2-5) that Isaiah talks of hope.
We went over the first one in Isa. 2:1-4; the second one is in Isa. 4:2-6, right in the middle of the doom and gloom.
Today, I want to consider Chs. 3-4, while we will consider Ch. 5 next week.
Preview.
The Leaders Fallen (3:1-12).
The Lord Judges (3:13–4:1).
The Branch Comes (4:2-6). NEXT WEEK.
Body.
The Leaders Fallen (3:1-12).
The Lord Removes Them (3:1-3).
Aside from Uzziah and Jotham, we are not told about how the other rulers at this time were.
It seems likely that, since the people were corrupt, many of the rulers were, too.
Azariah the high priest seemed to be righteous at the time of Uzziah’s downfall, but beyond that we do not know (2 Chron. 26).
At the very least, we know the king to follow Jotham, King Ahaz, is a wicked king, and the king to follow Hezekiah was perhaps the most wicked king Judah had, King Manasseh.
In any event, the Lord takes away their food and many of the leaders above them.
While some of these leaders are legitimate, like mighty men, men of war, judges, prophets, elders, captains, the honorable, the counselors, and the artisans, there are others who are not legitimate, such as the diviners and enchanters.
What happens when such competent leaders are removed?
Isaiah said what goes with these leaders, both legitimate and illegitimate, are the stock and store, and the food and water of the people.
The stock and store is from two closely related Hebrew words that mean “support of every kind” (Gesenius H4937).
Many of us like to think we are independent and we take care of ourselves, but the truth is we all rely on each other in so many ways.
We support each other. While we may go to the grocery store, who put the food on the shelves? Who delivered the food to the store? Who provided the store with the food?
You see, we all rely on each other for so much! And the Lord promised support of every kind will be taken away from wicked Judah when judgment comes.
Then the Lord takes away their leaders and their support and replaces them.
The Leaders are Replaced (3:4-7).
Children and babies are to replace their kings and rulers.
When we consider good kings (or mostly good kings) like Joash and Josiah, that doesn’t seem so bad.
Joash was 7 years old when he became king while Josiah was 8.
Of course, they became kings under terrible circumstances, following wicked leaders who came before.
Uzziah was also 16 when he ascending to the throne, but wicked Manasseh was 12 (though he was probably a co-regent with Hezekiah at this time).
In any event, the fact that children would become kings was meant to indicate their incompetence and inability to truly lead the people.
It reminds of Solomon’s warning in Eccl. 10:16 – “Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and your princes feast in the morning!”
Then he goes on to talk of the laziness and overindulgence that a child king might be prone to, and the problems that stem from that.
In fact, we see that with the next verse (Isa. 3:5), that the people will oppress each other, while elders and the honorable will not be respected.
Do we see any of that in our own society?
Things would get so bad that a man would be asked to rule simply because he has clothes. And that qualifies him to be their ruler?
Yet all he would rule over is ruins—what’s even the point?
Now, can you imagine a politician saying this on the campaign trail: “I cannot cure your ills”?
He would be honest, but he surely won’t get elected—not saying leaders and politicians can’t do good things, but they can’t fix everything for you. They promise much and deliver little.
In the church, there are many congregations that think installing elders will cure their ills—no, there is no magic bullet.
While a sound eldership may help, those ills will still exist among the people unless they do something about it themselves.
This leads into a discussion on the wickedness of the people.
The People’s Wickedness (3:8-12).
Judah hasn’t fallen yet, as we see that won’t happen for another 150 years.
But Isaiah sees it happening through his vision given by God (2:1).
Their words and deeds are against the Lord—they are wicked.
They don’t even try to hide their sin!
Recall in last week’s lesson, they were trying to hide their idles in the day of judgment (2:20).
But before that judgment comes, they flaunt their wickedness.
You know, I’ve never been to a “Pride Parade,” but I’ve seen pictures.
They put their perversion on display for all to see, proud of their sin and wickedness: “they declare their sin as Sodom; they do not hide it.”
There are some righteous among them, and the Lord comforts them, saying that it will be well with them.
Surely, we can take comfort ourselves knowing that whatever wickedness goes on in this country, as long as we remain steadfast, things will go well for us—if not in this world, then definitely in the next.
You see, we reap what we sow. If we sow wickedness, we reap evil. If we sow righteousness, we reap good. Let’s sow righteousness by doing what’s right!
Isaiah repeats the idea that children will rule and oppress the people.
He adds on that women will rule as well.
In Judah’s history, we have already seen a wicked woman on the throne, Queen Athaliah, wife to King Jehoram, daughter of wicked King Ahab in the NK and his idolatrous wife Jezebel, murderer of all but two of Jehoram’s sons (one died at the hand of Jehu; the other, Joash, she overlooked).
This could be a reference to wicked Athaliah’s reign, but it could also be informing us that no man is bold or brave enough to step up and lead, as was likely in the time of Deborah in Judges 4-5 and as we saw in 3:7.
In any event, whoever is leading them causes them to stumble and fall—leadership matters! They might not be able to cure all your ills, but it does matter.
So we see the Lord’s judgments upon them.
The Lord Judges (3:13–4:1).
Plundering the Poor (3:13-15).
The Lord rises up to judge the people as in a courtroom scene.
This is actually quite common among the prophets.
As they are called to reason together, what better place for reason to win out than in the court of law?
The charge the Lord brings against the people here is plundering the poor, taking advantage of them.
As we discussed in the Leviticus series, there were certain provisions for the poor that were in the Mosaic Law, including leaving some food out for the poor to come glean.
Instead, in their greed, they had made it very difficult for the poor to find food, in effect plundering and crushing them, while grinding their faces.
God cares for all people, including the poor—if God cares for them, so should we!
Such wanton disregard of the poor is on full display next with their haughtiness and extravagance.
Haughtiness turned to Shame (3:16–4:1).
The next several verses show the extravagance and proud that the people had at this time, in particular the women, “the daughters of Zion.”
We talked about pride last week, but here we see what happens with that pride.
They show off their wealth and their riches—the finer things.
Paul talks about this very thing as well when he tells Timothy that women must be dressed in “modest apparel” (1 Tim. 2:9).
We typically think of that as women needing to wear more clothes (which we can take that application), but Paul originally had in mind women who were wearing too much.
Such women are to wear things that are “proper for women professing godliness” (1 Tim. 2:10).
Women professing godliness will not wear too little or too much. How do you define that? Well, that’s beyond the scope of this sermon.
For now, do your best to wear something that is appropriate.
In any event, God’s judgment exchanges these items in which we take so much pride for things that are ordinary or even bring shame.
Jerusalem will be in such a sad and sorry state, and that certainly comes to pass when Nebuchadnezzar comes to take them away.
It will get so bad that seven women will want to marry one man, not to be taken care of, but simply to have his name.
Of course, back then polygamy was relatively common, but was limited by how many you could take care of.
Most people couldn’t take care of more than one, but some could, like kings.
We saw in 3:7 that such men at this time would not be wealthy, so the women would take care of themselves—which back then was shameful.
The man was to be the provider, taking care of his family.
But to them, being an “old maid” was worse.
Women didn’t have a lot of value in that society unless they were married and could produce children.
But then the Branch comes!
Conclusion.
Our loyalties must lie with our Lord.
I know that whomever you’re voting for, you will have thought it through carefully and believe that you’re making a choice that aligns with Him.
Maybe you are, maybe you aren’t, I’m not here to adjudicate that to you this morning.
But always remember that no matter what happens, God is in control.
He is our true King, He is our true leader, the one who actually takes care of us and protects us.
And if it’s our time to leave this earth, He will protect our souls as they come to dwell with Him.
No one on earth can make that claim.
The kings of Judah at this time may have been righteous, but they were unable to guide the people away from corruption.
Our civil leaders and our church leaders may be good, may be bad, but our ultimate leader must be Christ.
His mission was to cleanse us of our sins, to guide us, and to protect us, like a true leader.
He has done just that, if we obey His gospel.
Recall, it is the righteous who will escape the judgment and enjoy in His blessings.
Not by our own righteousness, but by His righteousness.
We can’t earn our way out of judgment.
We can only obey His gospel for our sins to be washed away (Acts 22:16).
Do you want Him to cleanse your sins, to guide you, and protect you? Follow Him today!