Isaiah 4:1,2 - In that day ...

4:1

The chapter divisions were not part of the  original text and it seems that here it was put in the wrong place, at least if ESV and NKJV section headings are anything to go by, verse 1 very much seems to belong with the previous section. Women were desperate to find a husband. This is not sexist! Rather, it is just a reflection of the social and economic realities of the time. In times of war or other disasters one of consequences was usually a shortage of men, so this verse is just describing further the horror and suffering that would come. God is painting a vivid picture, seeking to bring home the point.

4:2

There is now a change in tone, a remarkable change in fact. The talk has just been of judgement, now it is of salvation. This sudden change occurs many times in the Old Testament prophets, and we need to take fully on board the judgement and God’s anger, along with God’s salvation. Indeed, we see the same at the cross. Part of what the cross is about is Jesus taking upon Himself the judgement, the punishment, that we deserve. You and I deserve to be nailed to a cross, Jesus was nailed there in our place. Sin is real, its seriousness in judicial terms is real, its seriousness in terms of the consequences in our own lives and the lives of others is real. It is not something that can just be overlooked, or brushed under the carpet. It needs to be addressed, and on the cross it was addressed in full. We should note that 3:18 begins “In that day”, 4:2 begins with the very same words. Jeremiah and Zechariah also speak of the branch when speaking of God’s Messiah.In Romans Paul says that where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more, and we see that here. We have just had all the judgement, but in the midst of it the “branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious”. The fruit of the Messiah will be the pride and honour of the survivors. The survivors are those who put their faith in Christ.