Isaiah 4: Fire Purges & Protects Yahweh’s Beautiful Branch -- 2019/09/18

Rev. Nate Ruback, pastor of Grace Lutheran Chapel in St. Louis, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 4. Isaiah 4 ends the same way that Isaiah 2 began, with a word of grace and a vision of a glorious future. This poetic structure distinguishes this section from chapters 1 and 5, and it draws our attention to how the destructive fire of judgment is transformed into a protective fire that provides warmth and light in the night. The fire of God’s presence is a terror to be sure, but for God’s people there is peace even in the midst of fear. The greed and faithlessness under Jotham and Ahaz would give way to reform and devotion under King Hezekiah. Yet Hezekiah was still under the thumb of Assyria, and his reforms wouldn’t go far enough. Similarly, our repentance is always imperfect as sin creeps back into our lives. Our sinful nature is desperate to hang on to the status quo and resists real change. Peace and reform are only perfect in Christ, who is our true “shade by day from the heat” and our “shelter from the storm and rain.”