Is there a date in your diary that you are anxious about, worried it might bring troubling news? In our earlier readings the Lord referred to a particular day in his diary (eg 2:11,12). He kept repeating this phrase: ‘in that day’ – a day when the people will face judgement. So when today’s passage begins with the words ‘in that day’ (v 2), we have a sense we know what is coming. But we are surprised. It is wonderful! 

A new Jerusalem beckons (vs 3–6). In the midst, all eyes are on the ‘Branch of the Lord’ (v 2), surely the Lord’s Messiah (as later in Jeremiah 23:5,6), the pride and joy of Judah, beautiful and glorious. All is now holy, even the people. These survivors are washed and cleansed, and their names recorded. The Lord God is leading and protecting his people in this, his new creation. Glory and salvation stretch over the scene. 

When life is grim, we need something to look forward to. What could be better than a future like this? Isaiah knew that his people, humbled and disgraced, needed a lift. In good times and bad, looking ahead to what ‘God has prepared for those who love him’ (1 Corinthians 2:9) can be just the incentive and motivation we need.     

Teach me, Lord, to trust in you, even in the calamities of this life. Help me to know that catastrophe is never the last word where you are present. 

We continue the roller-coaster ride of these early chapters of Isaiah. After the depths of the previous chapters (‘woe’, ‘abandoned’, ‘judgement’), we are now ratcheted up into the heights, with views of breathtaking beauty. God’s ‘strange’ work of judgement¹ includes the creation of something ‘beautiful and glorious’ (v 2) following the purging of evil. 

John Oswalt explains, ‘The Israelites and Judeans thought, as many moderns do, that judgement and hope are contrasting elements. But Isaiah shows that they are complementary … there is hope, but it is through judgement’^.2 Even severe judgement leaves survivors (vs 2,3, literally ‘people who escaped’). The implication is that they are few, but they will be called ‘holy’ with their names written in God’s book (v 3). Deluge and fire will wash clean and burn away impurity (v 4). God often prunes in order to promote growth, making the results of his work at times seem small and vulnerable. Terrifying judgement and reduction to a remnant could be a disastrous strategy if it were not for God’s overarching protection, creating a refuge for his people (vs 5,6). He is, after all, the God of the Exodus, still present to lead, guide and safeguard. Without that promise, we would never persevere. 

The Greek Island of Evia suffered devastating fires in the summer of 2020. Visits there show entire hillsides of blackened, burnt-out trees and vegetation, a lunar landscape where livelihoods have been ruined. However, in 2022 masses of wild flowers in vibrant reds, yellows and purples brighten and beautify the otherwise-dead landscape. There is life, not just existence, but extravagance of colour, brightness and beauty. Just as God spoke and brought creation out of chaos, so he will speak again. 

Have you lost hope of change in some area of life? Does this passage shed any light on it? Perhaps only a flicker, reminding you that God is at work.

¹ Isa 28:21  ² John N Oswalt, The Holy One of Israel, Cascade, 2014, p19