Isaiah 4:2-3, “In that day the branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. 3 And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem.”
What’s your pride and joy? A fancy car? Your wife? Your children? Something you’ve accomplished in your career? In the previous chapter we saw how the pride and joy of many of the Israelites had been sin and idolatry. Is it ever that way with you?
It won’t be for the who are left in Jerusalem, not for the remnant. God had foretold the destruction he would bring on Jerusalem, how all the things that they wrongly found pride and joy in were taken away. And what was left to them? For the believers – for the remnant of God’s Church, that had always been the same. The branch mentioned in verse two is Jesus. Jeremiah 23:5, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”
Jesus is the pride and glory of believers because He is the reason their names are written in the book of life. As Jesus reminded His disciples, Luke 10:20, “Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Don’t take pride or joy in sin, repent of it. Don’t make the things of this world, even the best things, your pride and joy, let that be Jesus, let that be the eternal life He gives, then nothing can take your pride and joy away.
In Christ
Pastor Ude