Life is full of seasons. As this marvelous world turns and tilts and gives us the seasons we count by the calendar, other seasons are marked by events and attitudes. As it tells us in Ecclesiastes, there is a time for everything. Our seasons of life—grief, joy, friendship, sorrow, birth, death, growing, reaping—remain with us, regardless of our age, our wealth, or our outlook on life.
We call this season “Advent.” We look forward to it and celebrate it as a way to bring the Christian existence full-circle each year. By re-visiting the seasons of the Christian calendar, we continually remind ourselves that God wants us to use His calendar, not ours.
To see Isaiah 4 in the light of Advent, we need to see the first three chapters of the book as it leads to Chapter 6, the famous “I saw the Lord” statement so important to Jewish, and later Christian, culture. Isaiah 4:2-6 is full of metaphoric and symbolic language typical of Isaiah. All of it foretells the effects Christ’s birth, suffering, death, and resurrection will have for a sinful world.
For Isaiah, this was his season of hope. He wished to portray a time when the Messianic promise would be fulfilled for his people. But before that portrayal could be complete (see Chapter 40) he needed to lay the groundwork – by reminding his people where they had fallen short (Chapters 1-3), by alluding to his future and more complete prophecy (Chapter 4), by pausing to pray, sing, and meditate on these ideas (Chapter 5), and later fully worshipping the Lord (Chapter 6). Isaiah understands, and indeed instructs us, that is it not a straight path to the Resurrection. He, his people, and his future Messiah need to continually visit the seasons of life. They have to revisit them as a reminder to be patient, to revel in the moment, and to continually praise the Lord regardless of the season. Remember to stop and worship this Advent season. Isaiah is a good place to start.
Jim Vernon