Examining The Scripture CV: God's Sovereignty Over All

In Isaiah 44:28; 45:1 we read about Cyrus (the Great). He is the king of Persia as was predicted by God a century or so earlier and he is responsible by decree for the release of the Jewish exiles. This episode in the Bible and Cyrus' actions are a profound example of God’s sovereign ability to work though not only his chosen but also others and supernatural ability to know future events. Through His prophets God said that he would again have His people living in Jerusalem. Cyrus allowed the exiles (eventually people like Ezra, Nehemiah) to go back to Israel and rebuild the city of Jerusalem and the Temple (v. 28). In doing this Cyrus fulfills God’s purposes (v. 28) as if he was one of God’s actual “shepherds” (v. 28) of His sheep in the field.

Oddly, God called Cyrus His “anointed” [Hbw: Strong’s H4899- mashiyach - consecrated person, king, priest, or saint; Messiah] and he was “taken by the right hand” (a symbol of power) similar to Jesus “at the right hand of the Father”. Whenever we see a mention of Messiah we have a typology of Jesus Christ. When I say anointed it is also like saying consecration for use like an implement by God of a priest or KING. A technical definition of consecration means that a person or object is set apart from evil or turned towards the Lord, and be prepared to be used by God. Cyrus having been used by God for a holy purpose needed to be consecrated or “anointed” by God before use so it is done verbally. God being sovereign over all can do it anyway He likes as long as it does not go against His character. Once Cyrus is verbally decreed anointed by the Lord we see King Cyrus acting on God’s behest. Knowingly or unknowingly is not quite certain but he works for God’s greater good none-the-less (Martin 1099).

As we have seen in the past in 1 & 2 Samuel it is the same word used of Saul and David true kings of Israel so what is the deal with Cyrus? At this point in exile, Israel had no king other than God Himself. Since God acted in providence and sovereignty through Cyrus we see God AS Israel’s king work through a proxy who was Cyrus. So in reality, even in exile Israel did have a king working and acting to bring froth blessing for Israel. Not only did Cyrus free God’s people he also brought judgment on Israel’s enemies and unbelievers. Cyrus conquers other nations (with God’s help in Isaiah 45) and Cyrus himself seems to have been blessed in the form of monetary reward and wealth from the nations he conquered.

Martin, John., John Walvoord. "Isaiah." Bible Knowledge Commentary Old Testament: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Bible Knowledge). Acambaro: Victor, 1985. 1099. Print.

Wiersbe, Warren. "Wanted: A Prophet." Bible Exposition Commentary: Old Testament: The Prophets (Bible Knowledge). Acambaro: Victor, 2003. 74-77. Print.

Examining The Scripture CIV: Songs That Sing of A Servant

There are folks that have told me that some of my posts are difficult. I have tried to explain myself as thoroughly as possible. If people are expecting this stretch of Old Testament to get any easier they are mistaken. This coming portion of the Old Testament will be the most difficult to understand, and it will probably be the hardest for me to explain in a coherent manner without losing folks. We are entering the prophets. Explaining the nuances of Books like Daniel and Ezekiel will be anything but simple. So sit down, close the door and buckle up, we're about to smoke the tires on this series and leave a trail of flames towards the Book of Malachi.

**obligatory pause for dramatic effect**

Due to the organization of English Bibles we will visit the major prophets first and then the minor prophets second. They are grouped this way by their general size not by their importance. It goes without saying the nothing in the Bible is unimportant. Since the prophets point to the future to either Jesus Christ, his time or beyond we need to understand the prophetic bridge that needs to be crossed to make sense of the prophets in their time. I will show how these prophecies point to Christ whenever possible as He is the fulfilment of many of the prophecies pointed out in the Old Testament. Many of these prophecies are the connections to the New Testament that were missed by the Jewish people and caused people like Cleopas' and the other man's hearts on the road to Emmaus to burn within them when they heard Jesus' words and knew them to be true.

He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. ~Luke 24:25-27

If we read the New Testament we see Isaiah used quite often as an obvious example of an Old Testament prophet clearly pointing forward to Jesus Christ. Here we see Isaiah 42:1-9 is the first of four “Servant Songs” that Christians have regarded as messianic and applied them to Jesus; the other texts are in Isaiah 49, 50, and 53. The New Testament relates to these verses for two many reasons. They are foundational to the understanding of Jesus and His role in the Old and New Testament. They are also foundational to understanding God’s omniscience and foreknowledge of the future event in these prophecies and the role Jesus plays connecting the Old and New Testament together into a consistent picture.

"Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory; and in his name the Gentiles will hope." ~Matthew 12:18-21

The Servant Songs of Isaiah are one of the main anchors that hold the entire Bible in a coherent and harmonized whole. It is the Old Testament abutments of the theological bridge where Matthew 12:18-21 and Christ incarnate as prophecy fulfillment are the New Testament side and the mirror image to Isaiah 42. These verses in Isaiah are replete with references to the coming Messiah. I will list them below with the allusions that are made to Jesus and how they relate back to Isaiah. As with anything that comes in sets like the four “Servant Songs” they should all be taken together in the same context and taken symbiotically. All four pertain to Christ and/or some aspect of Jesus Christ’s attributes, actions or atonement. The verses in Isaiah 42 correspond to many verse in the New and Old Testaments but it directly corresponds to Matthew 12:18-21 and being a reiterated in Matthew we know that Matthew is showing the bridge between the Old and New Testament and that bridge is Christ. He is showing how Jesus Christ fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy of God’s servant Messiah. All roads old and new converge or diverge at the cross.

(1) Matthew 12 distinctly reiterates that the Messiah, Jesus will be:
(1a) God’s servant whom He (the Father) will uphold
(1b) God’s chosen with whom His soul delights
(1c) God will put His Spirit upon Him and he will also reach the Gentiles/nations: It is upon this Redeemer that God will pour out His Spirit. As a result of this He will carry out His duties including justice.

(2) Isaiah and subsequently Matthew then draw a sharp distinction between the Messiah (Christ) and His wicked enemies
(2a) He will not be confrontational but he will faithfully bring forth justice
(2b) He will not quarrel or shout nor will any hear His voice in the streets: These are not shouts of joy but they are shouts more akin to ravings of a fool being referred to here. Specifically it will not be shouting associated with arguing. We do indeed see this when Jesus arrives and fulfills his ministry. He spoke with His own authority or the authority of the Father. He did need to shout and argue. It was clear the Spirit of God was upon Him. The fact that the Pharisees and Sadducees were willing to debate scripture with Him lends credence to this assertion.

(3) The coming Messiah would not “break a bruised reed” nor “quench a smoldering wick” until He brings justice and victory” basically to all men: Figurative wordage that tells us that the weak and helpless and of little faith would not be ignored. They will be treated with sympathy until He brings justice and victory when God ultimately triumphs.

(4) We then have a slight reprise of Isaiah’s statements/prophecies in chapter 40 where he goes through a litany of praise/statements about God being immutable unshakable, He cannot be “disheartened or crushed” He that “created the heavens and stretched them out”, etc.

(5) Then we hit Isaiah 42:6 and a statement that appears to be from the Father to the Son telling the Son that He (Father) will assist the Son, calling Him in “righteousness” as a “covenant to the people” and as a “right to the nations”. Jesus was called to do the righteous will of God and Jesus would fulfill the covenant made with Israel and also be the “Light” for Gentiles.


(6) Verse 7 is direct prophetic reference to the miracles that should be expected from the Messiah, “to open blind eyes” both literally physically blind and spiritually/figuratively blind as mentioned next: “ring out prisoners from the dungeon and those who dwell in darkness from the prison.”

(7) We then get the culminating blanket statement concerning why this prophecy is all taking place and why the coming of the Messiah will take place:
(7a) “Isaiah 42:9: “ I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven images. "Behold, the former things have come to pass, now I declare new things; before they spring forth I proclaim them to you."

(8) We then understand why the promised and prophesied Messiah will need to suffer as outlined in Isaiah 52:13-53:12, and be pierced, crushed for our iniquities, by the suffering servants suffering men would be justified in the eyes of God and deemed righteous. He would be exalted because of his suffering (also mentioned in Philippians 2:5-11)…
(8a) through the fulfillment of prophecy…God is glorified
(8b) Through the suffering of His servant the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are glorfied
(8c) Through the work at the cross man is justified and imputed with righteousness
(8d) In doing this He lifts an unworthy sinner dead in sin from Hell and back into life.
(8e) God is a covenant keeping God and upholds His side of the deal…and it brings Him glory
(8f) In doing so he demands that we not worship worthless idols and rightfully so
(8g) He would do all these things forthcoming, in light of previous things prophesied by other prophets that came to pass and were done (former things)
(8h) He would do all future things the way He has stated even thought they hadn’t happened yet (new things). Only an Omnipresent and Omniscient God could know and do these things.

Hendricksen, William. "Chapter 12." Gospel of Matthew (New Testament Commentary). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 1981. 522-523. Print.

Martin, John., John Walvoord. "Isaiah." Bible Knowledge Commentary Old Testament: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Bible Knowledge). Acambaro: Victor, 1985. 1095. Print.

Wiersbe, Warren. "Wanted: A Prophet." Bible Exposition Commentary: Old Testament: The Prophets (Bible Knowledge). Acambaro: Victor, 2003. 52-53. Print.

I Don't Want To Change The World...I Just Want to Recreate It

The more I see of the twist ethos in this world the more I am convinced that the only way I will ever be able to affect a positive change is as a man of God. Politics and wealth will not work as we have seen recently and through history. Somehow corruption always seeps into the system thereby either destroying it outright or hijacking to use as a tool to subjugate a race or people.

We now see the end result of years of this mentality and methodology in America. I am dumping my politics and activism of any form and solely pursuing the creation of a new world by helping to create New Creations. To literally help change one person at a time and show them the direction to Jesus Christ and the Kingdom. To scatter seeds that may one day blossom in the Kingdom. The world has always been a messed up place but recently when words stopped having meaning and everything became an attempt to spin an agenda, my stomach has turned sour to it. It worsens by the day.

The Left points at the Right and the Right points at the Left. The true middle points at both sides and nothing gets accomplished. Only God can straighten this mess out and I am putting all my efforts in and through Him. I will pursue ministry as I am called, for I am called to obey. I no longer want to help change the world...I only want to help recreate it in Jesus Christ's image. Make it and everything in it a new creation. I wish no accolades for myself only for the One who has recreated me and given me another chance to set things straight and to help others do the same. I only wish to do the Lord's will and work and if I can't do that I would rather do nothing.

If I see see something that is clearly immoral, amoral or against what the Bible teaches I will still stand my ground in a firestorm regardless of how controversial the topic such as sin, abortion, sexual immorality, corruption, murder, abuses of all kinds, injustices (real ones, not percieved ones). What I cannot do is what I have stated in my ministry mission statement. I will no longer split hairs on issues that are non-salvational if I am in danger of losing the person. I would rather lose the argument (at least temporarily). No more: Trying to be a hero stuff, just trying to be like Him.

Examining The Scripture CIII: In Yahweh, They Shall Ascend

Israel’s faith towards God in Isaiah 40:27-31 is flagging and they feel as if they have become invisible or insignificant to God. If they had understood God properly and by this point in their history they should have, they would've realized that God is never far from them. We see then that their spiritual health is waning.

The Israelites feel they have been forgotten by God as indicated by the words “hidden from the Lord” and “disregarded by my God”. We are at Isaiah 40. The Israelites have been through the threat of Assyria and are now under the yoke of Babylonian captivity. Things were looking bleak. God’s people should never believe they have been forgotten by God. Punished yes. forgotten no. God forgets nothing He is omniscient. The people of the Northern Kingdom had already been exiled by Assyria but because of God’s covenant He had not abandon them, God’s side of a covenant is forever. It is man that fails a covenant.

God is sovereign and in control. His creation and watches over it from His throne. This is clearly seen in the 6 verse immediately preceding verses 27-31 in Isaiah 40:21-26. Additionally, we see (v. 28) that the Lord is everlasting, Creator of all and He will never grow tired or weary (these are human weaknesses). All in all He is beyond man’s ability to totally understand Him. We can understand the portions or attributes of Himself that He has chosen to reveal to man but we can never know them all or their full extent. Case-in-point: He is Psalm 90:2’s Everlasting to everlasting. In the Hebrew it is the phrase: Eon unto eon ([H5769] umoulm [H5704] od [H5769: –oulm]) “From vanishing point to vanishing point”. In Fine Arts class I learned that a vanishing point is a “point” refers to the point in the distance where lines appear to converge but in reality…they often do not. In reality they could potentially go on forever. But because we are limited in our vision and situational perspective we cannot tell for sure. The Hebrew wordage brings to mind a much clearer and profound image of everlasting to everlasting.


But as any good parent will do the chastising or punishment is quickly followed by an explanation of why the punishment was delivered and a promise of restoration to a former or similar condition. If man hopes and “stays in the Lord” he will be given strength, those that are weak will increase in power…a better conveyance of meaning is: to be multiplied, to make much or increased greatly. We see that no matter the age of those that call and hope on and in the Lord they will “renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint”. It was my mother’s favorite verse which she would often exhort and encourage me with after I had been broken down and hope had faded.

Examining The Scripture CII: Isaiah Is Commissioned To Be Totally Ignored

What is the meaning of Isaiah 6:9-13 in terms of Isaiah's call in verse 1 through 8? We see what kind of prophetic ministry God has layed out for Isaiah. Right from the beginnnig of chapter 6 we see God actively intervening in Isaiah's life to shape the future for Israel and the world. Isaiah is being commissioned for prophetic duty like a soldier. He essentially volunteers himself when solicited by the Lord, probably because he has been overwhelmed by the Lords presence in verse 1-8. He is awe-struck and totally blown away and he knows that he is a sinner and not worthy to be in God’s presence. He knows that he is deserving of death or being burnt to a cinder for his sin hence the “woe is me for I am ruined” statement.

I figure that the first thing anyone would what to do in this situation is to appease God so when solicited “Whom shall I send”…Isaiah jumps on the opportunity “Here I am send me!” Unfortunately for Isaiah he volunteers an answer like someone on a TV game show that hasn’t waited to hear the entire question and becomes totally hornswaggled due to his own hasty reaction. He is going to be initiated into a prophetic ministry for a generation of Israelites…and he will be nearly totally ignored.

The Lord even states as much in the commissioning. "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.” That’s like telling someone there are going to build a house and not give them a hammer. Israel will have become so desensitized to the Word and to God that it will be as if Isaiah is talking gibberish to them. The Israelites believed they will be fine because of their covenant with God. They fail to understand that they have violated the covenant because of idolatry and other sins. Another thing that doesn’t help Isaiah get folks to listen is that Israel both the Northern and Southern kingdom were going through a interim period of prosperity.

Not only this, he will be required to do this knowing Israel is doomed or until “cities are devastated and without inhabitant, houses are without people and the land is utterly desolate” and he would prophesy until this devastation occurred. When the judgment begins to unfold the Northern Kingdom (Samaria) fell in 722 B.C. to Assyria. The Assyrian period of Isaiah lasts fro Chapter 1-39. The Babylonian period picks up in Chapter 40 and runs through 66. Isaiah did not live through Babylonian captivity but he comforted Israel with his words for those times.
The Lord will use Assyria, Babylon, and the Medes to execute His purposes, and afterward judge each of these along other nations, bringing them to desolation because of their sins. I imagine that this is hard on the man’s psyche. He will be required to prophesy doom and no one in Israel would bother to listen. But like many of the prophetic ministries like Isaiah that will be reviewed in later we see a glimmer of hope and a promise of renewal through a remnant or “a tenth portion in it” that will be left in the land by Nebuchadnezzar…a holy seed, stump from which the Messiah would arise.

Propogation of The Gospel

Thanks everyone for feedback and follows. July was a banner month in terms of spiritual fruit being put forth on this blog. The Lord is gracious and it is by that grace that I continue to move forward in my ministry to others. Like everyone else I have my pitfalls and points where I stall out and it always seems to be on an upward climb (like the climb I am beginning now). I pray the effort to move forward does not jeopardize growth. Nothing comes easy in life regardless of what some have been told about thinking positive. Sometimes it takes a bit more than positive reaffirmation. I don't know what world that ideology came from but I live in a world where battles are often hard won but they are usually won and it is usually through no work of my own. I will not complain though I will praise the one that puts air in my lungs and mettle in my spine so that I can march forward with assurance and project Christ-likeness as best I can.

I cannot promise that I will be able to produce another month of 60+ posts especially with a full course-load coming in the Fall including Greek and Theology. I will do my best to help build others as I am simultaneously trying to build myself. I just know that now, every brick that is laid in my life is mortared with Christ. What I learn I pass on to others after I know it is sound teaching because I find it too valuable to keep to myself -AND- I was commanded to do otherwise. Anyone that understands horticulture understands that I am performing a form of spiritual propogation of the Gospel and God's Word which is the most efficent way that I know how to do it. To teach and to break off a little piece of myself to produce new life or as the definition of propogate implies:

Propogate: \ˈprä-pə-ˌgāt\ (verb)
(a) to cause to spread out and affect a greater number or greater area
(b) to foster growing knowledge of, familiarity with, or acceptance of (as an idea or belief)
(c) : to transmit (as sound or light) through a medium

I do not believe it is any accident that Jesus and the Bible often use the analogy/metaphor of the "vine" when referring to Jesus or when Jesus refers to Himself. It is no accident that the idea is used often that Jesus is the Branch/Vine or the idea of Gentiles being grafted into the Vine. It certainly is no accident that vines/grapes are easily reproduced by the method of plant propogation and this parallel in particular between the plant kingdom and the spreading and growth of the Gospel for The Kingdom are often drawn. Grapes to Wine. Wine as Offering. Wine as blood. Blood for Life. Life is Atonement. Atonement is Justice. Justice for Sin, Sin from Man, so that man can have a relationship with God...

Chirst is the True Vine. The matching of pairs for this is endless and priceless...I could continue but you get the picture.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20

Come to think of it...my last three posts have been about growth, reproduction of growth/The Gospel or vineyards or vines in general. I even started this post with the idea of producing spiritual fruit and I didn't even realize I had done so until just now. Strange.

Examining The Scripture CI: A Bait-And-Switch In The Vineyard

A reader when reading Isaiah 5:1-7 will recognize that they are reading the “Song of the Vineyard”. What many first-time readers will not notice in the process of reading this portion of Scripture is that they are being led into a theological trap. By the time the reader reaches verse 7 the trap is sprung and the reader is rereading the first seven verses to figure out where they got sucked into the trap.

It is the old adage, how do you insult someone so that they will actually stand there and listen to you without walking away? Isaiah realizes that a speaker must first compliment his listener before hammering them with a truth they are not readily inclined to accept. As the reciever of the information is basking in the glow of being "built up" and/or complimented, the underhanded punch connects with the gut and knocks the wind out of the person. They have no chance to recover and stand dazed. The same methodology applies to Isaiah 5. It is a form of bait-and-switch.

Isaiah 5 sings/speaks this out as a psalm. Everybody loves a song. It begins as a love song singing to God his “beloved” about His vineyard on “fertile” ground. A vineyard planted in the best place in the choicest circumstances. The stones have been removed from the field and a watch tower has been placed in the middle. There is also a wine vat. Everything is perfect. This vineyard should yield abundantly. But like the Pied Piper, Isaiah lulls listeners and his readers into a false sense of security and marches us to a cliff for dramatic purposes. At the very end of verse 2 the tone changes from that of praise to God to a biting rebuke of Israel’s spiritual condition “but it yielded only bad fruit”.

As a keeper of the vineyard (figuratively)/Israel (literally) the prophet Isaiah then basically asks if he is responsible for the poor spiritual yield of the field that he is watching over. He realizes as God’s prophet that it is his imperative to go out and warn the people of their failed state just as it is the vine-keeper/vintner's responsibility to assure the most productive growing environment for grapes. Having done this, the rhetorical question is raised “Have I not done everything possible to assure a plentiful yield?”

In the remaining verse we see the threat of imminent judgment. The hedge which keeps wild foragers from invading the vineyard and taking the “wild” grapes away will be removed and they will pluck the wild grapes. In the literal sense this means political and geo-political buffers will be removed and Israel will be invaded from a foreign power and taken away because the hedge that God has maintained will be removed. Those that are not removed/exiled will be destroyed outright. Verse 6 goes as far to paint a picture of a vineyard/Israel that will be unmaintained or desolate with no rain, a virtual wasteland. Instead of wine for a winepress there will be grapes crushed on the ground. Instead of abundant fruit and spiritual abundance there will be death and bloodshed on the ground. Peoples heads and bodies will be crushed and smashed like grapes in a wine vat. The Assyrians were infamous for their brutality. They were even known for skinning captives while they were alive as I have ssen archeological remains from the area showing exactly that, people being skinned.

We see similarities to the story of Jesus and the fig tree in Luke 13, the barren fig-tree and the vines are intended to enforce the warning given that if the barren tree does not brings forth fruit, will be cut down. Both this psalm/song and the parable in the first place refers to the nation and people of the Jews (IVP Commentary, Bible Gateway [Online]). The psalm starts as a psalm of praise and ends as a psalm of lament.

We must understand what fruit is in a plant. It is an abundance of life. If a plant cannot produce fruit it is either because it is barely getting by or it is dying, so it reserves its “life” for “selfish” needs (living). It puts the nutrients and water it does have to self-sustaining uses. Israel was dying spiritually and God and Isaiah knew it. They best thing to do to them was to either prune them back to a stump and allow them to go dormant until the survival period had passed (remnant) or mercy kill the ones that were beyond the point of no return (invasion and exile).

Another interesting feature of Isaiah 5 is the use of assonance or a repeating word sound to create a rhyme in the last two lines of verse 7. It stresses the contrast between what God expected of His people as opposed to what actually happened to them (Martin 1042).

•Thus He looked for justice (mispat), but behold, bloodshed (mispoh)
•For righteousness (sedaqah) , but behold, a cry of distress (seaquah)

Martin, John., John Walvoord. "Isaiah." Bible Knowledge Commentary Old Testament: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Bible Knowledge). Acambaro: Victor, 1985. 1042. Print.

Examining The Scripture C: The Branch

Welcome to my 100th post in the "Examining The Scripture" series of the Old Testament. We are about 2/3 of the way through the Old Testament. Most of the prophetic books are in front of us and everything else now behind unless I decide to turn around :). If I do turn back it is to glean more information from an already reviewed book to make a point or draw comparison.

Isaiah 4:2-6: Contains the mention of The Branch. It is a messianic title and I will treat it as such. There is debate within certain Bible translations and certain theological points of view on whether this is truly a messianic passage. What I have found is that the translations and denominations that are influenced by or adhere to Liberal Theology, take a the non-messianic view of this as Liberal Theology is always attempting to diminish or remove the supernatural or physically unexplainable from the Bible.

We see within the scope of this unit what the future spiritual condition of the people will be in Judah. We also see how will God provide for their physical safety and needs. There is a lot going on here and it all points to Jesus Christ and salvation. Because of the importance of this topic and my need to convey it properly I will do so in outlined sermon for to avoid missing anything.

The Branch: (v. 2) “In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel.

(a) This verse itself and Isaiah 11:1 answers who the branch is: “a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.

(b) The stem of Jesse is David (a nearly dead stump), the tribe of Judah...Jesus Christ. The Branch is a Messianic title of Jesus. The mention of a branch is also an allusion to what Jesus will later mention in John 15:5

Future Spiritual Condition: (v. 3) “It will come about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy--everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem.
(a) The “believing remnant” will be called holy that are written in the “Lambs Book of Life” in Heaven or those chosen by God to be saved (Calvinism?).
(b) They will be cleansed by a Spirit of judgment and fire (v. 4) after the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion.
(c) A purification to cleanse for the coming reign of a King, The King Jesus Christ

God’s Provision for Safety/Needs:
God’s glory will be obvious and/or evident: (v. 5 & 6) “the LORD will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night. It will be a like a shelter “to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain”.

(a) Obvious allusions to Exodus but also allusion to the future. As in Exodus God dwelt with the people. Just as He will in the future in the form of a human for approximately 33 years and with each individual believer in the form of the Helper, the Holy Spirit. Just as God restored Israel after the wandering in the wilderness so too will God restore those that are obedient and faithful to Him in the future. The cloud (presence of God) will not just be over the Temple of stone but over all believers/individual as a temple in which the Holy Spirit will indwell. Vessels that will be set apart and obvious and glorious not because of their outward appearances but for the treasure that they contain, Christ.

Wiersbe, Warren. "Wanted: A Prophet." Bible Exposition Commentary: Old Testament: The Prophets (Bible Knowledge). Acambaro: Victor, 2003. 15-16. Print.