4 For seven women will take hold of one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach!”
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. 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. 4 When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and [a]purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning, 5 then 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; for over all the glory will be a canopy. 6 There will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and [b]protection from the storm and the rain.
This is one of those strange cases where v. 1 probably ought to have been put with chapter 3–remembering that chapter/verse divisions are completely man-made, for our convenience. The original text would have had no division at all. But, it does serve to remind us of our context. Otherwise, what does it mean by “In that day…”
In chapter 3, it tells of a day when God pours out his judgment on Israel, and based on v. 1, we find that the men are in short supply. For seven women are begging one man to take them under his household so that they will not be abandoned. They will provide for their own needs, but they cannot provide a covering for their shame.
It is a fitting contrast then, that over the righteous who remain, God will provide a covering. There will be a cloud by day, and God’s very glory will be a shelter from the rain, and a refuge from the storm. It’s also interesting that the cloud by day and fire by night is exactly what God provided when the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness.
Now, seeing as how this scenario hasn’t happened yet, what are we to make of it? If we try to provide our own covering, like the women in v. 1, it isn’t going to end well. The sinful daughters of Zion were swept away, and the men who shed the blood of innocents (among other crimes) were purged. They didn’t stop offering sacrifices to cover their sins, but those sacrifices were worthless (1:11).
The wicked no longer looked to God, but to their own means and their own wisdom. Paul wrote how God uses what we think is foolish to confound the wise, but it isn’t because those things are foolish. It’s because God’s wisdom is on another level, with knowledge we don’t have. He knows what is coming, and sometimes, like with Isaiah and the Israelites, He even gives warning of it.
We need to stop trying to cover up our past and predict the future, only God can do both those things. In fact, he’s already done both if we will accept His covering and His future for our lives. Nothing else will fit the bill, no one else on this earth can accomplish this impossible task. So when we’re tempted to do it ourselves, we must stop, look to God and ask Him to take the wheel. Not just to ride along in our car, but to direct it as well, that’s what is best–for us, and for everyone around us. It’s amazing that God looks out for us, as small (or as big) as we might feel, He is greater, wiser, and loves us still.