God’s Word for You
Isaiah 4:4 Washed and cleansed
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Wednesday, December 25, 2024
4 The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire.
This verse has to be understood along with the whole context, from the filth of the women described in chapter 3 to the protection that the Lord will bring with the canopy we will read about in the verse that follows (4:5).
First, let us address the filth and the bloodstains. It would be best to let some readers or listeners to know that the “filth” here is any sort of matter that ordinarily comes from within a person and must be disposed of in some way (Ezekiel 4:12; Isaiah 28:8). If it were a baby we might speak of spitup or anything to do with a diaper. Bloodstains, on the other hand, are anything that might come from within (one’s own blood) or from someone else (a wounded child or friend) that still must be cleaned off. Therefore, spiritually, the verse is talking about anything that stains a person: sins from within and sins from without.
Women might be mentioned in particular on account of the pattern of sins in chapter 3, where we saw women that might be given inappropriate authority in the church (3:12), women who were haughty, inappropriately flirting with men who were not their husbands (3:16-17), who had to be chastised by having their fine clothes and jewelry removed (3:18-26), and who would be led to look for someone to take away their shame and guilt (4:1). We are also reminded of the requirements of the Law of Moses for women and blood. When a woman had her monthly period, she was unclean for seven days (Leviticus 12:2). If she had a baby and gave birth to a son, she would be unclean for 33 days (Leviticus 12:4), or unclean for 66 days if she had a daughter (perhaps to account for both females involved, the woman and her daughter, Leviticus 12:5). These Levitical regulations were not punishments on account of filth, shame or sin, but simply on account of contact with blood.
The prophecy here is that the Lord will remove all of this. A woman will not need to be cleansed, for example, by another woman, but simply by the Messiah. Christ, the Son of God and Son of Man, will atone for all sin, remove all uncleanness, and wash away all filth of every kind.
Two parallel spirits of removal are spelled out: A spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire. While it is possible to take these things together, such as “a spirit of fiery judgment,” we can look at them side-by-side. The spirit of judgment is the judgment by which the guilty are inspected, judged, and condemned. As we say in the Athanasian Creed, “At his coming all people will rise with their own bodies to answer for their personal deeds” (§38). In the context of our verse, the spirit of judgment is there in the believer each day to bring on repentance and remove the filth of our sinfulness as we confess our wrongs and look to Christ for forgiveness.
The spirit of fire is, as Luther says, a burning in the blood for a believer. It, too, cleanses the Old Adam of sinfulness, acting in us constantly to destroy the effects of sin through faith in Christ and daily contrition and repentance. Like fire, it does not give up or get tired out. We are also reminded of the words of John the Baptist. He described the work of Christ this way: “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Matthew 3:11). Our sins are washed away, and every stain of them is removed in God’s sight and from God’s sight, so that we are brought forward to him purified and cleansed by Christ. So while the Lord calls for judgment by fire (Amos 7:4), he first refines his people by fire (1 Peter 1:7) so that we are able to stand up to the test. We cannot stand by our own doing or accomplishments, but only by faith in Christ. For the cause of our salvation is the grace of God. The instrument of our salvation is the blood of Christ. And the means by which we grasp this gift is faith in Christ. Through Jesus, we have absolutely everything we need for eternity. Not one thing is missing. Everything is ours.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.