We have no glory apart from the Lord. All we have to do is look at the condition of the world around us to see that we have not been able to attain a glorious state of righteousness on our own. We have not been able to keep ourselves from sinning. We have not been able to eradicate wickedness and inhumanity from the earth. We have not been able to solve the problems of poverty, disease, or death. The Lord alone can rid the earth of sin and of the effects that sin has had on the world.
"In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel." (Isaiah 4:2) This "Branch" is the Promised One, the Messiah, the King of kings and Lord of lords. Isaiah will refer to Him again as the Branch in Chapter 11:1, "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit." We know that Jesse was the father of King David and we know that the Messiah was to be a direct descendant of David. Isaiah is saying that the eternal King will be of the family tree of David, referring to Him as a "Branch" of that family tree. Again in Isaiah 11:10 the Lord makes it clear that the Messiah will be of the line of David. "In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to Him, and His resting place will be glorious."
The Lord spoke of the Messiah as a "Branch" to the prophet Jeremiah. "'The days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely, and do what is right and just in the land.'" (Jeremiah 23:5) "In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch spring from David's line; He will do what is right and just in the land." (Jeremiah 33:15) The Lord used the same term for the Messiah in the book of Zechariah saying, "I am going to bring My servant, the Branch." (Zechariah 3:8b)
The reason Zion will be beautiful and glorious is because the Lord Himself is beautiful and glorious. We know that He will reign over the whole earth (including the Gentiles who put their faith in Him) but in Chapter 4 the prophet concentrates only on what the Lord will do for Isaiah's own nation. The Lord has been bringing His charges against the nation but a better day is in the future when there will be no charges to bring against them. "Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem." (Isaiah 4:3) They will be called holy not because they have attained any righteousness on their own but because the Lord has imputed His righteousness upon them for their faith in Him.
At the end of Chapter 3 and at the beginning of Chapter 4 we learned of the moral decay of the women of Judah in Isaiah's day. They had become materialistic, promiscuous, and hard-hearted. We also learned, earlier in Chapter 3, that the men of Isaiah's day had become greedy, dishonest, and violent. Nothing like that can be said of the women or men of Zion when their hearts have been changed by the One who makes all things new. "The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; He will cleanse the bloodstains of Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire." (Isaiah 4:4)
"Then the Lord will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over everything the glory will be a canopy. It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain." (Isaiah 4:5-6) When the Lord led the children of Israel across the wilderness, He guided them in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. The use of that symbolism here indicates the Lord's continual eternal presence with His people. He is their shelter and their protector. He is also their glory and righteousness.
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