There just wasn’t enough men to go around. A woman without a husband and the ability to have children was a disgrace. They women were so desperate that they tried to bargain with the men. ‘Just marry us! You won’t even have to take care of us!’ And as we read in ch 3, part of God’s judgment was directly related to the looseness of the women, and now we see their judgment.
4 1 In that day seven women
will take hold of one man
and say, “We will eat our own food
and provide our own clothes;
only let us be called by your name.
Take away our disgrace!”
And then there’s this:
The Branch of the Lord
2 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. 3 Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem. 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. 5 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. 6 It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain.
- The “Branch” of the Lord has often been a Messianic reference
- The remnant of survivors will be called “holy”
- The LORD will cleanse the filth by fire and judgment
- The Lord will cover Mt. Zion with his glory
- This covering will be a refuge for him
Ok, so what does this mean? Are we back in Messianic land?
Well first, it was to be applied to the region of Judah and the city of Jerusalem. God was bringing judgment against them, but he said that the judgment would cleans them and that they would be restored. That he would once again be their protection.
But is this also a Messianic reference? Because like “last days” in ch 2. we now have “Branch” which was often symbolism for the Messiah (Is 11:1; Jer 23:5; 33:15; Zech 3:8).
I do think that this Scripture talks about both the hope of when God would restore and heal Judah and Jerusalem, but also that hope would be ultimately fulfilled when Messiah came. He would be the one who would truly declare them “holy,” provide redemption and be a refuge for them.
