Isaiah is a rich person. He is rich not only in description but is particularly rich in Christ. Many points regarding Christ are raised by Isaiah. In this message I want to give a further word concerning Christ as the Shoot of Jehovah, the Fruit of the earth, and the canopy.
In the previous message, I used the expression the ushering in of the God-man, Christ, and now I would like to explain why I use the term ushering in with respect to Christ. In order to understand this, we need to consider Isaiah 4:1 and 2 and the connection between these verses. Verse 1 says, "Seven women will grasp/One man in that day,/Saying, We will eat our own bread/And wear our own clothes;/Just let us bear your name;/Take our reproach away." These women are in reproach because they do not have a husband. They do not have a man to lead them, and they want to bear the name of a man so that their reproach might be taken away. When I read this verse in my early days, I wondered about its meaning. What is the significance of this word? Its significance is that it is a link between God's judgment and Christ. As verse 2 indicates, the lack with these women is not that they are short of a leader but that they are short of Christ as the Shoot of Jehovah and as the Fruit of the earth. Verse 2 reveals that to these women who have escaped, Christ as the Shoot of Jehovah will be beauty and glory and Christ as the Fruit of the earth will be excellence and splendor. This is the ushering in of Christ.
Now I would like to go on to give a further explanation of the Shoot of Jehovah and the Fruit of the earth.