Is 4:1.
And seven women shall take hold of one man on that day, saying: We will eat our own bread and be clothed with our own garments; only let your name be called upon us—take away our reproach.
For who are these seven women except the Churches, which together form the one Catholic Church? And who is the one man except Christ? Therefore, seven women take hold of one man on that day, because at the time when Jerusalem was destroyed and the grace of the new preaching shone forth upon the world, the seven Churches came to Christ saying: We will eat our own bread—that is, the nourishment of spiritual grace, concerning which expelled humanity from paradise says: I am smitten like grass and my heart has withered, because I forgot to eat my bread (Psalm 102:5).
And we will be clothed with our own garments—that is, with the garments of good works, of which it is written: Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame (Revelation 16:15). For whatever soul neglects to eat invisibly this bread of interior nourishment and to be clothed with these garments of religious actions cannot please this singular man, who is the Bridegroom of beautiful souls.
And they say: This we will do—only let your name be called upon us, that you may be called our husband and we your spouses; or that we may be called Christians from Christ and do all things in the name of Christ. Take away our reproach—that you may erase all memory of our sins, lest, after we have been lawfully and spiritually joined to you, it be reproached to us that before we came to you we were fornicators.
Is 4:2.
On that day the Branch of the Lord shall be in magnificence and glory, and the fruit of the earth shall be exalted, and joy shall be for those who are saved of Israel.
The Branch of the Lord was in magnificence and glory when the eternal Son of God, appearing temporally in the flesh, shone brightly upon the world in the greatness of His virtues and teaching. The fruit of the earth was exalted when the flesh—which God had assumed from our nature, earthly and mortal—He rendered immortal through the power of the resurrection and lifted up to heaven. And then there was joy for those who were saved of Israel, that is, His disciples, because they were made certain of the glory of His resurrection, so that when He ascended to heaven they were not only unaffected by sorrow, but were filled with great joy. For as it is written: He departed from them and was carried up into heaven. And they, worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were always in the temple praising and blessing God (Luke 24:51–53).
And the same joy was possessed by the multitude of the remaining faithful Hebrews, whose heart was one and whose soul was one. Concerning these it is added:
Is 4:3.
And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left in Zion and who remains in Jerusalem shall be called holy—everyone who is written for life in Jerusalem.
Is 4:4.
If the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the blood of Jerusalem from her midst by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning.
Everyone, he says, who was left in Zion in the times of the Apostles and remained in Jerusalem—that earthly city of the Jews—shall be called holy, taking his name from the Holy of Holies, as if to say, he shall be called a Christian. Shall Caiaphas be called holy? Shall Annas be called holy? Shall the Pharisees and scribes be called holy? No—but everyone who is written. If the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, that is, if He has blotted out the sins of the Israelite people; and cleansed the blood of Jerusalem, that is, the guilt of the shedding of the Lord’s blood, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning, as Peter says to those already pierced in heart: Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).
By the name Mount Zion, the Church is designated, as it is written: Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion (Psalm 124:1). The cloud signifies protection, as it is written: He spread a cloud for their protection (Psalm 105:39). Day signifies prosperity, and night adversity, as is sung by the angelic voice: The accuser of our brethren has been cast out, who accused them before our God day and night (Revelation 12:10). For the ancient enemy seeks to accuse us for misusing prosperity and for lacking patience in adversity.
Thus, over every place of Mount Zion—that is, wherever the Church exists—and over those who are written for life in Jerusalem, that is, all to whom it is said: Rejoice, because your names are written in heaven (Matthew 5:12). Understand Jerusalem here as the heavenly one, of which it is written: He who dwells in Jerusalem shall never be moved (Psalm 124:1).
Everyone therefore who remained in Zion in the times of the Apostles was called holy—who merited to be inscribed in the book of life—just as the Apostle says: At this time a remnant has been saved according to the election of grace (Romans 11:5). Therefore, everyone who was left was called holy, because they sought repentance, having understood that they had crucified the Savior.
By the spirit of judgment he says: Repent, and let each of you be baptized; by the spirit of burning he adds: and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Or because the same Spirit by whom remission of sins is effected was first given to the disciples as the Spirit of judgment, when they heard: Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; whose you retain, they are retained (John 20:22–23), and then as the Spirit of burning, when divided tongues as of fire appeared and rested upon each of them, and all were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:3).
When it is said If the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, it seems to be spoken conditionally—not because there was uncertainty with God, but because there are scarcely any, or very few, among the many who merit to be washed. For by saying if, it is shown that from a great multitude only a few would be cleansed.
Is 4:5.
And the Lord will create over every place of Mount Zion, and where He is invoked, a cloud by day and smoke and the brightness of a flaming fire by night.
By Mount Zion the Church is designated. The cloud signifies protection. Day signifies prosperity; night adversity. Therefore, over every place of Zion—that is, wherever the Church exists—and where the Lord is invoked—that is, wherever even one of the faithful calls upon Him—He creates a cloud of protection and spiritual shade in the day of prosperity. For since in prosperity the heat of temptation tends to burn the mind more fiercely, the divine cloud is necessary there to drive away the fire of carnal desires and grant refreshment to the soul.
But in the night of adversity He creates smoke and the brightness of fire. And what is this fire except that of which He says: I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! (Luke 12:49). This fire, therefore, appears to have smoke for some and brightness for others, as the Apostle says: To some we are an odor of death unto death, but to others an odor of life unto life (2 Corinthians 2:16). For when the same miracle is seen by many, some blaspheme while others are converted; some oppose the word of preaching, others receive it. Without doubt, then, this fire has smoke by which some are blinded, and brightness by which others are illumined.
And this same meaning is repeated when it is added:
For over all glory there shall be protection.
Is 4:6.
And there shall be a tabernacle for shade by day from the heat, and for refuge and shelter from storm and rain.
For what is every elect person except the glory of God? For He says: Everyone who calls upon my name, I have created him for my glory (Isaiah 43:7). Therefore, over all glory—that is, over each of the elect—there is protection and a tabernacle for shade in the day of prosperity from the heat of vices, so that when prosperity smiles and the heat of vice seeks to scorch the mind, divine protection may overshadow us and provide spiritual refreshment.
And that same protection becomes for us a refuge from the whirlwind of tribulations, and that tabernacle becomes a shelter from the rain of blandishments, so that under God’s protection we may be secure, fearing not the storms of adversity; and that under the shadow of His tabernacle our mind may not be touched by the rains of flattery and soft speech, saying: For He has hidden me in His tabernacle in the day of evil; He has protected me in the secret place of His tent (Psalm 27:5).
Up to this point the divine seer has delivered the words of the second vision; from here he passes on to others.
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