Yeshayahu 4

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Burning Sun is Bad Enough, But Burning Rain?

Our last chapter ended that many men would die in battle. So many would die that seven widows would each ask a man to marry them. They did not really need the support of a husband, but they needed to be at least nominally married so that they would not be molested by the Babylonian troops.

After the egotistical have been humbled, the sprout of G-d - possibly referring to the Moshiach - will be for beauty and honor. The righteous, who remain from the war, will be in Jerusalem and will be called holy.

G-d will wash away the filth of the women's sins and the blood of the men's with a spirit of purification. Then, the Temple Mount will be covered with a cloud of G-d's glory, as there was over the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and the Beis HaMikdash (Temple). There will be a shelter from sun and protection from rain, alluding to various other prophecies. (Malachi 3:19 says that the sun will burn up the evil like straw; Psalms 11:6 says that G-d rains on the evil like fiery coals. These sources are quoted in our chapter by Rashi.)

Author: Rabbi Jack Abramowitz