Question:
I would like your assistance in drawing a connection between Isaiah 4:1 and the man of sin. I believe that significant insights can be gained by examining these two subjects together.
Answer:
Great insight can indeed be gained from this. While it can and should be further developed, here are some quick thoughts.
The fourth chapter of Isaiah should be read in conjunction with the second and third chapters, which provide the prophetic context for the “last days” (Isaiah 2:2) and “the day of the Lord” (Isaiah 2:12–21). These chapters address the judgment upon the house of God (Isaiah 3:13). This judgment is comparable to that described in Ezekiel, resulting from the increasing abominations that culminate in the worship of the sun (Isaiah 3:14; cf. Ezekiel 9:4–6; 8:1ff).
In that day (note that the text uses “in” rather than “on,” emphasizing a period of time rather than a specific point in time), when the Lord’s judgment begins with His house, “seven women shall take hold of one man” (Isaiah 4:1). In this context, the seven women symbolize religious bodies that cling to one man and his name. The term “name”—שֵׁם (šēm)—is particularly significant here:
This noun appears 864 times, but less than 90 times in the plural. No certain etymology has been established for this root. Two earlier conjectures are now rejected: Redslob (Zeit. deut. morgenländische Gesellschaft 1872:751–56) sought to derive it from the root šmw “to be high” and thus “monument” (Genesis 11:4), “excellence” or “majesty” (Ps 54:1 [H 3]), while others have regarded it as a shortened form of šēmaʿ. But the argument put forth by W. R. Smith (Kinship, 213) is preferred by some today. It derives šēm from the Arabic root ws’m “to mark or brand,” hence an external mark to distinguish one thing or person from another. (Walter C. Kaiser, “2405 שֵׁם,” in Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, ed. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 934.)
The Strong’s Concordance defines the term as: “H8034—an appellation, which serves as a mark or memorial of individuality.” This definition emphasizes the idea of a mark or memorial, aligning well with the events described in Ezekiel. It also closely corresponds with Revelation 13, which states, “no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” (Revelation 13:17). The mark and memorial refer to the false Sabbath—the first day of the week—which stands in stark contrast to the true Sabbath, the mark of God and the memorial of creation. Considering this prophetic narrative, it is evident that the “one man” mentioned in Isaiah 4 refers to the man of sin.
During the mark of the beast crisis, judgment will begin at the house of God. At this time, individuals will face a decisive test and must make an eternal choice for or against the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. While many will be swept away like dry leaves, it is promised that “the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.” Indeed, it shall come to pass that “he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning” (Isaiah 4:2–4).
However, while “many shall be overthrown” during the “overflowing scourge” and “overflowing shower,” there shall be “a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain” (Isaiah 4:6; cf. 28:14–19; Ezekiel 13:1–16; Daniel 11:41).
