Hi Jeff,
I hope this letter finds you well. You are in my prayers. A friend has this question. Perhaps you can help me answer it?
“Question: How can I relate Isaiah 4:1 to the man of lawlessness (when talking to other denominations)? Please let me know if you have any advice. DK” Thanks and blessings, MM.
Response
Sister MM,
And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach. Isaiah 4:1
If you apply prophetic analysis (prophetic rules) then this passage must be at the end of the world; the context of the following verses upholds this.
Women: in prophecy are churches (“I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman.” Jer 6:2; see also Lam 1:17).
Seven: represents completeness or perfection (Gen 33:3; Job 5:19; Psa 12:6; Pro 6:16; Rev 1:20;
Rev 5:1; Rev 15:1).
Bread: is doctrine (“man shall not live by bread alone.” Matt 4:4).
Apparel: or clothing is righteousness (“And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” Rev 19:8).
Whoever the seven churches or the complete number of churches are at the end of the world, they are stating that they will eat their own bread; thus refusing to accept the bread of God, which is the truth of God’s Word. They also state that they will wear their own righteousness; rather than seeking Christ’s righteousness. In summary, all the churches are following their own doctrines, and are void of Christ’s righteousness.
The question is then, who is the “one man” that they wish to “take hold of.”? ‘Taking hold of ’, represents ‘coming into unity with’; for the Bible asks the question, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3) All the churches at the end of the world come into unity with this “man”, and they wish to receive his “name.”
One must not forget the context of the verse, the whole of the preceding chapter talks of how God has taken away Jerusalem’s bread, and is so disgusted with her apparel that he will punish her; the verses that follow, then talk of those humble ones that escape this punishment. God refuses to feed Jerusalem with His bread, and rejects her because she will not dress to please Him. Jerusalem gets divided between the humble who escape punishment, and those who persist in eating their own bread and wearing their own apparel who receive punishment. This latter group, taking with them their own bread and apparel, ‘join’ with the seven churches (who also eat their own bread and wear their own apparel) in seeking to be called by the name of a man, other than the Lord.
The logic or approach I would employ in explaining this to non-Adventist is to first identify that the papacy is the antichrist, and is a counterfeit Christ. If your intended audience understands this, then you could take them to Revelation 13:18 which states, “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”
Revelation 13 identifies that the entire world accepts the “mark” of this beast, and that the “number” of the “beast” is the number of a “man.” Everyone or ‘all the churches’ will accept the mark of the beast, or as Isaiah identifies; all the churches will come into unity with the papacy as they ask to be called by his name. The “man” of course is also identified as the “man” of sin by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:3.
That is the logic I would follow if I were to share this with a non-Adventist. Hope this helps. Jeff Pippenger.
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