Message Three

The Age of Restoration
and
Christ as the Shoot of Jehovah

Scripture Reading: Isa. 4:2-6; 2:2-5

Isa. 4:2-6  In that day the Shoot of Jehovah will be beauty and glory, and the fruit of the earth, excellence and splendor, to those of Israel who have escaped. 3And he who is left over in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been written down in Jerusalem for life; 4When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and has cleansed away the bloodstains of Jerusalem from her midst, by the judging Spirit and the burning Spirit. 5Jehovah will create over the entire region of Mount Zion and over all her convocations a cloud of smoke by day, and the brightness of a fiery flame by night; for the glory will be a canopy over all. 6And there will be a tabernacle as a daytime shade from the heat and as a refuge and a cover from storm and rain.

Isa. 2:2-5  But in the last days / The mountain of the house of Jehovah will be established / On the top of the mountains; / And it will be lifted up above the hills; / And all the nations will stream to it, 3And many peoples will come and say, / Come and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, / To the house of the God of Jacob, / That He may instruct us in His ways, / And that we may walk in His paths. / For from Zion will go forth instruction, / And the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem; 4And He will judge between the nations, / And will decide matters for many peoples. / And they will beat their swords into plowshares, / And their spears into pruning knives; / Nation will not lift up sword against nation, / Nor will they learn war anymore. 5House of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of Jehovah.

                  I.    In that day in Isaiah 4:2 refers to the coming restoration of the nation of Israel¡ªMatt. 17:11; 19:28; Acts 1:6; 3:21; 15:16:

Isa. 4:2  In that day the Shoot of Jehovah will be beauty and glory, and the fruit of the earth, excellence and splendor, to those of Israel who have escaped.

Matt. 17:11  And He answered and said, Elijah indeed is coming and will restore all things;

Matt. 19:28  And Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you that you who have followed Me, in the restoration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Acts 1:6  So the ones who came together asked Him, saying, Lord, are You at this time restoring the kingdom to Israel?

Acts 3:21  Whom heaven must indeed receive until the times of the restoration of all things, of which God spoke through the mouth of His holy prophets from of old.

Acts 15:16  ¡°After these things I will return, and I will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen; and I will rebuild its ruins and erect it again,

                           A.    Basically, between eternity past and eternity future, there are three ages¡ªthe age of the old creation, the age of the new creation, and the age of restoration:

                                      1.    From God¡¯s creation of the heavens and the earth in Genesis 1:1 to the beginning of the age of grace is the age of the old creation.

Gen. 1:1  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

                                      2.    The age of grace is the age of the new creation; the work of God in the age of grace is to produce the new creation¡ªJohn 1:16-17; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15.

John 1:16-17  For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and reality came through Jesus Christ.

2 Cor. 5:17  So then if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, they have become new.

Gal. 6:15  For neither is circumcision anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation is what matters.

                                      3.    The coming age will be the age of restoration¡ªMatt. 19:28; Acts 3:21:

Matt. 19:28  And Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you that you who have followed Me, in the restoration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Acts 3:21  Whom heaven must indeed receive until the times of the restoration of all things, of which God spoke through the mouth of His holy prophets from of old.

                                                a.    In the coming age God will neither create nor produce the new creation; rather, He will do the work of restoring the old, fallen creation¡ªRom. 8:20-22.

Rom. 8:20-22  For the creation was made subject to vanity, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it, 21In hope that the creation itself will also be freed from the slavery of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation groans together and travails in pain together until now.

                                                b.    A restoration will be brought to all things; in this restoration death will be limited, and there will be abundant life and much praise and rejoicing¡ªIsa. 65:18-25.

Isa. 65:18-25  But rejoice and exult forever, / In what I create, / For I am now creating Jerusalem as an exultation / And her people as a rejoicing. 19And I will exult in Jerusalem / And rejoice in My people; / And there will no longer be heard in her / The voice of weeping and the voice of crying. 20There will no longer be in her / An infant who reaches the age of only a few days / Nor an old man who does not fill up his days; / For the lad will die at a hundred years of age, / And the sinner, being a hundred years of age, will be cursed. 21And they will build houses and inhabit them, / And they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22They will not build and another inhabit; / They will not plant and another eat; / For like the days of a tree are the days of My people, / And My chosen ones will enjoy the work of their hands to the full; 23They will not labor in vain, / Nor bear children unto turmoil; / For they are the seed of those blessed of Jehovah, / And their offspring with them. 24And it will be that before they call, I will answer; / Even while they are speaking, I will hear. 25The wolf and the lamb will feed as one, / And the lion will eat straw like the ox, / And dust will be the serpent¡¯s food; / They will not harm nor destroy / In all My holy mountain, says Jehovah.

                                                c.    After the age of restoration, the entire universe will be changed from the old to the new; then there will be the new heaven and the new earth with the New Jerusalem¡ªv. 17; 66:22; Rev. 21:1-2.

Isa. 65:17  For I am now creating new heavens / And a new earth, / And the former things will not be remembered, / Nor will they come up in the heart.

Isa. 66:22  For as the new heavens / And new earth, which I make, / Remain before Me, declares Jehovah, / So will your seed and your name remain.

Rev. 21:1-2  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and the sea is no more. 2And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

                                      4.    Isaiah prophesied concerning the age of restoration (Isa. 2:2-5; 11:1-10; 61:4-9); chapter 35 is a marvelous picture of restoration.

Isa. 2:2-5  But in the last days / The mountain of the house of Jehovah will be established / On the top of the mountains; / And it will be lifted up above the hills; / And all the nations will stream to it, 3And many peoples will come and say, / Come and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, / To the house of the God of Jacob, / That He may instruct us in His ways, / And that we may walk in His paths. / For from Zion will go forth instruction, / And the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem; 4And He will judge between the nations, / And will decide matters for many peoples. / And they will beat their swords into plowshares, / And their spears into pruning knives; / Nation will not lift up sword against nation, / Nor will they learn war anymore. 5House of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of Jehovah.

Isa. 11:1-10  Then a sprout will come forth from the stump of Jesse, / And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. 2And the Spirit of Jehovah will rest upon Him, / The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, / The Spirit of counsel and might, / The Spirit of knowledge and the fear of Jehovah. 3He will delight in the fear of Jehovah: / He will neither judge by what His eyes see, / Nor decide by what His ears hear. 4But He will judge the poor in righteousness, / And decide with equity for the afflicted of the land. / And He will strike the land with the rod of His mouth, / And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. 5Righteousness will be that which girds His loins, / And faithfulness will be that which girds His hips. 6And the wolf will dwell with the lamb; / And the leopard will lie down with the kid, / And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; / And a young boy will lead them about. 7The cow and the bear will graze; / Their young will lie down together; / And the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8The nursing child will play by the cobra¡¯s hole, / And upon the viper¡¯s den / The weaned child will stretch his hand. 9They will not harm nor destroy / In all My holy mountain, / For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah, / As water covers the sea. 10And in that day the root of Jesse, / Who stands as a banner to the peoples¡ª / Him will the nations seek, / And His resting place will be the glory.

Isa. 61:4-9  And they will rebuild the ancient ruins; / They will raise up the former desolations; / And they will repair the cities of waste, / The desolations of generation upon generation. 5And strangers will stand and feed your flocks, / And the sons of the foreigner will be your plowmen and vinedressers. 6But you will be called the priests of Jehovah; / People will speak of you as the ministers of our God. / You will eat the wealth of nations, / And you will boast in their glory. 7Instead of your shame there will be a double portion, / And instead of humiliation they will give a ringing shout for their portion. / Therefore in their land they will possess double; / Eternal joy will be theirs. 8For I, Jehovah, love justice; / I hate robbery with wrong; / And I will faithfully give them their recompense, / And I will make an eternal covenant with them. 9Then their seed will be known among the nations, / And their offspring in the midst of the peoples; / All who see them will acknowledge them, / That they are the seed whom Jehovah has blessed.

                           B.    God¡¯s judgment on the haughty nations ushers in the God-man, Christ (4:2, 5-6), issuing in the restoration of the nation of Israel (vv. 3-6; 2:2-5), which brings in the kingdom and consummates in the new heaven and new earth (65:17).

Isa. 4:2  In that day the Shoot of Jehovah will be beauty and glory, and the fruit of the earth, excellence and splendor, to those of Israel who have escaped.

Isa. 4:5-6  Jehovah will create over the entire region of Mount Zion and over all her convocations a cloud of smoke by day, and the brightness of a fiery flame by night; for the glory will be a canopy over all. 6And there will be a tabernacle as a daytime shade from the heat and as a refuge and a cover from storm and rain.

Isa. 4:3-6  And he who is left over in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been written down in Jerusalem for life; 4When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and has cleansed away the bloodstains of Jerusalem from her midst, by the judging Spirit and the burning Spirit. 5Jehovah will create over the entire region of Mount Zion and over all her convocations a cloud of smoke by day, and the brightness of a fiery flame by night; for the glory will be a canopy over all. 6And there will be a tabernacle as a daytime shade from the heat and as a refuge and a cover from storm and rain.

Isa. 2:2-5  But in the last days / The mountain of the house of Jehovah will be established / On the top of the mountains; / And it will be lifted up above the hills; / And all the nations will stream to it, 3And many peoples will come and say, / Come and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, / To the house of the God of Jacob, / That He may instruct us in His ways, / And that we may walk in His paths. / For from Zion will go forth instruction, / And the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem; 4And He will judge between the nations, / And will decide matters for many peoples. / And they will beat their swords into plowshares, / And their spears into pruning knives; / Nation will not lift up sword against nation, / Nor will they learn war anymore. 5House of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of Jehovah.

Isa. 65:17  For I am now creating new heavens / And a new earth, / And the former things will not be remembered, / Nor will they come up in the heart.

                II.    The all-inclusive Christ is the center and the circumference, the centrality and the universality, of God¡¯s eternal economy¡ªCol. 1:15-18:

Col. 1:15-18  Who is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation, 16Because in Him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or lordships or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and unto Him. 17And He is before all things, and all things cohere in Him; 18And He is the Head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead, that He Himself might have the first place in all things;

                           A.    As the embodiment of the Triune God, Christ is the reality of every positive thing in the universe¡ª2:16-17.

Col. 2:16-17  Let no one therefore judge you in eating and in drinking or in respect of a feast or of a new moon or of the Sabbath, 17Which are a shadow of the things to come, but the body is of Christ.

                           B.    God¡¯s intention in His economy is that Christ be everything; therefore, it is crucial for us to see that God wants nothing but Christ and that in the eyes of God nothing counts except Christ¡ªvv. 16-17; 3:4, 10-11.

Col. 2:16-17  Let no one therefore judge you in eating and in drinking or in respect of a feast or of a new moon or of the Sabbath, 17Which are a shadow of the things to come, but the body is of Christ.

Col. 3:4  When Christ our life is manifested, then you also will be manifested with Him in glory.

Col. 3:10-11  And have put on the new man, which is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, 11Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all.

                           C.    Because Christ is the centrality and universality of God¡¯s move, the book of Isaiah reveals many aspects of Christ for the fulfillment of God¡¯s economy¡ª6:1-8; 22:22; 53:5, 10b-12; 54:5; 55:4-5.

Isa. 6:1-8  In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting on a high and lofty throne, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2Seraphim hovered over Him, each having six wings: With two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3And one called to the other, saying: Holy, holy, holy, Jehovah of hosts; / The whole earth is filled with His glory. 4And the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5Then I said, Woe is me, for I am finished! / For I am a man of unclean lips, / And in the midst of a people of unclean lips I dwell; / Yet my eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts. 6Then one of the seraphim flew to me with an ember in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7And he touched my mouth with it and said, Now that this has touched your lips, / Your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is purged. 8Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us? And I said, Here am I; send me.

Isa. 22:22  And I will set the key of the house of David upon his shoulder¡ª / When he opens, no one will shut; / When he shuts, no one will open.

Isa. 53:5  But He was wounded because of our transgressions; / He was crushed because of our iniquities; / The chastening for our peace was upon Him, / And by His stripes we have been healed.

Isa. 53:10b-12  When He makes Himself an offering for sin, / He will see a seed, He will extend His days, / And the pleasure of Jehovah will prosper in His hand. 11He will see the fruit of the travail of His soul, / And He will be satisfied; / By the knowledge of Him, the righteous One, My Servant, will make the / many righteous, / And He will bear their iniquities. 12Therefore I will divide to Him a portion with the Great, / And He will divide the spoil with the Strong; / Because He poured out His life unto death / And was numbered with the transgressors, / Yet He alone bore the sin of many / And interceded for the transgressors.

Isa. 54:5  For your Maker is your Husband; / Jehovah of hosts is His name. / And the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; / He is called the God of all the earth.

Isa. 55:4-5  Indeed, I have given Him as a Witness to the peoples, / A Leader and a Commander to the peoples. 5Indeed, you will call a nation that you do not know, / And a nation that does not know you will run to you, / Because of Jehovah your God, even the Holy One of Israel, / For He has glorified you.

              III.    In 4:2 there is a pair of aspects of Christ¡ªthe Shoot of Jehovah and the Fruit of the earth; the Shoot is in comparison to the Fruit, and Jehovah is in comparison to the earth:

Isa. 4:2  In that day the Shoot of Jehovah will be beauty and glory, and the fruit of the earth, excellence and splendor, to those of Israel who have escaped.

                           A.    God is eternal, and man came from the earth; the Fruit of the earth refers to a man made from dust¡ªGen. 2:7.

Gen. 2:7  Jehovah God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.

                           B.    Christ as God came from eternity, but as man He came from the earth, so He is the Shoot of Jehovah and also the Fruit of the earth.

              IV.    The Shoot of Jehovah refers to Christ¡¯s deity, showing His divine nature¡ªIsa. 4:2a; John 1:1; 20:28; Rom. 9:5:

Isa. 4:2a  In that day the Shoot of Jehovah will be beauty and glory

John 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 20:28  Thomas answered and said to Him, My Lord and my God!

Rom. 9:5  Whose are the fathers, and out of whom, as regards what is according to flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

                           A.    The Shoot of Jehovah typifies not only Christ¡¯s divinity but also the sprouting and development of Christ¡¯s divinity through the incarnation of God¡ªJohn 1:1, 14; Heb. 1:1-3; 2:14.

John 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14  And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and reality.

Heb. 1:1-3  God, having spoken of old in many portions and in many ways to the fathers in the prophets, 2Has at the last of these days spoken to us in the Son, whom He appointed Heir of all things, through whom also He made the universe; 3Who, being the effulgence of His glory and the impress of His substance and upholding and bearing all things by the word of His power, having made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Heb. 2:14  Since therefore the children have shared in blood and flesh, He also Himself in like manner partook of the same, that through death He might destroy him who has the might of death, that is, the devil,

                           B.    The Shoot of Jehovah is a new development of Jehovah God for the Triune God to branch Himself out for His increase and spreading through His incarnation¡ªIsa. 7:14; Matt. 1:22-23.

Isa. 7:14  Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and will bear a son, and she will call his name Immanuel.

Matt. 1:22-23  Now all this has happened so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, 23¡°Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel¡± (which is translated, God with us).

                           C.    In His incarnation Christ as the Shoot of Jehovah branched Himself out in His divinity from the territory of divinity into the territory of humanity¡ªJohn 1:1, 14.

John 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14  And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and reality.

                           D.    In His incarnation Christ came from eternity into time; from ancient times, from the days of eternity, the Triune God was preparing to come forth out of eternity into time, to come with His divinity into humanity¡ªMicah 5:2.

Micah 5:2  (But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, / So little to be among the thousands of Judah, / From you there will come forth to Me / He who is to be Ruler in Israel; / And His goings forth are from ancient times, / From the days of eternity.)

                           E.    The sprouting and development of God in Christ as the Shoot of Jehovah are for the expression of all the riches of divinity in Christ¡¯s humanity, that is, for the rich attributes of divinity to be developed into the virtues of Christ, the God-man, in His humanity¡ªEph. 3:8.

Eph. 3:8  To me, less than the least of all saints, was this grace given to announce to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel

                           F.    The incarnated God, in His divinity, will be the beauty and glory of God¡¯s chosen people in the day of restoration¡ªIsa. 4:2a:

Isa. 4:2a  In that day the Shoot of Jehovah will be beauty and glory,

                                      1.    Our God with His divine nature is our beauty and our glory¡ª60:1, 9, 13.

Isa. 60:1  Arise! Shine! For your light has come, / And the glory of Jehovah has risen upon you.

Isa. 60:9  Surely the coastlands will look eagerly for Me; / And the ships of Tarshish will come first, / To bring your children from afar, / Their silver and their gold with them, / Unto the name of Jehovah your God / And unto the Holy One of Israel; for He has beautified you.

Isa. 60:13  The glory of Lebanon will come to you, / The fir tree, the pine tree, and the box tree together, / To beautify the place of My sanctuary; / And I will make the place for My feet glorious.

                                      2.    Because Christ lives in us, we are partakers of the divine nature; in this sense, we are not only human but also divine, and the divine nature is our beauty and our glory¡ªGal. 2:20; 2 Pet. 1:4.

Gal. 2:20  I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

2 Pet. 1:4  Through which He has granted to us precious and exceedingly great promises that through these you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption which is in the world by lust.

                V.    The Fruit of the earth refers to Christ¡¯s humanity with His human nature¡ªIsa. 4:2b; Luke 1:42:

Isa. 4:2b  and the fruit of the earth, excellence and splendor, to those of Israel who have escaped.

Luke 1:42  And she lifted up her voice with a loud cry and said, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

                           A.    As the Fruit of the earth, Christ was born a man of human blood and flesh from the earth; the earth was the source of Christ¡¯s humanity, just as eternity was the source of His divinity¡ªHeb. 2:14.

Heb. 2:14  Since therefore the children have shared in blood and flesh, He also Himself in like manner partook of the same, that through death He might destroy him who has the might of death, that is, the devil,

                           B.    Christ as the Fruit of the earth is for the multiplication and reproduction of the divine life in humanity¡ªJohn 12:24:

John 12:24  Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

                                      1.    God in Himself, in His divinity, has no way to be multiplied.

                                      2.    For His multiplication and reproduction, He needs humanity; humanity is the soil, the earth, for the Triune God to be multiplied and reproduced¡ª20:17; Rom. 8:29; Heb. 2:10.

John 20:17  Jesus said to her, Do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brothers and say to them, I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.

Rom. 8:29  Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers;

Heb. 2:10  For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and through whom are all things, in leading many sons into glory, to make the Author of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

                           C.    As the Fruit of the earth, Christ, in His humanity, which expresses His divine beauty and glory, will be the excellence and splendor of God¡¯s chosen people in the day of restoration¡ªIsa. 4:2b:

Isa. 4:2b  and the fruit of the earth, excellence and splendor, to those of Israel who have escaped.

                                      1.    Even today in the age of grace, we should live a life that expresses Christ¡¯s beauty and glory in a divine way and that expresses Christ¡¯s excellence and splendor in a human way¡ª1 Cor. 10:31; Phil. 1:11, 20.

1 Cor. 10:31  Therefore whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Phil. 1:11  Being filled with the fruit of righteousness, which is through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Phil. 1:20  According to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I will be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death.

                                      2.    A proper Christian is both divine and human, having the divine beauty and glory of Jesus and the human excellence and splendor of Jesus¡ªvv. 8-9; 1 Pet. 2:12.

Phil. 1:8-9  For God is my witness how I long after you all in the inward parts of Christ Jesus. 9And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in full knowledge and all discernment,

1 Pet. 2:12  Having your manner of life excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the matter concerning which they speak against you as evildoers they may, by your good works, as they see them with their own eyes, glorify God in the day of His visitation.

              VI.    In Isaiah 4:5-6 there is a second pair of aspects of Christ¡ªa covering canopy of glory and an overshadowing tabernacle of grace:

Isa. 4:5-6  Jehovah will create over the entire region of Mount Zion and over all her convocations a cloud of smoke by day, and the brightness of a fiery flame by night; for the glory will be a canopy over all. 6And there will be a tabernacle as a daytime shade from the heat and as a refuge and a cover from storm and rain.

                           A.    The second pair is the issue of the first pair and is produced by the first pair:

                                      1.    Because Christ is the Shoot for God¡¯s new development and the Fruit for God¡¯s reproduction, He has the divine beauty and glory with the human excellence and splendor; therefore, He can be a canopy covering us and a tabernacle overshadowing us¡ªvv. 2, 5-6.

Isa. 4:2  In that day the Shoot of Jehovah will be beauty and glory, and the fruit of the earth, excellence and splendor, to those of Israel who have escaped.

Isa. 4:5-6  Jehovah will create over the entire region of Mount Zion and over all her convocations a cloud of smoke by day, and the brightness of a fiery flame by night; for the glory will be a canopy over all. 6And there will be a tabernacle as a daytime shade from the heat and as a refuge and a cover from storm and rain.

                                      2.    Our Jesus is the God-man, the One who is both divine and human; as the God-man in His divinity and humanity, He, the Shoot of Jehovah and the Fruit of the earth, is a covering canopy of the divine glory and an overshadowing tabernacle of grace in humanity.

                           B.    The God-man, Christ, is a canopy, which is the covering glory of Christ in His divinity that covers all the interests of Jehovah God on earth¡ªv. 5.

Isa. 4:5  Jehovah will create over the entire region of Mount Zion and over all her convocations a cloud of smoke by day, and the brightness of a fiery flame by night; for the glory will be a canopy over all.

                           C.    The overshadowing tabernacle is the God-man, Christ, in His humanity with His grace, as illustrated in 2 Corinthians 12:9; this is Christ as our overshadowing protection and defense¡ªIsa. 4:6; John 1:14.

2 Cor. 12:9  And He has said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly therefore I will rather boast in my weaknesses that the power of Christ might tabernacle over me.

Isa. 4:6  And there will be a tabernacle as a daytime shade from the heat and as a refuge and a cover from storm and rain.

John 1:14  And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and reality.