The Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious

Isaiah 4:1-6
In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel.
The Lord will wash away the filth(污垢) of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire.
It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding pace from the storm and rain.
Isaiah like Jesus sees pride as the root of so much wrong. Evil has no place in the renewed city; only the few who are faithful to God will survive to enjoy it. This theme of a coming day and a kingdom at peace is developed in chapters 11-12.
So many men have been killed in battle that the women offer to provide their own keep, if only the man will marry them.
The branch/plant: New growth shooting from the old roots; the community is to be reborn.
Cloud and fire: the symbols of God's presence when they journeyed through the desert.
Why?
Even the situation was worse, but God let Isaiah sees the future plan of the Lord. Jesus will be branch of the Lord, who is beautiful and glorious.
Jesus is shelter and refuge to his people from storm and rain.
Jesus cleanse us by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire.
Wash away the filth and the bloodstains: all the sins in Jerusalem and to the people who turns to Jesus.
There is not place to the evil in renewed city, New Jerusalem.
How?
Let me could stand firm before the Lord and have the ticket to enter the new Jerusalem.

They will be paid back for what their hands have done.

Isaiah 3:1-26
See now, the Lord, the Lord Almighty, is about to take from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support.
But in that day he will cry out, "I have no remedy. I have no food or clothing in my house; do not make me the leader of the people.
Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them! They will be paid back for what their hands have done. Youths oppress my people, women rule over them. My people, your guides lead you astray; they turn you from the path.
Your men will fall by the sword, your warriors in battle, The gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.
Baldness: Heads were shaved as a sign of mourning or degradation.
Why?
The scenario of Jerusalem like poor and ruin city. Everything they were proud  is gone. Nothing left in the city.
It is the judgment of the Lord comes upon them.
Because God paid back for what their hands have done.
When God's judgment come righteous men keep their safety, but the environment is worse, there are good living support, it is hard to live under that situation.
How?
No one can escape from the judgment of the Lord. No one can bear the disaster from the Lord.

Stop trusting in mere humans

Isaiah 2:11-22
The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled and human pride brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
The arrogance of man will be brought low and human pride humbled; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day, and the idols will totally disappear.
In that day people will throw away to the moles and bats their idols of silver and idols of god, which they made to worship.
Stop trusting in mere humans, who have but a breath in their nostrils(鼻孔). Why hold them in esteem?
Human pride is marked for destruction.
Symbols of pride. Solomon used the famous Lebanese cedar wood for his Temple. The ships of Tarshish were great ocean-going vessels, the pride of the fleet.
Why?
Pride obscure the truth and God's way.
In that day God alone will be exalted, every arrogant will be humbled and human pride brought low. For God's angry pour down on the earth, people flee into caves and holes. It is horrible day.
Stop trusting in mere humans, but trust in the Lord. Only God endure forever, his love, his word and his mercy.
Do not angry to the idols, in that day the idols will totally disappear! God will do it.
How?
Trust in the Lord, and be humble before the Lord in my life.

In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established

Isaiah 2:1-10
The mountain of the Lord and the day of the Lord.
 In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.
Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.
You, Lord, have abandoned your people, the descendants of Jacob. They are full of superstitions (迷信) from the East; they practice divination like the Philistines and embrace pagan customs.
Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.
In these chapters Isaiah look forward to a coming time of peace when Jerusalem will become the city of God for people of all nations. Before that, God will execute fierce judgment on all sin and wrongdoing.
The practice of magic and foreign alliances both led to idolatry.
There is not Temple in the world, but at the highest place in the last days.
Why?
God has a plan in the future, in the end of the world, there is a mountain of the Lord's temple will be established as the highest of the mountains. It is the way  to God's people and everyone turn to it.
Before the end of the world, God will judge all sin and wrongdoing.
Idolatry is not only the idols but include the work of our hands, people like to proud what we created.
Be humble and always look on to the Lord, for God is my way, God is above all in all.
How?
Be careful and humble ourselves in everything, do not obscured by our own desire and perspectives and experience.

God is above all in my life

Isaiah 1:18-37
I will vent my wrath on my foes  and avenge myself on my enemies. I will turn my hand against you; I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities. I will restore your leaders as in days of old, your rulers as at the beginning. Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City.
But rebels and sinners will both be broken, and those who forsake the Lord will perish. The mighty man will become tinder  and his work a spark; 
You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks in which you have delighted;
You will be disgraced because of the gardens that you have chosen.You will be like an oak with fading leaves, like a garden without water. both will burn together, with no one to quench the fire.
The language is extreme. Once-faithful Jerusalem is 'bbehaving like a whore(妓女)', utterly betraying God's trust. God's people are his 'enemies'. Yet still God offers forgiveness. Swift and terrible judgment will fall on all who continue to defy him: he will cleanse his people from their sins.
Oak: The sacred groves(神聖的小樹林) where Canaanite rites(儀式) took place; symbols of the nation's idolatry.
Why?
The procedure is terrible and pain when God cleanse his people from their sins.
All rebels and sinners will be broken, and whose who forsake the Lord will perish. This is the waring from the Lord the evil doers.
God's people for the love of God so discipline will come over them. 
Do not make any kind of idolatry in our life, only God is my first priority and God is above all.
How?
Honor the name of the Lord and God's word and God's position is above all in my life.

A Rebellious Nation; Isaiah 1:1-17

Isaiah 1:1-17
A Rebellious Nation
The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.
Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted.
Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me.
Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.
You are doomed!
Although Jerusalem was not finally destroyed until 587BC, the nation had, a century before, virtually reached the point of no return. God's people have rejected him, breaking the sacred covenant that bound them to him. And God is sickened by their moral degradation, social injustice and religious hypocrisy.
Why?
God angry and sad to his people rebellion to the Truth. they don't know what are they doing. Their hearts are afflicted, head is injured. 
Listen to do right; seek justice, defend the oppressed, take up the cause of the fatherless ; plead the case of the widow. This is the right way to every christian.
Meaningless offerings is detestable to the Lord, same as pray to the Lord and worship God in church without love and justice are detestable to the Lord.
How?
Take care of my heart do not turn away from the Lord, what God likes is the love, justice and take care of the needed. Guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. (Proverb 4:23)

Remember me with favor, my God

Nehemiah 13:1-31
They were made responsible for distributing the supplies to their fellow Levites.
Remember me for this, my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services.
I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and go and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.
Remember me for this also, my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love.
Must we hear now that you too are doing all this terrible wickedness and are being unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women?
Remember them, my God, because they defiled the priestly office and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.
I purified the priests and the Levites of everything foreign, and assigned them duties, each to his own task.
Remember me with favor, my God.
After 12 years as governor, Nehemiah goes back to the court of King Artaxerxes. He is there some time. On his return he finds abuses that threaten the law of God, the nation's identity and the priesthood. The people have already gone back on many of the promises so recently made to God.
The high priest of all people, has given Nehemiah's old enemy, Tobiah, quarters in rooms attached to the Temple, The income for the Levites has not been forthcoming. Sabbath laws are being flagrantly broken. And yet again the Israelites have contracted marriages with foreign women. Nehemiah utters scalding words and roars into action to clean up these situations.
The achievements of Ezra and Nehemiah in the crucial years following the return of their decimated nation from exile are notable. Without the teaching of the law, without the invincible faith and fearless action of these tow leaders, it is doubtful if a distinctive Jewish religions and community - with all that means for the wider world - could have survived. To this end their strong line on mixed marriage was essential. The objection to foreign women was not on the grounds of race, but because of their debased religions. History has taught them that the admixture of paganism,with its easy standards and its appeal to the lowest in human nature, could quickly bring the Jewish faith to the brink of extinction.
Why?
People because of human nature are easy forget their teaching and oath, so Nehemiah came back 12 years later, he purify the Levites, priests, the tithes to the servant of the Lord,.
Marriage with foreign women may caused Israelite distinguish, so it is notable event in history of Israel.
No only make great things but keep good behavior and always check it is running on the right track is very important.
How?
Keep working on the way of the Lord is an essential task to every Christian.