When reference is made to the fruit of the earth, one naturally thinks of the fall of the year and the ingathering of the grain of the fields, the fruits of trees and the vegetables from farms and gardens which sustain both man and beast. This is the orderly functioning of the cycle of seed time and harvest, guaranteed by God when He promised Noah following the Deluge: "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease" (Gen. 8: 22).

The Prophet Isaiah refers to a particular day when the beauty of the fruit of the earth will be like an adornment for those who survive in Israel . This follows his description of the results of Divine judgment upon His people and the inhabitants of the earth, eventuating in the events of the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord. Isaiah proclaims that thereafter the time will have arrived for the exaltation of the Lord, who is called the Branch: "In that day shall 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 " (Isa. 4: 2).

In his 59th chapter the prophet refers to this same order of happenings in more detail, climaxing with the proclamation: "And the Redeemer shall come to Zion , and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord!" Then follows the call to His people: "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee" (Isa. 60: 1).

The fruit of the earth in that day, which is described as so delightful and fair to the remnant of Israel who escape destruction, will be the excellency of the righteousness of the Law of the Lord. Justice, equity, peace and prosperity, the fruits of the perfection of Kingdom administration under the benevolent rule of Him who is the Branch of Righteousness, will be established throughout all the lands of His people when His Glory rises upon them.

When our Lord said, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled," He was basing this unconditional promise upon the fact that the fruits of righteousness will not fail to mature. The Divine Gardener will not be thwarted in the ultimate fruition of His planting according to His foreordained design.

The result will be: "And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shaft be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name" (Isa. 62: 2).

The ushering in of the glorious era of the Kingdom under the millennial rule of Him who is King of kings and Lord of lords was gloriously envisioned by Isaiah: "And those who remain in Zion and are left in Jerusalem will be called holy - even everyone who is enrolled among those destined for life in Jerusalem - when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and has wiped out the bloodstains of Jerusalem from the midst of it, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of destruction. Then will the Lord create over the whole site of Mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud of smoke by day and the glow of a flaming fire by night; for the glory of the Lord will be a canopy and a bower over all, serving as a shade from the heat by day, and as a refuge and shelter from storm and from rain." (Isa. 4: 3-6, Smith & Goodspeed Trans.)

"Those who "remain in Zion"; that is, His Kingdom, are the remnant of the Israel of God who escape the destruction bringing the age to its close. They will enjoy the blessings of the restored Kingdom administration in the coming age of righteousness. Those who are "left in Jerusalem and will be called holy" at that time are the overcomers who return to reign with the Lord. They are the rulers in Jerusalem , having the Name of God written upon them, for they alone were previously enrolled among those destined for immortal life in the New Jerusalem.