3For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and streams on the dry ground. I will pour my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring:
4and they will spring up among the grass, as willows by the watercourses.
5One will say, ‘I am Yahweh’s;’ and another will be called by the name of Jacob; and another will write with his hand ‘to Yahweh,’ and honor the name of Israel.”
3 For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and streams on the dry ground. I will pour my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring:
4 and they will spring up among the grass, as willows by the watercourses.
5 One will say, ‘I am Yahweh’s;’ and another will be called by the name of Jacob; and another will write with his hand ‘to Yahweh,’ and honor the name of Israel.”
KJVKing James Version
3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:
4 And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.
5 One shall say, I am the LORD’s; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the LORD, and surname himself by the name of Israel.
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JPSJPS Tanakh (1917)
3 For I will pour water upon the thirsty land, and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour My spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring;
4 And they shall spring up among the grass, as willows by the watercourses.
5 One shall say: 'I am the LORD'S'; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the LORD, and surname himself by the name of Israel.
Joel 2:28(v3)“It will happen afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old men will…
Acts 2:17(v3)‘It will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your young…
Isaiah 59:21(v3)“As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says Yahweh. “My Spirit who is on you, and my words which I have put in your mouth shall not…
John 7:37-39(v3)Now on the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! He who…
Proverbs 1:23(v3)Turn at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you. I will make known my words to you.
Show all 50 cross-references
Revelation 21:6(v3)He said to me, “I have become the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring…
Acts 2:39(v3)For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.”
Zechariah 12:10(v3)I will pour on David’s house, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will look to me whom…
Ezekiel 39:29(v3)I won’t hide my face from them any more; for I have poured out my Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord Yahweh.”
Isaiah 32:15(v3)until the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is considered a forest.
Acts 10:45(v3)They of the circumcision who believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was also poured out on…
Titus 3:5-6(v3)not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and…
Psalms 107:35(v3)He turns a desert into a pool of water, and a dry land into water springs.
Isaiah 43:19-20(v3)Behold, I will do a new thing. It springs out now. Don’t you know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.…
Isaiah 41:17(v3)The poor and needy seek water, and there is none. Their tongue fails for thirst. I, Yahweh, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will…
Joel 3:18(v3)It will happen in that day, that the mountains will drop down sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, all the brooks of Judah will flow…
Acts 2:33(v3)Being therefore exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out…
Ezekiel 34:26(v3)I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing. I will cause the shower to come down in its season. There will be showers of…
Isaiah 35:6-7(v3)Then the lame man will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing; for waters will break out in the wilderness, and streams in…
Isaiah 61:9(v3)Their offspring will be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge them, that they…
Psalms 78:15-16(v3)He split rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths. He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused…
Revelation 22:17(v3)The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” He who hears, let him say, “Come!” He who is thirsty, let him come. He who desires, let him take the…
Isaiah 48:21(v3)They didn’t thirst when he led them through the deserts. He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them. He also split the rock and…
Isaiah 65:23(v3)They will not labor in vain nor give birth for calamity; for they are the offspring of Yahweh’s blessed and their descendants with them.
Psalms 63:1(v3)God, you are my God. I will earnestly seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you, in a dry and weary land, where there is no…
Isaiah 49:10(v3)They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun strike them: for he who has mercy on them will lead them. He will guide…
Isaiah 32:2(v3)A man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the storm, as streams of water in a dry place, as the shade of a large…
Matthew 12:43(v3)When an unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and doesn’t find it.
Isaiah 58:11(v4)and Yahweh will guide you continually, satisfy your soul in dry places, and make your bones strong. You will be like a watered garden, and…
Psalms 1:3(v4)He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that produces its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not wither. Whatever he…
Psalms 92:13-15(v4)They are planted in Yahweh’s house. They will flourish in our God’s courts. They will still produce fruit in old age. They will be full of…
Ezekiel 17:5(v4)“ ‘ “He also took some of the seed of the land, and planted it in fruitful soil. He placed it beside many waters. He set it as a willow…
Psalms 137:1-2(v4)By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willows in that land, we hung up our harps.
Zechariah 13:9(v5)I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will test them like gold is tested. They will…
Acts 4:4(v4)But many of those who heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.
Exodus 13:9(v5)It shall be for a sign to you on your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that Yahweh’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong…
Deuteronomy 26:17-19(v5)You have declared today that Yahweh is your God, and that you would walk in his ways, keep his statutes, his commandments, and his…
Nehemiah 9:38–10:29(v5)Yet for all this, we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, our Levites, and our priests, seal it.” Now those who sealed…
Isaiah 61:11(v4)For as the earth produces its bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring up, so the Lord Yahweh will cause…
Acts 2:41-47(v4)Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. There were added that day about three thousand souls. They continued steadfastly in…
Acts 5:14(v4)More believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.
2 Corinthians 8:5(v5)This was not as we had expected, but first they gave their own selves to the Lord, and to us through the will of God.
Galatians 6:16(v5)As many as walk by this rule, peace and mercy be on them, and on God’s Israel.
1 Peter 2:9(v5)But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of…
Leviticus 23:40(v4)You shall take on the first day the fruit of majestic trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook;…
Job 40:22(v4)The lotuses cover him with their shade. The willows of the brook surround him.
Psalms 116:16(v5)Yahweh, truly I am your servant. I am your servant, the son of your servant girl. You have freed me from my chains.
Micah 4:2(v5)Many nations will go and say, “Come! Let’s go up to the mountain of Yahweh, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of…
Zechariah 8:20-23(v5)Yahweh of Armies says: “Many peoples, and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come; and the inhabitants of one shall go to another,…
Jeremiah 50:5(v5)They will inquire concerning Zion with their faces turned toward it, saying, ‘Come, and join yourselves to Yahweh in an everlasting…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (18 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv3–5Because man of himself is as the dry and…
Because man of himself is as the dry and barren land, he promiseth to moisten him with the waters of his holy Spirit, Joel 2:28; John 7:38; Acts 2:17.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv3–5Isa 44:3 For I will pour water upon him…
Isa 44:3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:
Ver. 3. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty.] Or, Upon the thirsty place; hearts that hunger and thirst after righteousness. {Mat 5:6} {See Trapp on "Mat 5:6"}
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I will pour my spirit and my blessing.] When God giveth a man his Holy Spirit, he giveth him blessing in abundance; even all good things at once, as appeareth by Mat 7:11 Luk 11:13. Here are three special operations of the Spirit instanced: 1. Comfort; 2. Fruitfulness; 3. Courage for Christ. {Isa 44:5}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv3–5I will pour water; my Spirit and blessing, which…
I will pour water; my Spirit and blessing, which is frequently compared to water; and so it is expounded in the latter part of the verse.
Upon him that is thirsty: either,
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1. Upon him that desires it. Or rather,
2. Upon him that is destitute of it; for what is here thirsty, in the next clause it is called dry ground.
My Spirit; the gifts and graces of my Spirit; which expression he seems designedly to use, to lift up the minds and hearts of the Jews from carnal and worldly things, to which they were too much addicted, unto spiritual and heavenly blessings, and thereby to prepare them for the better entertainment of the gospel.
My blessing; all the blessings of my covenant, both spiritual and temporal.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv3–5For I will pour water oh him that is…
For I will pour water oh him that is thirsty,.... Or rather upon the thirsty land, as the Targum; and so the Syriac version, "in a thirsty place"; as a dry land is a thirsty land; it thirsts for water, gapes and opens for it: see Psa 63:1 "and floods upon the dry ground"; large quantities of rain to moisten it, and make it fruitful; these figurative expressions are explained in the next clauses:
I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring; by which "seed" and "offspring" are meant the spiritual seed of this remnant or little church of Christ among the Jews, in the first times of the Gospel: such as should be regenerated and converted in it, and who are signified by the "dry" and "thirsty" ground; for being made sensible of their desolate condition, their barrenness and unfruitfulness, they hungered and thirsted after righteousness; were desirous of Christ and his grace, and more knowledge of him, and eagerly sought after them; and to these are promised the Spirit, and his gifts and graces, compared to water, for its purifying, softening, fructifying, and refreshing nature, and for extinguishing thirst, and giving a real pleasure and delight; see Eze 36:25 and the abundance thereof is signified by "floods" of water; for in first conversion especially, there is an abounding, yea a superabounding of the grace of God; it is a well of living water; yea, out of the believer flow rivers of living water, Joh 4:14 and this grace of the Spirit is always a blessing: and indeed all the blessings of grace go along with it, as to the manifestation and application of them as justification, pardon of sin, adoption, &c.; here perhaps a more special regard is had to the extraordinary effusion of the Spirit, on the day of Pentecost, when the apostles of Christ being furnished with his gifts and graces, were fitted to go forth with the "fullness of the blessing" of the Gospel of Christ. The Targum of the whole is,
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"for as waters are given upon the thirsty land, and they flow upon the dry land, so will I give my Holy Spirit on thy children, and my blessing upon thy children's children;''
a succession of converts in the Christian church.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv3, 5Water - Upon him that is destitute of it.
Water - Upon him that is destitute of it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv4–5Verse 4. They shall spring up as among the…
Verse 4. They shall spring up as among the grass - "They shall spring up as the grass among the waters"] בבין חציר bebeyn chatsir, "They shall spring up in the midst of, or rather, in among, the grass." This cannot be right: eleven MSS., and thirteen editions, have כבין kebeyn, or כבן keben. Twenty-four MSS. read it without the י yod, בבן beben, in the son of the grass; and so reads the Chaldee; בבן beben, in the son of the grass.
Twenty-four MSS. of Dr. Kennicott's, thirty-three of De Rossi's, and one of my own, with six editions, have this reading. The Syriac, מבין mibbeyn. The true reading is in all probability כבין kebeyn; and the word מים mayim, which should have followed it, is lost out of the text: but it is happily supplied by the Septuagint, ὡς ανα μεσον ὑδατος, as among the water. "In every place where there is water, there is always grass; for water makes every thing grow in the east." Sir John Chardin's note on 1Kg 17:5. Harmer's Observations i. 64.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn v3Isa 44:3-5. I will pour water — My Spirit,…
Isa 44:3-5. I will pour water — My Spirit, as it is expounded in the latter part of the verse, frequently compared to water in the Scriptures; upon him that is thirsty — That is destitute of it, and that sincerely and earnestly desires it; and my blessing upon thine offspring — All the blessings of my covenant, especially those of a spiritual nature. This promise seems to have been made with a design to raise the minds and hearts of the Jews from carnal and worldly things, to which they were too much addicted, to spiritual and heavenly blessings, and thereby to prepare them for the reception of the gospel. And they shall spring up, &c. — They shall increase and flourish like grass, and those herbs and plants which grow up in the midst of it. One shall say, I am the Lord’s, &c. — This verse seems to relate to the increase of the church by the accession of the Gentiles: as if he had said, The blessing of God upon the Jews shall be so remarkable that many of the Gentiles shall join themselves unto them, and accept Jehovah for their God, and own themselves for his people.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv3–5For I will pour water - Floods, rivers, streams,…
For I will pour water - Floods, rivers, streams, and waters, are often used in the Scriptures, and especially in Isaiah, to denote plenteous divine blessings, particularly the abundant influences of the Holy Spirit (see the note at Isa 35:6-7). That it here refers to the Holy Spirit and his influences, is proved by the parallel expressions in the subsequent part of the verse.
Upon him that is thirsty - Or rather, ‘on the thirsty land.’ The word צמא tsâmē' refers here rather to land, and the figure is taken from a burning sandy desert, where waters would be made to burst out in copious streams (see Isa 35:6-7). The sense is, that God would bestow blessings upon them as signal and marvelous, as if floods of waters were made to descend on the dry, parched, and desolated earth.
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And floods - The word נוזלים nôzelı̂ym, from נזל nâzal, “to flow,” to run as liquids, means properly flowings, and is used for streams and rivers Exo 15:8; Psa 78:16; Pro 5:15; Jer. 18 It means here that the spiritual influences which would descend on the afflicted, desolate, comfortless, and exiled people, would be like torrents of rain poured on the thirsty earth. This beautiful figure is common in the Scriptures:
He shall come down like rain upon the grass,
And as showers that water the earth.
Psa 72:6
My doctrine shall drop as the rain
My speech shall distil as the dew
As the small rain upon the tender herb,
And as the showers upon the grass.
Deu 32:2
I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed - (See Isa 59:21). This is in accordance with the promises everywhere made in he Bible to the people of God (see Gen 12:7; Gen 13:15; Gen 15:18; Gen 17:7-8; Exo 20:6; Deu 7:9; Psa 89:4; Isa 43:5). It may be regarded, first, as a promise of the richest blessings to them as parents - since there is to a parent’s heart no prospect so consoling as that which relates to his offspring; and, secondly, as an assurance of the perpetuity of their religion; of their return from captivity, and their restoration to their own land.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn vv3, 5Stock. I will give fresh life to my people,…
Stock. I will give fresh life to my people, as to the figure of Christ’s Church.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv3–5(Isa 41:18).
(Isa 41:18).
him . . . thirsty--rather, "the land" (Isa 35:6-7), figuratively for man thirsting after righteousness (Mat 5:6).
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floods--the abundant influences of the Holy Spirit, stronger than "water."
spirit--including all spiritual and temporal gifts, as the parallel, "blessing," proves (Isa 11:2; Isa 32:15).
seed-- (Isa 59:21).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv3–53. Water… thirsty… floods… ground — Of the two…
3. Water… thirsty… floods… ground — Of the two parallelisms here the second explains the first. “Here, the Lord says to the beloved people why they need not be afraid. In the judgment that is to consume the fleshly Israel, the spiritual Israel is to remain unharmed.” — Nagelsbach. Abundant water promised in drought symbolizes great spiritual outpourings upon the true Israel, as predicted in the second chapter of Joel. See also Isa_41:17-18; Isa_43:18-21. Floods, rivers, streams, waters, and the like, are staple terms with the prophet to illustrate copious outpourings of the Holy Spirit in Messianic times.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv3–53. On the first half of the verse see…
3. On the first half of the verse see ch. Isa_41:17 ff. Here, however, a figurative sense predominates, as is shewn by what follows. The “spirit” is the agent both of physical and moral regeneration, as in ch. Isa_32:15 (cf. Eze_37:11-14); the former idea being prominent; hence the parallelism “spirit”—“blessing,” the former being the cause, the latter the effect. On the figure of water for the spirit, cf. Joh_1:33 etc. seed and offspring are individual Israelites.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv3–5(3) I will pour water . . .—The latter…
(3) I will pour water . . .—The latter words of the verse interpret the former. It is not the union of material or spiritual blessings, but first the symbol, and then the reality. The “thirst” is that of Psa_42:1; Joh_4:13-14. In the promise of the Spirit we have an echo of Joe_2:28.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv4–5They shall spring up as among the grass. The…
They shall spring up as among the grass. The LXX have, "As grass among the waters;" and this reading is followed by Bishop Lowth, Ewald, and Mr. Cheyne. But there does not seem to be any necessity for departing from the existing Hebrew text. As willows. There is some doubt whether the Hebrew word used (ereb) is rightly translated "willows." The modern yarab seems certainly not to be a "willow," but rather a species of Viburnum (see the long note in Delitzsch"s "Commentary on Isaiah," vol. 2. pp. 203, 204, Eng. trans.). It is, however, most strictly a water-plant, growing only "near flowing water."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn vv3–5For I will pour water upon him that is…
Isa_44:3-5
For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty
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Gods Spirit as water and floods
The double figure is expressive of copiousness, abundance, variety (both the water and the floods), the rain from heaven and the mountain torrents to refresh the parched land.
(J. R.Macduff, D. D.)
The Holy Spirit For both Jews and Gentiles:
If these expressions are intended to signify different classes of people, the former may denote, in a figurative sense, the Jews, who had not yet received the Holy Spirit in that plentiful measure which they earnestly desired, and, unsatisfied with present enjoyments, were ardently longing for further communications of Divine grace, and the salvation of the Lord. The latter may signify the Gentiles, who had not been favoured with Divine ordinances and Divine influences, whose condition had been exhibited in preceding passages of these prophecies as uncultivated and barren, resembling a wilderness. (R. Macculloch.)
Revival:
A work of revival almost always begins with the children of God. God pours water first on him that is thirsty, and then on the dry ground. (R. M. MCheyne.)
The influences of the Holy Spirit:
I. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A DISTINCT AGENT IN THE SCHEME OF REDEMPTION.
II. THE PROMISE OF THE DIVINE SPIRIT TO SECURE THE GRAND PURPOSES OF REDEMPTION FORMS A PROMINENT AND INTERESTING PART OF REVELATION.
III. EVERY PERSON WHO BELIEVES THE GOSPEL RECEIVES THE DIVINE INFLUENCE WHICH IT PROMISES.
IV. THE HAPPINESS AND USEFULNESS OF BELIEVERS REQUIRE THEM TO SEEK A MOST COPIOUS EFFUSION OF THE INFLUENCES OF THE SPIRIT. The Spirit promotes the happiness of believers
1. By gradually advancing their sanctification.
2. By making them increasingly the objects of Divine complacency.
3. By preserving them from temptation, and habitually disposing them to seek communion with God.
V. EVERY BELIEVER HAS REASON TO EXPECT THAT THE INFLUENCES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL RE MOST COPIOUSLY IMPARTED TO HIM.
VI. THERE IS AN APPOINTED ORDER OF MEANS WITH WHICH THE BESTOWMENT OF DIVINE INFLUENCE IS CONNECTED, and in the constant observance of which its most copious effusion should be sought.
VII. IF WE HAVE NOT THE INFLUENCES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, OR IF WE DO NOT POSSESS THEM IN AN EMINENT DEGREE, WE ARE NOT MERELY UNFORTUNATE BUT GUILTY. (L. Forster.)
Water an emblem of the Holy Spirit:
1. Water is a blessing universally necessary.
2. A blessing universally diffused.
3. An abundant blessing.
4. A cheap blessing. (D. Rees.)
The Spirit acts through believers:
The Spirit must first show forth His virtue in us according to our faith before He can act upon our neighbours. He must be a Spirit of revealing truth in us before He can go forth from us to illuminate the world. He must be a Spirit of conviction in us, making us mindful of our errancies, before He can lead the world to penitence. He must be a Spirit of assurance in us before He can chase the fears and dry the tears of a mourning world. He must be a Spirit of holy, tender, undefiled charity in us before He can assimilate the world to Christs great law of love. And all these things the Spirit becomes to us through faith. Some districts are riverless, not because the rain never falls, but because the soil for a great depth down is so porous that the rainfall passes through it like a sieve. The district that cradles rivers must have a soil and underlying foundation that will hold the rain like a sponge. And the graces and virtues present in the character whose root-principle is unfeigned faith hold the benign influences of the Spirit as in hidden fountains and storehouses, so that the world may be blessed by the steadfast outflow. (T. G.Selby.)
The essential diffusiveness of spiritual religion:
These words remind us of the essential diffusiveness of the religion which has faith for its ruling principle and the presence of the Holy Ghost for its daily heritage. The scale according to which we receive the Spirit must not be that of our own personal necessities only or the demands of the passing opportunity. As the Spirit dwelt in Christ with inexhaustible spontaneity for the sake of the larger humanity He had come to bless, as well as for Himself, so must it be with us. However narrow the visible measurements of our life, if we receive the fulness of the Spirit we shall touch the entire world through those subtle and expansive forces which brood within us. We are sometimes humbled because our sphere of action seems so cramped and circumscribed. We long for wider fields. We should like to be the instruments of Divine activities which will affect continents and live through centuries. But into what a little space our aspiring natures seem to be shut up! There are Christians, excellent in character and rich in mental gifts, whose influence seems to go no further than the home, the shop, the office, a select coterie of friends. If the Spirit is in us, however, these mystic rivers will flow forth, and for the honour of Him whose name we trust the Spirit will see to it that our opportunities are imperial in their magnitude. We shall affect for good the fortunes of many lands, and our destiny shall be large and resplendent as our best aspirations. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred we will not let our influence take wings and pass through its appointed realms and latitudes. The panting springs can find no outlet, and the Spirit is restrained because those are so narrow who give to Him an earthly home. Our religious toleration, for instance, we carry to an extent that is simply sinful. We see men in process of being ruined, and, forsooth, we do not wish to interfere with their religious convictions, as we call them,--just as if any mans convictions were worthy of respect when they do not keep him from sin! We think of ourselves as wells to which our neighbours may come if they wish; but the murmuring streams are forced back into the fountain-head, and wells become little better than cesspools. There must be an onward-pushing force in our religious life. (T. G.Selby.)
Vitalising power in Spirit filled men:
There are souls around us so arid, scorched, and desolate that it seems almost impossible to educe within them a single grace or morality. Races are to be found--at least such is the testimony of the white men who are anxious to supplant them--which lack the rudimentary aptitudes for virtue, humanity, religion. They have received a prodigious endowment of appetite, passion, blood-thirstiness from the beast-world below them; but the spirit-world above them seems to have failed to filter down into their lives a single principle of light, truth, tenderness. Even these may be vitalised with a new ethic and fitted for a higher destiny than that of the dust-heap. But it must be by the Spirit in Christs disciples. The trader who is a nominal Christian and a practical savage goes into their borders, and is an emissary of swift and complete destruction. They are touched by European commerce, and deteriorate and die off m swarms. They are forced into contact with Western civilisation, and they resent its restraints and perish from the lands of their forefathers. All these secondary influences are but as rivers of poison flowing through their borders, and a strange fate compels them to drink what they know to be the cup of death. The streams which can make this human desert, without a hint of verdure and land-marked with whitened bones, into a paradise, and keep it shaded with foliage, glorious with fruit, thick-set with holy homes and song-filled temples, must go out from the souls of men and women who have received the Holy Ghost. (T. G. Selby.)
Encouragement for parents and children:
In its relation to the Jews, there was a partial and very interesting fulfilment of this promise on the day of Pentecost, in the remarkable effusion of the Holy Spirit which then took place, and the blessed effects by which this was followed: but there is a still more striking and illustrious accomplishment to be realised, when, as the result of Divine influence, the Jews, as a nation and people, shall be brought back to God, and become incorporated with the Gentiles in that one fold, of which Christ shall be acknowledged the true and only Shepherd. As a promise pertaining to Gospel times, it is one in which we have a clear and direct interest. As to the particular design of the promise, the very terms in which it is expressed show that it is intended to refer, not perhaps exclusively, but still most emphatically, to the children and posterity of those who have themselves loved and feared God. Consider the promise,--
I. IN ITS APPLICATION TO CHRISTIAN PARENTS. It should be regarded--
1. As an encouragement to the faithful exercise of parental discipline and instruction.
2. As a warrant for believing application at the throne of grace.
3. As a satisfactory ground for hope and encouragement, even under the most unpromising appearances.
II. IN ITS APPLICATION TO THE DESCENDANTS, AND MORE ESPECIALLY THE CHILDREN OF PIOUS PARENTS.
1. This promise affords you no security, apart from your personal acceptance of Christ and submission to His authority.
2. This promise supplies you with the richest encouragement in seeking your salvation and an interest in the Divine favour.
3. This promise should encourage the pious descendants of godly ancestors to aim at more than ordinary eminence in their personal devotedness to God. The imagery of the text seems to imply that a special decision and fixedness of purpose may be expected: One shall say, I am the Lords, &c. It indicates, too, great vigour and rapidity of growth: they shall grow as willows by the water-courses.
4. This promise will leave you doubly without excuse, and greatly aggravate your guilt, if you persist in neglecting salvation. How pleasing to perceive that while the promise applies more especially to the posterity of believers, it does not exclude others! Not only will God give His Spirit and impart His blessing to the seed and offspring of His people, but He will pour water upon every one who is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground. (Essex Remembrancer.)
The Church and the children:
These exceeding great and precious promises are unto us and our children.
I. GODS PROMISE OF BLESSING UPON THE CHURCH.
1. Its import. Refers to the effusion of the Spirit.
2. Its participants. Gods ancient people--in a sadly backsliding state. How deeply they needed the effusion of the Spirit! Two facts prove this to be our great want.
(1) The low and languid piety of many.
(2) The comparatively small success of the various agencies for the conversion of souls.
3. Its abundance. God gives what He promises only in answer to prayer. His promise cannot fail. I will.
II. GODS PROMISE OF BLESSING UPON THE CHILDREN OF THE CHURCH.
1. Our children need the Holy Spirit. Religion is not hereditary. No natural goodness can supersede His work. Spiritual life is not natural life carried up to its highest point of attainment.
2. God promises to give the Spirit as abundantly to them as to us. Same terms used. And having received the Spirit, they are to grow in grace vigorously (Isa_44:4). The manifestation of this in public (Isa_44:5). (A. Tucker.)
Revival:
Foremost among the judgments which followed Israels idolatries was the visitation of drought. Dwelling, as we do, under milder skies, and in a sea-girt isle, we enjoy copious supplies of fertilising rain. Yet, even in our own land, a sensible reduction of the rainfall in spring is followed by empty shocks in August. But in the sunny climes of Syria, if the half-yearly gift of rain failed, the effect was disastrous in the extreme. In the footsteps of famine marched dark-robed pestilence, and grim Death with his scythe of keenest edge. Nor was this all. Towns and hamlets, stripped of strong men, became an easy prey to the marauder. Successful raids paved the way for desolating war; and defeat, oppression, national ruin, came in swift procession. Hence, impiety, must have grown bold indeed, if the Hebrews did not earnestly ask for the early and the latter rain. Now if drought is so injurious in the fields of nature, is it not equally injurious in the Church?
I. A STATE OF BARRENNESS DESCRIBED. The ground is said to be dry--that is, in a parched and impenetrable condition. This is not its normal state: this is deadly to vegetable growth. For some reason the land has been deprived of dew and rain. No seed, however big with latent life, can break its rigid shell; much less spring up or prosper. With such homely imagery as this the prophet leads our thoughts from the outer world to the inner. There is a sense of need expressed. Here is a marked improvement. The soul is athirst; the insensibility is guns. The rigid hardness of winter is at an end.
II. A GENEROUS GIFT PROVIDED. A promise from God is as good as its performance.
1. The Source of the supply. It must come from above. The great folly to which all men are prone, is to seek the supply of their wants apart from God.
2. The suitableness of the means. What can be more suitable than showers of rain for a thirsty soil? Yet equally suitable is every gift of God to satisfy the wants of dependent man!
3. The copiousness of the gift. If showers will not suffice, there shall be floods.
4. The range of the promise. It shall not terminate with ourselves: it shall extend to our children--ay, to our childrens children!
III. ABUNDANT FERTILITY FORESEEN. There shall be a revival of life in the Church, as in the parched fields after a copious shower--as in nature, at the advent of spring.
1. Multiplicity of conversions is here predicted They shall spring up as amongst the grass.
2. Rapidity of growth shall be another feature of this era.
3. Constancy of verdure will be enjoyed. They shall be as willows by the water-courses. In the arid deserts of the East you will find here and there--conspicuous for their rarity--bright spots of luxuriant herbage, fruitfulpalms, flagrant flowers, in the midst of scorching sand. The secret is here,--that far down beneath the surface, a fount bubbles from the riven rock, which, watering the roots of trees and grass, produces beauty, shade, and fruit. So have we seen a man, placed in a very desert of privation--exposed to a scorching sun of trial--yet retaining all the freshness of his piety, and yielding fruits of wisdom, patience, hope. For the roots of his faith were nourished from a secret spring. (Dickerson Davies, M. A.)
A revival promise:
I. THE GREAT COVENANT BLESSING OF THE CHURCH The gift of the Holy Ghost. Whatever metaphor is used this is the meaning of it.
1. This blessing has been already given. We must never underrate the importance of the ascension of our Lord, and the gift of the Spirit which followed thereupon. He is permanently resident in the midst of the Church.
2. This blessing is the subject of a promise. A promise of God is the essence of truth, the soul of certainty, the voice of faithfulness, and the substance of blessing. What a right royal promise it is! We hear the double I will, I will.
3. This gift is a most needful blessing.
4. While we need the Spirit of God, His working is most effectual to supply all our needs when He does come upon us. In the East, you can generally tell where there is a stream or a river by the line of emerald which marks it. If you stood on a hill, you coma see certain lines of green, made up of grass, reeds, rushes, and occasional trees, which have sprung up along the water-courses. Nothing is required to make the land fertile but to water it. Even thus let the Spirit of God come upon any Church, and it is all that it needs to make it living and fruitful.
5. The promise is liberal and unstinted. Pour floods. I have seen in Italy the fields watered by the processes of irrigation: there are trenches made to run along the garden, and smaller gutters to carry the lesser streams to each bed, so that each plant gets its share of water; but the husbandman has to be very careful, for he has but little water in his tank, and only an allotted share of the public reservoir. No plant must have too much; no plot of ground must be drenched. How different is this from the methods of the Lord! He pours the water; He deluges the land.
6. This covenant blessing is peculiarly promised to a certain class of persons who are especially dear to us. I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, &c.
II. THE GLORIOUS-RESULT OF THIS COVENANT BLESSING.
1. The upspringing of spiritual life. Wherever the Spirit of God comes, there will be life in the Church and in the ministry; life in prayer, in effort, in holiness, in brotherly love.
2. The next effect will be seen in the calling out of numerous converts by the Holy Spirit. They shall spring up as among the grass, and as willows by the water-courses. Who can count the blades of grass? The converts called out by the Spirit of God are vigorous and lively. The grass in the East springs up without any sowing, cultivating, or any other attention: it comes up of itself from the fruitful soil. There is the water, and there is the grass. So where the Spirit of God is with a Church there are sure to be conversions, it cannot be otherwise.
3. These conversions will come from all quarters. One shall say, another shall call, another shall subscribe. One comes from the wealthy, another from the poor, a third from nobody knows where. They shall come from all trades and occupations, from all churches and denominations.
4. These converted people shall be led to avow their faith. They shall not, like Nicodemus, come to Jesus by night.
III. THE CONDUCT SUITABLE IF WE OBTAIN THIS BLESSING.
1. We must confess how dry, how wilderness-like we are.
2. Let us cultivate prayer.
3. We must put forth our own personal effort. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Overflowing in usefulness to other:
Egypt has the river Nile all the year round, but as a fertilizing power the Nile is practically useless till it is in flood and overflowing its banks. Then it bestows the needed blessing upon every foot of land it touches. It is when we are filled with the Spirit to the point of overflowing that we become a power for good to others. (T. Waugh.)
Revived Churches:
If you go down to some of our Thames bridges, you will find the barges stuck fast in the mud, and you cannot stir them. It would be a very difficult thing to provide machinery with which to move them; all the kings horses and all the kings men could not do it. But wait till the tide comes in; now every black, heavy old barge walks the waters like a thing of life. Everything that can feat is movable as soon as the silver flood has returned. So, many of our Churches lie in the mud. Everything seems motionless, powerless; but when the Spirit of God comes in like a flood, all is altered. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed
Gods covenant with Christian parents
(with Act_2:39):--Has God given to us any sure grounds to expect the conversion of the children of His people. Note--
I. THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE CHILDREN TO THE PARENTS, as it is laid down in Scripture. It is plain that when God becomes our God, He becomes the God of our children.
II. CHRISTIAN NURTURE furnishes us with another reason for expecting the salvation of our children. Train up a child, &c.
III. WE MAY FOUND OUR HOPES UPON GODS FAITHFULNESS AS A PRAYER-HEARING GOD. Let us not despair if the answer to prayer be long delayed. The Rev. Mr. Grimshaw, rector of Haworth, had but one son, and he did not follow his fathers footsteps. After his fathers death, he was heard to say, in his maudlin drunkenness, when riding, This horse once carried a saint; now it carries a devil. Yet, hopeless as this case seemed, he became a true penitent, and one of his deathbed sayings was, How astonished my father will be to see me in heaven! (Evangelical Advocate.)
Christian home environment:
There have been few of the great teachers of Christendom who have not derived their deepest convictions from the impressions made by their earliest domestic environment. (J. Stalker, D. D.)
The value of young life:
The nation of the future rests upon the cradles of to-day. The young life in any institution is that which repairs its defects, enlarges its usefulness, and stimulates its charities. The young life, in any family, is the influence which suns the path of age, invigorates exertion, and quickens the growth of the virtues. Where would the valour and vigour of the country be if deprived of the support of young life? Disraeli says that almost everything that is great has been done by youth; and the history of heroes is the history of youth. In the vegetable world the mission and influence of the young life is not less plain than powerful. According to Louis Figuier, the bud must be considered as a fundamental element in the plant, which, without it, would soon perish. It is the bud which year by year repairs the losses, supplies the flowers, the leaves, the branches which nave disappeared. Through its means the plant increases in growth. Through it its existence is prolonged. The bud is the true renovator of the vegetable world. Therefore these buds are everywhere--on the roots, the leaves, and sometimes even on the flowers, for Nature never loses sight of the phenomena essential to organic life--namely, the production of new beings. (Scientific Illustrations and Symbols.)
Child-piety:
A Christian gentlemans little son, just before he died, said to his father: When I get to heaven, I shall go up to Jesus and say, Jesus, I know You; my papa told me about You. (T. Champness.)
A Christian childhood:
Rev. F. B. Meyer was asked: How did you find Christ? This is his written reply: I do not remember when first I became a Christian. The love of God came over me as the dawn over a summer sky; and it was only in after years that I realised what God had done for me in those early days. My mother and father were godly people. They expected me to be a Christian, and at my mothers knee I said my morning and evening prayers. It is to their prayer and faith and unremitting care that I owe everything.
Gods blessing on the offspring of His people
Speaking of the way in which his mother received him when he informed her that he had decided to leave the railway office and become a minister, the Rev. John MNeill said: Taking my face between her hands, she drew it close to her own and said, John, I meant you for that before I ever saw your face. I knew then, what I had never guessed before, that I owe my conversion and my ministry to my mothers prayer. (Presbyterian.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary1892 · Public DomainOn v5Isa_44:5. One shall say, I am the Lord’s, &c.
A PUBLIC PROFESSION OF RELIGION
Isa_44:5. One shall say, I am the Lord’s, &c.
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This chapter begins with a prediction of the future prosperity and increase of the Church of God; and the prophet here represents converts as spontaneously choosing to make a public profession of religion.
I. SOME REASONS WHY TRUE CONVERTS DESIRE TO MAKE A PUBLIC PROFESSION OF RELIGION.
1. Those who have experienced a saving change of heart love God’s law. It is in the creation of such a love within them that this change consists (Jer_31:33; Psa_119:97). Those who love God’s law choose to obey it, and to bind themselves to obey it for ever (Jer_1:4-5).
2. They love God’s ordinances. They delight to observe them all, especially that which commemorates the death of their Divine Redeemer (Act_2:41; Act_2:47).
3. They love God’s people, and delight to unite with them in the duties of religion, and in their attendance on divine ordinances.
4. They love God’s cause. They desire to be workers together with God in building up His kingdom, and for this reason wish to put themselves in the best situation, and under the strongest obligations to promote the cause of truth and the prosperity of Zion. Their profession gives them a greater freedom, and creates a greater obligation to speak and act for God and for the good of their fellow-men.
5. They desire to grow in grace; and for that reason desire to join the Church, that they may enjoy the best means of spiritual instruction and edification.
6. They desire to persevere to the end; and being conscious of the deceitfulness of their own hearts, and their proneness to forget and forsake God, they gladly avail themselves of the help that is afforded by a public vow and covenant to be steadfast in His service (H. E. I. 3903–3911).
As all who make a profession of religion are not Christians, so neither are all who omit to do so unbelievers. Let us note, therefore—
II. SOME EXCUSES WHICH SOME CONVERTS OFFER FOR NOT MAKING A PUBLIC PROFESSION OF RELIGION.
1. “I am not absolutely certain that I am a Christian.” But you hope you are; and will disobeying God do anything to turn your hope into a settled confidence? The way to get more grace is to use the grace you have.
2. “I do not know that the Church would receive me.” Why not? Do you think that the Church is not competent to arrive at a just judgment concerning you? or that it would wilfully judge you unjustly? or that your excellences are so transcendent that full justice would not be done to them? If this is what you mean, you are not worthy to enter the Church. But if your fear of not being accepted arises from a humiliating sense of your own unworthiness, such humility will rather commend you to the esteem and confidence of good men.
3. “I fear I should do more dishonour than honour to religion.” But you have no right to fear anything of the kind. God promises to sustain you with His all-sufficient grace. Put away this sinful, because unbelieving, fear.
4. “I know a great many good people who are not Church members.” That is no concern of yours. Their neglect will not excuse yours (Joh_21:21-22; Rom_14:12).
5. “A great many Church members are no better than they ought to be.” True. Let us be sorry that it is so. But this is no reason why you should neglect to name Christ’s name and promote His cause; it is rather a strong reason why you should unite with His few friends to purify, strengthen, and revive religion, and to rectify whatever is amiss in the Church. Note—
III. SOME OF THE EVILS THAT RESULT FROM THIS NEGLECT TO MAKE A PUBLIC PROFESSION OF RELIGION.
Those who are guilty of it—
1. Injure themselves, by depriving themselves of that peace and comfort which they might enjoy in communion with God and His people.
2. They injure religion, by neglecting to perform those peculiar and important duties by which it is to be promoted in the world.
3. They injure the friends of God by practically joining with the world in neglecting and opposing the cause which they desire and have bound themselves to promote (Mat_12:30).
4. They injure the impenitent by practically justifying them in their impenitence and unbelief. The more upright and amiable they appear, the more they injure the cause of God and the souls of men by the weight and influence of their criminal example.—Dr. Emmons: Works, vol. v. pp. 458–469.
The immediate effect of the outpouring of the Spirit, promised in Isa_44:3, will be a general awakening to the claims of religion. When so visited, men think seriously about the soul, eternity, and God. Hitherto their practice may have been at one with the sentiment expressed in the words, “Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die;” but, under the influence of the new quickening, the unseen state is felt to be a reality, and the interests of time give way before the urgency of the great hereafter. Such views ripen into religious devotion, or the soul’s consecration to God.
Touching the nature and method of the surrender and dedication of the soul to God, the prophet’s language indicates these things:—
I. The act is strictly personal. “One shall say,” “and another shall call himself,” “and another shall subscribe with his hand.” [1411] Men proceed singly in the matter. Repentance, faith, and regeneration and consecration are individual transactions between the creature and the Creator. Into the fellowship of saints many may enter at the same time. The text favours the idea of concealed action. In their turning to God, it is common for men to move together. Yet the procedure is no more a collective process than eating and drinking at one table and hour is a collective process. As the servants of the Crown have to take the oath of allegiance one by one, so must the vow of service to the King of kings be, in every case, independently plighted. Each person has to enter into the covenant on his own account.
[1411] “And another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel.” According to Bishop Louth, this might be rendered, “Another shall inscribe his hand to Jehovah;” or still more plainly in the Septuagint translation, “An other shall write upon his hand, I belong to God.” You have doubtless seen upon the hands or arms of seamen the name of the ship in which they have served, rendered indelible by puncture, or by staining; this, perhaps, is one of the oldest customs in the world. The slave, in former days, used thus to be marked with the name of his master; the soldier, of his commander; the idolater, with the name of his god; while one of the Christian fathers tells us that in his day, “many marked their wrists or their arms with the sign of the cross, or with the name of Christ.” This, then, will give you a very distinct idea of what the Lord requires of you, and what He will enable you to perform; it is such a decided choice of the Lord for your portion, such an avowal by your daily actions, that you are not your own, but His who has bought you with the price of His precious blood, that all shall know it as certainly, and that your actions shall proclaim it as unequivocally, as if the name of Christ were inscribed on the back of your hand, and could be seen and read in all companies, and on all occasions.—Blunt.
II. The act is performed specially by the faculty of choice and determination. The other mental powers share in the engagement. The understanding and reason, the conscience and the affections, are parties to it. But, whilst the sister faculties conduce to and support the pledge, the utterance of the binding promise does not rest with any or all of them. The decision itself pertains to the instrument of choice. The making up of the mind to what is good and holy is pre-eminently the function and act of the will. “Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power.”
III. The act, in order to be rightly completed, requires an outward sign or seal. The word of acknowledgment is spoken. “I am the Lord’s;” or “the name of Jacob” is assumed, the visible fellowship of good men is entered; or a subscription with the hand is appended in token of acceptance and submission. When the soul attaches itself to the service of its Saviour, the internal establishment is to be accompanied by some sort of external work. This is seemly by way of open confession. It is right and becoming for the children of God to show whose they are. The sign, too, helps one’s own resolution. Our purpose is the stronger when we have definitively committed ourselves to the adopted course. Again, the sign has its effect upon others. Where the decision for Christ is not avowed, the example cannot be clear and forcible. The token is a reasonable adjunct, and not to be neglected without loss in various ways. Hence the Scriptures call for the outward profession of faith. Our courage is not to shrink from view. Instead of continuing to come to Christ by night only, Nicodemus must consent to receive baptism with water, and take upon him the badge of open identification with an unpopular cause. The Christian’s light is to shine before men. Jesus did not invite to secret discipleship (H. E. I. 1042–1045).—W. Follard.
I. The nature of true religion.
1. It is a surrender of ourselves to God. “I am the Lord’s.”
(1.) He has an original right—formed us for Himself.
(2.) Reasonable right.
(3.) Redeeming right.
2. It is an avowed acknowledgment of God. “Another shall,” &c. Profession is demanded by the Lord.
3. It includes union and fellowship with His people. “Call themselves,” &c. So in apostolic times, &c.
II. The characteristics of religion as presented in our text.
1. It is personal.
2. Voluntary.
3. Deliberate.
4. Determinate.
III. The importance of such a spirit of religion.
1. It is intensely important to Jesus.
2. To the Church. 3. Supremely important to yourselves; it is not a vain thing, it is your life.—R. M. M‘Cheyne: Sermons on Special Occasions, pp. 170–173.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv3, 5General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues speaking to the people of Israel.
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I will pour water on the thirsty ground, and flowing streams on the dry ground
Yahweh speaks of giving his Spirit to the people of Israel as if he were causing rain to fall and streams to flow on dry ground. (See: Metaphor)
the thirsty ground
Dry ground is spoken of as if it were a thirsty person. AT: "the dry ground" (See: Metaphor and Personification)
I will pour my Spirit on your offspring
Yahweh speaks of giving his Spirit to the people as if his Spirit were liquid that he pours out on them. AT: "I will give my Spirit to your offspring" (See: Metaphor)
my blessing on your children
The verb may be supplied from the previous phrase. AT: "I will pour out my blessing on your children" or "I will give my blessing to your children" (See: Ellipsis)
They will spring up among the grass, like willows by the streams of water
The people of Israel being prosperous and multiplying is spoken of as if they were plants that grow because they have plenty of water. (See: Metaphor)
willows
A willow is a tree with thin branches that grows near the water.
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On v344:3 The restoration theme is connected with God’s promise…
44:3 The restoration theme is connected with God’s promise to pour out the Spirit (see also 32:15-17; Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:16-18). • on your descendants . . . children: The next generation of Israelites offered hope.
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv3–5 Because man of himself is as the dry and…
Because man of himself is as the dry and barren land, he promiseth to moisten him with the waters of his holy Spirit, Joel 2:28; John 7:38; Acts 2:17.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv3–5 Isa 44:3 For I will pour water upon him…
Isa 44:3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:
Ver. 3. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty.] Or, Upon the thirsty place; hearts that hunger and thirst after righteousness. {Mat 5:6} {See Trapp on "Mat 5:6"}
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I will pour my spirit and my blessing.] When God giveth a man his Holy Spirit, he giveth him blessing in abundance; even all good things at once, as appeareth by Mat 7:11 Luk 11:13. Here are three special operations of the Spirit instanced: 1. Comfort; 2. Fruitfulness; 3. Courage for Christ. {Isa 44:5}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv3–5 I will pour water; my Spirit and blessing, which…
I will pour water; my Spirit and blessing, which is frequently compared to water; and so it is expounded in the latter part of the verse.
Upon him that is thirsty: either,
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1. Upon him that desires it. Or rather,
2. Upon him that is destitute of it; for what is here thirsty, in the next clause it is called dry ground.
My Spirit; the gifts and graces of my Spirit; which expression he seems designedly to use, to lift up the minds and hearts of the Jews from carnal and worldly things, to which they were too much addicted, unto spiritual and heavenly blessings, and thereby to prepare them for the better entertainment of the gospel.
My blessing; all the blessings of my covenant, both spiritual and temporal.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv3–5 For I will pour water oh him that is…
For I will pour water oh him that is thirsty,.... Or rather upon the thirsty land, as the Targum; and so the Syriac version, "in a thirsty place"; as a dry land is a thirsty land; it thirsts for water, gapes and opens for it: see Psa 63:1 "and floods upon the dry ground"; large quantities of rain to moisten it, and make it fruitful; these figurative expressions are explained in the next clauses:
I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring; by which "seed" and "offspring" are meant the spiritual seed of this remnant or little church of Christ among the Jews, in the first times of the Gospel: such as should be regenerated and converted in it, and who are signified by the "dry" and "thirsty" ground; for being made sensible of their desolate condition, their barrenness and unfruitfulness, they hungered and thirsted after righteousness; were desirous of Christ and his grace, and more knowledge of him, and eagerly sought after them; and to these are promised the Spirit, and his gifts and graces, compared to water, for its purifying, softening, fructifying, and refreshing nature, and for extinguishing thirst, and giving a real pleasure and delight; see Eze 36:25 and the abundance thereof is signified by "floods" of water; for in first conversion especially, there is an abounding, yea a superabounding of the grace of God; it is a well of living water; yea, out of the believer flow rivers of living water, Joh 4:14 and this grace of the Spirit is always a blessing: and indeed all the blessings of grace go along with it, as to the manifestation and application of them as justification, pardon of sin, adoption, &c.; here perhaps a more special regard is had to the extraordinary effusion of the Spirit, on the day of Pentecost, when the apostles of Christ being furnished with his gifts and graces, were fitted to go forth with the "fullness of the blessing" of the Gospel of Christ. The Targum of the whole is,
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"for as waters are given upon the thirsty land, and they flow upon the dry land, so will I give my Holy Spirit on thy children, and my blessing upon thy children's children;''
a succession of converts in the Christian church.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv3, 5 Water - Upon him that is destitute of it.
Water - Upon him that is destitute of it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv4–5 Verse 4. They shall spring up as among the…
Verse 4. They shall spring up as among the grass - "They shall spring up as the grass among the waters"] בבין חציר bebeyn chatsir, "They shall spring up in the midst of, or rather, in among, the grass." This cannot be right: eleven MSS., and thirteen editions, have כבין kebeyn, or כבן keben. Twenty-four MSS. read it without the י yod, בבן beben, in the son of the grass; and so reads the Chaldee; בבן beben, in the son of the grass.
Twenty-four MSS. of Dr. Kennicott's, thirty-three of De Rossi's, and one of my own, with six editions, have this reading. The Syriac, מבין mibbeyn. The true reading is in all probability כבין kebeyn; and the word מים mayim, which should have followed it, is lost out of the text: but it is happily supplied by the Septuagint, ὡς ανα μεσον ὑδατος, as among the water. "In every place where there is water, there is always grass; for water makes every thing grow in the east." Sir John Chardin's note on 1Kg 17:5. Harmer's Observations i. 64.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v3 Isa 44:3-5. I will pour water — My Spirit,…
Isa 44:3-5. I will pour water — My Spirit, as it is expounded in the latter part of the verse, frequently compared to water in the Scriptures; upon him that is thirsty — That is destitute of it, and that sincerely and earnestly desires it; and my blessing upon thine offspring — All the blessings of my covenant, especially those of a spiritual nature. This promise seems to have been made with a design to raise the minds and hearts of the Jews from carnal and worldly things, to which they were too much addicted, to spiritual and heavenly blessings, and thereby to prepare them for the reception of the gospel. And they shall spring up, &c. — They shall increase and flourish like grass, and those herbs and plants which grow up in the midst of it. One shall say, I am the Lord’s, &c. — This verse seems to relate to the increase of the church by the accession of the Gentiles: as if he had said, The blessing of God upon the Jews shall be so remarkable that many of the Gentiles shall join themselves unto them, and accept Jehovah for their God, and own themselves for his people.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv3–5 For I will pour water - Floods, rivers, streams,…
For I will pour water - Floods, rivers, streams, and waters, are often used in the Scriptures, and especially in Isaiah, to denote plenteous divine blessings, particularly the abundant influences of the Holy Spirit (see the note at Isa 35:6-7). That it here refers to the Holy Spirit and his influences, is proved by the parallel expressions in the subsequent part of the verse.
Upon him that is thirsty - Or rather, ‘on the thirsty land.’ The word צמא tsâmē' refers here rather to land, and the figure is taken from a burning sandy desert, where waters would be made to burst out in copious streams (see Isa 35:6-7). The sense is, that God would bestow blessings upon them as signal and marvelous, as if floods of waters were made to descend on the dry, parched, and desolated earth.
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And floods - The word נוזלים nôzelı̂ym, from נזל nâzal, “to flow,” to run as liquids, means properly flowings, and is used for streams and rivers Exo 15:8; Psa 78:16; Pro 5:15; Jer. 18 It means here that the spiritual influences which would descend on the afflicted, desolate, comfortless, and exiled people, would be like torrents of rain poured on the thirsty earth. This beautiful figure is common in the Scriptures:
He shall come down like rain upon the grass,
And as showers that water the earth.
Psa 72:6
My doctrine shall drop as the rain
My speech shall distil as the dew
As the small rain upon the tender herb,
And as the showers upon the grass.
Deu 32:2
I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed - (See Isa 59:21). This is in accordance with the promises everywhere made in he Bible to the people of God (see Gen 12:7; Gen 13:15; Gen 15:18; Gen 17:7-8; Exo 20:6; Deu 7:9; Psa 89:4; Isa 43:5). It may be regarded, first, as a promise of the richest blessings to them as parents - since there is to a parent’s heart no prospect so consoling as that which relates to his offspring; and, secondly, as an assurance of the perpetuity of their religion; of their return from captivity, and their restoration to their own land.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv3, 5 Stock. I will give fresh life to my people,…
Stock. I will give fresh life to my people, as to the figure of Christ’s Church.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv3–5 (Isa 41:18).
(Isa 41:18).
him . . . thirsty--rather, "the land" (Isa 35:6-7), figuratively for man thirsting after righteousness (Mat 5:6).
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floods--the abundant influences of the Holy Spirit, stronger than "water."
spirit--including all spiritual and temporal gifts, as the parallel, "blessing," proves (Isa 11:2; Isa 32:15).
seed-- (Isa 59:21).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv3–5 3. Water… thirsty… floods… ground — Of the two…
3. Water… thirsty… floods… ground — Of the two parallelisms here the second explains the first. “Here, the Lord says to the beloved people why they need not be afraid. In the judgment that is to consume the fleshly Israel, the spiritual Israel is to remain unharmed.” — Nagelsbach. Abundant water promised in drought symbolizes great spiritual outpourings upon the true Israel, as predicted in the second chapter of Joel. See also Isa_41:17-18; Isa_43:18-21. Floods, rivers, streams, waters, and the like, are staple terms with the prophet to illustrate copious outpourings of the Holy Spirit in Messianic times.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv3–5 3. On the first half of the verse see…
3. On the first half of the verse see ch. Isa_41:17 ff. Here, however, a figurative sense predominates, as is shewn by what follows. The “spirit” is the agent both of physical and moral regeneration, as in ch. Isa_32:15 (cf. Eze_37:11-14); the former idea being prominent; hence the parallelism “spirit”—“blessing,” the former being the cause, the latter the effect. On the figure of water for the spirit, cf. Joh_1:33 etc. seed and offspring are individual Israelites.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv3–5 (3) I will pour water . . .—The latter…
(3) I will pour water . . .—The latter words of the verse interpret the former. It is not the union of material or spiritual blessings, but first the symbol, and then the reality. The “thirst” is that of Psa_42:1; Joh_4:13-14. In the promise of the Spirit we have an echo of Joe_2:28.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv4–5 They shall spring up as among the grass. The…
They shall spring up as among the grass. The LXX have, "As grass among the waters;" and this reading is followed by Bishop Lowth, Ewald, and Mr. Cheyne. But there does not seem to be any necessity for departing from the existing Hebrew text. As willows. There is some doubt whether the Hebrew word used (ereb) is rightly translated "willows." The modern yarab seems certainly not to be a "willow," but rather a species of Viburnum (see the long note in Delitzsch"s "Commentary on Isaiah," vol. 2. pp. 203, 204, Eng. trans.). It is, however, most strictly a water-plant, growing only "near flowing water."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv3–5 For I will pour water upon him that is…
Isa_44:3-5
For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty
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Gods Spirit as water and floods
The double figure is expressive of copiousness, abundance, variety (both the water and the floods), the rain from heaven and the mountain torrents to refresh the parched land.
(J. R.Macduff, D. D.)
The Holy Spirit For both Jews and Gentiles:
If these expressions are intended to signify different classes of people, the former may denote, in a figurative sense, the Jews, who had not yet received the Holy Spirit in that plentiful measure which they earnestly desired, and, unsatisfied with present enjoyments, were ardently longing for further communications of Divine grace, and the salvation of the Lord. The latter may signify the Gentiles, who had not been favoured with Divine ordinances and Divine influences, whose condition had been exhibited in preceding passages of these prophecies as uncultivated and barren, resembling a wilderness. (R. Macculloch.)
Revival:
A work of revival almost always begins with the children of God. God pours water first on him that is thirsty, and then on the dry ground. (R. M. MCheyne.)
The influences of the Holy Spirit:
I. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A DISTINCT AGENT IN THE SCHEME OF REDEMPTION.
II. THE PROMISE OF THE DIVINE SPIRIT TO SECURE THE GRAND PURPOSES OF REDEMPTION FORMS A PROMINENT AND INTERESTING PART OF REVELATION.
III. EVERY PERSON WHO BELIEVES THE GOSPEL RECEIVES THE DIVINE INFLUENCE WHICH IT PROMISES.
IV. THE HAPPINESS AND USEFULNESS OF BELIEVERS REQUIRE THEM TO SEEK A MOST COPIOUS EFFUSION OF THE INFLUENCES OF THE SPIRIT. The Spirit promotes the happiness of believers
1. By gradually advancing their sanctification.
2. By making them increasingly the objects of Divine complacency.
3. By preserving them from temptation, and habitually disposing them to seek communion with God.
V. EVERY BELIEVER HAS REASON TO EXPECT THAT THE INFLUENCES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL RE MOST COPIOUSLY IMPARTED TO HIM.
VI. THERE IS AN APPOINTED ORDER OF MEANS WITH WHICH THE BESTOWMENT OF DIVINE INFLUENCE IS CONNECTED, and in the constant observance of which its most copious effusion should be sought.
VII. IF WE HAVE NOT THE INFLUENCES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, OR IF WE DO NOT POSSESS THEM IN AN EMINENT DEGREE, WE ARE NOT MERELY UNFORTUNATE BUT GUILTY. (L. Forster.)
Water an emblem of the Holy Spirit:
1. Water is a blessing universally necessary.
2. A blessing universally diffused.
3. An abundant blessing.
4. A cheap blessing. (D. Rees.)
The Spirit acts through believers:
The Spirit must first show forth His virtue in us according to our faith before He can act upon our neighbours. He must be a Spirit of revealing truth in us before He can go forth from us to illuminate the world. He must be a Spirit of conviction in us, making us mindful of our errancies, before He can lead the world to penitence. He must be a Spirit of assurance in us before He can chase the fears and dry the tears of a mourning world. He must be a Spirit of holy, tender, undefiled charity in us before He can assimilate the world to Christs great law of love. And all these things the Spirit becomes to us through faith. Some districts are riverless, not because the rain never falls, but because the soil for a great depth down is so porous that the rainfall passes through it like a sieve. The district that cradles rivers must have a soil and underlying foundation that will hold the rain like a sponge. And the graces and virtues present in the character whose root-principle is unfeigned faith hold the benign influences of the Spirit as in hidden fountains and storehouses, so that the world may be blessed by the steadfast outflow. (T. G.Selby.)
The essential diffusiveness of spiritual religion:
These words remind us of the essential diffusiveness of the religion which has faith for its ruling principle and the presence of the Holy Ghost for its daily heritage. The scale according to which we receive the Spirit must not be that of our own personal necessities only or the demands of the passing opportunity. As the Spirit dwelt in Christ with inexhaustible spontaneity for the sake of the larger humanity He had come to bless, as well as for Himself, so must it be with us. However narrow the visible measurements of our life, if we receive the fulness of the Spirit we shall touch the entire world through those subtle and expansive forces which brood within us. We are sometimes humbled because our sphere of action seems so cramped and circumscribed. We long for wider fields. We should like to be the instruments of Divine activities which will affect continents and live through centuries. But into what a little space our aspiring natures seem to be shut up! There are Christians, excellent in character and rich in mental gifts, whose influence seems to go no further than the home, the shop, the office, a select coterie of friends. If the Spirit is in us, however, these mystic rivers will flow forth, and for the honour of Him whose name we trust the Spirit will see to it that our opportunities are imperial in their magnitude. We shall affect for good the fortunes of many lands, and our destiny shall be large and resplendent as our best aspirations. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred we will not let our influence take wings and pass through its appointed realms and latitudes. The panting springs can find no outlet, and the Spirit is restrained because those are so narrow who give to Him an earthly home. Our religious toleration, for instance, we carry to an extent that is simply sinful. We see men in process of being ruined, and, forsooth, we do not wish to interfere with their religious convictions, as we call them,--just as if any mans convictions were worthy of respect when they do not keep him from sin! We think of ourselves as wells to which our neighbours may come if they wish; but the murmuring streams are forced back into the fountain-head, and wells become little better than cesspools. There must be an onward-pushing force in our religious life. (T. G.Selby.)
Vitalising power in Spirit filled men:
There are souls around us so arid, scorched, and desolate that it seems almost impossible to educe within them a single grace or morality. Races are to be found--at least such is the testimony of the white men who are anxious to supplant them--which lack the rudimentary aptitudes for virtue, humanity, religion. They have received a prodigious endowment of appetite, passion, blood-thirstiness from the beast-world below them; but the spirit-world above them seems to have failed to filter down into their lives a single principle of light, truth, tenderness. Even these may be vitalised with a new ethic and fitted for a higher destiny than that of the dust-heap. But it must be by the Spirit in Christs disciples. The trader who is a nominal Christian and a practical savage goes into their borders, and is an emissary of swift and complete destruction. They are touched by European commerce, and deteriorate and die off m swarms. They are forced into contact with Western civilisation, and they resent its restraints and perish from the lands of their forefathers. All these secondary influences are but as rivers of poison flowing through their borders, and a strange fate compels them to drink what they know to be the cup of death. The streams which can make this human desert, without a hint of verdure and land-marked with whitened bones, into a paradise, and keep it shaded with foliage, glorious with fruit, thick-set with holy homes and song-filled temples, must go out from the souls of men and women who have received the Holy Ghost. (T. G. Selby.)
Encouragement for parents and children:
In its relation to the Jews, there was a partial and very interesting fulfilment of this promise on the day of Pentecost, in the remarkable effusion of the Holy Spirit which then took place, and the blessed effects by which this was followed: but there is a still more striking and illustrious accomplishment to be realised, when, as the result of Divine influence, the Jews, as a nation and people, shall be brought back to God, and become incorporated with the Gentiles in that one fold, of which Christ shall be acknowledged the true and only Shepherd. As a promise pertaining to Gospel times, it is one in which we have a clear and direct interest. As to the particular design of the promise, the very terms in which it is expressed show that it is intended to refer, not perhaps exclusively, but still most emphatically, to the children and posterity of those who have themselves loved and feared God. Consider the promise,--
I. IN ITS APPLICATION TO CHRISTIAN PARENTS. It should be regarded--
1. As an encouragement to the faithful exercise of parental discipline and instruction.
2. As a warrant for believing application at the throne of grace.
3. As a satisfactory ground for hope and encouragement, even under the most unpromising appearances.
II. IN ITS APPLICATION TO THE DESCENDANTS, AND MORE ESPECIALLY THE CHILDREN OF PIOUS PARENTS.
1. This promise affords you no security, apart from your personal acceptance of Christ and submission to His authority.
2. This promise supplies you with the richest encouragement in seeking your salvation and an interest in the Divine favour.
3. This promise should encourage the pious descendants of godly ancestors to aim at more than ordinary eminence in their personal devotedness to God. The imagery of the text seems to imply that a special decision and fixedness of purpose may be expected: One shall say, I am the Lords, &c. It indicates, too, great vigour and rapidity of growth: they shall grow as willows by the water-courses.
4. This promise will leave you doubly without excuse, and greatly aggravate your guilt, if you persist in neglecting salvation. How pleasing to perceive that while the promise applies more especially to the posterity of believers, it does not exclude others! Not only will God give His Spirit and impart His blessing to the seed and offspring of His people, but He will pour water upon every one who is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground. (Essex Remembrancer.)
The Church and the children:
These exceeding great and precious promises are unto us and our children.
I. GODS PROMISE OF BLESSING UPON THE CHURCH.
1. Its import. Refers to the effusion of the Spirit.
2. Its participants. Gods ancient people--in a sadly backsliding state. How deeply they needed the effusion of the Spirit! Two facts prove this to be our great want.
(1) The low and languid piety of many.
(2) The comparatively small success of the various agencies for the conversion of souls.
3. Its abundance. God gives what He promises only in answer to prayer. His promise cannot fail. I will.
II. GODS PROMISE OF BLESSING UPON THE CHILDREN OF THE CHURCH.
1. Our children need the Holy Spirit. Religion is not hereditary. No natural goodness can supersede His work. Spiritual life is not natural life carried up to its highest point of attainment.
2. God promises to give the Spirit as abundantly to them as to us. Same terms used. And having received the Spirit, they are to grow in grace vigorously (Isa_44:4). The manifestation of this in public (Isa_44:5). (A. Tucker.)
Revival:
Foremost among the judgments which followed Israels idolatries was the visitation of drought. Dwelling, as we do, under milder skies, and in a sea-girt isle, we enjoy copious supplies of fertilising rain. Yet, even in our own land, a sensible reduction of the rainfall in spring is followed by empty shocks in August. But in the sunny climes of Syria, if the half-yearly gift of rain failed, the effect was disastrous in the extreme. In the footsteps of famine marched dark-robed pestilence, and grim Death with his scythe of keenest edge. Nor was this all. Towns and hamlets, stripped of strong men, became an easy prey to the marauder. Successful raids paved the way for desolating war; and defeat, oppression, national ruin, came in swift procession. Hence, impiety, must have grown bold indeed, if the Hebrews did not earnestly ask for the early and the latter rain. Now if drought is so injurious in the fields of nature, is it not equally injurious in the Church?
I. A STATE OF BARRENNESS DESCRIBED. The ground is said to be dry--that is, in a parched and impenetrable condition. This is not its normal state: this is deadly to vegetable growth. For some reason the land has been deprived of dew and rain. No seed, however big with latent life, can break its rigid shell; much less spring up or prosper. With such homely imagery as this the prophet leads our thoughts from the outer world to the inner. There is a sense of need expressed. Here is a marked improvement. The soul is athirst; the insensibility is guns. The rigid hardness of winter is at an end.
II. A GENEROUS GIFT PROVIDED. A promise from God is as good as its performance.
1. The Source of the supply. It must come from above. The great folly to which all men are prone, is to seek the supply of their wants apart from God.
2. The suitableness of the means. What can be more suitable than showers of rain for a thirsty soil? Yet equally suitable is every gift of God to satisfy the wants of dependent man!
3. The copiousness of the gift. If showers will not suffice, there shall be floods.
4. The range of the promise. It shall not terminate with ourselves: it shall extend to our children--ay, to our childrens children!
III. ABUNDANT FERTILITY FORESEEN. There shall be a revival of life in the Church, as in the parched fields after a copious shower--as in nature, at the advent of spring.
1. Multiplicity of conversions is here predicted They shall spring up as amongst the grass.
2. Rapidity of growth shall be another feature of this era.
3. Constancy of verdure will be enjoyed. They shall be as willows by the water-courses. In the arid deserts of the East you will find here and there--conspicuous for their rarity--bright spots of luxuriant herbage, fruitfulpalms, flagrant flowers, in the midst of scorching sand. The secret is here,--that far down beneath the surface, a fount bubbles from the riven rock, which, watering the roots of trees and grass, produces beauty, shade, and fruit. So have we seen a man, placed in a very desert of privation--exposed to a scorching sun of trial--yet retaining all the freshness of his piety, and yielding fruits of wisdom, patience, hope. For the roots of his faith were nourished from a secret spring. (Dickerson Davies, M. A.)
A revival promise:
I. THE GREAT COVENANT BLESSING OF THE CHURCH The gift of the Holy Ghost. Whatever metaphor is used this is the meaning of it.
1. This blessing has been already given. We must never underrate the importance of the ascension of our Lord, and the gift of the Spirit which followed thereupon. He is permanently resident in the midst of the Church.
2. This blessing is the subject of a promise. A promise of God is the essence of truth, the soul of certainty, the voice of faithfulness, and the substance of blessing. What a right royal promise it is! We hear the double I will, I will.
3. This gift is a most needful blessing.
4. While we need the Spirit of God, His working is most effectual to supply all our needs when He does come upon us. In the East, you can generally tell where there is a stream or a river by the line of emerald which marks it. If you stood on a hill, you coma see certain lines of green, made up of grass, reeds, rushes, and occasional trees, which have sprung up along the water-courses. Nothing is required to make the land fertile but to water it. Even thus let the Spirit of God come upon any Church, and it is all that it needs to make it living and fruitful.
5. The promise is liberal and unstinted. Pour floods. I have seen in Italy the fields watered by the processes of irrigation: there are trenches made to run along the garden, and smaller gutters to carry the lesser streams to each bed, so that each plant gets its share of water; but the husbandman has to be very careful, for he has but little water in his tank, and only an allotted share of the public reservoir. No plant must have too much; no plot of ground must be drenched. How different is this from the methods of the Lord! He pours the water; He deluges the land.
6. This covenant blessing is peculiarly promised to a certain class of persons who are especially dear to us. I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, &c.
II. THE GLORIOUS-RESULT OF THIS COVENANT BLESSING.
1. The upspringing of spiritual life. Wherever the Spirit of God comes, there will be life in the Church and in the ministry; life in prayer, in effort, in holiness, in brotherly love.
2. The next effect will be seen in the calling out of numerous converts by the Holy Spirit. They shall spring up as among the grass, and as willows by the water-courses. Who can count the blades of grass? The converts called out by the Spirit of God are vigorous and lively. The grass in the East springs up without any sowing, cultivating, or any other attention: it comes up of itself from the fruitful soil. There is the water, and there is the grass. So where the Spirit of God is with a Church there are sure to be conversions, it cannot be otherwise.
3. These conversions will come from all quarters. One shall say, another shall call, another shall subscribe. One comes from the wealthy, another from the poor, a third from nobody knows where. They shall come from all trades and occupations, from all churches and denominations.
4. These converted people shall be led to avow their faith. They shall not, like Nicodemus, come to Jesus by night.
III. THE CONDUCT SUITABLE IF WE OBTAIN THIS BLESSING.
1. We must confess how dry, how wilderness-like we are.
2. Let us cultivate prayer.
3. We must put forth our own personal effort. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Overflowing in usefulness to other:
Egypt has the river Nile all the year round, but as a fertilizing power the Nile is practically useless till it is in flood and overflowing its banks. Then it bestows the needed blessing upon every foot of land it touches. It is when we are filled with the Spirit to the point of overflowing that we become a power for good to others. (T. Waugh.)
Revived Churches:
If you go down to some of our Thames bridges, you will find the barges stuck fast in the mud, and you cannot stir them. It would be a very difficult thing to provide machinery with which to move them; all the kings horses and all the kings men could not do it. But wait till the tide comes in; now every black, heavy old barge walks the waters like a thing of life. Everything that can feat is movable as soon as the silver flood has returned. So, many of our Churches lie in the mud. Everything seems motionless, powerless; but when the Spirit of God comes in like a flood, all is altered. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed
Gods covenant with Christian parents
(with Act_2:39):--Has God given to us any sure grounds to expect the conversion of the children of His people. Note--
I. THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE CHILDREN TO THE PARENTS, as it is laid down in Scripture. It is plain that when God becomes our God, He becomes the God of our children.
II. CHRISTIAN NURTURE furnishes us with another reason for expecting the salvation of our children. Train up a child, &c.
III. WE MAY FOUND OUR HOPES UPON GODS FAITHFULNESS AS A PRAYER-HEARING GOD. Let us not despair if the answer to prayer be long delayed. The Rev. Mr. Grimshaw, rector of Haworth, had but one son, and he did not follow his fathers footsteps. After his fathers death, he was heard to say, in his maudlin drunkenness, when riding, This horse once carried a saint; now it carries a devil. Yet, hopeless as this case seemed, he became a true penitent, and one of his deathbed sayings was, How astonished my father will be to see me in heaven! (Evangelical Advocate.)
Christian home environment:
There have been few of the great teachers of Christendom who have not derived their deepest convictions from the impressions made by their earliest domestic environment. (J. Stalker, D. D.)
The value of young life:
The nation of the future rests upon the cradles of to-day. The young life in any institution is that which repairs its defects, enlarges its usefulness, and stimulates its charities. The young life, in any family, is the influence which suns the path of age, invigorates exertion, and quickens the growth of the virtues. Where would the valour and vigour of the country be if deprived of the support of young life? Disraeli says that almost everything that is great has been done by youth; and the history of heroes is the history of youth. In the vegetable world the mission and influence of the young life is not less plain than powerful. According to Louis Figuier, the bud must be considered as a fundamental element in the plant, which, without it, would soon perish. It is the bud which year by year repairs the losses, supplies the flowers, the leaves, the branches which nave disappeared. Through its means the plant increases in growth. Through it its existence is prolonged. The bud is the true renovator of the vegetable world. Therefore these buds are everywhere--on the roots, the leaves, and sometimes even on the flowers, for Nature never loses sight of the phenomena essential to organic life--namely, the production of new beings. (Scientific Illustrations and Symbols.)
Child-piety:
A Christian gentlemans little son, just before he died, said to his father: When I get to heaven, I shall go up to Jesus and say, Jesus, I know You; my papa told me about You. (T. Champness.)
A Christian childhood:
Rev. F. B. Meyer was asked: How did you find Christ? This is his written reply: I do not remember when first I became a Christian. The love of God came over me as the dawn over a summer sky; and it was only in after years that I realised what God had done for me in those early days. My mother and father were godly people. They expected me to be a Christian, and at my mothers knee I said my morning and evening prayers. It is to their prayer and faith and unremitting care that I owe everything.
Gods blessing on the offspring of His people
Speaking of the way in which his mother received him when he informed her that he had decided to leave the railway office and become a minister, the Rev. John MNeill said: Taking my face between her hands, she drew it close to her own and said, John, I meant you for that before I ever saw your face. I knew then, what I had never guessed before, that I owe my conversion and my ministry to my mothers prayer. (Presbyterian.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v5 Isa_44:5. One shall say, I am the Lord’s, &c.
A PUBLIC PROFESSION OF RELIGION
Isa_44:5. One shall say, I am the Lord’s, &c.
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This chapter begins with a prediction of the future prosperity and increase of the Church of God; and the prophet here represents converts as spontaneously choosing to make a public profession of religion.
I. SOME REASONS WHY TRUE CONVERTS DESIRE TO MAKE A PUBLIC PROFESSION OF RELIGION.
1. Those who have experienced a saving change of heart love God’s law. It is in the creation of such a love within them that this change consists (Jer_31:33; Psa_119:97). Those who love God’s law choose to obey it, and to bind themselves to obey it for ever (Jer_1:4-5).
2. They love God’s ordinances. They delight to observe them all, especially that which commemorates the death of their Divine Redeemer (Act_2:41; Act_2:47).
3. They love God’s people, and delight to unite with them in the duties of religion, and in their attendance on divine ordinances.
4. They love God’s cause. They desire to be workers together with God in building up His kingdom, and for this reason wish to put themselves in the best situation, and under the strongest obligations to promote the cause of truth and the prosperity of Zion. Their profession gives them a greater freedom, and creates a greater obligation to speak and act for God and for the good of their fellow-men.
5. They desire to grow in grace; and for that reason desire to join the Church, that they may enjoy the best means of spiritual instruction and edification.
6. They desire to persevere to the end; and being conscious of the deceitfulness of their own hearts, and their proneness to forget and forsake God, they gladly avail themselves of the help that is afforded by a public vow and covenant to be steadfast in His service (H. E. I. 3903–3911).
As all who make a profession of religion are not Christians, so neither are all who omit to do so unbelievers. Let us note, therefore—
II. SOME EXCUSES WHICH SOME CONVERTS OFFER FOR NOT MAKING A PUBLIC PROFESSION OF RELIGION.
1. “I am not absolutely certain that I am a Christian.” But you hope you are; and will disobeying God do anything to turn your hope into a settled confidence? The way to get more grace is to use the grace you have.
2. “I do not know that the Church would receive me.” Why not? Do you think that the Church is not competent to arrive at a just judgment concerning you? or that it would wilfully judge you unjustly? or that your excellences are so transcendent that full justice would not be done to them? If this is what you mean, you are not worthy to enter the Church. But if your fear of not being accepted arises from a humiliating sense of your own unworthiness, such humility will rather commend you to the esteem and confidence of good men.
3. “I fear I should do more dishonour than honour to religion.” But you have no right to fear anything of the kind. God promises to sustain you with His all-sufficient grace. Put away this sinful, because unbelieving, fear.
4. “I know a great many good people who are not Church members.” That is no concern of yours. Their neglect will not excuse yours (Joh_21:21-22; Rom_14:12).
5. “A great many Church members are no better than they ought to be.” True. Let us be sorry that it is so. But this is no reason why you should neglect to name Christ’s name and promote His cause; it is rather a strong reason why you should unite with His few friends to purify, strengthen, and revive religion, and to rectify whatever is amiss in the Church. Note—
III. SOME OF THE EVILS THAT RESULT FROM THIS NEGLECT TO MAKE A PUBLIC PROFESSION OF RELIGION.
Those who are guilty of it—
1. Injure themselves, by depriving themselves of that peace and comfort which they might enjoy in communion with God and His people.
2. They injure religion, by neglecting to perform those peculiar and important duties by which it is to be promoted in the world.
3. They injure the friends of God by practically joining with the world in neglecting and opposing the cause which they desire and have bound themselves to promote (Mat_12:30).
4. They injure the impenitent by practically justifying them in their impenitence and unbelief. The more upright and amiable they appear, the more they injure the cause of God and the souls of men by the weight and influence of their criminal example.—Dr. Emmons: Works, vol. v. pp. 458–469.
The immediate effect of the outpouring of the Spirit, promised in Isa_44:3, will be a general awakening to the claims of religion. When so visited, men think seriously about the soul, eternity, and God. Hitherto their practice may have been at one with the sentiment expressed in the words, “Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die;” but, under the influence of the new quickening, the unseen state is felt to be a reality, and the interests of time give way before the urgency of the great hereafter. Such views ripen into religious devotion, or the soul’s consecration to God.
Touching the nature and method of the surrender and dedication of the soul to God, the prophet’s language indicates these things:—
I. The act is strictly personal. “One shall say,” “and another shall call himself,” “and another shall subscribe with his hand.” [1411] Men proceed singly in the matter. Repentance, faith, and regeneration and consecration are individual transactions between the creature and the Creator. Into the fellowship of saints many may enter at the same time. The text favours the idea of concealed action. In their turning to God, it is common for men to move together. Yet the procedure is no more a collective process than eating and drinking at one table and hour is a collective process. As the servants of the Crown have to take the oath of allegiance one by one, so must the vow of service to the King of kings be, in every case, independently plighted. Each person has to enter into the covenant on his own account.
[1411] “And another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel.” According to Bishop Louth, this might be rendered, “Another shall inscribe his hand to Jehovah;” or still more plainly in the Septuagint translation, “An other shall write upon his hand, I belong to God.” You have doubtless seen upon the hands or arms of seamen the name of the ship in which they have served, rendered indelible by puncture, or by staining; this, perhaps, is one of the oldest customs in the world. The slave, in former days, used thus to be marked with the name of his master; the soldier, of his commander; the idolater, with the name of his god; while one of the Christian fathers tells us that in his day, “many marked their wrists or their arms with the sign of the cross, or with the name of Christ.” This, then, will give you a very distinct idea of what the Lord requires of you, and what He will enable you to perform; it is such a decided choice of the Lord for your portion, such an avowal by your daily actions, that you are not your own, but His who has bought you with the price of His precious blood, that all shall know it as certainly, and that your actions shall proclaim it as unequivocally, as if the name of Christ were inscribed on the back of your hand, and could be seen and read in all companies, and on all occasions.—Blunt.
II. The act is performed specially by the faculty of choice and determination. The other mental powers share in the engagement. The understanding and reason, the conscience and the affections, are parties to it. But, whilst the sister faculties conduce to and support the pledge, the utterance of the binding promise does not rest with any or all of them. The decision itself pertains to the instrument of choice. The making up of the mind to what is good and holy is pre-eminently the function and act of the will. “Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power.”
III. The act, in order to be rightly completed, requires an outward sign or seal. The word of acknowledgment is spoken. “I am the Lord’s;” or “the name of Jacob” is assumed, the visible fellowship of good men is entered; or a subscription with the hand is appended in token of acceptance and submission. When the soul attaches itself to the service of its Saviour, the internal establishment is to be accompanied by some sort of external work. This is seemly by way of open confession. It is right and becoming for the children of God to show whose they are. The sign, too, helps one’s own resolution. Our purpose is the stronger when we have definitively committed ourselves to the adopted course. Again, the sign has its effect upon others. Where the decision for Christ is not avowed, the example cannot be clear and forcible. The token is a reasonable adjunct, and not to be neglected without loss in various ways. Hence the Scriptures call for the outward profession of faith. Our courage is not to shrink from view. Instead of continuing to come to Christ by night only, Nicodemus must consent to receive baptism with water, and take upon him the badge of open identification with an unpopular cause. The Christian’s light is to shine before men. Jesus did not invite to secret discipleship (H. E. I. 1042–1045).—W. Follard.
I. The nature of true religion.
1. It is a surrender of ourselves to God. “I am the Lord’s.”
(1.) He has an original right—formed us for Himself.
(2.) Reasonable right.
(3.) Redeeming right.
2. It is an avowed acknowledgment of God. “Another shall,” &c. Profession is demanded by the Lord.
3. It includes union and fellowship with His people. “Call themselves,” &c. So in apostolic times, &c.
II. The characteristics of religion as presented in our text.
1. It is personal.
2. Voluntary.
3. Deliberate.
4. Determinate.
III. The importance of such a spirit of religion.
1. It is intensely important to Jesus.
2. To the Church. 3. Supremely important to yourselves; it is not a vain thing, it is your life.—R. M. M‘Cheyne: Sermons on Special Occasions, pp. 170–173.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 5 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues speaking to the people of Israel.
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I will pour water on the thirsty ground, and flowing streams on the dry ground
Yahweh speaks of giving his Spirit to the people of Israel as if he were causing rain to fall and streams to flow on dry ground. (See: Metaphor)
the thirsty ground
Dry ground is spoken of as if it were a thirsty person. AT: "the dry ground" (See: Metaphor and Personification)
I will pour my Spirit on your offspring
Yahweh speaks of giving his Spirit to the people as if his Spirit were liquid that he pours out on them. AT: "I will give my Spirit to your offspring" (See: Metaphor)
my blessing on your children
The verb may be supplied from the previous phrase. AT: "I will pour out my blessing on your children" or "I will give my blessing to your children" (See: Ellipsis)
They will spring up among the grass, like willows by the streams of water
The people of Israel being prosperous and multiplying is spoken of as if they were plants that grow because they have plenty of water. (See: Metaphor)
willows
A willow is a tree with thin branches that grows near the water.
translationWords
Holy Spirit
offspring
bless
children
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v3 44:3 The restoration theme is connected with God’s promise…
44:3 The restoration theme is connected with God’s promise to pour out the Spirit (see also 32:15-17; Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:16-18). • on your descendants . . . children: The next generation of Israelites offered hope.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.