ISAIAH - CHAPTER 44 - "I WILL POUR MY SPIRIT UPON YOUR SEED"
ISAIAH 44 – “I WILL POUR MY SPIRIT UPON YOUR SEED”
Tuesday Morning Bible Study
October 7, 2014, the Year of Our Lord
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
In this chapter the Lord says:
- “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground”.
- “I will pour My Spirit upon your seed and My blessing upon your offspring”.
Through this prophetic declaration, the Prophet releases the everlasting covenant blessing from the ancients, Jacob and Jeshurun (the beloved), through the Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts (Jesus Christ) to those who will receive His name (44: 5-6)
This chapter is the promise of the deliverance of God’s people from Babylon (present truth spirit of Islam) and a spirit of sinful idolatry. The prophet declares that all idols are “lies in the right hand”. Once more the gloom of the present is lit up by the promise of a brilliant future. Chapters 44 and 45 are a forecast of Israel’s return from the captivity under Cyrus, with special emphasis on God’s ability to predict the future.
Cyrus, King of Persia, reigned from about 559-529 B.C. he permitted the Jews to return to Jerusalem, and issued a decree authorizing the rebuilding of the Temple. Isaiah prophesied from 745-695 B.C. he declared these words concerning Cyrus over 150 years prior to their fulfillment. Yet he call him by name, and predicts that he would rebuild the temple, which in Isaiah’s day had not yet fallen.
The Divine Spirit shall be poured out upon God’s people, and strangers shall esteem it an honor to attach themselves to the Covenant people. Not only will it be to their honor, but the blessings of the Lord the King of Israel is to all peoples who will publically take His name.
There is no God but Jehovah and Israel is His witness to the world.
Verses 1-5 refer to the spiritual regeneration of the people of God whom he will pour out His Spirit upon in response to their confessed need.
44: 1-4: ‘Yet now hear, O Jacob My servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen: Thus says the Lord that made you, and formed you from the womb, which will help you; Fear not, O Jacob, My servant you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour My Spirit upon your seed and My blessing upon your offspring. And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.”
At the close of chapter 43, Jacob and Israel were given up to “the curse” and “to reproaches.” But two of their ancestral names ring like notes of music in the Prophet’s ear. He proceeds to connect and associate them in a happier future, not with the curse, but with the blessing.
Again the lullaby of love is resumed “Fear Not”
I preached a message on “The God of Jeshurun” in May, 2014. (see website)
(Verses 1-4 are a repeat/confirmation of what I have been teaching all spring and summer. But I have to believe the Lord is driving home a message to us about the “Willows”, “Trees”, His Everlasting covenant and Everlasting things which are ours to apprehend. It cannot be a coincidence that He has led us repeatedly to these promises. I chose not to skip this chapter but to continue on course and watch as the Holy Spirit reveals the message as I preach. Verses 5 & 6 are so glorious we should all shout!)
Jesurun or Jeshurun means straight or even. The symbolic meaning is upright or righteous; most upright; most beloved; here it refers to the faith and purity of the patriarchs of the founders of the nation.
The covenant name of Jeshurun is symbolic of the “everlasting covenant” promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
As “the God of Jeshurun” the Lord speaks to us under that glorious covenant-name that we are heirs to the blessings which follow. All the spiritual seed of Israel are “upright”, and “righteous” through the righteousness of “the Righteous One, Jesus Christ”. It is in Him alone that our feet stand in an “even place”. “Surely shall one say, in the Lord I have righteousness and strength…In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified and shall glory” (Isa. 45: 24-25).
These verses are a special promise of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. “There is none like the God of Jeshurun…the eternal God our refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms”. (Deut. 33:26-27)
In Isa. 44:3, the water poured out on the thirsty and dry ground is clearly identical with the second promise of, “I will pour My Spirit upon your seed and will pour floods on dry ground”. “I will pour my blessing upon your offspring”.
The double promise expresses plenty in abundance. Both the water and the floods; the rain from heaven; and the mountain-torrents to refresh the parched land. This is prophetic of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the church of God.
The willow contributed its part in forming the booths or tents constructed during the Feast of Tabernacles. It was therefore a joyous festal emblem; and is prophetically suggestive of that future season of revival which we now know as the Glory of God.
The willow, of all trees, was most dependent on moisture, so it is a beautiful and appropriate emblem of the Believer and the Church, moistened and refreshed by the influences of the Holy Spirit; when He comes down “like rain upon the mown grass, and as showers that water the earth,”---causing those who in themselves are dry, sapless, or dead, to become “trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified”.
Jesus confirms the interpretation of this figurative language in his glorious words: “If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink.” This He spoke of the Spirit, which all who believes on Him will receive.”
“This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; “It shall come to pass in the last days, says God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh…and whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
As “the God of Jeshurun” He speaks to us, His glorious covenant-name of Excellency, uprightness, and righteousness of His glorious promise that He will pour out His Holy Spirit upon the seed.
To the Patriarch, Abraham was the promise given – Gen. 17:7:
“I will establish my covenant between me and thee and your seed after you in their generations for an everlasting covenant to be a God unto you, and to your seed after you.”
44:5-6: “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 to the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel. Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and His redeemer the Lord of Hosts. I am the First, and I am the Last; and beside Me there is no God. And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for Me; since I appointed the ancient people? And the things that are coming, and shall come, let them show to them.”
We like the Apostle Paul will join with the voices from every quarter of the world, saying, “God, whose I am, and whom I serve;” “I bear on my body the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Once more the Prophet listens, and yet another voice is heard, “I surname myself by the name of Israel;” I desire to bear the surname of God’s redeemed people; --to be identified with the Kingdom of God---thus permitted to inherit the blessings uttered of old by Jacob to Ephraim and Manasseh: “Let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”
In this one prophetic declaration, the promise given to Ephraim and Manasseh delivers the covenant blessings of Jacob to Zion’s world-wide brotherhood. It is clearly through His Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts, that the promise will be delivered. There is only ONE REDEEMER. He is the Christ, the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
This is a beautiful picture of the Church of Christ in its latter day of glory! It is a glorious chorus of hosanna’s shouting, “I am Jehovah’s”. One voice is heard in the distant east; it rises from the plains of India, or amid the teeming millions of China and Japan. Another; is from a dweller in the desert rocks of Iraq and Afghanistan. Another; from the African jungles---all stretching out hands unto God; another from the North Pole; the isles of the sea, the forest of Australia; voices from the loud tide of humanity. But the theme of universal homage is, “To Jehovah I belong.” Crown Him! Crown Him! Crown Him Lord of all!
Who can doubt that it is Messiah who is here spoken of?
The true offspring of the patriarch, exulting alike in their natural and spiritual pedigree will at last glory in indentifying themselves with Christ and His people, calling themselves “by the name of Christ”. Nor does this great promise diminish the literal meaning and fulfillment of the promise, “Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen…”
Personally we can all say, “Put my name down, sir, for I too am to be one of the Hosts of the Lord.”(Bunyan)
Jesus, Master, whose I am,
Purchased, yours alone to be,
By your blood, O spotless Lamb,
Shed so willingly for me;
Let my heart be all your own,
Let me live to you alone.
Lord, you do not need, I know
Service such as I can bring;
Yet I long to give and show
Loyal homage to my King;
Open my eyes to see
All the work you have for me.”
(John Ross MacDuff)
44: 7-8: “And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for Me, since I appointed the ancient people? And the things that are coming, and shall come, let them show to them. Fear not, neither be afraid. Have I not told you from that time, and have declared it? You are my witnesses. Is there a God beside Me yea, there is no God; I not any.”
The following passage, verses 9-20, is the most elaborate and remorseless satire on the folly of idolatry in the whole book of Isaiah.
God contrasts Himself with the impotence and futility of idols because Israel with her hereditary propensity to idolatry would be exposed to and easily tempted by the idolatry in Babylon during her long captivity.
44: 9-11: “They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know that they may be ashamed. Who has formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing? Behold all his fellows shall be ashamed; and the workmen they are of men; let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together.”
Above all the prophet declares the Babylonian religion failed by its total inability to predict the fall of the Babylonian empire. This long digression is a brilliant attack, not upon Babylonian religious thinking as such, but upon the idols themselves; the purpose of the satire is to persuade the exiles than an idol is neither more nor less than a block of wood. The sheer contrast with the living though unseen God is Israel is implicit. We can interject Islam into these verses. Verse 20b – describes all idols as a “lie”.
44: 12-14: “The smith with the tongs both works in the coals, and fashions it with hammers, and works it with the strength of his arms; yea, he is hungry and his strength fails; he drinks no water, and is faint. The carpenter stretches out his rule; he marks it out with a line; he fits it with planes, and he marks it out with the compass, and make it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of man; that it may remain in the house. He hews him down cedars, and takes the cypress and the oak, which he strengthens for himself among the trees of the forest; he plans an ash and rain does nourish it.”
A lie is the name often given to an idol, because of it being false and deceptive that which Israel made to rely upon was deceptive and could not save them. Any false religion is a lie, and all that sinners rely upon to same them, apart from God is a lie. If we make our government and the leaders of our government as our “idol” to deliver us from terrorism, plague, and natural disaster, we then make our government an idol. Our government has become a “lie”.
44: 15-20: “Then shall it be for a man to burn; for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindles it, and bakes bread; yea he makes a god, and worships it; he makes it a graven image, and falls down before it. He burns part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eats flesh; he makes roast, and is satisfied; yea, he warms himself, and says, Aha, I am warm. I have seen the fire; and the residue thereof he makes a god, even his graven image; he falls down to it; and worships it, and prays to it, and says, Deliver me, for you are my god. They have not known nor understood; for He has shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand. None considers in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eat it; and shall I made the residue thereof an abomination? Shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say is there not a lie in my right hand?
Smith and carpenter expend energy and strength in the folly of idol-making, while the Lord peacefully declares that He neither has rival nor competition, and never forgets His servants.
Verses 21-28 look forward to Israel’s deliverance from Babylon and the rebuilding of Jerusalem with its temple through Cyrus in accordance with the word of the prophets, and in spite of the false sayings of the soothsayers. Cyrus is mentioned over 100 years before his birth. I will include verses 21-28 in with chapter 45 next week.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries, Inc.
Scripture from K.J.V. – I entered into the labors of John Ross MacDuff (1818-1895), “The Harp Taken From the Willows”---Public Domain; Principles of Present Truth by: Kelly Varner; F. F. Bruce Bible Commentary --- Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the views of those who I entered into their labors.