Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 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:
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.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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 tsame’ 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.
And floods – The word nozelym, from nazal, 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 parents 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.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 44:3-5
For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty
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.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
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,
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.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. (Isa41:18).
him . . . thirstyrather,”the land” (Isa 35:6;Isa 35:7), figuratively for manthirsting after righteousness (Mt5:6).
floodsthe abundantinfluences of the Holy Spirit, stronger than “water.”
spiritincluding allspiritual and temporal gifts, as the parallel, “blessing,”proves (Isa 11:2; Isa 32:15).
seed (Isa59:21).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 Ps 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,
“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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
3. For I will pour waters. He continues the same subject, and at the same time explains what will be the nature of that assistance which he has promised. But we ought always to keep in remembrance that these prophecies relate to that sorrowful and afflicted period of which he formerly spoke, that is, when the people, in the extremity to which they were reduced, might think that they were altogether forsaken, and that all the promises of God were vain. Isaiah meets this doubt, and compares the people to a dry and thirsty land, which has no moisture at all. By this metaphor David also describes his wretchedness. (Psa 143:6.) Although therefore they were worn out by afflictions, and the vital moisture was decayed, yet, that they might not throw away courage in their deepest distresses, they ought to have set before their minds this declaration of the Prophet. We, too, when we are brought into the greatest dangers, and see nothing before us but immediate death, ought in the same manner to betake ourselves to these promises, that we may be supported by them against all temptations. Yet we must feel our drought and poverty, that our thirsty souls may partake of this refreshing influence of the waters.
I will pour my Spirit. Jehovah himself explains what he means by waters and rivers, that is, his Spirit. In another passage the Spirit of God is called “water,” but in a different sense. When Ezekiel gives the name “water” to the Holy Spirit, he at the same time calls it “clean water,” with a view to cleansing. (Eze 36:25.) Isaiah will afterwards call the Spirit “waters,” but for a different reason, that is, because by the secret moisture of his power he quickens souls. But these words of the Prophet have a wider signification, because he does not speak merely of the Spirit of regeneration, but alludes to the universal grace which is spread over all the creatures, and which is mentioned in Psa 105:30, “Send forth thy Spirit, and they shall be created, and he will renew the face of the earth.” As David declares in that passage that every part of the world is enlivened, so far as God imparts to it secret vigor, and next ascribes to God might and power, by which, whenever he thinks fit, he suddenly revives the ruinous condition of heaven and earth, so now for the same reason Isaiah gives the appellation “water” to the sudden renewal of the Church; as if he had said that the restoration of the Church is at God’s disposal, as much as when he fertilizes by dew or rain the barren and almost parched lands.
Thus the Spirit is compared to “water,” because without Him all things decay and perish through drought, and because by the secret watering of his power he quickens the whole world, and because the barrenness occasioned by drought and heat is cured in such a manner, that the earth puts on a new face. This is still more fully explained by the word which he afterwards employs, Blessing.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(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.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
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.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 44:3-5. For I will pour water A general promise of help and protection appearing less efficacious, God promises something more great and sublime to his church: for when that church might appear to apprehend nothing but destruction amid so many calamities, the Almighty promises to it, both a remarkable enlargement of its body, that is, the mystical body of Christ, and also the spiritual blessings of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, to be poured forth abundantly upon the enlarged church. This promise is two-fold: In the third verse we have, first, the spiritual blessing to be imparted to the seed of the church; and secondly, the fruit of that blessing, in the wonderful increase of the church; which consists of two articles; the former of which describes this increase of the spiritual state of believers metaphorically, Isa 44:4 and the latter literally, without any figure, Isa 44:5. See on chap. xllii. 7. Every one must clearly discern the completion of this prophesy in the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and the wonderful effusion of the Spirit upon the first believers, with its reference particularly to that covenant in baptism, when the baptized in effect subscribe with their hand unto the Lord, and surname themselves with the name of Christian. But the prophesy probably includes also the great out-pouring of the Spirit in the latter days. See Vitringa.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
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 “
I will pour my spirit and my blessing.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I will pour, &c. These promises all refer to the day of Israel’s future restoration.
spirit. Hebrew. ruach. App-9. For this promise, see Eze 36:25-30; Eze 39:29. Compare Isa 32:15; Isa 59:21. Joe 2:28. Zec 12:10. It began at Pentecost (Act 2:16); but the kingdom was then rejected (Act 28:25, Act 28:26), and the promise is now in abeyance. Compare Joe 2:28, “afterward”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
pour water: Isa 41:17, Isa 59:21, Eze 34:26, Joe 3:18, Joh 7:37-39, Rev 21:6, Rev 22:17
floods: Isa 32:2, Isa 35:6, Isa 35:7, Isa 43:19, Isa 43:20, Isa 48:21, Isa 49:10, Psa 78:15, Psa 78:16, Psa 107:35
dry ground: Psa 63:1, Mat 12:43, Greek
pour my: Isa 32:15, Isa 59:21, Pro 1:23, Eze 39:29, Joe 2:28, Zec 12:10, Act 2:17, Act 2:33, Act 2:39, Act 10:45, Tit 3:5, Tit 3:6
Reciprocal: Exo 40:14 – General Lev 2:4 – wafers Num 11:17 – I will take Jdg 15:19 – there came 2Sa 23:15 – longed Psa 22:31 – They Psa 69:36 – The seed Psa 72:16 – of the city Psa 144:12 – as plants Psa 147:13 – blessed Isa 30:25 – upon every high Isa 41:18 – General Isa 45:8 – Drop down Isa 45:23 – every tongue Isa 61:9 – their seed Eze 36:27 – I will Eze 47:8 – and go down Hos 6:3 – as the rain Hos 10:12 – rain Hos 14:5 – as the dew Mic 5:7 – as a dew Zec 10:1 – and give Mat 3:11 – he shall Mat 5:6 – for Mar 1:8 – he shall Luk 3:16 – he shall Luk 6:21 – for ye shall be Luk 11:13 – give the Luk 11:24 – dry Luk 24:49 – I send Joh 3:5 – born Joh 4:10 – living Joh 7:38 – out Joh 7:39 – this spake Act 2:38 – and ye Act 5:14 – believers Act 11:16 – but Rom 5:5 – shed 1Co 12:13 – by 2Co 3:8 – the ministration 2Co 8:5 – first Gal 3:14 – might Gal 4:6 – crying Heb 6:7 – receiveth 1Pe 1:12 – sent
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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 Lords, &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.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
44:3 For I will pour water upon him that is {c} thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thy offspring:
(c) Because man of himself is as the dry and barren land, he promises to moisten him with the waters of his Holy Spirit, Joe 2:28, Joh 7:38, Act 2:17 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Lord promised to pour out His Spirit on the Israelites in the future. This gift would have the same effect for the nation as pouring water on dry ground would have for the landscape. It would bring refreshment and new life, indeed, a whole new spiritual attitude (cf. Isa 32:15; Jer 31:31-34; Eze 36:26-27; Eze 37:7-10; Joe 2:28-29). Blessing would come to the descendants of Isaiah’s audience. Isaiah in this verse may have meant that God would bring both physical and spiritual refreshment. Other passages reveal that He will send physical refreshment (cf. Isa 35:6-7; Isa 41:18).
Since this is a promise specifically to the Israelites, they would be the special recipients of this outpouring. Thus it must still be future. The giving of the Spirit in the apostolic age, first on the day of Pentecost and then on several subsequent occasions, was not a gift to Israel but to the church, not to Jews uniquely but to Jews and Gentiles equally (cf. Act 11:15). Both outpourings have the result of making the recipients witnesses.