Using the literary device now known as “inclusio,” Isaiah 44:1-5 contains some beautiful Material! (Inclusio: both beginning and ending a Passage with an identical verbal “marker.”)
Watch …
“Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen: 2 Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen. 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.” Isaiah 44:1-5
Verse 1 … “O Jacob my servant, and Israel!”
Verse 5 … “The name of Israel!”
These identical “nominatives of address” define the boundaries of this particular “oracle” (“sermon”) of Isaiah. Thus we are assured we are studying a valid “unit” in our chapter, Isaiah 44.
God’s “choice” looms large here, being mentioned twice. Yet it is NOT individuals being chosen, but a group! In fact, a whole nation! (Israel is God’s chosen People, that population.) In the same sense, the “Church” is a chosen Body in God’s Eyes! Then individuals become part of God’s “Chosen” by believing in His/Jesus’ Name, by being “born again!” We are “accepted” (“chosen”) in the Beloved, in Jesus! (Ephesians 1:6 … “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.)
But then look! Who (by choice) becomes Israel? Who (plural) are included in this “number?”
It looks to me like “whosoever will!”
Yes indeed, it involves “choice” on the part of the people! “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.” Verse 5, grammatically including the “gentiles” too!
“One,” then “another,” then behold yet “another!”
Wow!
Our “Maker” and “Former” (like the Potter and his clay) … will also be our “Helper!” (As in “My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:2) Our Text, verse 2 … “Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun (meaning ‘upright’), whom I have chosen.”
Precious!
Then our Paragraph depicts God as the Sender of the rain, what a blessing. “For I (the Lord) will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground.” (Verse 3 of our Text today) And as we shall soon see, in Isaiah 35:1, that some day “the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose,” a miracle only possible through abundant moisture, rainfall. God, the gracious Meteorologist!
But then immediately God prepares to “pour out” Something Else! (Using the same verb as pertained to the rain and the floods! Translated “overflow” once in the King James Version!) Yes … “I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.”
Wow!
This Pericope has just gone “Millennial,” I believe!
Bright days ahead for God’s people!
And the Result of the Holy Spirit’s copious Outflow/Overflow … “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.” Isaiah 44:4-5
Growth … both physically and spiritually!
Sounds a lot like Psalm 1 … “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of waters!” (Willows by the waters!)
Nobody will be “ashamed” of Israel then!
Antisemitism, what was that?
“I belong to the Lord,” testifies many a person!
“And I to Israel, God’s chosen People,” claims many others!
“Israel” … defined, “prince with God,” or “prince of God,” or (as says Dr. G. Campbell Morgan) “princed (ruled) by God!”
What a Revival that will be. The greatest (I think) this world will have ever seen! When Jesus comes again!
What a Preacher, Isaiah!
What a God, our dear Lord!
— Dr. Mike Bagwell
Oh, this too. “And another shall subscribe WITH HIS HAND unto the LORD, and surname himself by the name of Israel.” Verse 5 … people so “in love” with the Lord that they literally “mark” their hands “THE LORD’S PROPERTY!” (Much like a bond-slave voluntarily brands himself as belonging to his Master! See Exodus 21:6, for an example, repeated in Deuteronomy 15:17.)
Dedication!
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