What a lovely Text today.

“And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” Isaiah 32:2

Sure sounds good.

Safety, security, comfort, all needs satisfied!

But Who is this “man?”

I say, based on the previous verse … Isaiah 32:1 … that it is the Lord! (“Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment,”as in King Jesus.)

If I am right in holding this old-fashioned, fundamental (literalist) view … the “he” in verse 2 above identifies with the “king” of verse 1. “King” is the antecedent of “he.”

Hence Jesus will be a “hiding place!” (In Hebrew a place of “withdrawal, secrecy, filled with love!”)

Jesus will also be a “covert.” (Meaning “shelter, protector, covering.”)

Talk about being “in Christ,” just Old Testament style!

Then suddenly, it looks like our verse almost “mixes metaphors.”

Jesus becomes a “River!” Let me re-word that, “rivers of water,” plural! In a previously “dry” place! (Does this remind you in any way of John 7:38-39? “Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man THIRST, let him come unto me, and DRINK. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow RIVERS of living water. But this spake he of the SPIRIT, which they that believe on him should receive.”)

So the Holy Spirit is compared to “Rivers.” And now today so is our Lord Jesus! (The Holy Spirit is also our Comforter, “Parakletos.” Then later we learn … so is Jesus. Specifically He is our “Advocate,” but still “Parakletos” in Greek!)

Wow!

Then, back to our Text, (Jesus is) as a “shadow,” that is cast by a “great rock.” (I’d say the “Rock of Ages!”) In a “weary land,” a place of extreme weakness.

Let’s read it yet again: “And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.”

These last two Descriptors (“Rivers of waters” and a Protecting “Shadow in a weary land”) sound like Psalm 23, in reality! (You know … “Still Waters” and the “Valley of the Shadow, and His comforting Rod and Staff.”) This is Jesus our Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd of the sheep! (As in 1 Peter 5:4 … “And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.”)

I believe this is the Millennial Jesus, folks.

They nowadays talk about the “Jesus of faith” and the “Jesus of history” and the “Probable Jesus.” I only know the Jesus of the Bible, the One introduced to me by the Holy Spirit of God when He saved my lost soul from Hell! The One Who lives in my heart! Jesus the Son of God!

Also the One Who is coming again, to rule and reign on this earth for a “thousand years.” Looks like from our Text a thousand “peaceful, restful” years!

One more thing today.

What do the “wind” and the “tempest” and the “dry place” and the “weary land” represent in our Verse?

Remember Jesus has just returned, interrupted the war of Armageddon and defeated (slain) the antichrist … snatching a battered Jewish remnant from sure destruction! People who have suffered indescribably from the Dragon, the Devil, Satan himself.

Those horrid Tribulational conditions surely are the “wind and tempest and aridness and fatigue” from which Jesus delivers them!

By the way, as a present day Christian Jesus has delivered me too! He is my “Hiding Place” and “Covert” and “River” and “Rock!” No longer do my sins torment me, because of Him! Nor the storms of life overcome me! Nor my needs define me!

Hallelujah!

“Behold the Man!”

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

.