44 “But now listen, O Jacob, My servant,
And Israel, whom I have chosen:
2 Thus says the Lord who made you
And formed you from the womb, who will help you,
‘Do not fear, O Jacob My servant;
And you Jeshurun whom I have chosen.
3 ‘For I will pour out water on [a]the thirsty land
And streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring
And My blessing on your descendants;
4 And they will spring up [b]among the grass
Like poplars by streams of water.’
5 “This one will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’;
And that one [c]will call on the name of Jacob;
And another will write [d]on his hand, ‘Belonging to the Lord,’
And will name Israel’s name with honor.6 “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 there is no God besides Me.
7 ‘Who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it;
Yes, let him recount it to Me in order,
[e]From the time that I established the ancient [f]nation.
And let them declare to them the things that are coming
And the events that are going to take place.
8 ‘Do not tremble and do not be afraid;
Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it?
And you are My witnesses.
Is there any God besides Me,
Or is there any other Rock?
I know of none.’”
These first few verses of chapter 44 seem to foreshadow a fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham. Specifically, that through his descendants, all nations of the world would be blessed. At first, up through v. 3, these blessings and God’s Spirit are for the offspring and descendants of Abraham. Yet as we get to verse 4, it reminds me of something Jesus told the religious leaders who were so sure of their lineage from Abraham.
If God was going to cause a virgin to be with child–which He did not just once, but twice–it should be no surprise that Jesus told them, “…from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.” Here, these seem to come from nowhere, who “belong to the Lord”, springing up “like poplars by streams of water.”
Naturally, though God could (and has) done it differently, trees come from seeds, and so do those who belong to God. When we look at the parable of the sower, it isn’t God sowing blindly with only some taking root and bearing fruit. Rather, it is those who belong to God who are called to sow seed, and thus we do so blindly. For we do not know the weather that someone has to endure, or the condition of their heart, still we must sow the seeds.
Abraham’s descendants were to be a blessing to other nations also, sowing the seed of serving God. This they did not do, and is part of the point Jesus made in his rebuke to the pharisees. That is, God wanted to use them to share His love, mercy, and forgiveness. Instead, they hoarded it for themselves, and loaded others with burdens they wouldn’t think of lifting. In the end, those who did so received only temporary earthly rewards. Jesus told them, “they have their reward in full (already).”
The other is that they were responsible for their choices. They couldn’t rely on being descendants of Abraham any more than the people of Isaiah’s day. If they weren’t serving God, their ancestry meant absolutely nothing. Most of us have had seed scattered in our lives already–see v. 8, and if you’re reading this, it’s another seed, among many on this site. We might like to blame our refusal on all sorts of things, but God isn’t interested in blame, but only what we’ve done with that seed.
Have we allowed the seed to take root in our lives? He wants to help us overcome the trials, to comfort us, and make us new. The thorns and blistering heat of the sun can destroy the seed (Matthew 13), but they don’t have to, and that isn’t God’s desire or design for our lives. Further, God wants to pour out streams of living water in your life.
For those who have allowed it to take root, have we born more seed/fruit? Are we sharing it with others? Those are the questions we must ask ourselves, as God does not give us blessings for hoarding, but so that all might know Him and come to repentance.