For months the land and...
Illustration
For months the land and people had been at the mercy of the hot sun. There had been no rain, hardly a cloud. The ground had cracked open under the heat. Plants withered and died. Even the stoutest tree showed signs of suffering in this drought. One day the people awakened to an overcast sky. The morning was gripped with expectation. The leaves of the plants seemed to turn up, like hands begging for mercy. The cattle seemed restless. Everyone peered out the windows oftener than usual. Then it came. First, drop by precious drop; then a long, soaking rain. People who normally complained about the rain and getting wet and the pain in their joints actually danced in the downpour. The rain had come.
Isaiah paints a picture of streams in the desert. No place needs the water more than the parched sands of the arid plains. The water is not only life, but power. A small stream of water may be a mighty force. Consider the Grand Canyon, carved over the centuries by the relatively small Colorado river. A great highway often has to be built using bridges over streams not much bigger than the width of a hand. But, left with no outlet, that stream would erode even the greatest highway. Consider what a matter of great concern it is when even a trickle of water is seen coming through a dam.
The desert and the stream are in contrasts. Surely we, too, must come to a parched need for God before we can receive and appreciate the greatest gifts of God.
Some think that verse seven, which speaks of the burning sand becoming a pool, is speaking of a mirage. There are many mirages, but only one fulfillment.
Isaiah paints a picture of streams in the desert. No place needs the water more than the parched sands of the arid plains. The water is not only life, but power. A small stream of water may be a mighty force. Consider the Grand Canyon, carved over the centuries by the relatively small Colorado river. A great highway often has to be built using bridges over streams not much bigger than the width of a hand. But, left with no outlet, that stream would erode even the greatest highway. Consider what a matter of great concern it is when even a trickle of water is seen coming through a dam.
The desert and the stream are in contrasts. Surely we, too, must come to a parched need for God before we can receive and appreciate the greatest gifts of God.
Some think that verse seven, which speaks of the burning sand becoming a pool, is speaking of a mirage. There are many mirages, but only one fulfillment.
