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Isaiah, Prophet of Salvation, Book 6, part 16

Isaiah 44:1, 2 says,

¹ 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.”

This section is addressed to Jacob, Israel, and Jeshurun—different characteristics of the same group of people. The prophet seems to indicate that Jacob (“usurper, deceiver”) is “My servant,” Israel is the “chosen” one, and Jeshurun is the “upright” one.

Jacob was a believer with a promise, but he did not fully understand the sovereignty of God until the revelation of Peniel. He was still learning and developing while the Potter was still forming him into a vessel of honor. After wrestling with the angel, he discovered that God did not need his help to fulfill His promises and then became truly “chosen.” This made him an overcomer, known to Paul as the remnant of grace. The evidence of being chosen was the name Israel. He then walked an “upright” life as a New Covenant believer.

Isaiah 44:3, 4 continues,

³ “For I will pour out water on 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 among the grass like poplars by streams of water.”

The “thirsty land” and “dry ground” are metaphors for those who desire the early and late rain of the Holy Spirit. The “grass like poplars” are those who respond to the move of the Spirit. Recall that “all flesh is grass” (Isaiah 40:6).

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit, historically speaking, occurred at Pentecost in Acts 2:1-4, although the Spirit was present from the beginning (Genesis 1:2). Prophetically speaking, just as there were two rainy seasons (early and late rains), so also are there two historic seasons where the Holy Spirit is poured out on a large scale: Pentecost and Tabernacles. Isaiah was prophesying of both rains in Isaiah 44:3, each in its own time.

The context shows that the purpose of the rain is to train believers to upgrade their relationship with God from “Jacob” to “Israel” and to make them “upright” in the eyes of God. In other words, God is training believers to become overcomers so that they can be true Israelites. The key elements in this are to know God, to understand His sovereignty, and to acquire New Covenant faith in the promise of God (Romans 4:21).

In Jacob’s wilderness journey (to Haran and back), his Pentecostal experience occurred at Bethel, where he made a vow to God (Genesis 28:20). This established the pattern for his descendants at Mount Sinai, where they again made a vow on that first Pentecost (Exodus 19:8). At that point in his life, he was still “Jacob.” Twenty years later, he wrestled with the angel at Peniel, which was the day representing the Day of Atonement (or Jubilee), and this is where he became “Israel” (Genesis 32:28).

(See The Laws of the Second Coming, chapter 4.)

Hence, the Day of Atonement is the day of reckoning when the overcomers will emerge as the chosen Israelites who are eligible to be transformed into the image of Christ on the first day of Tabernacles.

Discovering Who You Are

Isaiah 44:5 says,

⁵ “This one will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’; and that one will call on the name of Jacob; and another will write on his hand, ‘Belonging to the Lord,’ and will name Israel’s name with honor.”

Perhaps the prophet was contemplating how Jacob must have felt after being given a new name. What does it mean? What great honor is this? Isaiah tells us that an Israelite is one who can say, “I am the Lord’s,” (that is, I am Yahweh’s). But did Jacob not already belong to the Lord? On one level, certainly he was the Lord’s, but something was different. Something changed. Revelation changes us forever.

Jesus’ disciples also experienced a change, not only at Pentecost but even earlier at the Last Supper. In John 15:14, 15 Jesus told them,

¹⁴ You are My friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵ No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called your friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

The disciples were being upgraded from slaves to friends. This was seen shortly as an upgrade from disciples to apostles and from believers to overcomers.

On the day of Pentecost, they overcame the fear of their forefathers at Mount Sinai by agreeing to ascend to the upper room (Acts 1:13) to hear God’s voice and to receive the promise of the Father. This was the New Covenant promise to Abraham, sent by the Mediator of that New Covenant. They were begotten by the Father through the seed of the word, and out of this emerged the revelation of sonship.

In other words, they were no longer servants but sons. Their Father was no longer Adam but God Himself. Their identity had changed from the old man to the new man. They could then say with wonderment, “I am the Lord’s.”

But even then, Pentecost was only the beginning, for though it was the culmination of the first set of feasts, the autumn feasts yet remained to be fulfilled. A greater outpouring of the Spirit was yet coming, when the overcoming remnant, the sons of God, will be brought fully to birth and be amazed all over again at what it means to be an Israelite.

No One is Like Our God

Isaiah 44:7, 8 concludes,

⁷ “Who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it; yes, let him recount it to Me in order, from the time that I established the ancient [olam] 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.”

God issues a challenge to all other gods to set forth their credentials and accomplishments to see if they can match the works of the God of Israel. Can any other god prophesy of things to come? Indeed, some may prophesy, but which of them has foretold the outpouring of the Holy Spirit? Which one has foreseen the plan of God to beget children? Which one has understood the New Covenant or its promises? Which of the other gods can claim to be the source of the Holy Spirit? Which one can form an Israelite?

When we study the religious principles of other gods and other religions, we find that none of them understand the sovereignty of God. Most proclaim the “sacred” principle of “free will.” They teach men that salvation (however they define it) comes by self-discipline through one’s own will and decision to do something. They labor to be saved. Their goal is either to make men God or to make men good servants of God. Neither goal is to make us sons of God.

The God of Israel, on the other hand, saves all by the power of His own will, which He expressed many times as a vow, oath, or promise. Whoever makes the promise is the one responsible to keep it, and if man could nullify the promise of God by the power of his own will, then God should not have made promises that He could not fulfill.

The New Covenant is unique to (true) Christianity. No other religion bases its salvation on the New Covenant. In fact, most Christians do not really understand the New Covenant. Most are Old Covenant believers (Jacobites) who are yet in training. Fortunately, the New Covenant cannot fail when men misunderstand it, for the promises of God are rooted in the sovereignty of God.

In the last short sentence in Isaiah 44:8, “I know of none,” it is not clear who was speaking. The NASB includes it in the quotation marks, assuming that God was saying this. But this might actually be Isaiah’s response to God’s questions.

Someday we will have to ask him.