Isaiah 35:6-7 – Redemption: Quenching
When we talk about quenching something, we usually talk about quenching a thirst. We talk about quenching a fire. How do we do that? We get buckets of water, and we pour them on. By the time we are done, it is quenched, it is drowned, it is out, and the fire cannot burn anymore.
What we have here is a picture of humanity and how it is affected by sin. We read here in the second half of verse 6 about wilderness and desert. We see ground that is parched. We see land that is thirsty. We see a place where only jackals, a kind of wild dog, lives. It’s just empty. That is the way the sinful life is. This is the way a sinful society is. A sinful society, a sinful culture, a nation, a people characterized by the rejection of God, the rejection of Jesus Christ, may think that it is liberated, may think that it is enlightened, may think that it has developed wonderful patterns of living. But it is dead.
Imagine some guy who’s out in the desert. He’s run out of water, and he’s parched, and thirsty, and dying. Imagine as he perhaps sees a mirage in the distance, and crawls slowly and painfully toward it, only to have it disappear before him. What he thought would give him life, what he thought would give him relief, was merely a cruel and hope-destroying mirage. There he is with the sun beating down upon him, just as the burning sun of the wrath of God bears down and brightly illuminates sins. That is how we all are, as individuals, as families, as nations, apart from God. We deserve to be left out there. There is no one who is righteous. No, not one. However, God, in the councils of eternity, has decided to redeem men. Jesus Christ is the one who in this dead, dry, dusty world gives the living water, the water of life (John 4:10; 7:38).
As the Spirit of God continues to work in your life, you see that which was dead and brown turn to green growth. Sin and guilt are giving way to holiness. Your folly is turning to wisdom, your failure to victory, and your shame to glory. And you see this in other saints as well. In all the Church of Jesus Christ. And truly, as the gospel goes forth into peoples, cultures, nations, they are transformed too.
Questions
- What are these verses a picture of?
- For those trusting in Christ, how does the Holy Spirit work in their life?
Prayer Points
- Pray that the Holy Spirit would work more and more in your life.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.