Water in the Wilderness

Water in the Wilderness February 18, 2016

Isaiah prophesies that the Lord will bring Israel out of Babylon as He brought them from Egypt, in a new exodus. He draws on events of the first exodus to describe what will happen again. For example: “I will open rivers on the bare heights, and springs in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land fountains of water” (Isaiah 41:18).

Problem is, none of that happens. No one travels through the desert, gets thirsty, and receives miraculous water from Yahweh. And what are we to do with that? Should we conclude that this is “mere imagery” that doesn’t correspond to anything specific? I think not, and we can use Isaiah 41:17-20 provides a good text to propose an alternative. Three points are relevant.

First, in Isaiah, “wilderness” often describes the situation of Judah after the Assyrian and Babylonian invasion. This becomes explicit at the very end of Isaiah: “Your holy city has become a wilderness, Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation” (Isaiah 64:10). It is implicit in many of the passages that refer to the wilderness (32:15-16; 51:3). Renewal of the wilderness means renewal of desolated Judah and Zion.

Second, in Isaiah 32, the renewing stream is the stream of the Spirit. So: Renewal of Judah comes by the outpouring of the Spirit, which ultimately turns the devastated land back into a garden (cf. Ezekiel 36).

Finally, and specifically on Isaiah 41: Once the water flows in the wilderness, things begin to grow. Where there was once a wilderness, there will be a forest. But many of the seven specific trees that will grow are trees associated with the temple – cedar, olive (1 Kings 6:23, 31, 32), cypress (1 Kings 5:8, 10) – or the furnishings of the temple – acacia (Exodus 25:5, 10, 13; etc.). The forest that will grow in the wilderness of Judah is the second temple.

This truly is a second exodus: When Moses struck the rock in the wilderness, the water turned the area into a garden sanctuary, an oasis, where the tabernacle was built. And when the Lord pours out His Spirit on Judah, she becomes a well-watered place, a sanctuary of the God of living water.


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