The Covenant Hydrology of God: Text: Isaiah 44:1-5
Introduction: The God Who Names
We live in an age of identity crisis. Men think they are women, women think they are men, and our entire culture is a frantic, desperate scramble to define itself apart from the God who made it. Everyone wants to name themselves. But the fundamental truth of the universe, the bedrock of all reality, is that God is the one who names, and we are the ones who are named. He speaks, and worlds come into being. He names, and that is what the thing is. To reject His names for us is to reject reality itself, and to choose instead a fantasy that must inevitably collapse into ruin.
In the previous chapter, God has just reminded Israel of their spectacular failures. He has rehearsed their sins and detailed their transgressions, culminating in the charge that they have wearied Him with their iniquities. They are, in themselves, a dry and thirsty land, a spiritual wasteland. And yet, the chapter division here marks a dramatic turn. The word that opens our text is "But now..." This is the hinge upon which all of salvation turns. Despite your sin, despite your failure, despite your spiritual barrenness, "But now hear..." God is about to speak a word of pure, unadulterated grace. He is about to remind them not of who they are in themselves, but who they are because He has chosen them, made them, formed them, and named them.
This passage in Isaiah is a glorious promise of covenant renewal. It is a promise that God will not abandon His people, but will instead pour out His life-giving Spirit upon them and upon their children after them. This is not a sentimental platitude. This is the engine of history. This is the promise that explains how the kingdom of God grows from a mustard seed into a mountain that fills the whole earth. It starts with God's sovereign choice and it results in a worldwide, multi-generational harvest of souls who joyfully declare, "I am Yahweh's." This is the hydrology of the covenant, the way God waters His garden, and it is a truth we desperately need to recover.
The Text
"But now hear, O Jacob, My servant, And Israel, whom I have chosen: Thus says Yahweh 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. For I will pour out water on the thirsty ground And streams on the dry land; I will pour out My Spirit on your seed And My blessing on your offspring; And they will spring up among the grass Like poplars by streams of water.’ This one will say, ‘I am Yahweh’s’; And this one will call on the name of Jacob; And this one will write on his hand, ‘Belonging to Yahweh,’ And will name Israel’s name with honor."
(Isaiah 44:1-5 LSB)
The Foundation of Grace (v. 1-2)
We begin with God's gracious address to His people.
"But now hear, O Jacob, My servant, And Israel, whom I have chosen: Thus says Yahweh 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." (Isaiah 44:1-2)
Notice the names God uses. He calls them Jacob, which means "supplanter" or "heel-grabber." This is their name according to the flesh, the name that reminds them of their scheming, sinful nature. But He also calls them Israel, the name given to Jacob after he wrestled with God, meaning "he strives with God." This is their covenant name, their identity based on their relationship with Him. And then He adds a third name, a poetic and affectionate name: Jeshurun. This name means "the upright one."
Now, given their track record, calling them "the upright one" seems like a bad joke. It is a glorious, divine irony. God is not describing what they are by nature; He is declaring what He will make them by grace. He is naming them according to their final state, their glorified destiny in Christ. This is the nature of God's electing love. He does not choose us because we are upright; He chooses us in order to make us upright. He calls things that are not as though they were. He looks at Jacob the swindler and calls him Jeshurun the upright one, because His grace is powerful enough to make it so. This is the foundation of our security. It does not rest on our performance, but on His promise and His power.
And look at the verbs He uses. He "made" you, He "formed" you from the womb, He "will help" you. This is the language of a potter with his clay, a creator with his creature. Their very existence is an act of His sovereign will. This is why He can command them, "Do not fear." The antidote to fear is not a change in circumstances, but a right understanding of God's relationship to you. If the God who made the universe has also made you, chosen you, and promised to help you, then what is there to be afraid of? Our fears arise when we forget our Maker.
The Outpouring of Life (v. 3-4)
Having established the foundation of His sovereign choice, God now describes the mechanism of transformation.
"For I will pour out water on the thirsty ground And streams on the dry land; I will pour out My Spirit on your seed And My blessing on your offspring; And they will spring up among the grass Like poplars by streams of water." (Isaiah 44:3-4 LSB)
The imagery is stark and powerful. Israel is a dry, thirsty, barren land. Spiritually, they are dust. They cannot produce life from within themselves. But God promises to do for them what they cannot do for themselves. He will "pour out water." And just so we don't miss the point, He immediately interprets the metaphor: "I will pour out My Spirit on your seed And My blessing on your offspring."
This is a central promise of the new covenant. The Holy Spirit is the water of life. Where He is poured out, life erupts. This is not a trickle. This is not a drip from a leaky faucet. This is a deluge. God says He will pour out water and streams. This is the language of revival, of supernatural, sovereignly-sent renewal. This is what happened at Pentecost, when the Spirit was poured out on the church, and it is what God continues to do throughout history.
But we must pay careful attention to the recipients of this promise. "I will pour out My Spirit on your seed and My blessing on your offspring." This is a covenantal promise, which means it is a family promise. God's plan of salvation is not a series of disconnected individual rescues. He works in and through the covenant family. The promise is to you and to your children (Acts 2:39). This is the foundation of covenant nurture. We are not to treat our children as little pagans who might, if we are lucky, get saved someday. We are to treat them as members of the covenant, as young disciples, and we are to claim this promise over them. We baptize them, we teach them, we discipline them, and we pray expectantly for God to pour out His Spirit upon them, because He has promised to do so.
The result is explosive, organic growth. "They will spring up among the grass like poplars by streams of water." This is not a picture of a struggling, beleaguered church, barely holding on. This is a picture of vibrant, irrepressible life. When the Spirit is poured out on our families, our children will grow up strong and straight and fruitful, like well-watered trees. This is the engine of postmillennial optimism. The gospel will triumph in history because God has promised to water His church with His Spirit, generation after generation.
The Joyful Profession (v. 5)
The final verse shows us the inevitable result of this divine irrigation project. What happens when God pours out His Spirit on our children?
"This one will say, ‘I am Yahweh’s’; And this one will call on the name of Jacob; And this one will write on his hand, ‘Belonging to Yahweh,’ And will name Israel’s name with honor." (Isaiah 44:5 LSB)
The result is a voluntary, joyful, public profession of faith. This is not coerced. This is not a mere cultural tradition. This is the heartfelt cry of a regenerated soul. When a child has been watered by the Spirit of God, he will want to declare his allegiance. He will want to identify with God's people.
Notice the different expressions of this profession. One says, "I am Yahweh's." This is the fundamental declaration of a Christian. It is an acknowledgment of ownership. I am not my own; I was bought with a price. My life, my talents, my future, it all belongs to Him.
Another "will call on the name of Jacob" and "name Israel's name with honor." This is about identifying with the covenant community. It's not enough to have a private, "me and Jesus" spirituality. The Spirit grafts us into the body of Christ, the church, the Israel of God. To be a Christian is to be part of a people, a family, a nation. We gladly take the family name upon ourselves.
And a third "will write on his hand, 'Belonging to Yahweh.'" In the ancient world, slaves or soldiers were sometimes tattooed or branded with the name of their master or commander. This is a picture of radical, permanent, visible commitment. It's a way of saying, "My identity is so wrapped up in belonging to God that I want it written on my very skin. I want everyone to know whose I am." This is what we do in baptism and in our public profession of faith. We are marking ourselves as belonging to the Triune God, and we are doing it with joy and honor.
Conclusion: From Barrenness to Blessing
This passage lays out the divine pattern for the growth of the kingdom. It begins with God's sovereign, electing grace, where He chooses a people for Himself and gives them a new name, a new identity. It continues with the promised outpouring of His Spirit, the water of life that turns barren wastelands into fruitful gardens. And it culminates in the joyful, multi-generational profession of faith, as children and children's children rise up to declare that they belong to the Lord.
This is a profound encouragement for us. It tells us that the future of the church does not depend on our clever programs or our marketing strategies. It depends on the faithfulness of a covenant-keeping God who has promised to pour out His Spirit. It is a profound challenge to us as parents. Are we pleading this promise for our children? Are we raising them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, fully expecting God to be faithful to His word?
And it is a profound call to every person here. Have you made this profession? Can you say, from the heart, "I am Yahweh's"? Has the Spirit of God turned the dry ground of your soul into a well-watered garden? If not, the promise is for you today. The water of life is offered freely in the gospel. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. He is the one who can take Jacob the swindler and make him Jeshurun the upright one. He is the one who pours out the Spirit of life. Come to Him, drink deeply, and join the great chorus of those who gladly say, "I belong to the Lord."