“Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land” Isaiah 32:1-2
Looking at the natural setting of the days that this prophecy was delivered by Prophet Isaiah it will seem that it was directed at king Hezekiah but it was an allegory to look at the Messiah and King of kings Jesus Christ who reign both as king on earth and in heaven eternally [Coll. 2:15-19]. He is the Head of the Church of God and was set by His Father as the King over Mount Zion after being exalted to the right hand of the Father and declared Lord of lords. There He will be and reign until all His enemies are put under His feet reigning with great pomp, power and glory before His ancients in Jerusalem.
“Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously” Isa. 24:23
Jesus Christ is part of the Godhead and He is holy, sinless, blameless and a righteous King. Christ reigns in a righteous manner, according to the rules of uprightness, fairness and equity: all his laws are just; his ways and methods of government are right; his sceptre is a sceptre of righteousness: righteousness is the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
In the New Testament, Christ now rules in the hearts of his people by his Spirit [Holy Spirit] and grace. His spiritual reign will more manifestly appear in the latter day; but here it is to be understood of his reign on earth. Remember all powers in heaven and on earth has been given to Him and He spoilt principalities and powers making an open show triumphing over them.
Christ is the Prince of Peace that “shall rule in judgment”, the fivefold ministers of the Gospel, pastors of churches, are the “princes” under the Prince of Peace who are set over the Church of God in the Lord, and have the rule over them; and who rule as under-shepherds, in judgment and righteousness, when they rule according to the word of God; when they preach the Gospel, and administer ordinances, and do all the business of Christ’s house, according to the instructions, laws, and rules Christ has given.
Christ is the one described as “And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest”. The King Messiah agreed to become man, though He had often appeared in a human form, was to be incarnate, and now is; though he is not a mere man; were he, he could not be what is here said of him, “as a hiding place, and covert from the wind and tempest”.
Christ is our hiding place from His Father’s wrath. We were raised in sin; and which all men are deserving of punishment, and on whom it must fall, unless secured or redeemed from it by Christ; who bore it on the Cross and in the stead of His people, He turned away sin, and delivered us all from it, and all the effects of it, so that nothing of it comes upon us. We are free from guilt and consequences of sin.
Christ endured the whole force of the storm Himself as He died on the Cross of Calvary for the remission of our sin; and his righteousness, blood, sacrifice, and intercession, hereby screening his people from sin. He also hides and covers us from Satan’s temptations, the blast of the terrible ones, which is as a storm against the wall, so that we shall not be destroyed by them. Christ prayed and interceded for us, and supplied us with His grace.
Likewise Christ protects us from the rage and fury of our persecuting enemies, when they come like a “whirlwind” to “scatter” us; we have rest in Christ. When troubled by men and we are secured by him, when these winds and waves beat upon us; and when we are tossed with the tempests of afflictions of various kinds, Christ bears us up and gather us under His wings, and carries and delivers us through these life afflictions, and brings us at last safely to the harbor of glory.
“Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest. Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places” Isa. 32:15-18
Jesus the King is “as rivers of water in a dry place”; which are very delightful, refreshing, fruit bearing and harvest producers. This denotes the abundance of grace in Christ, and the freeness of it, which flows from the boundless ocean of divine love, and which greatly comforts and refreshes the souls of the Lord’s people in this dry and barren land, and makes us cheerful and fruitful, revives our spirits, makes glad our hearts, and causes us to go on our way rejoicing.
Christ is “as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land” to travelers in it, who passing through a desert in hot countries and sultry climates, are glad when they find a rock which casts a shade, under which they can sit a while, sheltered from the scorching sun. He is our Spiritual guide and we are the pilgrims carousing through the earth looking for rest that only Christ can give.
Such a weary land is this world to the saints, who are wearied with sins, their own and others, with Satan’s temptations, with afflictions and troubles of various sorts.
Christ is the “Rock” that is higher than us who the Holy Spirit leads us to for season of refreshing. To Christ we are directed and led when our hearts are overwhelmed within us; on whom not only our souls are built, and our feet are set. He is our shelter; His breath is reviving and refreshing. The entrance of His word under which we sit with delight and pleasure gives light and understanding to the simple. He acts as our guide and makes our travelling through this wilderness comfortable knowing that we will soon cross River Jordan by the Spirit into the Promised Land.
“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn” Zech. 12:10
God did promise to release a spirit of remorse upon the land. Grace would be the motive for this outpouring. The Jews in supplication shall mourn for what they had done to their Messiah and come to accept Him as Lord and Savior. This God-given conviction would cause them to mourn when they looked by saving faith to Him whom they had formerly pierced and repentance will bring them into the sheepfold of the Lord.
“And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, says the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world” Act 15:15-18
The season has come for the Gentiles to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior as ministers and disciples will go to the nations to preach Christ and many in their thousands like the apostolic days shall accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. Also the time is fast approaching for the Jews as branch of the good grape vine tree to be re-grafted into that tree and they will acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The Holy Spirit will be highly instrument in spiritually building a house for the Lord to reside. Jesus Christ will be the Chief Cornerstone built upon the foundations of the Apostles and Prophets and all saints will be built upon this as the spiritual dwelling place of God where each joint supplies the nutrient needed to make the body of Christ function aright.
“In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, says the LORD that doeth this. Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that sows seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, says the LORD thy God” Amos 9:11-15
Whenever the people of God are endangered to tragedies and trials, it is often characterized as if God had departed from them. His returning, therefore, is an image of their restoration to his favor and to prosperity. God will now use the Holy Spirit as the functional head and the Spirit of Christ to restore all things back to Him by pouring out abundantly mega measure of the Holy Spirit to convict of sins, judgment and righteousness, to save, heal and deliver men shall come to know Christ as Lord and Savior. Abundance both spiritual and physical are evident where the Lord restores His people into a spiritual Garden of Eden where all things are theirs and the River of Living waters divides into four heads and copiously water the land [Ezekiel 47:1-12, Revelation 22:1-3, Revelation 1:1-3].
“For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant” Job 14:7-9
Jesus Christ is the “rod that will grow out of a stump” [Isaiah 11:1] and this is achieved at the “scent of water” or better still outpouring of the Holy Spirit [Isaiah 32:15]. Until the Spirit be poured out in overflowing measures this will not be achieved. Restoration hereby signifies the coming again of the Lord after His first advent as the Spirit of Christ [signified as River of the water of Life, Fresh Oil, New Wine] such that the years that the cankerworm, caterpillar and palmerworm has eaten will be restored and there will be plenteous corn, fresh wine and Oil.
“Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions” Joel 2:23-28
The spiritual supreme advantage here is that grace and spiritual gifts shall be abundantly released such that the youths shall prophecy, the young shall see visions, old men dream dreams and abundance of saving grace, healing power, miraculous working power and wonders shall be seen on planet earth.
After Christ Jesus, the teacher of righteousness has been sent, and a plentiful rain of the Gospel has been let down in the land of Judea, in the ministry of John the Baptist, Christ and his apostles, and such a contented enjoyment of the blessings of grace in it, and the great knowledge of God by it; and after the wonderful work of redemption done by Christ; the One Hundred and twenty at the Upper Room caught fire and spread the good-news after being empowered by the Holy Ghost to be witness of the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Christ through who only salvation will come to both Jews and Gentiles alike. The Spirit of Christ was poured upon all flesh and they were empowered for kingdom business.
“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” Act 2:38-39
CRY AND WEEP UNTO THE LORD
Prayers must be offered incessantly as we weep and cry [Joel 2:17, Isaiah 32:15 MSSG] before the Lord God who alone is able to make bright clouds [Zech. 10:1], and both the former and the latter rain to fall in this latter days [Hosea 6:3, Joel 2:23, Haggai 2:9, Psalms 65:9, Isaiah 44:3].
“And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there arises a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not. And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel. And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel” 1 Kings 18:41-46
Elijah continued in prayer, doubtless centering his request on the people’s repentance and God’s promise to bless them with rain [Deut. 28:12]. Perhaps the cloud shaped like a man’s hand [1 Kings 18:44] represented God’s hand returning to the land to bless His people again.
PROPHETIC FULFILMENT OF THE SPIRIT AND POWER OF ELIJAH
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD” Mal 4:5
“For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” Luke 1:15-17