Jeshurun Whom I Have Chosen

1 “But now hear, O Jacob my servant,
Israel whom I have chosen!
2 Thus says the Lord who made you,
who formed you from the womb and will help you:
Fear not, O Jacob my servant,
Jeshurun whom I have chosen.
3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,
and my blessing on your descendants.
4 They shall spring up among the grass
like willows by flowing streams.
5 This one will say, ‘I am the Lord's,’
another will call on the name of Jacob,
and another will write on his hand, ‘The Lord's,’
and name himself by the name of Israel.” (Isaiah 44:1-5)

Isaiah has been in the midst of the section of his book that has been reassuring Israel that, though God willing indeed judge them, that judgment will not be final. He will come to them, and He will restore them and revisit them. Given that terrible nature of Israel's crime, and the persistent nature of Israel's offense, we can only be amazed at the wonder of such a promise!

Further, when we look at passages like this, we are always moved to ask just who the full nature of "Israel" is that Isaiah is speaking? There are many who would maintain that the Israel of whom God, by means of Isaiah, speaks in these passages is not National Israel but rather is the "Spiritual Israel" of the New Covenant. They would argue that the Israel of the Old Testament, the National entity, forsook God and embraced idolatry, and that God gave them chance after chance. They might proclaim that this national entity was really only a picture of the coming spiritual entity to begin with. They would argue that real believers were taken from out of that national entity all along. They would point us to the promises of our Lord Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of these passages and tell us that National Israel has no part in the fulfillment of these wonderful passages.God cast them aside because of there sin and is finished with them, never to take up dealing with them again. The only part that any Israelite can have in the things of Christ then, would be to come to Christ personally and to partake of those things individually.

Now, first of all we want to affirm, that in this age everyone, and that does indeed mean everyone, must indeed come to God individually by means of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other name, under God, given among men whereby we must be saved! Christ's work is the only sufficient work upon which men come to Christ. There can be no question about this whatsoever. This includes Hindus, Americans, Japanese, and, of course, Israelites. There is no other name given among men…

But that does not help us with the numerous, numerous passages in both the Old and the New Testaments that seem to indicate that there will be a time when God returns to dealing with national Israel. This is one of those passages. Taken alone, by itself, one might be able to imply that this is simply speaking of coming to Christ. But when laid alongside all the numerous other passages that speak of a National Entity dealt with in the New Covenant we begin to see that this is not speaking of the salvation of an individual but of God's dealing with His nation as a group.

The language in verse one and two of this chapter is typical of Isaiah's language in speaking of Israel and affectionate terms. He uses the historic names for the nation, Israel and Jacob. He speaks of "having formed them" and of having "made them in the womb". He speaks of "Jeshurun whom I have chosen...". Jeshurun was a poetical name for the people of Israel, used as a token of affection, meaning, "the dear upright people". It was used sarcastically in Deuteronomy 32:15:

“But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked;
you grew fat, stout, and sleek;
then he forsook God who made him
and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation."

There "Jeshurun", the beloved of God is used sarcastically, pointing out that Israel, the beloved, the ones God had released from bondage in Egypt and had shepherded through the land had grown fat on the blessing of God and had kicked and rebelled against His authority.

In Deuteronomy 33:5 Moses reminds Israel in his final address that after God had released Israel from Egypt and led them through the wilderness that God established them as a nation and established Himself as their King:

Thus the Lord became king in Jeshurun,
when the heads of the people were gathered,
all the tribes of Israel together.

(Note, He was their King, but this relationship was also underscored by the affection implicit in the word "Jeshurun"!)It is also used in Deuteronomy 33:26

“There is none like God, O Jeshurun,
who rides through the heavens to your help,
through the skies in his majesty.

Isaiah is telling us that God has not and will not abandoned His beloved "Jeshurun". Though He has disciplined him, He will not abandon him. There will come a day, though that day, from the nation's standpoint, is long in the future, when God will return and deal with His "Jeshurun" again.

3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,
and my blessing on your descendants.
4 They shall spring up among the grass
like willows by flowing streams. (Isa. 44:3-4)

This seems to be born out by verses three and four. Isaiah, speaking for God, talks about Israel "coming back to life". Admittedly, this is very "New Testament" language. But there is no reason to argue that because this is "New Testament" language that it is not also a fulfillment of Old Testament promise. What I mean to say is that simply because God has, in the New Covenant, graciously extended mercy to the Gentile does not mean that He will not return, at the time of the end, and, fulfilling those promises made, save His national people Israel.Of course, all men come to Christ in this current age, including Israelites, in the same fashion - we have already said that. But it is the teaching of the Scripture that there will come a time when God will return to dealing with His national people and fulfill those promises that He made to His national people. He will not do this on an "Old Covenant" basis, (not to imply that men were saved by anything other than by faith in the OT) but rather on a "New Covenant" basis, of course. There will be no returning to Temple worship, etc. Many speculate and say ridiculous things. Christ has died, his work is forever done, He is our High Priest and there is no other Name given among men whereby we must be saved! That will never change, mechanisms will not alter, no matter what our more insistent dispensational friends say.

But the language here is not individual. It is "group". It is speaking, not so much on one person coming to Christ, but of the nation as a unit being drawn to Christ. It is speaking not so much of an individual softening their heart, repenting of there sin, and flinging themselves to the ground, on their face before they're God; but of the entire nation doing so!

Note the tenor of the language. This happens, not because Israel softens themselves, but because God does it for them. "I will pour water...I will pour my Spirit... and as a result in verse 4...They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams". Verses like this are a constant problem (not to mention the constant irritation for Arminians and Pelagians. Israel, nationally, will remain in unbelief until the time that God chooses to draw them out of unbelief. Now, no one has a problem with that, until we stop and think about the truth that Israel nationally is made up of people. Duh! That means that at some point. God will "pour out water" on people and they will come to faith. He is the operator and they are the responder. They are not the initiator, He is. That is NOT the popular view, nor is it the theologically "correct view these days. But it is Isaiah's view, and it is the Bible's view.

This one will say, ‘I am the Lord's,’
another will call on the name of Jacob,
and another will write on his hand, ‘The Lord's,’
and name himself by the name of Israel.” (Isaiah 44:5)

The end result will be that they call on the Name of the Lord, and not on the name of other gods...finally! MacArthur comments:

"In the future golden age of Israel, belonging to the Lord and belonging to God’s chosen people will be synonymous, and it will be a badge of honor gladly worn without fear."

The repatriated would proudly identify themselves with the Lord whereas before they sought every opportunity to associate themselves with other gods, whether publicly or, most often, privately. In the age to come, this will no longer be the case. It the current age, they do not seek idols, but the serve the idol of self...but in the age to come, they will serve the Lord - publicly and unashamedly!