Water Promised to the Thirsty

…God says that He Himself is, and He leads them to consider that they ought to honor Him, as the one who has become the giver of their very being and the cause of existence to those who once were not. And by saying to those who have sinned, “You will still be helped” (Isaiah 44:2), He gives them courage: although they are caught in many charges they cannot escape, a remnant of gentleness and love for humankind has been kept for them. Nothing would keep them, too, from being saved, if they chose to pass over to what is better and more fitting and in keeping with the laws He gave.

“Fear not, my servant Jacob, and beloved Israel, whom I have chosen. For I will give water in thirst to those who walk in a waterless land. I will put My Spirit upon your seed, and My blessings upon your children. And they will spring up like grass among the waters, and like a willow beside flowing water. This one will say, ‘I am God’s,’ and that one will cry out in the name of Jacob; and another will write, ‘I am God’s,’ in the name of Israel” (Isaiah 44:2-5).

Here he seems to call the company of the holy apostles Israel and Jacob, understood as a single person; for all are one in Christ (Galatians 3:28). See how he says that this Israel is beloved and chosen; and surely it is plain to all that He would never have called those who had rejected faith in Him beloved and chosen. But since, being of the blood of Jacob, who is also Israel, they became precious and chosen vessels and were called to the sacred service of the gospel preaching, He thought it right to crown them with words so splendid, since they were to be like lights in the world, holding fast the word of life (Philippians 2:15-16), and guides into the mystery for all that lies under the sun.

“Fear not,” then, he says; that is: be of good courage and be strong, keep a mind that endures hardship and is full of vigor, laugh at the assaults of those who persecute you, and hold your faith in God firm. For a great many fight against the sacred preaching, and an unholy multitude will rise up against you, working against the words you speak. But be stronger than fear, he says, than hesitation and faint-heartedness. For “I will give water to those who walk in a waterless land” (Isaiah 44:3).

For those who walk through a thirsty land it is sweet and life-saving to come upon springs of water. And for those who labor for the sake of godliness, we say, it is still more longed for to be watered by divine and spiritual streams, that is, by the comforts given through the Spirit, by which the human mind, when it has somehow grown faint, may soon be strengthened again for courage. The water here, which God promises to supply to those who walk in a waterless land, we say is the Holy Spirit. Indeed the Savior Himself said: “As the Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from his belly” (John 7:38). And making plain the force of these words, the all-wise …