Jesus is By Chris Monnerjahn Isaiah 32:1-2 Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice. A man will be as a hiding place from the wind, and a cover from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. 1. Jesus is the Man Acts 2:22 Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know 1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, Matthew Henry Commentary Christ our righteous King, and his true disciples, are evidently here intended. The consolations and graces of his Spirit are as rivers of water in this dry land; and as the overhanging rock affords refreshing shade and shelter to the weary traveller in the desert, so his power, truth, and love, yield the believer the only real protection and refreshment in the weary land through which he journeys to heaven. Christ bore the storm himself, to keep it off from us. To him let the trembling sinner flee for refuge; for he alone can protect and refresh us in every trial. MacClaren says, Surely the experience of a hundred centuries might teach men that there is one man, and one alone, who is the refuge from all dangers, the fruition of all desires, the rest and refreshment in all toils. 2. Jesus is our hiding place. Jonathan Edwards says, There is in Christ Jesus abundant foundation of peace and safety for those who are in fear and danger. He continues, Christ is a refuge in all trouble; there is a foundation for rational support and peace in him, whatever threatens us. He, whose heart is fixed, trusting in Christ, need not be afraid of any evil tidings. Jonathan Edwards says, The fears and dangers to which men are subject, are of two kinds; temporal and eternal. Men are frequently in distress from fear of temporal evils. We live in an evil world, where we are liable to an abundance of sorrows and calamities. A great part of our lives is spent in sorrowing for present or past evils, and in fearing those which are future. THE PRESENT LIFE: He is our hiding place in this life. We can run to him now for help with temporal matters that concern us.
Isaiah 4:6 There will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain. Isaiah 25:4 For You have been a defense for the helpless, a defense for the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat; For the breath of the ruthless is like a rain storm against a wall. Psalm 143:9 Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies; In You I take shelter. LIFE BEYOND THE GRAVE: Jonathan Edwards says, But it is the other kind of fear and danger to which we have a principal respect; the fear and danger of God's wrath. The fears of a terrified conscience, the fearful expectation of the dire fruits of sin, and the resentment of an angry God, these are infinitely the most dreadful. If men are in danger of those things, and are not asleep, they will be more terrified than with the fears of any outward evil. Men are in a most deplorable condition, as they are by nature exposed to God's wrath; and if they are sensible how dismal their case is, will be in dreadful fears and dismal expectations. Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. John 3:36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. Romans 5:6-11 6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Edwards exhorts his hearers, You need not, therefore, continue in so dangerous a condition; there is help for you. You need not stand out in the storm so long, as there is so good a shelter
near you, whose doors are open to receive you. O make haste, therefore, unto that man who is a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest! 3. Jesus is like rivers in a dry place. Edwards states, there is provision in Christ for the satisfaction and full contentment of the needy and thirsty soul. Psalm 63:1 O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. Psalm 143:6 I spread out my hands to You; My soul longs for You like a thirsty land. Gill s commentary describes this river as very delightful, refreshing, and productive. 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 them cheerful and fruitful, revives their spirits, makes glad their hearts, and causes them to go on their way rejoicing: Edwards says, It is said that Christ is a river of water, because there is such a fulness in him, so plentiful a provision for the satisfaction of the needy and longing soul. When one is extremely thirsty, though it is not a small draught of water will satisfy him, yet when he comes to a river, he finds a fulness, there he may drink full draughts. Christ is like a river, in that he has a sufficiency not only for one thirsty soul, but by supplying him the fountain is not lessened; there is not the less afforded to those who come afterwards. A thirsty man does not sensibly lessen a river by quenching his thirst. Christ is like a river in another respect. A river is continually flowing, there are fresh supplies of water coming from the fountain-head continually, so that a man may live by it, and be supplied with water all his life. So Christ is an ever-flowing fountain; he is continually supplying his people, and the fountain is not spent. They who live upon Christ, may have fresh supplies from him to all eternity; they may have an increase of blessedness that is new, and new still, and which never will come to an end. a. The soul of every man craves happiness. There is no rational being, nor can there be any, without a love and desire of happiness. Young and old love happiness alike, and good and bad, wise and unwise; though there is a great variety as to men's ideas of happiness. Some think it is to be found in one thing, and some in another; yet, as to the desire of happiness in general, there is no variety. There are particular appetites that may be restrained, and kept under, and conquered, but this general appetite for happiness never can be. b. The soul of every man craves a happiness that is equal to the capacity of his nature.
Every creature is restless till it enjoys what is equal to the capacity of its nature. There is a God sized hole that only Christ can fill. There is an infinite hole that only the infinite God can fill. MacClaren states regarding these Rivers of water in a dry place, hungry and thirsty, my soul fainted within me. I longed for light, and behold darkness. I longed for help, and there was none that could come close to my spirit to succour and to give me drink in the desert. My conscience cried in all its wounds for cleansing and stanching, and no comforter nor any balm was there. My heart, weary of limited loves and mortal affections, howsoever sweet and precious, yearned and bled for one to rest upon all-sufficient and eternal. I thirsted with a thirst that was more than desire, that was pain, and was coming to be death, and I heard a voice which said, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. 4. Jesus is the shadow of great a rock. Edwards says, the Lord is the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. The comparison that is used in the text is very beautiful and very significative. The dry, barren, and scorched wilderness of Arabia is a very lively representation of the misery that men have brought upon themselves by sin. But thanks be unto God for His indescribable gift. Edwards says, Christ is often compared to a rock, because he is a sure foundation to builders, and because he is a sure bulwark and defense. They who dwell upon the top of a rock, dwell in a most defensible place; we read of those whose habitation is the munitions of rocks. He may also be compared to a rock, as he is everlasting and unchangeable. A great rock remains steadfast, unmoved, and unbroken by winds and storms from age to age; and therefore God chose a rock to be an emblem of Christ in the wilderness, when he caused water to issue forth for the children of Israel; and the shadow of a great rock is a most fit representation of the refreshment given to weary souls by Jesus Christ. MacClaren regarding the shadow of a great rock in a weary land states, and my heart was weary by reason of the greatness of the way, and duties and tasks seemed toils and burdens, and I was ready to say, Wherefore has Thou made me and all men in vain? Surely all this is vanity and vexation of spirit, and I heard One that laid His hand upon me and said, Come unto Me, and I will give thee rest. I come to Thee, O Christ, faint and perishing, defenseless and needy, with many a sin and many a fear; to Thee I turn for Thou hast died for me, and for me thou dost live. Be Thou my shelter and strong tower. Give me to drink of living water. Let me rest in Thee while in this weary land, and let Thy sweet love, my Brother and my Lord, be mine all on earth and the heaven of my heaven! Gill regarding the shadow of a great rock in a weary land says, to travellers 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 their can sit a while, sheltered from the scorching sun. 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
they, to whom they are directed and led when their hearts are overwhelmed within them; on whom not only their souls are built, and their feet are set, and he is a shelter to them; but he casts a shadow, which is very reviving and refreshing, and that is the shadow of his word and ordinances, under which they sit with delight and pleasure, and which makes their travelling through this wilderness comfortable. Summary: 1. He is abundant foundation of peace and safety for those who are in fear and danger. 2. He is provision for the satisfaction, and full contentment, of the needy and thirsty soul. 3. He is quiet rest and sweet refreshment for him who is weary. Psalm 91 1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust. 3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. 4 He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. 5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. 8 Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked. 9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, 10 no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; 11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. 12 In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. 13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. 14 Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. 15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. 16 With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.