SALT & LIGHT God’s Righteous People: Responding to God’s call results in societal restoration and transformation

11 And the Lord will guide you continually

and satisfy your desire in scorched places

and make your bones strong;

and you shall be like a watered garden,

like a spring of water,

whose waters do not fail.

John Gill

And the Lord will guide you continually—With his counsel, by his word, and by his Spirit, and that night and day; as he guided the Israelites through the wilderness with the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night: or, “cause you to rest”; from adversity, from persecution; to have spiritual rest in Christ now, and eternal rest hereafter:

And satisfy your desire in scorched places—Or, “in drynesses”; in an exceeding dry time; when in a dry and thirsty land; when thirsting after Christ and his grace, Christ and his righteousness; after more knowledge of him, communion with him, and conformity unto him; after the word and ordinances; after the presence of God in them; and after more spiritual light, knowledge, and experience:

And make your bones strong—With the good report of the gospel (Pro 15:30), that is, quicken, comfort, refresh, and strengthen the soul, and make it fat and flourishing in spiritual things, by means of gospel ordinances. The Targum is,

“and will quicken your body with life everlasting”;

or give rest to your bones, as others:

And you shall be like a watered garden—Like a “garden,” the church of Christ is separated from others, by electing, redeeming, and efficacious grace; and like a “watered” one, watered by the Lord himself, and the dews of his grace, and by the ministry of the word; whereby the plants that are planted in it thrive and flourish, lift up their heads, shoot up and grow, and bring forth fruit:

Like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail—As there is in every believer a well of living water springing up unto everlasting life, not of themselves, but from Christ, and which is very abundant, and never fails; so there is in the church a spring of the living waters of gospel doctrines, and of gospel ordinances; here runs the river of divine love, which makes glad the city of God; here Christ is the fountain of gardens; and here the Spirit and his graces are communicated; all which remain, and never fail; see Psa 87:7; Isa 59:21).

Rashi

In scorched places—Heb. בְּצַחְצָחוֹת, at the time of thirst and drought. So did Jonathan render.

Make . . . strong—Heb. יַחֲלִיף [lit. arm.] Comp. (Num 31:5) “Armed (חֲלוּצֵי) for war.”

In famine he will redeem you from death,

and in war from the power of the sword. JOB 5:20

John Gill

In famine he will redeem you from death—In a time of extreme want of provisions, God so cares for his own dear people, that they shall not be starved to death by the famine; so in the famine in Egypt, which the Targum takes notice of, in the times of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, and the patriarchs, there was food provided for them, so that they and their families were sustained, and perished not for lack of the necessaries of life: God sometimes goes out of his ordinary way, and works wonders for his poor and needy in distress, when they cry to him; see Isa 41:17, 18;

And in war from the power of the sword—Or, “from the hands of the sword”; from swords in hand, when drawn, and men are ready to push with them with all their force; as he delivered and preserved Abraham from the sword of the four kings, when he waged war with them (Gen 14:20); and the Israelites, in the war of Amalek, in the times of Moses (Exo 17:8-13), which the Targum here refers to; and David from the harmful sword of Goliath (1Sa 17:46-47), and others with whom he was concerned in war: and so the Lord covers the heads of his people in the day of battle oftentimes, when multitudes fall on their right hand and on their left.

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. JOH 16:13

John Gill

When the Spirit of truth comes—Of this character of the Spirit, see Joh 14:17. His coming, as before, intends more especially his descent on the apostles at Pentecost; though what is here said of him is true of his office, and of his operations on other persons, and at other times:

He will guide you into all the truth—Necessary to be known, useful to men, profitable to the churches, even the whole counsel of God; what relates to worship, the nature, form, and spirituality of it, as well as doctrine. He is as a guide, he goes before, leads the way, removes obstructions, opens the understanding, makes things plain and clear, teaches to profit, and leads in the way men should go, without turning to the right hand or left, which, without such a guide, they would be apt to do. The Jews have a notion of the Holy Spirit being a guide into all wisdom and knowledge.

“R. Phinehas says, the Holy Spirit rested upon Joseph from his youth to the day of his death, and ‘guided him into all wisdom,’ as a shepherd leads his flock, according to Psa 80:2-3”;

For he will not speak on his own authority—As Christ, the Son, spoke not of himself in opposition to the Father, so the Spirit speaks not of himself in opposition either to the Father, or the Son, but in perfect agreement with both; being, as of the same nature and essence, power and glory, so of the same mind, understanding, and will; and as they agreed and wrought jointly and harmoniously, in the works of nature and providence, so in the economy of grace and salvation.

But whatever he hears he will speak—As Christ himself did (Joh 15:15); and they are such things as ear has not heard besides; what were secretly transacted in the council and covenant of peace, and agreed upon by all the three persons; things which concern the salvation of men, the gospel church state, another world, and the glory of all the divine persons:

And he will show you the things that are to come—Which would come to pass after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ; things relating to the state and settlement of the gospel church, the partition wall being broken down, the law of commandments contained in ordinances abolished, and a new face of things appearing in the kingdom and interest of Christ, in consequence of the Spirit being sent forth, and poured down: or this may respect the spirit of prophecy in the apostles, who showed to them many things to come in after ages; as the rise of the man of sin, the great departure from the faith, and decline of the power of godliness in the last days, the calling of the Jews, the destruction of antichrist, the burning of the world, and the making of new heavens and new earth; and, in short, what would be the state of the church of Christ, and religion, in all the several periods of time, quite down to the coming of Christ, when dead saints shall be raised, and living ones changed, as is declared throughout the book of Revelation.

12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;

you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;

you shall be called the repairer of the breach,

the restorer of streets to dwell in. ISA 58:11-12

John Gill

And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt—As the cities in Israel and Judea, which had been long laid waste by the Assyrians and Chaldeans, were rebuilt by those of the Jewish nation, who returned from the captivity of Babylon, to which there is at least an allusion; and as the church of God, the tabernacle of David, which was fallen down, and had lain long in ruins, through corruptions in doctrine and worship, to the times of Christ, when the apostles, who were of the Jews, those wise masterbuilders, were instruments of raising it up again, and repairing its ruins: so, in the latter day, “the ruins of the world,” as the words may be rendered, shall be built by a set of men, that shall be of the church of God, who shall be instruments in his hand of converting many souls, and so of peopling it with Christians; such places as before were desolate, where before there was no preaching of the word, no administration of ordinances, nor any gospel churches:

You shall raise up the foundations of many generations—Either such foundations as have been razed up, and lay so for ages past; or raise up such as shall continue for generations to come. It may allude to the raising the foundations of the city and temple of Jerusalem; but rather refers to the founding of churches in gospel times, which, as it was done in the first times of it by the apostles in the Gentile world, so shall be again in the latter day, which will continue for many ages:

You shall be called the repairer of the breach, and the restorer of streets to dwell in—That is, the church and her builders, that shall be of her, shall be so called; the Jews and Gentiles will be converted in great numbers, and coalesce in the same gospel church state, and so the breach between them will be repaired. Christians of various denominations, who now break off and separate one from another, will be of the same sentiment and judgment in doctrine and discipline; they shall see eye to eye, and cement together, and all breaches will be made up, and there will be no schism in the body; and they shall dwell together in unity, and walk in the same streets of faith and duty, of truth and holiness; and such who will be the happy instruments of all this will have much honour, and be called by these names. The Targum is,

“they shall call you one that confirms the right way, and converts, the ungodly to the law.”

Rashi

מְשׁוֹבֵב is like מֵשִׁיב, restores.

Restorer of streets to dwell in—Heb. מְשׁוֹבֵב. Jonathan renders: restorer of the wicked to the law.

To dwell, to the law, which insures the settlement of the world.

5 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.”

John Gill

And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight”—He submits what he had to say wholly to the pleasure of the king, and puts it upon his unmerited favour, and not on any desert of his own:

That you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it—The wall of it, and the houses in it; the favour was, that he might have leave to go there, and set about such a work, for which he was so much concerned.

17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.” NEH 2:5, 17

John Gill

Then I said to them—The priests and princes of the Jews:

You see the trouble we are in—Lie open to our enemies, and exposed to their insults:

How Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burnt—(Neh 1:3; 2:3, 13),

Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision—To their neighbours about them, who scoffed at them as a defenceless people and frequently came in upon them, and spoiled and plundered them of their goods and substance.

When God’s people live their lives and fast according to his ways—humbly seeking God and praying for his will to be done, turning away from wickedness, and doing good, especially to the poor and helpless—then he will bring societal transformation. We will experience God’s continual guidance, be satisfied and strengthened, flourish, and be fruitful. What does Isa 58:12 say about God’s promise of restoration and how can we take heart because of this?