Isaiah 44:4
They will sprout among the grass like willows by flowing streams.
They will sprout
The phrase "They will sprout" evokes imagery of new life and growth, suggesting a divine promise of renewal and prosperity. The Hebrew root for "sprout" is "צָמַח" (tsamach), which often refers to the flourishing of plants. In a spiritual context, this can symbolize the growth of God's people, indicating a revival or an increase in faith and righteousness. Historically, this reflects the hope of Israel's restoration after exile, a theme prevalent in Isaiah's prophecies.

among the grass
"Among the grass" suggests a setting of abundance and fertility. Grass, in the ancient Near Eastern context, was a symbol of life and sustenance, often used to describe the transient nature of human life (Isaiah 40:6-8). Here, however, it emphasizes the natural environment where God's blessings manifest. The imagery of grass can also imply humility and the commonality of God's blessings, accessible to all His people.

like willows
The "willows" are trees known for their resilience and ability to thrive near water sources. The Hebrew word "עֲרָבָה" (aravah) refers to a type of willow that grows in moist areas. This symbolizes strength, flexibility, and the ability to withstand adversity. In a spiritual sense, it represents the believers' capacity to remain steadfast and flourish under God's care, drawing sustenance from His provision.

by flowing streams
"By flowing streams" conveys a sense of continuous nourishment and life. The Hebrew "פַּלְגֵי מָיִם" (palgei mayim) refers to channels of water that provide essential sustenance to the land. In biblical symbolism, water often represents the Holy Spirit or God's Word, both of which are vital for spiritual growth and vitality. This phrase assures believers of God's unending provision and the life-giving power of His presence, much like the streams that sustain the willows.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Isaiah
A major prophet in the Old Testament, Isaiah is the author of the book bearing his name. He prophesied to the Kingdom of Judah during a time of moral and spiritual decline.

2. Israel
The nation to whom Isaiah is prophesying. In this context, Israel is being reassured of God's continued blessing and restoration.

3. Willows
A type of tree that thrives near water sources, symbolizing growth, vitality, and prosperity.

4. Flowing Streams
Represents the life-giving and sustaining power of God, often used as a metaphor for spiritual nourishment and blessing.
Teaching Points
Spiritual Growth and Nourishment
Just as willows thrive by streams, believers are called to root themselves in God's Word and presence for spiritual growth and vitality.

Dependence on God
The imagery of flowing streams reminds us of our need to depend on God for sustenance and strength, much like trees rely on water.

Promise of Restoration
Isaiah 44:4 reassures us of God's promise to restore and bless His people, encouraging us to trust in His faithfulness even in times of spiritual drought.

Community and Fellowship
The collective growth "among the grass" suggests the importance of community and fellowship in the Christian life, where believers support and encourage one another.

Hope and Renewal
This verse offers hope for renewal and revival, encouraging believers to anticipate God's work in their lives and communities.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the imagery of willows by flowing streams in Isaiah 44:4 inspire you to seek spiritual nourishment in your daily life?

2. In what ways can you root yourself more deeply in God's Word to experience growth and vitality like the trees described in this passage?

3. Reflect on a time when you felt spiritually dry. How did God's presence or the support of your Christian community help you through that period?

4. How can the promise of restoration in Isaiah 44:4 encourage you to trust in God's faithfulness during challenging times?

5. Consider the connection between Isaiah 44:4 and John 7:38. How does the concept of "living water" influence your understanding of the Holy Spirit's role in your life?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Psalm 1:3
This verse describes a righteous person as a tree planted by streams of water, drawing a parallel to the imagery in Isaiah 44:4 of growth and prosperity through divine sustenance.

Jeremiah 17:8
Similar to Isaiah 44:4, this verse uses the imagery of a tree by water to illustrate trust in the Lord, emphasizing stability and fruitfulness.

John 7:38
Jesus speaks of believers having "rivers of living water" flowing from within them, connecting the idea of spiritual life and abundance to the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Springing Up as GrassProf. J. Skinner, D. D.Isaiah 44:4
The Growth of the WillowJ. Menzies.Isaiah 44:4
The WillowPopulus Euphratica, J. Macpherson, M. A.Isaiah 44:4
The WillowF. Delitzsch, D. D.Isaiah 44:4
WillowsSalix, W. Houghton, M. A.Isaiah 44:4
A Promise for Us, and for Our ChildrenIsaiah 44:1-5
Biography in Three WordsJ. Stalker, D. D.Isaiah 44:1-5
Jacob, Israel, JeshurunA. Maclaren, D. D.Isaiah 44:1-5
JesurunJ. R. Macduff, D. D.Isaiah 44:1-5
The Church Comforted and RevivedAnon.Isaiah 44:1-5
The Offspring of IsraelE. Johnson Isaiah 44:1-5
The Spirit Promised to the Seed of JacobD. Rees.Isaiah 44:1-5
Why are the People of God Called by the Name of JacobJ. Stalker, D. D.Isaiah 44:1-5
Revival Promised in the Power of the SpiritR. Tuck Isaiah 44:2-5
A Christian ChildhoodIsaiah 44:3-5
A Revival PromiseIsaiah 44:3-5
Child-PietyT. Champness.Isaiah 44:3-5
Christian Home EnvironmentJ. Stalker, D. D.Isaiah 44:3-5
Encouragement for Parents and ChildrenEssex RemembrancerIsaiah 44:3-5
God's Blessing on the Offspring of His PeoplePresbyterianIsaiah 44:3-5
God's Covenant with Christian ParentsEvangelical Advocate.Isaiah 44:3-5
God's Spirit as Water and FloodsJ. R. Macduff, D. D.Isaiah 44:3-5
Overflowing in Usefulness to OtherT. Waugh.Isaiah 44:3-5
RevivalR. M. M'Cheyne.Isaiah 44:3-5
RevivalDickerson Davies, M. A.Isaiah 44:3-5
Revived ChurchesIsaiah 44:3-5
The Church and the ChildrenA. Tucker.Isaiah 44:3-5
The Essential Diffusiveness of Spiritual ReligionT. G. Selby.Isaiah 44:3-5
The Holy Spirit for Both Jews and GentilesR. Macculloch.Isaiah 44:3-5
The Indispensable BlessingW. Clarkson Isaiah 44:3-5
The Influences of the Holy SpiritL. Forster.Isaiah 44:3-5
The Spirit Acts Through BelieversT. G. Selby.Isaiah 44:3-5
The Value of Young LifeScientific Illustrations and SymbolsIsaiah 44:3-5
Vitalising Power in Spirit. Filled MenT. G. Selby.Isaiah 44:3-5
Water an Emblem of the Holy SpiritD. Rees.Isaiah 44:3-5
People
Cyrus, Isaiah, Jacob
Places
Israel, Jerusalem
Topics
Amid, Courses, Field, Flowing, Grass, Meadow, Poplar, Poplars, Spring, Sprung, Streams, Trees, Watercourses, Water-courses, Water-plants, Waters, Well-watered, Willows
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Isaiah 44:4

     4035   abundance
     4528   trees

Isaiah 44:1-5

     6640   election, privileges

Isaiah 44:3-4

     3290   Holy Spirit, life-giver
     4460   grass

Library
Feeding on Ashes
'He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?'--ISAIAH xliv. 20. The prophet has been pouring fierce scorn on idolaters. They make, he says, the gods they worship. They take a tree and saw it up: one log serves for a fire to cook their food, and with compass and pencil and plane they carve the figure of a man, and then they bow down to it and say, 'Deliver me, for thou art my god!' He sums up the whole
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Writing Blotted Out and Mist Melted
'I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins.'--ISAIAH xliv. 22. Isaiah has often and well been called the Evangelical Prophet. Many parts of this second half of his prophecies referring to the Messiah read like history rather than prediction. But it is not only from the clearness with which the great figure of the future king of Israel stands out on his page that he deserves that title. Other thoughts belonging to the very substance of the gospel appear in
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Jacob --Israel --Jeshurun
'Yet now hear, O Jacob My servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen.... Fear not, O Jacob, My servant; and thou, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. --ISAIAH xliv. 1, 2. You observe that there are here three different names applied to the Jewish nation. Two of them, namely Jacob and Israel, were borne by their great ancestor, and by him transmitted to his descendants. The third was never borne by him, and is applied to the people only here and in the Book of Deuteronomy. The occurrence of all three here
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Source of My Spirit's Deep Desire
"I will pour water on him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground." -- Isaiah 44:8. Source of my spirit's deep desire For living joys that shall not perish, The patient hope Thy words inspire, Still let Thy tender mercy cherish. On Thee my humbled soul would wait, Her utmost weakness calmly learning, And see Thy grace its way create, Through thorns and briers which Thou art burning. Gladly my inmost heart would know The love that now it faintly traces, And see the streams from Zion flow
Miss A. L. Waring—Hymns and Meditations

To the Afflicted, Tossed with Tempests and not Comforted. Isa 44:5-11
To the afflicted, tossed with tempests and not comforted. Isa 44:5-11 Pensive, doubting, fearful heart, Hear what CHRIST the Savior says; Every word should joy impart, Change thy mourning into praise: Yes, he speaks, and speaks to thee, May he help thee to believe! Then thou presently wilt see, Thou hast little cause to grieve. "Fear thou not, nor be ashamed, All thy sorrows soon shall end I who heav'n and earth have framed, Am thy husband and thy friend I the High and Holy One, Israel's GOD by
John Newton—Olney Hymns

Fourteenth Day for the Church of the Future
WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Church of the Future "That the children might not be as their fathers, a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God."--PS. lxxviii. 8. "I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thy offspring."--ISA. xliv. 3. Pray for the rising generation, who are to come after us. Think of the young men and young women and children of this age, and pray for all the agencies at work among them; that in association and societies
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

The Nature of Justification
Justification in the active sense (iustificatio, {GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA}) is defined by the Tridentine Council as "a translation from that state wherein man is born a child of the first Adam, to the state of grace and of the adoption of the sons of God through the second Adam,
Joseph Pohle—Grace, Actual and Habitual

Catalogue of his Works.
There is no absolutely complete edition of Eusebius' extant works. The only one which can lay claim even to relative completeness is that of Migne: Eusebii Pamphili, Cæsareæ Palestinæ Episcopi, Opera omnia quæ extant, curis variorum, nempe: Henrici Valesii, Francisci Vigeri, Bernardi Montfauconii, Card. Angelo Maii edita; collegit et denuo recognovit J. P. Migne. Par. 1857. 6 vols. (tom. XIX.-XXIV. of Migne's Patrologia Græca). This edition omits the works which are
Eusebius Pamphilius—Church History

Moses' Prayer to be Blotted Out of God's Book.
"And Moses returned unto the Lord and said. Oh! this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou--wilt, forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray they, out of thy book which than hast written." In the preceding discourse we endeavored to show that the idea of being willing to be damned for the glory of God is not found in the text--that the sentiment is erroneous and absurd--then adduced the constructions which have been put on the text by sundry expositors,
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects

Centenary Commemoration
OF THE RETURN OF BISHOP SEABURY. 1885 THE RT. REV. SAMUEL SEABURY, D.D. FIRST BISHOP OF CONNECTICUT, HELD HIS FIRST ORDINATION AT MIDDLETOWN, AUGUST 3, 1785. On the ninth day of June, 1885, the Diocesan Convention met in Hartford. Morning Prayer was read in Christ Church at 9 o'clock by the Rev. W. E. Vibbert, D.D., Rector of St. James's Church, Fair Haven, and the Rev. J. E. Heald, Rector of Trinity Church, Tariffville. The Holy Communion was celebrated in St. John's Church, the service beginning
Various—The Sermons And Addresses At The Seabury Centenary

"But if Ye have Bitter Envying and Strife in Your Hearts, Glory Not," &C.
James iii. 14.--"But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not," &c. It is a common evil of those who hear the gospel, that they are not delivered up to the mould and frame of religion that is holden out in it, but rather bring religion into a mould of their own invention. It was the special commendation of the Romans, that they obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine into which they were delivered, (Rom. vi. 17) that they who were once servants, or slaves of sin, had now
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Impiety of Attributing a visible Form to God. --The Setting up of Idols a Defection from the True God.
1. God is opposed to idols, that all may know he is the only fit witness to himself. He expressly forbids any attempt to represent him by a bodily shape. 2. Reasons for this prohibition from Moses, Isaiah, and Paul. The complaint of a heathen. It should put the worshipers of idols to shame. 3. Consideration of an objection taken from various passages in Moses. The Cherubim and Seraphim show that images are not fit to represent divine mysteries. The Cherubim belonged to the tutelage of the Law. 4.
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

The Unity of God
Q-5: ARE THERE MORE GODS THAN ONE? A: There is but one only, the living and true God. That there is a God has been proved; and those that will not believe the verity of his essence, shall feel the severity of his wrath. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.' Deut 6:6. He is the only God.' Deut 4:49. Know therefore this day, and consider it in thy heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath, there is none else.' A just God and a Saviour; there is none beside
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Hiram, the Inspired Artificer
BY REV. W. J. TOWNSEND, D.D. The Temple of Solomon was the crown of art in the old world. There were temples on a larger scale, and of more massive construction, but the enormous masses of masonry of the oldest nations were not comparable with the artistic grace, the luxurious adornments, and the harmonious proportions of this glorious House of God. David had laid up money and material for the great work, but he was not permitted to carry it out. He was a man of war, and blood-stained hands were
George Milligan—Men of the Bible; Some Lesser-Known

A Few Sighs from Hell;
or, The Groans of the Damned Soul: or, An Exposition of those Words in the Sixteenth of Luke, Concerning the Rich Man and the Beggar WHEREIN IS DISCOVERED THE LAMENTABLE STATE OF THE DAMNED; THEIR CRIES, THEIR DESIRES IN THEIR DISTRESSES, WITH THE DETERMINATION OF GOD UPON THEM. A GOOD WARNING WORD TO SINNERS, BOTH OLD AND YOUNG, TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION BETIMES, AND TO SEEK, BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST, TO AVOID, LEST THEY COME INTO THE SAME PLACE OF TORMENT. Also, a Brief Discourse touching the
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

In the Last, the Great Day of the Feast'
IT was the last, the great day of the Feast,' and Jesus was once more in the Temple. We can scarcely doubt that it was the concluding day of the Feast, and not, as most modern writers suppose, its Octave, which, in Rabbinic language, was regarded as a festival by itself.' [3987] [3988] But such solemn interest attaches to the Feast, and this occurrence on its last day, that we must try to realise the scene. We have here the only Old Testament type yet unfilfilled; the only Jewish festival which has
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Song of the Redeemed
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou ... hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation ... T he extent, variety, and order of the creation, proclaim the glory of God. He is likewise, ^* Maximus in Minimis . The smallest of the works, that we are capable of examining, such for instance as the eye or the wing of a little insect, the creature of a day, are stamped with an inimitable impression of His wisdom and power. Thus in His written Word, there
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

Of the Decrees of God.
Eph. i. 11.--"Who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will."--Job xxiii. 13. "He is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth." Having spoken something before of God, in his nature and being and properties, we come, in the next place, to consider his glorious majesty, as he stands in some nearer relation to his creatures, the work of his hands. For we must conceive the first rise of all things in the world to be in this self-being, the first conception
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Third Stage of the Roman Trial. Pilate Reluctantly Sentences Him to Crucifixion.
(Friday. Toward Sunrise.) ^A Matt. XXVII. 15-30; ^B Mark XV. 6-19; ^C Luke XXIII. 13-25; ^D John XVIII. 39-XIX 16. ^a 15 Now at the feast [the passover and unleavened bread] the governor was wont { ^b used to} release unto them ^a the multitude one prisoner, whom they would. { ^b whom they asked of him.} [No one knows when or by whom this custom was introduced, but similar customs were not unknown elsewhere, both the Greeks and Romans being wont to bestow special honor upon certain occasions by releasing
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Water of Life;
OR, A DISCOURSE SHOWING THE RICHNESS AND GLORY OF THE GRACE AND SPIRIT OF THE GOSPEL, AS SET FORTH IN SCRIPTURE BY THIS TERM, THE WATER OF LIFE. BY JOHN BUNYAN. 'And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.'--Revelation 22:17 London: Printed for Nathanael Ponder, at the Peacock in the Poultry, 1688. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Often, and in every age, the children of God have dared to doubt the sufficiency of divine grace; whether it was vast enough to reach their condition--to cleanse
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

The Being of God
Q-III: WHAT DO THE SCRIPTURES PRINCIPALLY TEACH? A: The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man. Q-IV: WHAT IS GOD? A: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. Here is, 1: Something implied. That there is a God. 2: Expressed. That he is a Spirit. 3: What kind of Spirit? I. Implied. That there is a God. The question, What is God? takes for granted that there
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

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