A ROOT OUT OF DRY GROUND -- Tomorrow:
"For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him." (Isaiah 53:2)
Over 700 years before "the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us," Isaiah spoke with remarkable detail about Him. Through this great prophet, the Lord was doing at least two things. First He was preparing the ancient people for the coming of the Messiah. Second, He was providing a means whereby those in the day of salvation could both assess and more fully comprehend their Savior. The Jews were not to expect a Savior that would suddenly appear with pomp and impressive ritual. Nor, indeed, would He be a Savior having a strong appeal to disinterested people. It is particularly this latter view that I want to address – "a root out of dry ground."
When the text says "dry ground," it means unusually dry, like the bones Ezekiel saw in the open valley (Ezek 37:2). The NASB emphasizes this by reading "parched ground." The Savior was a "tender plant," frail from one point of view, yet able to break through the hard crust of parched ground.
Jesus entered into the world following a long spiritual drought. John the Baptist had prepared the hearts of the people for Him, awakening the slumbering spirits and sounding the death-knell to lifeless and stilted religion. The last prophet before John was Malachi. He prophesied over 420 years before John, and during an unusual decadent time. Spiritually speaking, it was "dry ground" when Malachi prophesied, and the ground had not become better in the interim.
From the human point of view, which is always the wrong point of view, it just was not the kind of circumstance conducive to the birth of a Savior. As a whole, the people were not godly. The spiritual leaders – Scribes, Pharisees, and Lawyers – were themselves lifeless and disinterested, knowing neither the Scriptures no the power of God.
But this was the time described as "the fulness of the time," appointed by God as the time when His Savior would come into the world. It was a time of spiritual destitution. But it was during that time the Savior grew up before God as "a root out of dry ground."
As if His birth were not sufficient to fulfill this prophecy, Jesus was raised in Nazareth, a city out of which nothing good was expected to come (John 1:46). Even during His ministry, Jesus "did not many mighty works" in Nazareth "because of their unbelief" (Matt 13:58). It was spiritually dry ground, the soil of men's hearts hardened by unbelief. Yet, the Savior grew up, and first ministered, out of this most unlikely environment – "a root out of dry ground."
There are a number of things to be seen here. First, the Savior did not derive His strength or a single advantage required for His mission, from the earth. It was "dry," with no spiritual moisture to sustain Him. He was supported from heaven, not from earth. Second, He appeared in spite of the seeming impossibility of His appearance. The very coming of Christ into the world defied human explanation. Third, as a "tender plant," He appeared as unable to facilitate any purpose of magnitude – destined, as it were, to smallness. Fourth, He did not seem capable of supporting a vast multitude of branches and fruit.
But, praise the Lord, all of these appearances were but delusions. He, in spite of these seeming handicaps, "GREW UP" before the Lord, fully prepared to execute His mission, fulfill the purpose of God, and support believers of all ages.
Of course, he grew up out of dry ground, but He did not remain there. Now He is sitting at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens, no longer associated with anything "dry" and unproductive. It is quite true that the world remains dry and parched. However, He who grew up out of it now ministers grace and power so that we can get out of it also. Praise be to God!
PRAYER POINT: Father, I thank You that the spiritually impoverished climate of this world could not stop the Savior from appearing, giving His life a ransom for many, rising from the dead, ascending into heaven, or faithfully interceding for me now. In His name, I give praise to You for such a marvelous Savior.