Isaiah 33:21
But there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. But there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.
The glorious Lord himself will be to his people a place of broad rivers and streams, giving abundant provision and complete protection and security. No hostile galley with oars can navigate those waters, and no gallant warship can enter or pass through them. That defense is not a wall or an army but the Lord's own presence as Zion's secure place and source of abundance.
The promise belongs to the picture of Zion and Jerusalem as a quiet habitation, a secure and lasting and enduring dwelling. Its safety rests on this, that the Lord is judge and lawgiver and king to his restored people, and he saves them. Danger and hostile power cannot enter where he rules in this way.
In the dark days of Judah, when only a remnant were left in the land, this promise is the glad exclamation of those redeemed from idolatry. It belongs to those who heed the call to behold the living God. They turn from idols to the worship of Jehovah, learn to see love and mercy and tender compassion in their Maker, and boast in God alone.
Those thus described have their sins forgiven. Its inhabitants are no longer sick.
The rivers portray spiritual realities in Christ's kingdom. His government is unlike earthly governments, marked by holy love, while his servants reflect his pity and lovingkindness and compassion.
In the new earth the promise means the sea that divides friends and breaks up associations by the broad fathomless ocean will be gone. It means an end to the cruel galley bondage in which many who loved and served God were chained to their seats and compelled to serve hardhearted men, suffering looked upon with sympathy and compassion. It means an end to fierce torrents and engulfing ocean and restless murmuring waves.