Isaiah 41:20, commentary and pictures

God opens rivers in high places and fountains in valleys, turns wilderness and dry land into pools and springs of water, and plants cedar, shittah, myrtle, oil, fir, pine and box trees together in the desert, so that people may see and know and consider and understand together that the hand of the Lord has done this and the Holy One of Israel has created it. When He thus restores the wilderness for those who repent and return to Him, bringing water to the poor and needy and making barren circumstances fruitful, His commandment-keeping people can recognize the work as His and praise and thank Him. The verse stands in Isaiah 41-45, which very fully reveals God's purpose for His people, and the whole forty-first chapter is to be prayerfully studied to understand it in all its significance. It calls God's people to hold to the wisdom of the Infinite at their command and trust in the Lord alone rather than looking to finite man and making flesh their arm, and to do most earnest work for repentance, for the Lord is not to be trifled with. It is a declaration full of promise, encouragement and assurance that will certainly be fulfilled in the last days to prepare the way for Christ's second appearing, comforting true, humble followers amid earthquakes, storms, and heavy calamities when the rebellious perish and the righteous are afflicted, so that those who meet its conditions will see and understand together His hand doing this even while Lucifer wars against God as a mighty deceiver.

Provision Reveals God's Hand

The purpose set out in the verse is that people may see and know and consider and understand together that the hand of the Lord has done this and that the Holy One of Israel has created it. That recognition is the intended result of God's provision of rivers and springs and pools and trees in desolate, barren places, and of His restoration of water and growth in the wilderness. The change is His own work and His deliverance and provision, meant to bring people to acknowledge together that the Lord has acted and that the Holy One of Israel is their Creator.

The provision to which the purpose points back is definite and detailed. It is opening rivers in high places and fountains in the midst of valleys, making the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land springs of water, and planting together in the wilderness and desert the cedar and the shittah tree and the myrtle and the oil tree and the fir tree and the pine and the box tree. The full significance of that promise and its purpose is grasped by studying the whole forty-first chapter of Isaiah.

The verse also shows that when God restores and renews the wilderness for those who repent and return to Him, they can recognize that this work is His. His bringing of water to the poor and needy and His turning of wilderness into fruitful land declare that He has acted and created these things. That transformed wilderness assures His commandment-keeping people that He can make their own barren circumstances fruitful, and His care gives them reason to praise and thank Him.

Study and Trust God's Wisdom

The setting of the saying is Isaiah 41 through 45, where the purpose of God for His people is revealed very fully, and those chapters are to be studied prayerfully. To grasp it in all its significance the whole forty-first chapter is to be studied. That chapter holds the promise to open rivers in high places and fountains in the midst of valleys, to make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land springs of water, and to plant cedar, shittah, myrtle, oil tree, fir, pine, and box tree together in the wilderness and the desert, for the end that people may see and know and consider and understand together that the hand of the Lord has done this and the Holy One of Israel has created it.

The saying directs the people to see and know that the hand of the Lord has done this by holding to the wisdom of the Infinite placed at their command. They are not instructed to turn away from Him to look to finite man for wisdom. They are not to trust in men or make flesh their arm, for the Lord alone is to be their trust. He is not to be trifled with, and He calls His people to diligent work for repentance with most earnest effort, while strength is given to His own people.

Promise for the Last Days

The chapter to which this promise belongs bears on the work in the last days to prepare the way for Christ's second appearing, when those who witness what God does will see and know and consider and understand together that the hand of the Lord has done it and that He has created it. It is a declaration from the Lord full of promise and encouragement and assurance, and it will certainly be fulfilled. It was given to comfort the true and righteous and humble followers of Christ amid the afflicting providence of God coming upon the world in judgments near the closing of earth's history.

Those judgments include earthquakes and storms on land and sea and heavy calamities by sea and by railroad, a time when the rebellious perish yet the righteous are also afflicted. In the latter days those who take this assurance and fulfill its conditions place themselves where the Lord will surely do all He has promised, so that His hand in doing this will be seen and understood together. This will come to pass even while Lucifer the fallen angel wars against God and perverts education and brings calamities, and as a mighty deceiver takes many from the ranks.