Isaiah 44:1-5, The Promised Covenant (1)

What, in terms of the New Covenant, was promised in the OT?

I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’ ” (Ezek. 37:14)

This prophecy promises God’s Spirit indwelling.  As Jesus said in John 6:63, It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  Also, note that the NC with it’s deeply spiritual nature, does not deny God’s promised physical blessings to Israel.  Remember that the first promise of the NC in Deut. 30:6 was in the context of Israel returning to the land.  Their inability to keep the first covenant (the Law) lead to their removal from the land; but the promised return happens with the accompanying NC.  The result will be a saved nation residing in the land.

Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. (Isa. 37:26)

The NC (New Covenant) is often called a “covenant of peace.”  It brings peace into Israel’s relationship with God.  Thus Jesus came preaching peace to those who were near (Israel) and those who were far off (Gentiles), For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father (Eph. 2:17-18).

For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, And floods on the dry ground;
I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, And My blessing on your offspring;
⁴ They will spring up among the grass Like willows by the watercourses.’
⁵ One will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’; Another will call himself by the name of Jacob;
Another will write with his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’
And name himself by the name of Israel. (Isa. 44:3-5)

The “outpouring of the Holy Spirit” is the subject here.  And look at the blessed relationship of Israel with the LORD.  I am “The Lord’s.”  So let’s be clear here.  This promise is made to Israel, the “chosen people.”  But it is the NC, which we have already noted was for those who were near and those far off.  For me, a Gentile, the NC brings the same blessing as to Jewish believers.  I don’t get a lot in Israel.  That comes to Israel via God’s promise to Abraham.  But I get the same Holy Spirit and am born again as anyone who has put their faith in Christ.  And now, Isa. 59:12:

“As for Me,” says the Lord, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the Lord, “from this time and forevermore.”

You only understand this if you read v20.  God is talking to “the Redeemer” who comes to Zion, the Messiah.  The covenant is with Christ and with all who believe in Him, His descendants (Ps. 22:30: His posterity; Isa. 53:10, His seed).