Verses 8-15 and 33-36 speak of the recovery of the good land, which signifies the recovery of the full enjoyment of the riches of Christ (see note Deut. 8:71).
Verses 8-15 and 33-36 speak of the recovery of the good land, which signifies the recovery of the full enjoyment of the riches of Christ (see note Deut. 8:71).
In the Lord’s recovery by life there are two aspects: the outward aspect, as seen in ch. 34, and the inward aspect, as seen in vv. 22-33 of this chapter. In the outward recovery we repent, turn to the Lord, and are brought back to the enjoyment of Christ’s riches and to God’s blessing. In the inward recovery God touches our heart and our spirit and changes us in life and nature.
In recovering His people, God acts on behalf of His holy name. The inward recovery by life is carried out not because of any merit in ourselves but because God does something in us for His own name (cf. 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 3:5).
The clean water here refers to the Lord’s redeeming and cleansing blood, which is a cleansing fountain (Zech. 13:1). In recovering us, the Lord washes us from two categories of dirty things — from filthiness, including all kinds of sinful things, unjust things, unrighteous things, and dark things, and from idols.
In His recovery by life the Lord gives us a new heart and a new spirit. Our heart is our loving organ, and our spirit is our receiving organ. While we are in a fallen or backslidden state, our heart toward the Lord is stony and hard, and our spirit is deadened (Eph. 2:1; 4:18). When the Lord saves us or revives us, He renews our heart, making our stony heart a heart of flesh, a heart that is soft and loving toward Him (cf. 2 Cor. 3:3). Furthermore, He enlivens and renews our spirit with His divine life (Col. 2:13). As a result, we love the Lord and desire Him with our renewed heart, and we can contact Him, receive Him, and contain Him by exercising our renewed spirit.
Jer. 32:39; cf. Deut. 30:6; Psa. 51:10
In His recovery by life God not only gives us a new heart and a new spirit (v. 26) but also puts His Spirit within us, in our spirit, making the two spirits one mingled spirit (Rom. 8:9, 16) and causing us to be one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17).
God’s Spirit within us contains God’s nature, and God’s nature corresponds to God’s law. Because we have God’s nature within us (2 Pet. 1:4), we are able to keep His law spontaneously by walking according to our regenerated spirit, which is indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:4; Gal. 5:16, 22-23).
In the Lord’s recovery by life His people become like the garden of Eden, in which Christ as the tree of life is their rich supply (Gen. 2:8-9).
The Lord promised to increase our number with men like a flock, but we need to pray for this and ask Him to do it (cf. Luke 10:2).