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) This does not need a lot of explaining since about everybody knows that water is essential for yards and gardens and farms and trees and shrubs.
Grass turns brown and goes into a dormant state in dry weather and will remain so until there's enough water to turn it green again.
Dry seeds will not sprout because they are encased in phytic acid, which inhibits growth. Water dissolves the phytic acid and launches a process of enzymatic explosion in the seed. .
About a hundred years ago, dry grains of wheat at least three thousand years old were found in some of the Egyptian pyramids. When they were carefully planted in damp soil, they sprouted and grew into normal wheat plants.
For many years I have raised sprouts in quart jars in winter to use in salads. I keep twenty-plus jars of different kinds of dry seeds for this purpose. Some roots and bulbs are like seeds in that they are dormant and will not attempt to grow when they are dry. But, what does this have to do with Isaiah 53:2?
McGee make this observation: "Christ was a root out of a dry ground. This means that at the time of the birth of Christ the family of David had been cut off from the kingship. They were no longer princes; they were peasants. The nation Israel was under the iron heel of Rome. They were not free. The Roman Empire produced no great civilization. They merely were good imitators of great civilizations. There was mediocre achievement and pseudoculture. The moral foundation was gone. A virile manhood and a virtuous womanhood was supplanted by a debauched and pleasure-loving citizenry. The religion of Israel had gone to seed. They merely performed an empty ritual, and their hearts remained cold and indifferent.
"Into such a situation Christ came. He came from a noble family that was cut off, from a nation that had become a vassal to Rome, in a day and age that was decadent. The loveliest flower of humanity came from the driest spot and period of the world's history. It was humanly impossible for His day and generation to produce Him, but He came nevertheless, for He came forth from God."
God once sent me into an area to pastor a church. It was at the end of nowhere. No doubt about it, through several unusual things that made up the picture, it was His will for me to go. I never doubted it then or at any time since. I have never banged on doors to get them to open nor tried to help the Lord guide my steps. I've always figured that God knows where I live and knows my phone number and that's the way I have operated for fifty-plus years.
When I went to look at the place and the church, it looked ho-hum to me. But as I drove the 300 miles back home and was thinking and praying about it, the phrase: "Root out of a dry ground" kept bearing down on me. I finally realized that it was not idle thought going on but was the Lord. So I agreed to go. It turned out to be one of the most fruitful times in my whole life. People came during the summer from Detroit and other places and got saved while they were visiting. I think I baptized over a hundred the first year in the swimming hole in a creek. That was not the purpose of the prophecy in Isaiah. But it did illustrate what God was about to do in my life and in that community.
Are you trying to grow something in a dry ground? Wet it good with the Word of God and prayer and if need be: tears.
It's good to remember that Jesus did not attract people because of being handsome and athletic. He was not. He was the most powerful figure in world history but it was not a natural attraction of beauty.
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