The Conclusion of the Song (Part 2)

Pastor Bill Farrow

Isaiah 26:19b

 ¹⁹Your dead shall live; Together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; For your dew is like the dew of herbs, And the earth shall cast out the dead.

Awake and sing - In view of the cheering and consolatory fact just stated that the dead shall rise, the chorus calls on the people to awake and rejoice. This is an address made directly to the dejected and oppressed people, as if the choir were with them. Therefore let the poor, desolate, melancholy remains of its inhabitants, which dwell as in dust, awake and sing; for they shall see Jerusalem, the city of their solemnities, a quiet habitation again, (ch. 33:20). The dew of God’s favor shall be to it as the evening dew to the herbs that were parched with the heat of the sun all day, shall revive and refresh them. And as the spring-dews that water the earth, and make the herbs that lay buried in it to put forth and bud, so shall they flourish again, and the earth shall cast out the dead, as it casts the herbs out of their roots. The earth, in which they seemed to be lost, shall contribute to their revival. When the church and her interests are to be restored neither the dew of heaven nor the fatness of the earth shall be wanting to do their part towards the restoration. Now this (as Ezekiel’s vision, which is a comment upon it) may be fitly accommodated, (1.) To the spiritual resurrection of those that were dead in sin, by the power of Christ’s gospel and grace.  (2.) To the last resurrection, when dead saints shall live, and rise together with Christ’s dead body; for he arose as the first-fruits, and believers shall arise by virtue of their union with him and their communion in his resurrection.

You who dwell in dust - To sit in dust, or to dwell in the dust, is emblematic of a state of dejection, want, oppression, or poverty (Ps. 44:25; 119:25; Isa. 25:12; 26:5; 47:1). Here it is supposed to be addressed to the captives in Babylon, as oppressed, enslaved, and dejected. The “language” is derived from the doctrine of the resurrection of the body, and proves that that doctrine was understood and believed; the sense is, that those were thus dejected and humbled should be restored to their former elevated privileges.

For your dew - This is evidently an address to God. “His” dew is that which he sends down from heaven, and which is under his direction and control. Dew is the emblem of that which refreshes and vivifies. In countries where it rains but seldom, as it does in the East, the copious dews at night supply in some sense the want of rain. Thus “Dew” is used in Scripture as an emblem of the graces and influences of the Spirit of God by which his people are cheered and comforted, as the parched earth and the withered herbs are refreshed by the copious dews at night. (Hos. 14:5).  The prophet here speaks of the captivity in Babylon. Their state is represented as a state of death - illustrated by the parched earth, and the decayed and withered herbs. But his grace and favor would visit them, and they would be revived.

Is like the dew of herbs - As the dew that falls on herbs. This phrase has, however, been rendered in a number of different ways. The Vulgate renders it, ‘Thy dew is as the dew of light.’ The Septuagint: ‘Thy dew shall be healing unto them.’ But the most correct and consistent translation is undoubtedly that which renders the word herbs or vegetables (compare 2 Kings 9:19).

And the earth shall cast out the dead - This is language which is derived from the doctrine of the resurrection of the body; and shows also that that doctrine was understood by the Hebrews in the time of Isaiah. The sense is, that as the earth shall cast forth its dead in the resurrection, so the people of God in Babylon should be restored to life, and to their former privileges in their own land.