Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
“A king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.”
Isaiah 32:1-2
Jesus is the king who “shall reign in righteousness” with men whom he has chosen and anointed to be rulers among his saints. These rulers, or “princes”, are servants of God who are anointed with authority from God to rule with Christ among the saints.
So, who the King is and who the princes are in verse one of those Scriptures from Isaiah is easy to understand. And to recognize the “rock ” is easy, too. Jesus is called the “Rock” of our salvation (1Cor. 10). But who in verse two above, is the “man” who gives God’s children shelter from the raging spirits of this age? That is not so readily discerned. Notice that the man acts as a shadow of that great Rock; he is not that rock itself. He is not Christ, just an extension of it.
When one considers verse two carefully, it becomes apparent that it is merely a poetic restatement of verse one. “The shadow of a great rock” is nothing more than a poetic way of referring to a man who is anointed by Christ for the blessing of his people. The “shadow” of Christ on earth is a “prince” in the kingdom of God. It is someone who represents Christ and passes on to God’s people some of the refreshing and relief from this world that comes from him.
In both verses, Jesus is the head. And in both verses, others are mentioned as his subordinates. Jesus anoints men to work with him in the kingdom of God for the good of God’s dear children, and when he does, those men become princes serving the king, or shadows of the rock.
Whenever God anoints a man, that man becomes a place of refreshing for the saints because he is where the anointing of God is. In Jeremiah’s day, God lamented that His people had “forgotten their resting place.” God had anointed the Levites to be His priests and servants, and His people had become so distracted by cares of this life that they had “forgotten” the Levitical priesthood. Had Israel given heed to God’s anointed priests and judges, they could have rested from their fears. As it happened, they refused the Law which faithful Levites taught, hired false prophets to teach them God’s ways, and forsook their only hope of life and peace. How sad it is to consider Israel’s history! God had warned them through Moses not to forget the Levites; that is, not to cease from financially supporting those whom He had chosen to serve Him for their good, but they disobeyed that simple commandment, abandoned the Levites and the anointing that was on them, and then were forced to face the burning sun of this sinful world with no place to hide.
A faithful, anointed man of God is a refuge for God’s saints from the spirits of this age. An anointed man of God is like a watered fountain in a dry land (Isa. 58:11), a shadow of a huge Rock in a burning, hot desert. Jesus told his followers to pray that God would raise up such men for His people, and I believe that is one of the best prayers anyone can pray.