(11) Adonai will guide you continually
and satisfy in the dry places your soul;
your bones he will make strong
and you will be like a garden well-watered,
like a gush of water;
its waters will not fail.
(12) They will build from you the ruins of old
foundations age-old you will reset;
and you shall be called "mender of the breach",
"restorer of paths in which to dwell".

(11) The LORD himself will lead you on and on.
He will satisfy your deepest needs
as one appeases a raving person lost in a vast desert.
Your very bones will be invigorated
and you will be as fresh as a luscious garden,
like a bubbling spring
whose gurgling never ends.
(12) Some of your people shall rebuild the ruins of the past.
You yourselves will again lay the foundations of many generations,
and you will be called "repairers of broken places",
"restorers of streets made livable again".

Study 1

A watered garden: a garden that has a constant supply of water, and is therefore green and productive throughout the year. Food is available and the people and other creatures that depend on the garden are not in want, they have life. Water is one of the basic requirements of the living organism and thus is a powerful symbol. Nomads in Africa are what they are because they have to look for water for their animals and themselves, otherwise they all die. Water helps trees to grow, to provide coolness and shade. Water therefore helps to protect life. Oases in the desert attract people, who may establish settlements, and symbolize life. Without water there is dehydration, withering and death. Long spells of drought result in famine and sometimes in the death of human beings, animals and vegetation. In the city of Nairobi, there are residential areas that are not attractive simply because the water supply there is not reliable.

In the texts, drought or lack of water indicates that some things are not right. In Africa today there are many for whom there is no water. There is growing deforestation and desertification. As we write, there is actual drought in parts of Kenya. Other parts of northern and southern Africa have suffered from the same problem for a long time.

We can also speak of drought symbolically, in relation to all the life-denying problems that are prevalent in many parts of Africa - poverty, disease, unemployment, slums, animosity, hostility, rivalry, etc.

God

God is depicted in our texts as a watered garden. God is described as a refuge (Ps 46.1), a place that provides protection, care and nurture, a place to run to when things are bad. God is described as one who is able to bring about life-giving change - the war situation is reversed, peace prevails and fear is gone. The weapons of war are made ineffective by God so there is no bloodshed, there is harmony, there is peace. These qualities of God have been manifested in Africa - a wind of political change in many countries, an end to apartheid in South Africa, multiparty elections in Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, etc., cease-fires in Angola and Somalia, an end to the massacres in Rwanda, a decrease in tension and in ethnic clashes in Kenya (Ps 46.9-11).

These qualities of God are shared by Jesus Christ (Jn 4.7-30). Jesus makes a difference in the Samaritan woman's life - the chains of separation between the two different cultures, Jewish and Samaritan, are broken. More importantly she has a supply of water that will enable her to thirst no more.

Christian responsibility

Christians are called to follow the example of God the Father and Jesus Christ: to be watered gardens, to share with others the water of life. In literal terms, Christians are to ensure that there is a constant supply of water for human survival and the survival of other creatures. They are to have concern and respect for the environment. They are to be involved in irrigation and reclamation. They are to make use of rain water by storing it and tapping it when there is no rain. Those in the city are also to have backyard gardens to make their homes beautiful and to minimize costs on vegetables. Christian organizations should be much more involved in semi-arid areas by helping to sink bore-holes that could make life much more comfortable for those in need. One notable example is the Adventist Development Relief Agency (ADRA), which is involved in many parts of the continent.

The greater challenge, however, is to let the living water flow through all the aspects of life: economic, political, social and spiritual. Christians are called to serve as watered gardens in a holistic manner in all spheres of life.

Kenyan Group

Study 2

The experience of the people of God is that God is always with them, even in the most hopeless and dangerous times. God promises to be with those who are faithful and do what God does: share themselves with their brothers and sisters. Only with the gracious help of God can one go through the darkest times of life (Ps 46). God leads those who have reestablished their relationship with God. There is full trust toward God, because God is Lord above everything and has the power to do unexpected things.

The prophet describes the faithful with the picture of a watered garden. When the people returned home from exile, they found their land devastated. The temple and all the other buildings were destroyed, the people were distressed and sorrowful. Much labour was required to restore the country and the people. This work was not easy, but if the hearts of the individuals were filled with love and the desire to do what God does then it would be successful, and prosperity and peace would come again. After the difficulties of the new beginning the faithful were to find health and peace with God. That is what the prophet promises. The picture of the watered garden implies that there is a gardener who regularly waters the plants and keeps them in good shape. The main effort here is to get back to the original state. There is a desire for the lost Paradise.

This is a point upon which the New Testament passage sheds some light. In Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman we can see that it is important what kind of water the gardener uses. What Jesus offers is "living water".

There are two more points to which I would like to draw attention. First, the picture of the garden might seem to suggest passivity from the side of the receiver: God waters, God's people is watered. Is passivity what the prophet has in mind?

The second point concerns Jesus' action toward the Samaritan woman. In the times when the last chapters of the book of Isaiah were written, there was great jealousy and hate between the Jews arriving back from exile and the Samaritans, who had stayed in the land during the captivity and mixed with other pagan nations. This enmity was still vivid even in Jesus' time. That is why Jesus' deed was so shocking to the woman and to the disciples as well.

Question

What are the implications of Jesus' action of crossing the barriers (of enmity, of nationalism etc.) in your local or regional situation?

Zoltán Tarr

Study 3

Restoration

Isaiah 58 began with the tones of a judgment speech (see Jer 7.1-15, for example). The people are told publicly of their wrongdoing and failures. Like a typical prophetic speech of judgment from God, Is 58 denounces the community for their error: the false trust in religious attitudes and practices to satisfy God while large groups of folk suffer in their midst. It tells the people to address this situation and amend their ways. Unlike a judgment speech, however, the chapter emphasizes God's deliverance rather than God's judgment. Judgment is implied only, by pointing to God's lack of response to the community's religious zeal (v.3). Beginning with verse 6, the liberative activity of God stands in the centre of attention: first, toward those in need, the afflicted, and then toward the community, once it has taken up the task of liberation. Verses 11 and 12 elaborate eloquently on the new situation that will ensue once the covenant community has turned toward solidarity with the afflicted (see v.10). Images of restoration, some from nature, some from the world of culture, inform one another in these lines. Bones are made strong, water flows richly in dry places and structures are rebuilt. Garden, soul, bones, water, ruins, foundations are all images that together depict the being of a people in the process of restoration. Three times the word "water" occurs, a dominant symbol of life and the presence of God in the Bible. Verse 11b picks up the theme of verse 10a ("If you offer to the hungry your soul // and the soul of the afflicted you satisfy"): those who have offered their soul/being to the hungry, and have thereby satisfied the soul/being of the afflicted, in their turn will have their soul/being satisfied by God.

A new name

Verse 12 moves the healing in a new direction. So far, the community that has made a turn to participate in God's work of deliverance is the recipient of God's salvific action: God will surround them with righteousness and glory, will guide them and satisfy them, their ruins will be rebuilt. In the next lines the acted upon become the actors: "... you will reset". They are receivers once more in that they will be given a new name, but the name is one of activity: "mender // restorer". To receive a new name symbolizes change and a new direction. In Is 56-66, it signifies also and especially the ushering in of a new era of blessing (see, for example, Is 60.14; 61.3; 62.2; 62.4; 62.12).

Is 58 addresses the issue of fasting, of a religious practice, and teaches that appropriate religious practice begins with the action of deliverance. The fabric of the community addressed in Is 58 is torn, there is a great distance between themselves and God that cannot be bridged by religiosity. Once they learn to mend the distance between themselves and those in need they themselves are "on the mend". Not only is this true, but they can be called menders of the breach, of the broken condition that has alienated neighbour from neighbour and the community from God. Last, their new name is "restorer of the paths to dwell in", that is to say, the new way of religious practice is to be a way of life, a path to dwell in.

Johanna van Wijk-Bos

Study 4

If we accept Jesus Christ into our hearts, and love God and people whole- heartedly, then the Lord will surely bless us all. God will make our hearts like watered gardens where the flowers of "love, justice, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control" (Gal 5.22) blossom.

There is in Taiwan a young man called Chen Chin-Siong who belongs to the Tsou tribe. When he was a baby his father died, and several years later his mother married again. So he was adopted by his uncle and lived with his uncle as one of his own sons. Chin-Siong became a very skilful bamboo craftsman, and his uncle was very happy with him.

One day Chin-Siong heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and was so deeply moved by the message that he became a Christian. After a period of time he felt the call of God and was determined to study in a seminary to become a pastor. However, because of this decision, he was driven out of the home by his uncle. He and his wife became homeless; at that time his wife was pregnant and they suffered very much. Chin-Siong endured everything, worked hard, graduated from Yushan Theological College and became a wonderful pastor. By the grace of God he forgave his uncle and loved him whole-heartedly. Eventually his uncle became a Christian!

Chin-Siong also organized a children's choir and several years ago, they won a grand prize in a national contest. This soldier of Christ loves the Lord and people whole-heartedly and God made his heart a beautiful garden.

The Kingdom of God

God will create a new heaven and a new earth for all people who really love him so they may live there eternally. The Kingdom of God is more beautiful and wonderful than the garden of Eden. The Bible says, "We wait for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." (2 Pet 3.13) The Bible also says, "God will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death, no more grief or crying or pain. The old things have disappeared." (Rev 21.4)

Yes, God will bring into being new heavens and a new earth, full of truth, love, justice, joy, beauty, life, hope... There we will live with God and all who are forgiven by the Lord, for all eternity.

Build... gardens

Looking forward to the coming of a new heaven and a new earth, we should reacknowledge our mission entrusted us by the Lord.

Our mission is first to accept the Lord into our hearts and make them watered gardens. And then do everything we can to build our homes, churches, communities, countries and the world, so they too may become watered gardens filled with the flowers of love, justice, truth, peace and hope.

It is very difficult to promote mission and we will surely face many difficulties and suffer persecution. Nevertheless, we should move forward courageously with the following Bible passage: Jesus said, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you, falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets before you." (Mt 5.10-12)

Question

Have you ever met any difficulties or suffered persecution when you were serving and reforming your church according to God's will, or trying to build a just, peaceful and beautiful society? How did you overcome these problems?

CM Kao