Phil and Heidi Litle

 

And you will be like a watered garden,

And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. 

And those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins;

You will raise up the age-old foundations;

And you will be called the repairer of the breech,

The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.

Isaiah 58:11-12

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Broken walls and ruined dwellings – mute testimonies to long gone peoples and civilizations – dot the landscape of Israel. Places which thrived centuries ago have long since been abandoned by man and overrun by native wildlife. The Prophet Isaiah uses these ruins to symbolize the spiritual condition of God’s people.

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In Chapter 58 Isaiah promises restoration and revival which God will bring about through the labor of His servants. Individuals laboring together are portrayed as rebuilding these long forsaken ruins – restoring God’s people to spiritual health and vitality. They “furnish their souls” to the spiritually “hungry” in an effort to “satiate” these “afflicted souls”.