Isaiah: God’s Dew Is Like the Dew of Herbs

We may now turn to the prophet Isaiah, who lived about seven hundred years before Christ.

“Your 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.” (Is. 26:19)

Isaiah speaks about his own dead body arising from the dust, and together with this he associates a group whom he calls, at the beginning of the verse, “Your dead,” and again, more generally, at the end of the verse, “the dead.” It is plain that Isaiah contemplates a general resurrection of many, if not all, of the dead.

The prospect is one that brings joy to those concerned, for Isaiah says, “Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust.” It would seem therefore that Isaiah’s message is addressed primarily to the righteous dead, who, through the resurrection, will be ushered into their final, eternal reward.

In agreement with conclusions reached in earlier studies, we see that Isaiah views the resurrection as affecting primarily the material part of man – his body. He speaks about those “who dwell in dust.” The picture which he presents is that of men’s dead bodies arising or awakening out of their sleep in the dust.

Isaiah also depicts the supernatural power which will affect the resur- rection as “dew.”

“For your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.” (Is. 26:19)

The picture is one of dry seeds lying buried in the dust and requiring moisture to make them germinate and spring up. This moisture is provided by the dew settling upon them. In many passages of Scripture, dew – like rain – is a figure of the operation of the Holy Spirit. Thus Isaiah foretells that the resurrection of the dead bodies of believers will be effected through the power of the Holy Spirit.

This is confirmed by Paul.

“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” (Rom. 8:11)

Paul states that the same power of the Holy Spirit that raised the dead body of Jesus out of the tomb will also raise up the dead bodies of those who believe in Jesus and who are indwelled by the Holy Spirit.