Have you ever been startled by a spurt of water? You weren’t expecting it, and then suddenly there it was, and it took you off guard. Well, that’s what the coming of Christ will be like for the nations of the world.
In Isaiah 52:15, the Bible talks about how the second coming of Christ will impress the kings of the earth. It says, “Thus he will sprinkle many nations, kings will shut their mouths on account of him; for what had not been told them they will see, and what they had not heard they will understand.”
Now this verse is a final thought in a sequence of ideas concerning the impact of Christ on the world. Verse 14 tells us how He astonished people in his first advent by how much He suffered. Then, in verse 15, there is a shift to the second advent, where we are told that He will overwhelm the kings of the earth. Before saying that, however, the statement is made that He “will sprinkle many nations.”
The word “sprinkle” is the Hebrew word nazah, and it means “to spurt or splash.” The word actually took on another meaning, however, due to the sudden nature of spurts and splashes. It came to mean: “to start or startle.”
I once watched a man who had a gimmicked flower on his lapel. He would get people to smell his flower, and when they did, it would squirt a spurt of water in their faces. It was hilarious as each time the person would jump back with surprise. The spurt of water startled them. Well, that’s the idea here. The coming of Christ will be so sudden and so spectacular, the nations will be startled by His appearance.
“Thus he will sprinkle many nations, kings will shut their mouths on account of him…”
Say – it’s hard to imagine just how spectacular the second coming of Christ will really be!