Isaiah 55:1-13
Isa 55:1
Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and
he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Here is the call of the gospel which goes out to all
people but only those whom God has qualified to hear will come and respond.
The unbeliever does not thirst after righteousness but only those whom he
calls and chooses.
Jesus answered and said unto her,
Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: (John 4:13)
The water is the water of the true gospel.
And the Spirit and the bride say,
Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And
whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17)
No amount of money can ever buy the gospel for the true believer because
the price has already been paid for the salvation of the Elect on Calvary and
therefore one can buy the true gospel which means that one can receive the truth
of the gospel without any money which would represent the law of God which was
fully kept by the Lord Jesus Christ and imputed to his Elect.
The wine is the new wine of the gospel.
But new wine must be put into new
bottles; and both are preserved. (Luke 5:38)
Then the milk is the milk of the word of God.
As newborn babes, desire the
sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: (1 Peter 2:2)
Just as newborns grow on milk, the believer grows on the milk of the word
until they are ready for the meat of the word.
All these things the true believer has without any price on their behalf
because Christ paid the price for our salvation.
This was one of the main contentions of the Reformation that even though
Christ had paid the price of sins, the Roman Catholic Church tried to sell
indulgences which exempted the buyer from any and all penalties from their sins.
They were trying to sell the grace of God when it was a gift.
Isa 55:2
Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not
bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently
unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness.
Then the people are admonished as to why do they spend
their money on that which is not bread which constitutes the foolish things of
this world such as alcohol, lottery tickets, or even idolatries which national
Israel was guilty of. None of them
can ever satisfy the soul and that is what is in view.
A person can live on junk food or sumptuous feasts every day but neither
will ever satisfy the soul. Then
there are those who work feverishly to obtain all the material things they can
amass thinking it would bring them satisfaction if they just had one more
material good. The problem with
amassing much wealth or material goods is that they can be very deceptive in
allowing you to think the more you have the more secure you are.
However a little episode in Luke 12 gives a great warning.
But God said unto him,
Thou fool, this night thy soul
shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast
provided? (Luke 12:20) Then
everything you worked for will be fought over by greedy, undeserving relatives.
Then the LORD declares that they should look unto him and eat that which
is good. Not speaking of eating
organic foods but feeding upon the truth of the Scriptures and of the gospel.
The word “fatness” carries with it the meaning of “abundance.”
The person that dwells upon the true gospel and the Scriptures will see
their soul stockpile much abundance in the LORD.
This would mean they would increase their faith and their life would be
completely sold out to the Lord Jesus Christ and the more they work in the
confines of the gospel, the stronger they grow spiritually.
Isa 55:3
Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul
shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the
sure mercies of David.
Then the LORD declares that they should incline their
ears to him. The word “incline”
carries with it the meaning of “stretch out.”
The true believer is to listen to the LORD and to listen not just
physically but to listen with understanding and once that person understands,
they will become saved because only those who are truly saved have the spiritual
ability to understand the spiritual message.
Our souls shall live because we have received our resurrected souls and
now we walk in newness of life.
Therefore we are buried with him by
baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory
of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4)
The everlasting covenant is found in the covenant of grace through
Christ. The covenant which was made
first with Abraham and then continued with David.
The word “sure” carries with it the meaning of “established.”
The covenant of grace was established through the shed blood of Christ on
behalf of his Elect upon Calvary.
33 God hath fulfilled the same
unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also
written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.
34 And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead,
now no more to return to
corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.
(Acts 13:33-34)
Isa 55:4
Behold, I have given him for a witness to the
people, a leader and commander to the people.
The Lord Jesus Christ became the witness for the people
that God would fulfill and had fulfilled his promise of the everlasting covenant
which came through Christ. Christ
became the leader of his people who shows them the way they must go, their
ministries, and teaches them plus he is also a commander to the people in that
he is the sovereign king of his people and the commander of the body of Christ
where he leads them on to various ministries and to ultimate victory.
He is also commander of the hosts of Heaven as he has charge over the
angels.
11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many
angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of
them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; 12
Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power,
and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the
earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying,
Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon
the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. (Revelation 5:11-13)
Isa 55:5
Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest
not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the
LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.
The nation which will be called that the people of Israel
knew not would be the universal body of believers referred to as a nation.
Therefore say I unto you, The
kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the
fruits thereof. (Matthew 21:43)
Eventually, because of their rebellion, the nation of Israel will no longer be
the keepers of the gospel but will only be the starting point on Pentecost when
the gospel will go out to the entire world and the Gentiles will be called into
that kingdom as it would be made up of both Jews and Gentiles.
Then those nation which had little or no knowledge of God will come unto
the body of believers and will desire to know more about the holy one of Israel.
They will run unto thee because the LORD will be drawing his own.
No man can come to me, except the
Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
(John 6:44) Unsaved man on his
own will not seek the LORD because he is spiritually dead.
There is none that understandeth,
there is none that seeketh after God. (Romans 3:11)
If God did not do the drawing, then no one would come on their own.
Then God had glorified the true believer which will probably be made more
clear when we get to glory.
Moreover whom he did predestinate, them
he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he
justified, them he also glorified. (Romans 8:30)
God glorified us here in this world so we could glorify him among the
nations.
Isa 55:6
Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him
while he is near:
Then the general call goes out to the world that they are
to seek the LORD while he may be found which means he may be found by those who
are on this side of the grave.
There are no second chances for salvation after a person dies.
The call goes out to the world but only the Elect of God will be
qualified to respond.
For many are called, but few
are chosen. (Matthew 22:14)
Calling upon him while he is near tells us that it is still the day of
grace and the Elect of God are still being saved but one day that door is going
to close when the last named Elect will become saved and then the LORD will no
longer be near to be called upon.
Notice we call upon the LORD himself without any ritual or animal sacrifice
which shows the covenant of grace is through Christ to God the Father.
Isa 55:7
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man
his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him;
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Then the wicked man must forsake his ways and no longer
walk according to the dictates of the world system especially if they name the
name of Christ as the Savior. Then
the unrighteous man must forsake his thoughts, that is, his evil schemes and
plans which would walk in lockstep with the ways of the world.
He is to return to the LORD as you recall that many walked away from God
by disobedience since the Garden of Eden and has been living in sin, whether
great or little sin, it does not matter but once a person receives Christ as
Savior, they are returned to the LORD as a wayward child.
For ye were as sheep going astray;
but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. (1 Peter 2:25)
If a person is the Elect of God, God will have great mercy upon them and
will abundantly pardon them for their sins. This pardon means they will never
have to worry about the sins being brought up to witness against them.
I,
even I,
am he that blotteth out thy
transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. (Isaiah 43:25)
Isa 55:8
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither
are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
God’s thoughts, plans, and intentions are far superior to
ours as being from an infinite God.
God’s thoughts are supernatural where man’s thoughts are natural plus they are
affected by the sinful nature which actually darkens our thought processes.
Then the second half of the verse is probably the biggest frustration to
the true believer. God’s ways are
not our ways and we have seen many examples of this.
Let’s look at Joni Erickson Tada, how come she had to spend over 50 years
in a wheelchair because of her quadriplegia?
Let’s do some 20-20 hindsight.
If the LORD saved her without her having any injuries, what type of
ministry would she have had? With
her testimony in Christ over the last 50 years, how much impact has she had upon
millions, especially those with disabilities?
Her present ministry has been a source of encouragement to millions even
though it is still very hard for her physically.
The Lord’s ways are not our ways but we must keep in mind that despite
our sin natures, the LORD works through us to bring the gospel to the world and
to help disciple those who have become saved.
Sometimes we question the LORD’s ways but that is because we filter
everything through our sin nature and that is why we must trust the LORD that
his ways are much better than ours.
Isa 55:9
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so
are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Here God reminds us and encourages us that he does not
think according to our desires or thoughts but he acts from his own wisdom and
intentions. We must always keep in
mind that God is never out to hurt us or intentionally do us harm.
After all we read in the Scripture concerning the relationship between
God and his children, how could anyone think that?
God tells us that as the heavens are higher than the earth and that is
very high because no one knows how big the universe is which means that it is
extremely higher than the earth. We
may be able to see distant galaxies through the Hubble Telescope but remember,
there are galaxies beyond what we can see.
That is the comparison between God’s thoughts and ways and ours.
Since we do not know if there is an end to the universe, this means that
God’s thoughts will always continue to be way above our thoughts and ways.
Our thoughts are normally limited to this earth and to the physical realm
but God’s thoughts transcends anything we can think of.
This is why many times we pray and ask the LORD for something and we get
back a “no” answer because his thoughts and ways are much better for us than we
realize.
Isa 55:10
For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven,
and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and
bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
Then the LORD makes a comparison between his creation and
the word of God in the next verse.
The rain comes and nourishes all the plants and trees that it reaches.
Then the snow in winter replenishes the minerals in the ground and allows
the harvest to be a good one plus whatever is planted will grow strong.
Actually I have heard that we could use one good blizzard every winter to
replenish the soil. Then God tells
us that both the rain and the snow does not return to the clouds but settles
upon the ground where they fall.
That results in watering the earth so it allows the plants and trees to be
nourished and as a result the plants will be able to regenerate by producing
seeds that will be replanted and then will have the privilege of growing under
the same cycle. Many people
complain when we have a rainy day but they would complain more if they had no
food because there was no rain. Ask
anyone who has lived in a drought zone what lack of rain can do.
Isa 55:11
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it
shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and
it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Then the LORD makes the full comparison of his word that
is disseminated throughout the entire earth which would be like the rain and
snow. It will proceed forth from
the LORD’s mouth and it will accomplish what he wants it to accomplish.
Just like the rain and snow are very vital to the growing of food and
settles on the area under the clouds, the word of God is vital to the
accomplishing what he wants to whether it be judgment, salvation, encouragement,
prophecy, or whatever he has deemed necessary in the counsels of Heaven.
There is one principle that we must ingest and that is that the word of
God will always accomplish what God wants and it prospers within that context.
Many times we may give out tracts or preach a message and if we don’t see
instant results we become discouraged not realizing as we read in verse 8 that
God’s ways are not our ways. George
Mueller who had the orphanage in England prayed for a man’s salvation for 50
years. The man became saved at the
funeral of George Mueller. The LORD
will prosper his word in his timing according to what he wants to accomplish.
Isa 55:12
For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with
peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
The true believer which receives the word of God will
have great joy. Joy is the
foundation of happiness and causes puzzlement in the world when a true believer
goes through hard times and maintains a grand demeanor and disposition.
Then the believer will be led forth in peace because they have the peace
of God being reconciled unto the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ which
results in a peaceful mind when tough times come and they will.
Thou wilt keep
him in perfect peace,
whose mind
is stayed
on thee: because he trusteth in
thee. (Isaiah 26:3) Just like
God led Israel out of Egyptian bondage, he leads and guides the true believer
through this world. Then the
mountains and the hills will break forth into singing which means that even the
inanimate world will rejoice.
For we know that the whole creation
groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. (Romans 8:22)
The whole creation groans under the weight of sin and will one day be
free to bloom and grow without the curse of sin upon it.
This also means that the mountains and hills represent kingdoms of the
world and even they shall rejoice when the true gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
will be proclaimed to all nations and within those nations, there will be God’s
Elect who will receive salvation and make their nation a better place to live if
their government is not hostile to them.
Then we once again come across the trees of the field who will clap their
hands in joy and we know that the trees in view here are the true believers
called trees of righteousness.
To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion,
to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of
praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of
righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. (Isaiah
61:3) They are planted by the
LORD who is the one that implanted salvation into them and will receive glory
due his name for the eternal kindness he shows to his true children.
Isa 55:13
Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD
for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.