CHAPTER 55

(712 B.C.)

GODS PROMISE TO ALL

¹Ho, everyone who thirsts, come you to the waters, and he who has no money; come you, buy, and eat; yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. (With Chapter 53 proclaiming the great price that was paid at Calvary, and Chapter 54 proclaiming the coming grand and glorious Kingdom Age, now the inhabitants of the entirety of the world are invited to come and partake of the One Who guarantees entrance into that Kingdom.

Three times in this one Passage the word come is used. It corresponds to Rev. 22:17; it is used three times there as well! The triple invitation corresponds to the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. All are participants in the great Salvation Plan.

The four articles of purchase, as are outlined in Verses 1 and 2 are: water, bread, wine, and milk. Such expresses the plenitude of Grace in the Saviour, as exhibited in the four Gospels.

The word buy is used, and yet the purchase price is not money. Were it so, most could never obtain the treasure. Therefore, the price that is demanded is the heart of man! [Rom. 10:9-10].

Then the phrase is used, and eat. Men must partake of Christ before they can become a part of Christ, which can be done only by Faith in Christ and what He has done for us at the Cross.)

²Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfies not? hearken diligently unto Me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. (Accepting the Spirits invitation through the Prophet will satisfy fully. As someone has well said, The soul of man is so big that only God can fill it up.)

³Incline 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. (Incline your ear, refers to the Words given by Christ, when He said, he who has ears to here, let him hear [Mk. 4:9].

The Everlasting Covenant refers to the New Covenant, the Divine David, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is called the sure mercies of David, referring to God becoming Man, the Incarnation [Heb. 13:20; Isa. 7:14].)

⁴Behold, I have given Him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. (The pronoun Him refers to Christ. He Alone is the witness to the people. He came to bear witness to the Truth [Jn. 18:37].

As well, He is Leader and Commander to the people. He feeds and leads His People [Rev. 7:17], and is the Commander under Whose banner they serve [II Tim. 2:3-4].

The word people, in the Hebrew, is actually peoples, and rather refers to the entirety of mankind, at least those who will believe in Him.)

⁵Behold, You shall call a nation that You knew not, and nations who knew not You shall run unto You because of the LORD Your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified You. (The first phrase refers to the calling and Salvation of the Gentiles, which Christ afforded by what He did at the Cross [Mat. 21:33-44; Jn. 10:16].

Because of the LORD Your God, refers to God as the Father of the Messiah. God gave Him not only for Israel, but for the entirety of mankind.

The Holy One of Israel refers to the fact that God always intended for Israel to be the bearer of this great Message of Eternal Life, and to the entirety of mankind, but Israel refused!

For He has glorified You, refers to Jehovah glorifying the Messiah, which was done at His Resurrection, because of what He did to bring Redemption to mankind all of mankind.)

REPENTANT SINNERS TOLD TO SEEK THE LORD

⁶Seek you the LORD while He may be found, call you upon Him while He is near (the entirety of this Verse, as given by the Holy Spirit, has rather a tone of reproach. Israel, as well as all, must seek the Lord without delay, or the opportunity will be past. Therefore, the admonition in this Verse is one of warning, proclaiming to us the fact that there can come a time when God cannot be found!):

⁷Let 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. (A general promise of forgiveness of sin upon Repentance and amendment of life was implied by the Lord from the very beginning [Gen. 4:4], but was actually given to Israel through Solomon [II Chron. 7:14]. The Doctrine is largely preached by the Prophet, but is nowhere so distinctly and emphatically laid down as in this place. Gods Will is to multiply pardon, if man will only turn to Him.

The words, abundantly pardon, have the idea of Justification by Faith. God sets the sin aside as though it never happened, which can only be brought about by Faith in Christ and what Christ did at the Cross, of which the Sacrifices in Isaiahs day were symbols.)

⁸For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My Ways, says the LORD. (The idea of this Passage is that the thoughts of God and the Ways of God are so far above the comprehension of man, that man must take these statements by Faith. However, Verse 8, in essence, points toward the Sacrifice of Christ, which would be nearly 800 years into the future, and which would bring about the Redemption of mankind, at least for those who will believe.)

⁹For as the heavens are higher than the Earth, so are My Ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. (Through the Word of God we are given some of the thoughts and Ways of God; however, so few Believers actually take advantage of this treasure trove of wisdom.)

¹⁰For as the rain comes down, and the snow from Heaven, and returns not thither, but waters the Earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater (the sense of this Passage is not in its direction, but in its mission):

¹¹So shall My Word be that goes 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. (Gods Word is creative. With the utterance, the result is achieved. It is given not for just a special time, but for the benefit of the people of God in all ages.)

THE REDEEMED WILL LIVE IN JOY

¹²For you 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 idea of this Verse is that the captives of Jacob will ultimately be led forth from captivity by the Leader and Commander of Verse 4. When Israel is finally restored by Christ, because they have finally accepted Him as Saviour and Messiah, the entirety of the world will be grandly blessed [Rom. 11:12].)

¹³Instead 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. (Sinful man is born morally a thorn and a brier. But the Messiah and Saviour can recreate him as a fir tree and a myrtle.

A sincere thirst for forgiveness of sins and for communion with God is marked by a separation from all known sin, and by a subjection and attachment of heart and will to the Lord Jesus Christ, in Whom are found Salvation and Righteousness, and Who is Himself the Saviour of the New Covenant [Lk. 22:20], which was made possible by the Cross [Eph. 2:13-18].)