Isaiah 55
July 28
Reading: Isaiah 55
1 "Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;
and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
3 Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
4 Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples.
5 Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know,
and a nation that did not know you shall run to you,
because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you.
6 "Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
7 let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the LORD,
that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God,
for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
12 "For you shall go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the LORD,
an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."
Isaiah’s Book of the Servant (Isaiah 40-55) is written to a people without a country, in exile, in poverty. This final chapter in this part of Isaiah completes the message of comfort and promise, comfort of God’s sovereign plan and promise of His Servant’s redemption of God’s special people. This chapter is an invitation to God’s final feast.
Do you want to be present at God’s victory banquet? Throughout the rest of the Bible the people of God will be looking forward to this wedding feast, this marriage supper of the Lamb.
Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure"-- for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are the true words of God." Revelation 19:7-9
In Isaiah 55:1-5 God’s people are urged to seek what God offers and not all the things that do not ultimately satisfy. God’s promise is that they will be His special people and that will be enough.
We might wonder how God will do this and when. We might not understand all the details and the current discouraging situations. But verses 6-13 tell us that God has His own mysterious plans. Just because we do not understand them does not mean that they will not happen. God’s words always accomplish what He intends. They always come true.
And so, our future is one filled with joy and celebration. It is not a matter of “if it will happen.” It is only a matter of when. This great hope in the future means that our present should be filled with joy. We know how the story ends.