Isaiah 55
BBCIsaiah 55:1
- The Messiah as World Evangelist (55:156:8)55:1 The Spirit of God sends out the evangelistic invitation to Israel to return, and at the same time invites everyone everywhere to the gospel feast. All that is necessary is a consciousness of need (thirst). The blessings are the waters of the Holy Spirit, the wine of joy, and the milk of the good Word of God. They are the free gift of grace, without money and price. 55:2-5 In its alienation from God, Israel has been wasting its energy and resources. True satisfaction and lasting pleasure are found only in the Lord. If Israel returns to the Lord, they will receive all the sure mercies promised to David in the everlasting covenant (see Psa_89:3-4, Psa_89:28-29). These blessings are fulfilled in the Lord Jesus and in His glorious reign. The Gentile nations, too, will share in the benefits of the kingdom, and there will be amicable relations between Israel and the nations. 55:6, 7 The pathway of blessing lies in seeking the LORD and in forsaking sin. Those who thus return to the Lord will find Him full of mercy and pardon. 55:8, 9 Men shouldn’t judge Jehovah by their own thoughts and ways. He thinks and acts in ways that transcend anything man could ever imagine. This is never more true than in the gospel plan of salvation, which is all of God’s grace and allows no glory in self-effort. William Cowper expressed it with his usual elegant English in his poem “Truth”: O how unlike the complex works of man, Heav’n’s easy, artless, unencumber’d plan! No meretricious graces to beguile, No clustering ornaments to clog the pile; From ostentation, as from weakness, free, It stands like the cerulian arch we see, Majestic in its own simplicity. Inscribed above the portal, from afar Conspicuous as the brightness of a star, Legible only by the light they give, Stand the soul-quickening wordsBELIEVE, AND LIVE. 55:10, 11 God’s word is just as irresistible and effective as the rain and snow. All the armies in the world cannot stop them, and they accomplish their intended purpose. God’s Word never fails to achieve its aims: So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.55:12, 13 Those who seek the Lord will leave the land of captivity with joy, and travel home with peace. All nature will rejoice in their liberation. The land will enjoy freedom from the curse, with resulting fruitfulness. Instead of the thorn and the brier, the cypress, and the myrtletree will come up. All the foregoing millennial blessings will bring the LORD renown and will be . . . for an everlasting sign, that is, an eternal memorial of His grace and goodness.