Class Notes on Isaiah 55

Isaiah 55:1-2 (NIV) “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 2 Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. [1]

• We practice good hermeneutics when we consider a passage in context. Isa 53 told us what? That a suffering servant would take away the guilt of our sin. Isa 54 told us what? That Israel's marriage would be restored and would be a new, perpetual covenant, principally expressed in the millennial kingdom
• Given the context of Isa 53-54, forgiveness, Jews restored, where might we be heading now?
  • It is a call to "all" who are thirsty
• What does it mean to be thirsty?
  • Not satisfied by the world
  • Not satisfied by what you are spending money on
  • Doesn't meet the real need our our soul
• What are the requirements of the call? You have to come, but otherwise none. Rich or poor
• Can you think of statements which Jesus made that are similar?
• John 4:13-14 (NIV) Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." [1]
• John 7:37-39 (NIV) On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. [1]
• Rev 22:17 (NIV) The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. [1]
• So, what is the water?
• It is the Holy Spirit which is given to all who believe Christ (all who COME!)
• It is also a guarantee of eternal life

Isaiah 55:3-5 (NIV) Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. 4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of the peoples. 5 Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor.” [1]

• So who is God calling out to?
  • I think it is all people. Everyone, Jew and Gentile can participate in the promise to David
• Who is the 'him' of verse 4 and 'you' in verse 5?
• It sounds like Jesus
• It also sounds like a millennial timeframe, since Jesus is not leader and commander of the peoples until the millennial reign
• But it also sounds like now, since every nation is hearing the message of Christ's redemption, in increasing measure. Fewer and fewer people groups have heard the gospel

Isaiah 55:6-9 (NIV) Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. [1]

• The invitation, from the earlier verses, is repeated. What is added?
  • "… while he may be found …" suggesting that there is a time when it is too late
    • Older one becomes, the more harden becomes the heart
    • When you are dead it is too late
    • At some point in the tribulation, the taking of the mark, it is too late
  • The need for repentance
  • God promises mercy and a free pardon
• In context, when God says that his thoughts are not our thoughts, what is he referring to?
  • While the statement has applicability in almost all domains, here it is probably referring to man's evil thoughts, and (also) man's evil ways (verse 6)
  • We need mercy and pardon, because thoughts and ways are so sinful, and fall so far short of the standard that God requires -- no one can meet God's standard
• Not only is God's standard different, what else is different from the way people think in verses 6 and 7?
  • God's pardon is different
    • People find it difficult to pardon, they want revenge
    • People can forgive one or two offences, but then draw the line
    • People can forgive a hurt toward one or two people, but when it affects many, sometimes they can't forgive
    • People weight the gravity of the offense. It is easy to pardon a slight offence
  • God's pardon is not earned but freely given, as is his mercy
• APPLICATION: I always thought of this verse in terms of God's knowledge being greater than mine, which is true, but in context God is saying that a sinner's thoughts and ways are so far short of God's standard. And how God pardons people is way beyond my way of thinking

Isaiah 55:10-11 (NIV) As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. [1]

• Again, in context, what would the seed, rain, and snow represent?
  • Generally, the word of God -- specifically the gospel message of salvation
  • This is very similar to Jesus' parable of the seed
    • In the parable though, not all the seed produces fruit
    • But, does the seed that does not produce still "accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it?" Yes
• A person does not have to believe the message for the word to be effective
• If you don't know what to say to a person, knowing a few verses is a very effective method of evangelism
  • We don't want to shove the gospel down someone's face but memorizing a few key verses can be very helpful
  • John 14:6 (NIV) Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. [1]
  • John 5:39-40 (NIV) You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life. [1]
  • John 5:24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. [1]
• APPLICATION: When you don't know how to answer someone, be honest, and use a verse. Example: well, I don't know about that, but I do know that God says ...

Isaiah 55:12-13 (NIV) You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord’s renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed.” [1]

• What is verses 12 and 13 trying to depict?
  • Great joy
  • Even creation itself will break forth in song
  • In contrast is Rom 8:19-21 (NIV) The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. [1]
• In the millennial age, the effect of sin will be reversed
  • In Genesis, God curses the earth so that it produce thorns and weeds. In the millennial age, the opposite occurs
  • Part of the reason we have swine flu, is not that God does not care, but that it is the consequence of our rebellion against God. Over time, the lifetime of people shorten, although in recent years, it has increased some. But disease, famine, and pestilence continue to kill people. And they will until the creation is restored
• APPLICATION: Jesus' redemption, spoken of in chapter 53, not only restores Israel, but redeems people and frees creation from the effects of sin

[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, c1984.