Bible Commentaries
Isaiah 55

Verses 1-21

XXIII

THE BOOK OF ISAIAH PART 15

Isaiah 55-57

The special theme of this section is the kingly office of the Servant. This appears expressly in Isaiah 55:3-5. Though the title "Servant of Jehovah" never occurs in the singular after Isaiah 53:11 again and again his presence is manifest to the reader, so, throughout these three chapters the glorious king of Israel lives and acts.

The first kingly work of the Servant is providing for the needs of his people (Isaiah 55). The two thoughts of this chapter are the gracious invitation to the royal feast of the Servant (Isaiah 55:1-5) and a call to repentance and remission of sins, and the happy consequences.

The invitation is to "every one that thirsteth." This is very much like our Lord’s gracious invitation: "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink;" "Thirst" is used here and elsewhere in the ’Scriptures to symbolize the longing of the human heart for its counterpart which is God. "Water" symbolizes salvation, the satisfying portion that comes to the thirsty soul when brought to realize its famishing condition. This corresponds to Zechariah’s "fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness," and to our Lord’s "water of life" which he offered to the Samaritan woman at the well of Sychar, and to every thirsty soul, thus: "I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely." Upon this thought are built the many hymns which use this symbolism, such as, "There is a Fountain Filled with Blood" and "The Fountain that Never Runs Dry."

”Wine” here symbolizes spiritual joy, or gladness, while "milk" symbolizes the nourishment of the soul. So the invitation here is to salvation, gladness, and nourishment, or the complete satisfaction of the spiritual needs of man. The terms, or conditions, of this invitation are simple: "Come, buy, eat," but "Without money and without price," i.e., you may call it "buying" if you wish, but it does not cost anything. It is, as the preacher said once, "free gratis, for nothing." It is an offer of "salvation by grace," purely the gift of God.

But what the import and application of Isaiah’s double question, "Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not?" These questions contrast the value of spiritual and worldly things. "Not bread" means that which has no real value; that which does not sustain, or that which does no good. "Bread" here includes every necessity of life, as food, clothing, and shelter. But these necessaries are only incidental and should be made tributary to the higher things of life, things that contribute to the culture of the mind and heart. The affections of the great mass of Israelites were set on worldly things, on enriching themselves by "adding field to field and house to house" (Isaiah 5:8), and they cared nothing for spiritual blessings, much less to "hunger and thirst" after them.

Then he says that these things do not satisfy. Worldly things cannot satisfy the heart, not even the heart of the worldly. These thoughts are emphasized in the exhortation which follows: "Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." The highest aim in life should be soul growth, and the food that makes for "soul fatness" is found with Jehovah, and not in worldly things. Worldly things tend to soul poverty rather than soul prosperity. In this connection John’s language to Gaius should be kept in mind: "Beloved, I pray that in all things thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." So it is that "a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." But it will be noted that all this is concerning right expenditure and not right acquiring of wealth. There is much discussion about the methods of getting wealth, but little on the right expenditure of wealth. There is some conscience on how to make money, but not very much on how to spend it. Often the distribution of wealth is more hurtful than the accumulation of it. No man has the right to waste his money or to spend it for "that which is not bread," nor has he the right to labor and spend his life on the pleasures of the world, which do not satisfy.

The "everlasting covenant" here (Isaiah 55:3) refers to the covenant of grace, as amplified in the New Testament, and the "sure mercies of David" refers to Christ, the surety of that covenant, as Paul shows in Acts 13:34: "And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he hath spoken on this wise, I will give you the holy and sure mercies of David," i.e., the blessings promised to David.

So Isaiah 55:4, by New Testament interpretation (Acts 13:34), refers to the risen and exalted Christ, who was and is a witness, a leader, and a commander of the peoples. This involves his kingly office.

In Isaiah 55:5 the Messiah is addressed, and there is a promise made to him similar to the promise in Psalms 2:8: "Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." Here is it said to him, "Thou shalt call a nation that thou knewest not; and a nation that knew not thee shall run unto thee," the chief attraction being the glory of the risen and exalted Lord. "Nation" here is used distributively and means all the Gentile world, as included in Psalms 2:8.

In Isaiah 55:6-7 we have a specific direction for seeking salvation. First, it must be sought in the right person – "Jehovah," or Jesus Christ who is Jehovah manifested. Second, it must be sought at the right time – "while be may be found." Third, it must be sought by prayer – "call ye upon him." Fourth, it must be sought when he is near, or at the moment when his Spirit is moving upon the heart. "Today if ye shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts," for that is the day of salvation to that person. Fourth, it must be sought in the right way – by repentance and faith: "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts." Repentance is a change of outward life and inward thought. It means a change of mind toward God with respect to sin, but the inward change of mind works the outward change of life, i.e., the outward change is the "fruits meet for repentance." "And let him return unto Jehovah, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Faith is throwing oneself upon Jehovah (Christ) for his mercy and his pardon. The publican prayed, "God, be propitiated toward me, the sinner," i.e., let thy mercy abound toward me because of the sacrifice of expiation.

In Isaiah 55:8-9 we have the wisdom of Jehovah magnified in this plan over against what the foolishness of man would have devised. His thoughts and ways are as high as the heavens above man’s thoughts and ways.

The instrument used in this great plan of salvation is the word of God (Isaiah 55:10-11). As the rain from heaven refreshes the earth and makes it produce the seed, so shall the word of God, sent out from Jehovah, accomplish its work in the salvation of the people.

The manifestations of the new life imparted in conversion, or regeneration, are joy and peace, the results of the impartation of new life by the Spirit. All nature reflects the joy also. Many a time has a soul fresh from the hand of God, imagined that the mountains were singing, and that the trees were clapping their hands. What a view of one’s environments this new life gives to its recipient! The world about him seems to be clad in the garments of gladness and all nature responds to his song of joy.

The language of Isaiah 55:13 is highly figurative, picturing the blessed state of the reign of righteousness in the earth. All this chapter has a primary reference to Israel and her deliverance from the captivity through their seeking Jehovah and their repentance, but as the deliverance of Israel from Egypt was a type of the individual deliverance from sin, so is the deliverance from Babylon, a type of individual deliverance from sin, which is the basis of the New Testament evangelism. God no longer delivers nations from sin as a whole but deals directly with the individual. So we go on with the work of evangelization of the individual until the nations, which are composed of individuals are converted and then will we see this ideal here realized. The "thorn" and the "brier" symbolize the curse of wickedness, and the "fir tree" and the "myrtle tree," the blessings of righteousness. The promise here is that the "thorn" and the "brier" shall give way to the "fir tree" and the "myrtle tree," which cannot be fully realized until that blessed ideal of the millennium shall come in to bless the world.

The second work of the Servant king is fresh legislation, or fulfilling the law and declaring the relations of all the heirs of the kingdom. The new law for the various subjects of the kingdom (Isaiah 56:1-5) is as follows: To keep justice and to do righteousness. This has a fulfilment in Christ’s exposition of the law, found in the Sermon on the Mount. The equality in the privileges of the covenant here described finds fulfilment only in the privileges of the new covenant, of which Paul says, "There is neither bond nor free, Jew nor Gentile, male nor female." Then the proselytes and eunuchs need not fear, for they shall have honorable mention in the new covenant.

In this new order of things provision is made for the foreigners. They shall have all the privileges of the sanctuary – the privilege of sacrifice and prayer. They shall be brought to the holy mountain of Jehovah to share the joys of his house. Not only will he gather the outcasts of Israel, but he will gather others besides. Thus said Jesus, "Other sheep I have, which are not of this flock; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and they shall become one flock, one shepherd." The house of Jehovah was to be "a house of prayer for all peoples." This looks forward to the time when the temple should be emphatically a place of prayer, the legal sacrifices having received their fulfilment and being thenceforth superflous and out of place. But the Jews did not recognize the fulfilment when it came, and thus they held on to the sacrificial ritual until Jehovah destroyed their "house and city." So the larger fulfilment of this passage is found in the spiritual house, the church, which succeeded the tabernacle and temple. In this house all people have the same privileges. The holy of holies is open to all who come in the name of him who entered within the veil, there to intercede for those who come to God by faith in him.

The third work of the Servant king is judgment in the interest of righteousness and mercy (Isaiah 56:9-12). This is the picture of the judgment upon the guilty heads of the community. The beasts of the field are summoned to come and devour these ungodly, selfish shepherds, because they are blind, without knowledge, dumb, greedy, without understanding, and drunken. Their philosophy of life was, "Let us eat, drink, and be merry; for to-morrow we die." This picture of the hireling shepherds corresponds exactly with Christ’s description of them in John 10. The judgment on them here corresponds to his judgment upon the religious leaders of his time, which found its consummation in the destruction of Jerusalem.

Here we see the Lord’s favor to the righteous in view of the judgment upon the evil. He takes them away before the judgment comes. This has always been God’s method. When he was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah he took Lot and his family out; before the final destruction of Jerusalem they were warned by our Lord to flee, and before his final judgment upon the world he will take all his people out of it. So the prophet explains here that Jehovah took his righteous prematurely because of the coming judgment upon the evil. The removing of some of the faithful in Israel before the judgment came upon them was to them a blessing, since they were in quiet rest and peace. This must have in it the foreshadowing of the final destruction of Jerusalem when the wrath of God fell so heavily upon the Jewish leaders.

The charge against the people in Isaiah 57:3-10 is the charge of idolatry and its accompanying sins. To itemize them, they were sorcery, adultery, harlotry, mockery, transgression, falsehood, worshiping in the high places, Molech worship, stone worship, enlarging the bed for others, making covenant with them and forgetting Jehovah.

The penalty pronounced upon them in Isaiah 57:11-13 is that their righteousness and works should not profit them, and their refuge of lies should be swept away. Most modern interpreters think that the Jews are addressed here and that the time is the latter part of Hezekiah’s reign. If this be true, then evidently the prophet comes back in his vision to the time in which he lived. This is not at all impossible, but it is probable, as some of the older commentators think, that, with the condition of Israel in the time of the prophet as a background, this is a forecast of the church with its corrupt priesthood and idolatry in the Dark Ages. The hopeful note in this paragraph is the inner circle of the faithful who take refuge in Jehovah and who shall possess the land and inherit his holy mountain. It is consoling to find that this remnant is never lost but runs all the way from Abel down to the present. It matters not how dark the hour in the history of the world the "salt of the earth" is in evidence.

This section closes (Isaiah 57:14-21) with a promise to the humble and a curse upon the wicked. This is a fine prescription for a revival. There is, first, an order to prepare the way, so that the people can go to the "holy mountain" of Jehovah. Second, there is a magnifying of the eternity and holiness of Jehovah and his transcendence above the universe. Third, there is the condescension of God, who is the source of all true revivals, to dwell in the hearts of men. Fourth, there are the conditions set forth, viz: humility and contrition. Fifth, there is also the purpose of Jehovah’s condescension, viz: "to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite." Then the prophet gives Jehovah’s promise to heal backsliding Israel and to comfort the mourners, announcing peace to his people, but eternal unrest and sorrow to the wicked.

QUESTIONS

1. What the special theme of this section?

2. What the first kingly work of the Servant?

3. What the two thoughts of this chapter?

4. Who are invited to their feast, what the symbolism here and upon what terms are they invited?

5. What the import and application of Isaiah’s double question, "Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not?"

6. What the meaning-of the "everlasting covenant," and the "sure mercies of David" in Isaiah 55:3?

7. Who is spoken of in Isaiah 55:4, and what office is there given him?

8. In Isaiah 55:5 who is addressed and what the meaning of the verse?

9. Expound Isaiah 55:6-7.

10. By whose wisdom was such a plan of salvation wrought out?

11. What the instrument used in this great plan of salvation?

12. What the manifestations of the new life imparted in conversion, or regeneration?

13. What the interpretation of Isaiah 55:13, and when will the prophecy here be realized?

14. What the second work of the Servant king?

15. What the new law for the various subjects of the kingdom (Isaiah 56:1-5)?

16. In this new order of things what provision is made for the foreigners?

17. What the third work of the Servant king?

18. What the picture of Isaiah 56:9-12?

19. What the Lord’s favor to the righteous in view of the judgment upon the evil?

20. What the charge against the people in Isaiah 57:3-10?

21. What the penalty pronounced upon them in Isaiah 57:11-13?

22. Who are the people here addressed?

23. What hopeful note in this paragraph?

24. How does this section close (Isaiah 57:14-21)?