Exposition by Max A Forsythe
In these chapters of the last few weeks, Isaiah not only shows us that redemption has been accomplished, but also that the heathen would belong to the Servant. The blessings of this belonging have been set forth abundantly and now the invitation is extended to all who are in need to come and partake of the salvation the Lord offers. The invitation here in chapter fifty-five is directly in the first person singular. In this sense we should understand that the Lord is speaking directly to us.
Two years ago, upon the election of the president, I sent along a letter to limit the mandate he thought he had from the electorate. I later read that another three million people had also done the same. Several months later, I received an impersonal post card in reply. It may have been the president’s words, but it certainly wasn’t his signature. Of course we all know that one President could not possibly be expected to send out three million replies. Yet, our Father God in heaven is well able to personalize the form of this prophecy to invite His elect of every time and place into a personal relationship with Himself.
It all depends upon the orientation of our desire and understanding if we will accept his kind invitation. This invitation is divided into four sections. In verses one through six we see the gospel call. Verse seven defines a necessary precondition on our part. Verses eight and nine go on to focus our thoughts on who has given the invitation and how different God really is from the creatures in His creation. The last three verses witness to the certainty that these words of the Lord will accomplish His will of salvation.
Like contemporary advertisers, the first couple of verses inform us that there is something that we need. Even before we would ever realize it, we are told that our spiritual thirst and hunger are real. Just as the mere trinkets of the holiday season do little to fill the lonely hearts of our age, so too in all times have the hungers and thirsts of the ages been only aggravated by false religions rather than satisfied. “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?”, the Lord asks us. Why indeed? Even in the area of staple foods today, there is very little quality. For a generation or more vegetables and fruits have been bred to survive coast to coast shipping and for as much shelf life as possible. Supposedly the best tasting apple on record is also the ugliest. But very few English Pippins are sold more than a few miles from their orchards. Tomatoes, like footballs are prized for the thickness of their skins. Eggs are considered “fresh” three months since they have seen a chicken.
Yet people willingly shell out their hard earned wages for the minimal culinary fare. Why should we be surprised when our culture settles for the lowest common theology when it comes to religion? If their was ever a time like Isaiah’s it is now. Some people who are spiritually desperate will cling to any new age, old age or pagan concept which even has a hint of warming their souls.
To the thirsty and to the hungry of every age, the Lord announces the kindness of His gospel grace. “Come, have what you need without cost, without money and without labor. What I have to give”, He assures us, “cannot be earned”. Listen only, He asks of us, give Him an ear so that we might live. If we will listen, we are promised an everlasting covenant of love like that experienced by David the king. Just as we might learn if we would listen to the psalmic words of such a believer as David, so will others be summoned when the Servant comes to offer them the New Covenant supper. That Servant will be endowed with splendor, and all of the individuals and nations of the world should seek after Him.
So should we, as we are encouraged in the invitation of verse six. “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” Oh, many might say, there is all the time in the world. I want to live, I want to have fun, I want to get rich first. That phrase “I want” is the most pathetic excuse ever offered by mankind. Those who use it will never trouble themselves to find the Lord God of heaven and earth. This week I received an invitation to a Car Dealer to tell him what I would be willing to pay for a new car. I was promised three hundred dollars off and a free prize. One in five thousand people will be awarded a free car. Well, that price is right, but I threw the invitation away. What a world of contrast there is in the gracious invitation of our God in heaven. If we would but seek Him, He will find us. And that isn’t limited to the first fifty callers either. That promise is as good as His word.
But like many of the new car deals, there is one precondition that we must consider before coming into the eternal kingdom of Christ. Look carefully at verse seven: “Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts.” How difficult that is for so many members of the “ME generation”. “I”, is become the center of the universe and the Lord of Creation has been banished. How little this generation appreciates the greatness of the Lord God of heaven who issues the invitation before us today. That incredible awesome God would tell us in verses eight and nine what we need to know about the God who is speaking. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways", declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
But we would not have such an awesome God in our time. Since the seventeenth century, mankind has been busy shrinking the Almighty down in size. Perhaps a popular movie ought to be made entitled “Honey, I shrunk the God of Heaven.” After all, the Deists, like Thomas Jefferson, taught that once God started up the world He stepped out of the picture. The next generation, personified by Immanuel Kant, taught that God was not only out of the picture, but it was unlikely that He had ever communicated with mere men and women. And so it has gone. The greatest Science Fiction writer of all time, Charles Darwin, provided a story line that excluded God from the creation process all together. Nitsche finally made the only logical announcement that “God Is dead”, and whole cultures, countries and generations hurried to believe it.
Yet, despite the reluctance of society in general to believe in the existence of our God who makes us the kind and gracious offer in this chapter, God would have us know that our personal salvation is as entirely predictable as the rain and snow which water the ground and nourishes the plants. The going out of His Word will not return to Him empty. His gospel invitation will not be totally ignored. “It will not return to me empty,” He declares.
Look at verse twelve; are you there? Have you listened and learned? Do you know the joy of the Lord and the peace that passes all understanding? If you have, then as verse thirteen declares, your acceptance of the gospel invitation is indeed for the Lord’s renown. You and all of your spiritual kin are an everlasting sign that His glorious Kingdom is indeed real. And we are promised that the elect of every nation who come into that Kingdom will never be destroyed. May we who have the faith once given to the saints praise the Lord for planting His invitation in our hearts so that we may not only worship, glorify and thank Him in this life, but live on into eternity, where we may serve Him forever and ever. Amen.
Resources Used:
Ellis, Charles..
The Wells of Salvation.
Thomas, Derek
Welwyn Commentary Series: God Delivers.
Uprichard, Harry. A
Son is Given: Christ in Isaiah.
Young, Edward J.
The Book of Isaiah.
Youngblood, Ronald F. The Book of Isaiah: An
Introductory Commentary.
The Holy Bible.
New International Version (1984 Edition)
NOTE: I am not able to automatically
recommend any future editions.
Christ Covenant Reformed (Presbyterian Church in America) -
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27 November 1994
Permission granted to redistribute unedited versions with this notice.