Isaiah 55 is a poem that starts like a commercial. God appears as a street vender in the marketplace near a river, eager to sell his goods, but with a big difference. What He’s offering is free. His merchandise--wine and milk--represent life’s blessings. Milk is a symbol of nourishment, wine a symbol of happiness. And both are free! The offer is to everyone without exception; come as you are; come at once. Drink the love of God. The invitation is similar to Jesus’ parable where the poor, crippled, and blind are invited to a great feast.
Poverty is no barrier; it’s a prerequisite. The “buyers” can keep their money in their pockets. This is Good News for those who are spiritually bankrupt. “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” who are desperate for God, Mt 5. “As the deer longs for streams of water, so I thirst for you, O God,” Psalm 42. To receive what God freely offers, we need to admit we are spiritually parched. The self-sufficient have little desire for spiritual nourishment, but “all who hunger and thirst after righteousness will be filled.”
The Merchant declares that what He’s offering is “without cost,” at least to us. The transaction is already completed. It’s paid-in-full. The price? Our salvation cost Jesus His own blood on the cross. His sacrifice paid our debt--the Just for the unjust! Eternal life is a gift.
Not everyone wants what the Merchant is offering, so he pleads with them, verse 2: “Why pay for food that does you no good?” Unbelief and apathy indicate a desire to go our own way, to reject divine authority, despite what is offered. People turn from the Bread of Life, preferring the “junk food” of the world. How convenient to live without absolutes, but Isaiah says this kind of life will “not satisfy.” It will ultimately lead to despair. Tim Keller warns that, “We base our lives on some ultimate allegiance, either to God or to some God-substitute.” Accept no substitutes! C.S. Lewis noted that “History is the long, terrible story of people trying to find something other than God to make them happy.”
What do we value in life? Who do we pay attention to? God urges us in vs 3 to incline our ears to Him. We eagerly listen to politicians and celebrities. Are we attuned to God? Jesus asked His disciples if they wanted to leave after hearing Him. Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (Jn 6:68). Secular voices compete to gain our attention, yet wisdom and abundant life comes from one source: “Only in God is my soul at rest,” Psalm 62. Do we cherish God’s word? The mind grows by what it feeds on. In Psalm 81 God declares, “Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.”
Besides wine and milk, the Heavenly Merchant offers us an “everlasting covenant” in verses 3 and 4. A covenant is a relationship that God establishes with us and guarantees by His word.
God wants us to have all He promised King David. God took a shepherd boy and made him a great leader. As God blessed David, He will bless us. God remains faithful, despite our faults. We’re not alone or on our own. We can trust God’s presence and promises. God will give us the same mercy He showed David.
Being followers of Christ, our mission is to “summon nations,” verse 5, to share with others the message of hope we’ve received. We are lifelines of the Gospel to others. We believe in Jesus because someone cared enough to tell us the Good News. Now it’s our turn. Go public with your faith! Share it wherever you have any influence.
Isaiah cries out with urgency in verse 6: “Seek the Lord while He may be found.” God can be known. He has revealed Himself through Creation, conscience, Scripture, and His Son. He meets us where we’re at. When we turn to Him, our thirst for meaning and purpose is satisfied, our sins are forgiven, and we’re set on a new direction with a new destination. The author of Hebrews pleads with us: “Today if you hear His voice, harden not your hearts” (4:7). Seek Him without delay, “while He may be found.” This offer has a limited time of opportunity.
Verse 7 is an appeal to turn from sin. To repent is to come to our senses. Repentance is forsaking our past with resolve for the future. We repent or we repeat. Are you stuck in the past? God can get you unstuck. Conversion is throwing out our agenda and living by God’s. In learning to follow Jesus we unlearn following ourselves. We regret our failures, and sorrow can lead to repentance, but repentance is not when we merely weep. It’s more action than emotion. Repentance is when we change our allegiance. We trust and obey. “Sin forsaken is the best evidence of sin forgiven” (J.C. Ryle).
By turning to God, we receive what He offers: mercy and pardon, verse 7. Mercy is God’s goodness toward those in the misery of sin. Mercy withholds punishment. And God’s mercy will follow us all the days of our lives. C.S. Lewis said, “I’d sooner pray for God’s mercy than for His justice on my friends, my enemies, and myself.” Mercy is God giving us what we don’t deserve; pardon is God not giving us what we do deserve. “There is hell now, and there is hell later, and Jesus tells us to take both seriously” (Rob Bell). We can let go of our past because God has let go of our past. God provides pardon, but we won’t get it if we don’t want it, if we don’t think we need it, or if we don’t trust God enough to accept it.
Verses 8 and 9 offer comfort when life doesn’t make sense, when all we do seems like “striving after wind” (Eccl 1:14). We’ve all been there. Isaiah was writing to Jews in exile. They couldn’t fathom what God was doing. When life hurts, it’s hard to grasp God’s purpose in our pain. God’s ways and thoughts are immeasurably higher than ours. His purpose is beyond figuring out. With faith, we trust--despite unanswered questions, despite God’s silence. If God gave us all the reasons why we’re suffering, we likely still wouldn’t understand; it’s beyond comprehension. We trust that God’s actions are correct, and that one day it will all make sense. Meanwhile, we struggle to unravel the mysteries of life. We wait and hope in God.
In verses 10 and 11 we’re reassured by the unfailing purposes of God. In due time He will right every wrong. Just as we count on the seasonal rain and snow, we can leave the future to the capable hand of God. The best time to trust the mystery of God’s providence is before a crisis hits. The Bible contains all that God intends for us to know. It is enough. People who read the news know what’s going on in the world. People who read the Bible know why. God’s word “will not return to Him empty.” Luke 1:37 assures us that “No word from God will ever fail.” When we share God’s word with others, we do so with the confidence that it will achieve what He desires.
The poem concludes with excited optimism. The words “go out” in verse 12 refer to exodus after exile, divine liberation! God’s promise that we will “go out in joy and be led forth in peace” is linked to the free offer of verse one. C.S. Lewis wrote: “I doubt whether anyone who has ever tasted joy would ever exchange it for all the pleasures in the world. No one who seriously desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek, find.” Peace and joy are what God wants for us, no matter what is happening around us. We yearn for something that nothing in this world can give. We can’t expect God to be our source of peace if the world is the source of our longing. We are restless till we find our rest in God.
Despite their captivity, Isaiah’s readers can count on God. The same holds true for us. Despite where we are, despite our hardships and sorrows, one day we will rejoice. Creation itself will rejoice! “The mountains and hills will burst into song and all the trees will clap their hands.” Nothing will stop God from achieving His purpose. The briars and thorns refer to the curse on creation after Adam’s sin. We live in a fallen, broken world. A transformation of nature will reverse the curse, resulting in a new Earth and Paradise Restored. Till then, we’re dealing with thorny matters, but we’re confident that all will be well. God will transform our thorns into blessings. When, and how, we don’t know…but we know He will.
Finally, verse 13 explains that what God does, will last. We can count on Him; He is faithful. People who demand signs of God’s existence often dismiss the evidence. This is stubborn self-blindness. When Jesus returns at the End of Days, there will be a sign that can’t be ignored. On that day a carol we sing about our Lord’s first advent will be fulfilled; it’s really about His second advent: “Joy to the world, the Lord is come; let Earth receive her King…No more let sin and sorrow grow, nor thorns infest the ground…let every heart prepare Him room, and Heaven and nature sing!”
Prayer: Healer of our souls, You are the Source of all good. When life hurts, we forget that You know what’s best for us. We complain and fail to see that You have a purpose for every pain, a plan beyond our understanding. Help us to seek You in our anguish and find in You the answer to our longings. We have sources of joy that are not dependent on anything in this world. Give us urgency to share what we have found in You with others; for Jesus’ sake, Amen.
