Day 219: Isaiah 55-57

(The previous post covered prophecies that were primarily focused on the Millennium.)

Isaiah 55
¹ Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
² Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

(God called everyone to drink and eat freely. This was meant to be spiritual ("let your soul delight itself") not physical. God called everyone.)

³ Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

(An everlasting Covenant. We only need to obey. Acts 13:34 recorded that Paul referenced this verse during his sermon in Antioch of Pisidia.)

⁴ Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples.

(Christ was given to be a witness, a leader, and a commander to the people.)

⁵ Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not; and a nation that knew not thee shall run unto thee, because of Jehovah thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.

(Christ was called to the Gentiles and the Israelites. God the Father glorified Christ the Son.)

⁶ Seek ye Jehovah while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near:

(We ought to seek God while we have the opportunity. Eventually, it will be too late. Are you seeking God? If not, what are you waiting for?)

⁷ let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto Jehovah, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

(A call for the wicked and unrighteous to repent. God would have mercy on the repentant.)

⁸ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith Jehovah.
⁹ For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

(God's ways and thoughts were Right and Just. Our ways and thoughts are not Right nor Just.)

¹⁰ For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, and giveth seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
¹¹ so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

(God's spoken Word will not return to Him void (empty; vain; unprofitable). We can hinder God's Word and Will in the short term, in our own lives. However, God's Ultimate Will (Marriage in heaven) will happen, with or without you.)

¹² For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing; and all the trees of the fields shall clap their hands.
¹³ Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree; and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree: and it shall be to Jehovah for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

(This alluded to all of God's people being gathered together with joy in a profitable kingdom, which begins after the Tribulation. The next chapter picked up where these verses left off...)




Isaiah 56
¹ Thus saith Jehovah, Keep ye justice, and do righteousness; for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.

(We ought to do Justice and Righteousness (through grace) because God's Salvation is near and His Righteousness is to be revealed. This referred to the second physical coming of Christ to end the Tribulation and begin the Millennium.)

² Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that holdeth it fast; that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.

(Blessed was the man who: Kept the Sabbath from polluting it and kept his hand from doing any evil. Notice, God gave us something to do (keep the Sabbath) and something not to do (evil). God did not only tell His people what not to do.)

³ Neither let the foreigner, that hath joined himself to Jehovah, speak, saying, Jehovah will surely separate me from his people; neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.

(Salvation was available to all, even the foreigner and the eunuch.)

⁴ For thus saith Jehovah of the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and hold fast my covenant:
⁵ Unto them will I give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name better than of sons and of daughters; I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.
⁶ Also the foreigners that join themselves to Jehovah, to minister unto him, and to love the name of Jehovah, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and holdeth fast my covenant;
⁷ even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.

(The eunuchs and foreigners who loved God would be part of God's everlasting Covenant. God's house would be called a house of prayer for all people. Jesus quoted this verse in Matthew 21:13 when he cleared the temple of the money-changers.)

⁸ The Lord Jehovah, who gathereth the outcasts of Israel, saith, Yet will I gather others to him, besides his own that are gathered.
⁹ All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest.
¹⁰ His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.
¹¹ Yea, the dogs are greedy, they can never have enough; and these are shepherds that cannot understand: they have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, from every quarter.
¹² Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to-morrow shall be as this day, a day great beyond measure.

(The blind watchmen (Matthew 23:16) who "led" the people were only about their own purpose and progress. Therefore, they were bosses, not leaders.)




Isaiah 57
¹ The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart; and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.

(When the righteous perished, the ungodly did not think to consider that God was taking them away from the evil to come.)

² He entereth into peace; they rest in their beds, each one that walketh in his uprightness.

(Verses 3-12: the ungodly of Judah were corrected for their choice to worship idols and were called to repentance.)

³ But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the harlot.
⁴ Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and put out the tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood,
⁵ ye that inflame yourselves among the oaks, under every green tree; that slay the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?
⁶ Among the smooth stones of the valley is thy portion; they, they are thy lot; even to them hast thou poured a drink-offering, thou hast offered an oblation. Shall I be appeased for these things?

(The "smooth stones" were used to make idols that the ungodly worshipped.)

⁷ Upon a high and lofty mountain hast thou set thy bed; thither also wentest thou up to offer sacrifice.
⁸ And behind the doors and the posts hast thou set up thy memorial: for thou hast uncovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them: thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it.

(They covenanted with idols, which was fornication.)

⁹ And thou wentest to the king with oil, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thine ambassadors far off, and didst debase thyself even unto Sheol.

(The Jews had made alliances with other ungodly nations.)

¹⁰ Thou wast wearied with the length of thy way; yet saidst thou not, It is in vain: thou didst find a quickening of thy strength; therefore thou wast not faint.
¹¹ And of whom hast thou been afraid and in fear, that thou liest, and hast not remembered me, nor laid it to thy heart? have not I held my peace even of long time, and thou fearest me not?

(The Jews feared man more than God.)

¹² I will declare thy righteousness; and as for thy works, they shall not profit thee.

(God would show them how unprofitable their works were. Next, God focused on the blessings of the righteous...)

¹³ When thou criest, let them that thou hast gathered deliver thee; but the wind shall take them, a breath shall carry them all away: but he that taketh refuge in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain.

(God told them that when they suffered to ask those they covenanted with to deliver them. However, those who took refuge in God would be blessed.)

¹⁴ And he will say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling-block out of the way of my people.
¹⁵ For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

(God is eternal and Holy.)

¹⁶ For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth; for the spirit would faint before me, and the souls that I have made.

(God was merciful for the benefit of His people.)

¹⁷ For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him; I hid my face and was wroth; and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.
¹⁸ I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.
¹⁹ I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace, to him that is far off and to him that is near, saith Jehovah; and I will heal him.

(God gave peace to Jews and Gentiles, those "far off.")

²⁰ But the wicked are like the troubled sea; for it cannot rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt.
²¹ There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

(The wicked would exist in chaos, they would not have peace.)

(This post concluded the second of the three sections of nine chapters in Part II of the Book of Isaiah. This section focused primarily on Jesus' first coming to earth. Again, this section also concluded with the statement that the wicked would not have peace. Next, we will begin looking at the third and last section of Part II of the Book of Isaiah.)

Day 220