Isaiah 54-55, "The Invitation to Grace"

What is your view of God? Is He an angry old man waiting to punish you? Is He a stingy dad who makes you earn everything you get? If someone was to use your life as a signpost to God, what would they think of Him by looking at you?

Isaiah 53 and 54 tell us that the covenant of peace between God and man has been established through the Suffering Servant.

Isaiah 54:8–9 (ESV)

In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer.

“This is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth,

so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you.

Isaiah 54:10 (ESV)

For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

Peace with God has been established for us in Christ. God is not angry with you. Now is the time of God’s grace, and the invitation is extended to all. Our passage today is an invitation from God to a satisfying feast of delight, to receive compassion and pardon, and to go out in joy and peace. Before we go out, God invites us to come in.

Come Eat and Drink

The average price of a restaurant meal in the U.S. is somewhere between $10 - $15. Even the average cost of a meal at home has gone up to $5. As the old saying goes, there is no free lunch. When we are offered a free meal, we’re looking for the catch. For good reason. We’ve learned not to trust anything that comes free. No one is that gracious.

So, when we see an invitation like the one in the opening verses of Isaiah 55, it’s easy to be skeptical. The thirsty and poor are invited to come to God’s table where there is water, wine, and milk, all to be gotten without money and without price. This is grace. Being given a gift or receiving something you don’t deserve or haven’t earned.

In fact, if it’s a question of earning, we are told we are all spending our money on bread that isn’t bread and spending our labor for that which does not satisfy.

Isaiah 55:2 (ESV)

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?

Maybe our understanding of value is wrong. Maybe the trinkets and delicacies that we work so hard to buy are worthless, and the stuff we receive unearned and without cost is of more value.

Why do we hunger and thirst? One answer would be that we hunger and thirst because we work, we sweat, we spend our energy through labor, and we must eat and drink to be restored and refreshed.

Another way to see it is that we hunger and thirst because we were made to be satisfied. We were made to delight ourselves in rich food. And just like our bodies delight in rich, satisfying food, our souls hunger and thirst for satisfaction in some spiritual delight. And the fact that the hunger in our bodies that can be satisfied by rich food is a lesson that the hunger in our soul can also be satisfied. What would our souls find satisfying? What is our true delight?

If anyone should know, it would be God, who made us. He tells us the answer in verses 2(b) and 3.

Isaiah 55:2–3 (ESV)

Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.

Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live;

and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.

Your soul was made to feast on the words of God. They are like good, rich food. They nourish the life of your soul.

But God also says, “Incline your ear, and come to me”. You were made to be satisfied in God Himself. His words are the way to know Him. His words invite us in. He has a table prepared for us to feast ourselves in His presence and be satisfied.

What would you pay for total satisfaction for your soul? What is it worth to you? Is it worth $10, $15, $1 million? Would you believe it’s totally free. It can’t be bought. It has been made available because of a covenant made between God and David, that David’s descendant, the Messiah, would inherit an eternal kingdom. And His kingdom would not just be over Israel, but like David, it would expand and would be a blessing to all nations.

In Jesus Christ, the Son of David, God’s word became flesh and dwelt among us. And He kept inviting people to partake in Him like they would if they were truly thirsty or hungry, to the woman at the well:

John 4:13–14 (ESV)

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.

The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

To the economically poor but spiritually hungry:

John 6:35 (ESV)

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

To all the faithful who went to the Temple at the Feast of Tabernacles to worship the God who is With Us:

John 7:37–38 (ESV)

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”

To all of us, everywhere, to the end of time:

Revelation 3:20 (ESV)

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

Revelation 21:6 (ESV)

And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.

Jesus Christ, the one who established a covenant with God the Father by His death on a cross, His resurrection from the dead, now sits enthroned over heaven and earth. Do you find Him satisfying to your soul? Maybe your soul has spoiled its appetite by seeking satisfaction in created things instead of your Creator (idolatry). If so,

Seek the LORD and Find Pardon

Isaiah 55:6–7 (ESV)

“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;

let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts;

let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

All of us live according to a way of life. That way is built on our thoughts. If I think that God is totally satisfying, that Jesus is the Bread of Life and His words are a rich feast of delight, I will read my Bible and listen for His voice so that I can live according to His word and abide in Christ. This is righteousness. If I think that I’m on my own, and there is a limited supply of good in this world and to be satisfied I must manipulate or steal, and I act in this way, that is wickedness.

Whatever your way of life was apart from God, if you are willing to abandon it and reorient your life to God, He will guide you in His ways, and share with you His thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8–9 (ESV)

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

And then He returns to the theme of satisfaction coming from God’s word:

Isaiah 55:10–11 (ESV)

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout,

giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

In the U.S. alone, farms producing crops require over 29 trillion gallons of water every year. And it will have to be done all over again next year. God can satisfy forever. His word reveals His ways and His thoughts. For the one who seeks the LORD, calls upon Him, forsakes wickedness and unrighteous thoughts, and turns to the LORD, God reveals what His ways and thoughts are:

Isaiah 55:7 (ESV)

let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

For the sinner who repents and comes to God ready to listen, they will find God is filled with compassion, and His pardon for sin is abundant. The word could be translated “multiplied”. For every additional sin, God’s pardon grows exponentially. You can’t out-sin God’s grace. Do you believe this?

Let this sink in, Jesus Christ has suffered for your sins and stands as your priest at the right hand of God, praying for you. God is no longer angry with you. His heart is filled with compassion for you, and He wants you to come near to Him to receive His steadfast love. What’s your view of God? Is He filled with compassion? For those that let their hearts believe, the final invitation is:

Restore Your Joy and Peace

Isaiah 55:12–13 (ESV)

“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

God’s work is always permanent. Our happiness, pleasure, and satisfaction in the things of this world never last. They come and go. But the joy God gives is a permanent testimony in the heart of the believer that you belong to God, His name is on you, and as He restores you to fruitful living, your life becomes an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

What kind of a sign has your life become? Do others look to you for directions to the rich feast of soul-satisfying joy and peace, partaking in God’s grace? Are you so satisfied in Jesus that you have contagious contentment? Is your gratitude and gentleness a sign for others toward the compassion of Jesus and the pardon He freely offers? Do others see your joy as a sign of hope and encouragement that the emptiness of their soul and their hunger for fruitfulness can be satisfied in God? Do they see your peace as a sign of assurance that God does not require us to earn our way into His banquet room?

Too many Christians have become signs of discontent and faithless striving for the approval of God and others. Too many Christians think like orphans, fearing that God’s grace is limited or never sure they have found a home. What can we do? Come and listen diligently to God’s words to you every day about the covenant of grace He has established in Jesus Christ. Preach the gospel to yourself every day. Seek the LORD, His ways, and His thoughts. Then go out into the lives of the people around you at work, at school, in your neighborhood, in your family, and let your joy and peace be a sign that their soul was made to be satisfied and you are.

Questions for Discussion

What’s the most satisfying meal you have ever had? What makes a meal satisfying to the body?

What do we learn about God from this passage?

If we compare God’s Word to food for our souls, what lessons can we learn?

What are some ways of life and thought that keep us from the higher ways and thoughts of God?

As you read through this chapter, what are some of the higher ways and thoughts of God that encourage you?