The solemn entry of sin into the world has many great lessons for the people of God in all ages, and among them is the attitude of God to His fallen creature man. God could quite well have immediately slain man, and introduced something fresh, but there would have been triumph for God’s enemy who used man to introduce sin into the world. Instead, God dealt with the sinners according to His word in righteousness, and in rebuking the serpent announced a coming Deliverer for mankind. There is also the deep pathos of God’s calling in the garden to Adam, “Where art thou?” and in this we learn something of the yearning of the heart of God after man in spite of all that he had done, and of the distance that now separated him from the God who had showed him such goodness.
“Come now, and let us reason together”
Like Adam, Israel turned away from the God who had given them to taste of His goodness and bounty. Adam had been settled in a garden of God’s own planting, where there was everything to gratify and delight his heart: Israel had been brought into a land flowing with milk and honey. The opening verses of Isaiah show the dreadful state of God’s earthly people, “Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward” (Isa. 1:4). Divine discipline had no real effect, and only God’s mercy had spared a remnant, the most of whom continued in their sinful ways.
There was no lack of religious pretension, with sacrifices, incense, solemn assemblies and all that pertained to outward ceremony, but God had no pleasure in it because of the low moral state of the nation. Jehovah addressed the leaders of the people as “rulers of Sodom,” because of the corruption that existed, and because of the violence He said, “your hands are full of blood” (verses 10–15). What the Lord desired was departure from evil, and the fruits meet for repentance (verses 16-17).
Having exposed the evil of His people, and shown them the way to blessing, the word to them was, “Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord” (verse 18). How wonderful is the condescension of Israel’s God in stooping thus to plead with His rebellious and wayward people, seeking to bring them back to Himself, and to save them from the consequences of their evil ways. God yearned after them, desiring to bless them, but this could only be in righteousness if they turned from their sins to Him.
The subject upon which God desired to reason with His people was their sins. So long as men are away from God there is nothing else that God can speak to them about, saving that He can tell them that blessing will follow upon their repentance and obedience, and that judgment will result if they continue in their sins. For those who repent and turn to God there is much that God will be pleased to make known to them, not only of their blessing, but of His own thoughts.
God alone can deal with the sins of those who come to Him in contrition of heart, whether it be a repentant earthly people, or any from outside that favoured circle. The sins of His people may be as scarlet, manifest for all to see, but He can make them “white as snow,” so that they are no longer seen. They may be purified, but He is able to make the heart pure. The secret of the divine power for this moral cleansing is not given here; it awaited the coming of God’s Son, and His great work of propitiation on the cross.
“Return, come”
God’s invitation to “come” is not limited to His people Israel, for in Isaiah 21:11–12 we learn that this is God’s attitude to a people who mocked at the message of approaching judgment. Dumah was a son of Ishmael, and Ishmael is found to be a mocker in Genesis 21:9. Here the name is found in association with Seir, the dwelling place of the sons of Esau (Deut. 2:4). It therefore would appear that God is showing us the attitude of the seed of Ishmael and the seed of Esau to His warning of the judgment that awaits them because of their sins. The watchman is evidently the servant of the Lord who had given the solemn warning on God’s behalf.
In His great mercy God often warns nations, as well as individuals, of the judgment that is about to come upon them because of their evil doings, as in the case of Nineveh. When Jonah warned the men of Nineveh about the coming judgment they repented, and God repented of the judgment, so that they were spared. This divine principle of God’s government of the nations is clearly stated in Jeremiah 18:7–10, and we have examples in the Scriptures of those who repent and are spared, and of those who refuse to repent and are punished.
The divine warning having come to Dumah, his reply is to pour scorn upon the message, for in mockery he says, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?” It was as much as to say, We have heard for a long time now of the coming judgment, but it has not come yet, what have you to say about it now? Dumah was in the Old Testament representative of those of whom Peer writes in the New Testament, “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers…saying, Where is the promise of His coming?…” (2 Peter 3:3-4). To such the delay hardens their unbelief, although it is God’s mercy affording them time for repentance.
Undeterred by the scoffing, the watchman replies solemnly, “The morning comes, and also the night.” For Israel, and the nations who turn to God, the sheep of Matthew 25, there will be a bright morning, “a morning without clouds,” when the “Sun of righteousness” shall arise “with healing in His wings” (Mal. 4:2). For the scoffers, and all the nations who reject Christ in His messengers, there will be a dreadful night of judgment just before the bright morning for those who are blessed.
Until the judgment comes the way is still open for the mocker to repent, so the watchman adds, “if ye will enquire, inquire ye: return, come.” God is not a hard Master, He delights in forgiveness, and here, through His servant, the watchman, He invited the mocker to “inquire.” Does he wish to know about the Lord? Is he really interested in having the blessing of God? If so, the way is still open, he can enquire of God, and can return to God. Whatever his attitude may be, God still invites him to “come.”
“Ho, every one that thirsts, come”
In this chapter the divine call, “Ho, every one that thirsts” (Isa. 55:1), is to those who feel their need of satisfaction. God has provided for the need of His creatures, whatever the need may be, for He opens His hand, “and satisfiest the desire of every living thing” (Psalm 145:16). The waters that are spoken of in this verse surely speak of the divine provision that will satisfy the heart that desires spiritual blessing from God.
What is here offered to Israel through the prophet is offered to Israel, yea to every one who desires God’s blessing, by the Lord Jesus Christ, as recorded in John 7:37–39, although the character of the blessing is different, for what the Lord speaks of in John’s Gospel could not be given until He was glorified. Water in Scripture speaks of that which cleanses, refreshes and satisfies thirst, but in John 4 and John 7 it tells of the life that we have by an indwelling Holy Spirit that brings satisfaction to the soul, enables us [with] eternal life and [to] worship God, and that is the power for testimony in our lives for God. Although Israel could not have the Holy Spirit indwelling them in Isaiah’s day, they could have God’s word within them to cleanse and satisfy the longing of the soul.
The poor also are invited to “come,” for the invitation is, “he that has no money: come ye, buy, and eat; yea come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” Like the prodigal of Luke 15, the remnant of Judah in Isaiah’s day were in a impoverished condition, and God offers His blessings to them “without money and without price.” This is not only true of that remnant, it is true of all men, for none have the means to buy the wonderful blessings of God. When the Son of God was on earth the poor had a special place in His ministry, for He came “to preach the Gospel to the poor” (Luke 4:18). It is not until a man realises that he is poor that he is in a fit state to receive what God offers in His wondrous grace.
Wine in Scripture speaks of joy and gladness, and here the poor are invited to buy the wine that makes glad the heart of God and man. It might be asked, How can we buy if we have no money? All that God asks from us is faith in Himself, and in His son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Coming to Him in faith we receive the blessings of the Gospel, one of which is “joy in the Holy Ghost.” Another of the divine blessings is “milk,” that which nourishes, sustains and enables us to grow in the things of God, “the sincere milk of the word” (1 Peter 2:2).
There were not only the poor who had no money, and to whom the blessings of God were offered, there were the rich who had money, and who spent it for that which was not bread. Bread in Scripture is that which is necessary to sustain life, and the normal disposition of the rich is to seek the things that are soul-destroying instead of what nourishes the soul. There is no satisfaction in present things, and all the labour of man, as Solomon proved, was vanity and vexation of spirit. Only those who listen diligently to the Lord know what is good for the soul, and only those who hear His word will delight their souls in His plenteous provision.
Three times over in Isaiah 55:1 the cry is to “come” for the blessings of God, but in verse 3 the Lord says, “Incline your ear, and come unto me.” Good it is to come for blessing that God has provided, but how very wonderful that we can come to the Lord Himself the source of all the blessing. Coming to Him, as having heard His voice, we receive life, for He says, “Come…and your soul shall live.” This is what the Lord Jesus came to give to men, a life that belonged to heaven, the eternal life that was with the Father, of which He was the perfect expression in His pathway through this world.
What is being offered to the remnant here could only be truly known through the coming of the Son of God. This is seen in the “everlasting covenant” offered to God’s people. The covenant of Sinai was not an everlasting covenant, such a covenant could only be founded on the blood of Jesus (Heb. 13:20), and “the sure mercies of David” that follow are connected with Christ “brought again from the dead,” in the power of “the God of peace.”
The One whose precious blood brought in the new and eternal covenant, and who has been brought out of death, is none other than God’s own Son, the Messiah of Israel, of whom God says, “Behold, I have given him for a Witness to the people, a Leader and Commander of the people” (verse 4). The Christian even now knows the Lord Jesus as “The faithful and true Witness,” but He will also bear this character in the coming and true Witness,” but He will also bear this character in the coming day, the great Prince of Peace, the Commander of all, and not only as before His people Israel, but also before all the peoples of the earth.
R. 9.12.69