“This Is The Free Food And Drink Of The Lord”

            Isaiah 55:1 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 

            Food, wine, milk, and free!  Wow!  Sign me up; where do I go to get this?  You can try to interpret this statement many ways; however there is only one way to interpret this verse and it has nothing to do with physical food.   Chapters 40-49 is speaking of the end of the Babylonian Captivity for the Israelites, and chapters 50- 55 is speaking of the redemption of the Israelites.  After some years in captivity the Lord redeems His people and brings them out of their captivity and back into the Promised Land.  Like the Israelites God does the same for us daily.

            We are captive of our sin and it happens daily.  We might start off the day good, but by the end of the day we have been taken into custody and enslaved by our sinful nature.  Not you, you say?  Well all it takes is the first cuss word, or maybe a wrongful anger, or a little lie, and unfortunately the list of little things can go on.  You might start off with the little things, but as the day goes on it might grow into something more harmful like gossip.  Telling a few things here and there about somebody, or expressing your feeling about someone might not seem bad at the time, unless you meant to do them, and sometimes we do, but in the end what seemed so innocent becomes a captivity we can’t get out of on our own.  So, God offers you some free food and drink for good health and a beverage to lift one’s spirit.  It’s free, come eat, it comes from the love of God.

            Isaiah 55:2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?

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

            Does gossip bring you joy, does expressing your feeling, filling an agenda of mayhem fill you with true satisfaction?  Certainly when you hurt it does not feel good to you, and when you know you have hurt someone else that too does not feel good to you.  When one gets angry, they hurt themselves more than they hurt the one they stay angry at.  Sulking never brings satisfaction, and worrying never solves a problem or brings satisfaction.  And most of all not forgiving someone hurts the one who withholds the forgiveness many times more than the one you withhold the forgiveness from.  Do you realize that worrying and not being forgiving is a sin too?  Read Matthew 6:15 and 18:35 hearing God’s word is more than just hearing a sound.  The Greek word (Akouo) for listening means to hear, to know and understand, and to heed.  I wish everyone read and studied the bible in the Greek language.

            Isaiah 55:3 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.

            David was with the lord long before Isaiah was born and the Israelites were coming out of the Babylonian captivity.  Redemption is promised, and more than just forgiveness, but also life, and more than just life, but also salvation.  God looks down on His people and through His mighty love He forgives them the sin that put them into the captivity.  The captivity punished one generation and through another generation God’s mercy and grace prevailed.  It is like a rebirth as the old Adam is replaced with the new creation, which comes from Christ’s work on the cross.

            Isaiah 55:4 Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples.

            Christ came and witnessed firsthand what it was like to feel the same temptations each one of us feels.  Jesus Christ also witnessed to all of the Israelites and continues to witness to all people of all nations.  What Jesus Christ witnessed then and witnesses now is God’s love for His chosen people then and all those He chooses now.  What Christ did on the cross was not just die, but He also invites us to be with Him in the paradise that He and the Father has created and prepared for us all.  I am speaking to you the believer in Christ’s gift for you know this gift is free and we did not have to pay for or purchase this gift of joy.  I also speak to those who do not believe for this gift is for you too and God’s Holy Spirit is speaking to you so that you too may become believers and have the same eternal life gift that we believers confess.

            Isaiah 55:5 Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.

            God invites all nations through the Holy One called Christ our risen Lord.  And the glory of the Lord is that Jesus Christ died for our sins so that the invitation of eternal life and relationship with God can be given to all people in all nations under the one kingdom of God.  This is the free food and drink of the Lord.  Amen.