Isaiah 55

Isaiah 55:1

Isaiah: God controls the nations God’s special servant An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on Isaiah chapters 49 to 57 www.easyenglish.info Norman Hillyer This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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Chapter 55 The *Lord’s invitation v1 ‘Come, all you who are desperate to drink. Here is water! Come, even if you have no money. Buy grain! You need no money. Eat all that you want. Come, buy wine and milk. It is all free! v2 You spend your money. But you do not get proper food with it. You work hard to earn your wages. But you waste your money on things that give you no satisfaction. Now, listen to me! Obey what I say! Then you will enjoy the best food to eat. You will know complete satisfaction.

v3 Listen to me! Come to me! Obey me! Then you will truly live. And I am ready to make a *covenant with you, like the *covenant that I made with David. It is a *covenant to promise you people my great love and sympathy. And that *covenant will be permanent. It will last for always. v4 Remember also that I appointed David to be a witness to foreign nations. I made him their ruler. v5 See! You too will call nations that you do not yet know. And nations that have not known you, will hurry to you without delay. They will come because the *Lord your God, the Holy God of Israel, has made other nations respect you.’

Verses 1-2

The word pictures of familiar things to eat and to drink show God’s great care for his people. His free gifts truly satisfy what people need.

Verse 3

The *Lord will repeat the *covenant that he made with David long ago (see 2 Samuel 7:8-12 and Psalms 89:33-37). This time the *covenant will not be with David’s family (see 2 Samuel 7:16), but with the whole nation called Israel.

Verse 4-5

David’s extraordinary defeat of much greater armies was evidence to the nations of the power of David’s God (see Psalms 18:43-45). God’s words are powerful v6 Search for the *Lord while you have the opportunity to find him. Call to him while he is near. v7 Let wicked people give up their bad way of life and their evil plots. Let them return to the *Lord and he will pity them. Return to our God, because he forgives generously.

v8 The *Lord declares, ‘My plans are not your plans. Neither are your ways my ways. v9 As the sky is so much higher than the earth, so my ways are much higher than your ways. My plans are so much higher than your plans. v10 Rain and snow come down from the sky. But they do not go back again before they have watered the ground. That helps the ground to grow corn. And so the ground provides seed for people to sow and bread for them to eat. v11 So it is with the word that I speak. My word will not return to me without any result. My word will perform my plan. It will carry out my purpose.’

Verse 6

God is not a distant God. People can easily reach him. He is close to them. He hears their prayers.

Verse 7

God tells evil people to repent, that is, to stop their wicked practices and plots. And to return to God and to live in his way. Then God will forgive them completely.

Verse 8

God’s plans are totally different in nature from human plans. There is no certainty that human plans will succeed. But there is no doubt that God will carry out his plans perfectly.

Verse 9

God uses ‘sky’ and ‘earth’ as picture words to show how different are God’s actions from human actions.

 The sky is far above the earth. And God’s plans are much more wonderful than any human plan.

Verses 10-11

God’s kind purposes are for the benefit of all people. That is why he carries out his purposes.

 See Isaiah 40:8 for another passage about the nature and effect of God’s word. God’s people will have great joy v12 You are leaving behind your life as slaves and prisoners in a foreign country. This is because you have turned back to God. So he is leading you home to freedom. You are full of joy because of what God has done. The whole of nature about you will share your delight. Mountains and hills will sing. All the trees that you pass on the way home will clap their hands. v13 No more *thorn-bushes! Such plants of little value used to struggle to remain alive in the desert. Instead God will cause beautiful and useful trees to grow richly. This wonderful change will always be evidence of God’s great power and love for you.

Verses 12-13

The state of the people of God’s relationship with the *Lord also affects all that he has created. The negative effect appeared as early as the events soon after God created the world (see Genesis 3:17-18).

It is not just the people themselves who sing on their journey home. Isaiah describes how mountains, hills and even trees join in. The people now have a right relationship with God. And this fact affects everything that surrounds them.

© 2007 Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

July 2007

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var w11 = new Array;w11[0]=’<b%3ELord</b%3E ~ God’s name in the Bible; in the original language, it means ‘head over all’ and ‘God always’.’;w11[1]=’<b%3Ecovenant</b%3E ~ special personal agreement that the Lord made with Israel (see Exodus chapter 24).