Isaiah 55, Trees Clap Their Hands

Israel will someday be a global nation, established in righteousness.

Isaiah 55: 1-2, Is anyone is thirsty

"Come, all you who are thirsty,

    come to the waters;

and you who have no money,

    come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

    without money and without cost.

Why spend money on what is not bread,

    and your labor on what does not satisfy?

Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,

    and you will delight in the richest of fare.

There is an invitation to drink and eat, an invitation to joyful luxury. (Jesus also said, "Come, all you who are thirsty," John 7:37-39.)

Grogan writes that we may hear a call of a Near Eastern water vendor in this passage, but also the call of Wisdom personified (Proverbs 9:1-6.)

Isaiah 55:3-4, An everlasting covenant

Give ear and come to me;

    listen, that you may live.

I will make an everlasting covenant with you,

    my faithful love promised to David.

See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,

    a ruler and commander of the peoples.

A covenant will be made, an eternal covenant, following on that of David. The covenant is based on "faithful love", a rare plural of the Hebrew hesed (says Motyer.)

Isaiah 55:5, Nations come running

Surely you will summon nations you know not,

    and nations you do not know will come running to you,

because of the LORD your God,

    the Holy One of Israel,

    for he has endowed you with splendor.”

The promise by God in verse 4 becomes instructions to the Servant in verse 5. The Gentile nations come to Israel, running, because of the splendor that God, YHWH, has given to Israel.

Grogan says that this chapter twice builds to a joyful climax. The first time is here in verse 5. The second time will be at the end of the chapter.

Isaiah 55:6-7, Seek and turn to God

Seek the LORD while he may be found;

    call on him while he is near.

Let the wicked forsake their ways

    and the unrighteous their thoughts.

Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them,

    and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

An invitation is given in preparation for this day: seek YHWH while He is patiently waiting. 

Isaiah 55:8-9, I am not the same as you

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

    neither are your ways my ways,”

declares the LORD.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth,

    so are my ways higher than your ways

    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God is not human. He is not the same as us; his ways are different, higher, deeper. Both His power and morality (goodness, righteousness) are higher and different.

Isaiah 55:10-11, God's speech always flourishes

As the rain and the snow

    come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

    without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

    It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

What God says He will do, He accomplishes.  The Creator of the earth, or rains and snows, can accomplish whatever He wishes.

Verse 11, "my word... will not return... empty", merely means that whatever God commands, is done. When He said, "Let there be light!" in Genesis 1:3, there was light. When God says He will summon new nations to a glorious future Messiah, it will happen.

Isaiah 55:12-13, Clap their hands!

You will go out in joy

    and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and hills

    will burst into song before you,

and all the trees of the field

    will clap their hands.

Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper,

    and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.

This will be for the LORD’s renown,

    for an everlasting sign,

    that will endure forever.”

The joy of the future kingdom will be so great that the trees will clap their hands!

Some Random Thoughts

Verse 11, "my word... will not return... empty", merely means that whatever God commands, is done. Oh, how this verse is misinterpreted! People identify "My word" with Scripture and feel justified in throwing Scripture around (leaving tracts on trains, for example), with the claim "God's word will not return void." (See The Gospel Blimp for a 1967 parody on this idea.) There are many places in the Bible where "God's Word" is not the same as Scripture. This is one. (So are John 1:1-4, 14 and Hebrews 4:12-14.)