Isaiah 55:1-3: Are You Buying It?
Introduction
Isaiah 55:1-3 tells us something that initially sounds at least a bit strange, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for [that which is] not bread? and your labour for [that which] satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye [that which is] good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, [even] the sure mercies of David.“
How is it be possible to buy anything if no exchange of money is involved, or if there is no price to pay? And what do the various elements of “wine”, “milk”, and “bread” imply? And what about the “everlasting covenant” and the “sure mercies of David”?
We must consider that something beyond the physical is really in view, particularly given that the word “soul” is mentioned twice, along with the word “everlasting”. The three food elements cannot be viewed “literally”, but rather they must be viewed “spiritually” as representative of “spiritual” food for the soul that will provide the necessary eternal sustenance for eternal life. Moreover, the subsequent words make clear that this sustenance for the soul can be obtained through “hearing” with an “ear”, rather than by exchanging money for it. And what is it that must be “heard” that will make a difference and allow anyone to “buy” this sustenance? One thing to consider is what we are told in Romans 10:17, “So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” So then, it is the Word of God that we must “hear”, and God works through that hearing of the Word (the Bible) to lead someone to Jesus Christ for salvation and eternal life. And we also know that Jesus is the Word incarnate (John 1:14, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”).
Defining Key Words
The Bible is its own dictionary and its own sourcebook of Truth. We must let God define His own terms as God specifies in the Bible. So let us first look at the elements of Spiritual Sustenance which were described as being available for purchase without money and without price.
1) The Bread (of Life)
The Bible makes very clear that Jesus Christ is the “bread” “from Heaven” as Jesus said concerning Himself in John 6:33, “For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.” and Jesus also said:
John 6:50&51, “This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” and
John 6:58, “This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.”
And we must remember Jesus own analogy that He spoke at the Last Supper in communion with His disciples in Luke 22:19, “¶And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake [it], and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.“
2) The Wine
And immediately following that, Jesus identified the cup of wine as being a representation of His shed blood at that Last Supper. We read in Luke 22:20, “Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup [is] the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.“
And let us also be clear that the bread and wine are both symbols of the “everlasting covenant” of Isaiah 55:3, which is described as the “sure mercies of David”. Jesus is descended from David and the source of all grace and mercy.
3) The Milk
The Bible identifies “milk” with the basics (“first principles”) of the Word in bringing the Gospel of Salvation through the Person and Work of Jess Christ as we read in 1 Peter 2:2, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:” and Hebrews 5:12, “¶For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.“
Isaiah 28:9, “Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? [them that are] weaned from the milk, [and] drawn from the breasts.“
4) Hearing Ears
When it comes to “spiritually hearing”, we must first be given the “ears that hear” by God, and that involves a “quickening”, or “making” alive by God, The Holy Spirit. For more on what this means, please see The Hearing Ear and the Seeing Eye that expounds on Proverbs 20:12, “The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them.“
And to be a hearer of the Word is to also be a doer as we read in James 1:22, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” And this means being sharers of the Gospel to others that they might also have eternal life. For more insights on what this means, please see the expositions on the Parable of the Sower and the Parable of the Talents.
The Unfathomable Price of Redemption that Jesus Had to Pay to Save Sinners
1 Peter 1:17-19, “¶And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning [here] in fear: Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, [as] silver and gold, from your vain conversation [received] by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:“
1 Corinthians 6:20, “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.“
1 Corinthians 7:23, “Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.“
While it may be incomprehensible to even begin to fathom the full price that Jesus paid for the sins of the believers (whether anyone wants to believe it or not), Jesus actually endured the full wrath of God in Hell for the equivalent of eternity in the space of three days and three nights. This can be learned from a careful study of the Book of Jonah.
No One Can Afford the Heavy Price to Pay for Sins Apart from What Jesus Paid
Salvation Is a Gift
The Bible makes clear in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The death that is in view here is “eternal” death in Hell, if Jesus did not already pay the full price for a person’s sins in the Atonement in 33 AD.
Ephesians 2:8&9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.“
God is Holy, and no unclean thing can exist in His presence, so mankind must be made clean by Jesus’s shed blood and clothed in the robes of Jesus Christ’s righteousness to cover the nakedness of our sins.
The Kingdom of Heaven? What Is It Worth to You?
Dear reader, are you seeking the real hid treasure, the Kingdom of Heaven? Matthew 13:44-46, “¶Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. ¶Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchantman, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.“
Are You Buying It?
When we think of a salesman trying to convince us to buy something that we think that we don’t need, we might simply think they are just trying to get our money. Or perhaps when someone tries to explain something to us that sounds unusual to our ears, we might recoil from them. In each case we might simply walk away, and perhaps we also say something euphemistically (to ourselves, or even out loud) like, “I’m not buying it!”
Or perhaps we may simply be satisfied with our lives, and we could even think that we have all that we need, just like the church in Laodicea, which felt it was doing just fine and needed nothing, which we read about in Revelation 3:17, “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see.“
Reading further in Revelation 3:19-21 we read, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.“
The Good News of Salvation, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Is Precious Beyond Price and Yet Freely Given by God
The problem is that there are not many buyers! It is because, although people are desperately dying in need of salvation, they are not seeking salvation. It is because so many in this world do not hunger and thirst after righteousness, in reference to what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:6, “Blessed [are] they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.“
Jesus Is also the wellspring of eternal life as we read in both John 4:10, “¶Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.” and John 4:14, “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. And please note that this water of eternal life is cost-free (to us)! Revelation 21:6, “And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.“
And please not the harmony with these two verses:
Romans 8:32, “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?“
Matthew 10:8, “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.“
And lastly, we should remember that to become a believer, one must be quickened, or spiritually made alive, through the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit/Holy Ghost. So likewise, the Holy Spirit/Holy Ghost, and the power to “give” Him, cannot be bought as we learned in Acts 8:18-20, “¶And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. ¶But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.“
Conclusion: Salvation Is a Free Gift, Bought and Paid for by Jesus Christ Alone!
So then, to “buy” the Bread (of Everlasting Life) without money and without price is to “hear” the Word of God, Who is Jesus, as He Is found in the Bible. This is the ONLY means of Salvation for eternal life in Heaven in the presence of God. Jonah in the belly of the whale declared in Jonah 2:9, “Salvation [is] of the the Lord“. We must both hear, and heed, the Word of God, if we truly desire to be saved from the just penalty for our sins by the Lord Jesus Christ. Either Jesus paid that price in full, through His Atoning Sacrifice to provide the free gift of eternal life, or unsaved mankind will pay the full price individually, which will be an eternity in Hell. A very high price indeed!
PostScript
It was mentioned earlier that Jesus said in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” If God has granted you the ears to hear, then you will rush to open that door… while also remembering that Jesus also said in John 6:44, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
We also know that earthly monetary funds or material goods have any lasting value for anyone. Matthew 6:19-21, tells us, “¶Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” and similarly in Luke 12:33, “Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.“
In 1868, Charles Spurgeon, wrote and preached an exposition entitled “Search the Scriptures” that is based on John 5:39, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” The following is that exposition:
“The word of God will repay searching. God does not bid us sift a mountain of chaff with here and there a grain of wheat in it, but the Bible is winnowed corn–we have but to open the granary door and find it. Scripture grows upon the student. It is full of surprises. Under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, to the searching eye it glows with splendour of revelation, like a vast temple paved with wrought gold, and roofed with rubies, emeralds, and all manner of gems. No merchandise is like the merchandise of Scripture truth. Lastly, the Scriptures reveal Jesus: “They are they which testify of me.” No more powerful motive can be urged upon Bible readers than this: he who finds Jesus finds life, heaven, all things. Happy he who, searching his Bible, discovers his Saviour.“
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