Isaiah Chapter 55 "The Call to Sing, and Come; Comfort Given." This Bible Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's transcription/ location is provided by http://www.theseason.org In Isaiah 54 we had God's promises to His wife the elect, and here in Isaiah 55 God is giving an invitation to all the others. To "whom so ever will", those that have ears to hear, and eyes to see the truths that are written in His Word. Isaiah 55:1 "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." This is the qualification as to whether you can take part in the buying wine and milk of the Word without money. That condition is that you must be thirsty for bread and wine of His Word. God is asking, are you thirsty for the Word of God, and if you are, He will supply what you need and it doesn't cost you any money. God is saying that if you are not thirsty for the true deeper meanings of God's Word, what He is about to say is not for you. God loves you and all that, but this just doesn't apply to you. Maybe at a later time, or in the Millennium age, but you are just not ready to understand. If you are satisfied with only milk-toast Christianity, then this doesn't apply to you. You have to be thristy for the meat of the depth of God's Word in order to understand this teaching. This is aimed at the end times, and we know from Amos 8:11; "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:" Remember that the famine in the end times that we shall see very shortly is not for the bread to eat or water to drink, but for the hearing of the truths of the Word of God. Are you thirsty for that Word? Isaiah 55:2 "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." God is asking you and I, where are you spending your money to gain insight into My Word? And where are you giving your effort in labor for me? God is telling us to listen carefully to Him and pay attention to all of His Word that your soul, not this flesh body, may eat from the fatness of the meat of God's Word. Friend, you don't have to pay for the truth from God's Word when you thirst after it. If all you get for your money that you spend seeking the truth is things that tend to this flesh body, then your soul is not delighting in the fatness that God intends for you. To put this in another way; if you belong to a group that is not feeding your soul to give you complete spiritual satisfaction, then you are wasting your time in that group. You are not thirsting after the truth of His Word diligently enough until seek it out for yourself. Then you will gain the wealth of knowledge and wisdom that can only come from God. Isaiah 55:3 "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." God is telling you to listen carefully, and come unto Jesus Christ and hear what He has to say, and your sol will live. This is prophetic and is not talking about your flesh body, but your eternal soul that is housed within your body. When you come to Jesus Christ, the only true path to the Father, God will make an everlasting covenant with you personally. You can count on those promises that God gives to you, as sure as the promises that God gave to David. There is no greater love that can be shown then this promise to you. Isaiah 55:4 "Behold, I have given Him for a Witness to the people, a Leader and Commander to the people." "Messiah" Jesus the Christ is "the Leader and Commander to the people" that our Heavenly Father has given for a witness to each of us. That role is "King of kings and Lord of lords", and He is coming. Do you thirst for His teaching and to be in His presence? When you are fed from His Word you will know exactly what He is like and the witness that He has just for you. Isaiah 55:5 "Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for He hath glorified thee." God is telling us that when Jesus Christ returns, there will be no nations but only one kingdom. The kingdom is made up of the King Jesus Christ, and His domain is made up with all souls on the face of the earth. Do you thirst to be part of that kingdom? You will be part of that kingdom or there is no hope for you. All of the souls that will not be here for the Millennium kingdom that starts at the sounding of the seventh trump and everything that is not part of Jesus Christ's kingdom, will be removed from the earth. For those that did not take part in the first resurrection which will take place at the coming of Jesus Christ, there is the second resurrection. The second resurrection will take place at the end of the thousand year Millennium period. Then all dead [spiritually dead souls will be judged out of the books that are opened that recorded all of their works through the Millennium age. Those souls will be judged worthy then only by their works, for our salvation by Faith in Jesus Christ through our repentance in Jesus name is for this age of the flesh only. After the judgment at the end of the Millennium age comes the blotting out of those souls found to be not worthy. This is the time to thirst for His rightousness, when it is possible to gain the knowledge of the Word of God. The time is coming when the truths that come from the hearing of God's Word shall be dried up. Remember that this chapter is not written to those pew potatoes that do not thirst for God's Word. The warning to our generation is that you had better gain that truth and knowledge while it is still available to you. Isaiah 55:6 "Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near:" If you want to see the truth, God will see to it that you have that truth. This indicates that there is a time that you can search and God's truth will be given to those that search, however it also lets us know that a time is coming when it will be too late to seek God. Remember the parable that Christ taught in Matthew 25:1-13 of the ten virgins? There were five wise and five foolish virgins. The wise sought the oil, or truth of God's Word while there was time to get it, before the wedding ceremony: "Before the bridegroom cometh". During that time the foolish virgins slept. Matthew 25:6 "And at midnight there was a cry made, `Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.' " There is a set time for the coming of Jesus Christ, and prior to Christ's coming, another "instead of Christ" or Antichrist will come, and he is Satan. Having "the lanterns full of oil", is placing the knowledge of the entire plan of God in your mind. This "full lantern of oil" will keep you from searching for the truth when it is to late to seek out the truth, for it shall be removed from off the earth. Matthew 25:7 "Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps." The trimming of the lamps, is the placing of the oil on the wicks and lighting their lamps, in this case it is the using the truth from God's Word that is stored up in your mind. Is what is stored up there in your mind right for the Holy Spirit to use, and keep you from being deceived when Satan arrives as the "instead of Christ" or Antichrist at the sounding of the sixth trumpet? Matthew 25:8 "And the foolish said unto the wise, `Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.' " Once the Antichrist comes it is to late for the truth, because as we read from Amos the truth will be dried up, there will be a famine in all the earth for the truth. Friend, the fairy-tales and traditions are what the foolish virgins will use, and it just will not give off any light. Those ideas will just add to the confusion or Babel, and draw you into the one world system of Satan. Matthew 25:9 "But the wise answered, saying, `Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.' " In that day you will not be able to buy any truth of God's Word, regardless of your wealth. Matthew 25:10 "And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut." The door was shut because the foolish virgins had already been taken by the false christ. They did not know the difference between the sixth trumpet and the seventh; between the false christ Satan, and the true Christ, Jesus. They knew their traditions and false doctrines, and they follow their leaders right into Satan's bed. By the time they do know that Satan is the fake they had accepted, it will be to late. The Seventh trumpet will have sounded and all souls will be ushered into the Millennium kingdom. Matthew 25:11 "Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, `lord, lord, open to us.'" Notice that these foolish virgins did not know the difference between the two bridegrooms that were to come, the fake that would come first, and then the true Messiah. Matthew 25:12 "But He answered and said, `Verily I say unto you, I know you not.' " If you think that you can play church and mess around with fairy-tales and mix heathen teachings with the truth of God's Word, you are badly mistakened. On that day of the coming of the Lord of the true Messiah, as far as Christ is concerned, you are another man's wife. Jesus told us the He knows His sheep and My sheep know My voice. When you have been listening to another man's voice, Satan's voice, you are not one of Jesus sheep. Jesus will say to you on that day; "I know you not." When you prepare yourself for "flying out of here" and escaping the very moment that Jesus wants you to be here for a His witness, it appears that you don't care which voice you hear first. When Satan comes in the role of the "instead of Christ", he will appear to be exactly what you think Jesus should be like. Jesus is telling us here that His sheep know His voice, know what to expect, and can tell the difference between the two clearly. Matthew 25:13 "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the son of man cometh." Are you beginning to get the picture that God is telling us both in Isaiah 55, and in Mathew 25:13? Jesus doesn't consider spiritual whores His wife, His virgin bride or one of His own. If you don't know the difference between the two comings, that of Satan coming first, and of Jesus Christ coming later, you are in serious trouble spiritually. It is your soul that we are talking about here, not your flesh body, and that is the part of you that counts. The time is coming very shortly in our generation that it will be to late to seek Christ. Remember what God said to Satan and his angels at the sounding of the fifth trumpet in Revelation 9:4, 5? Revelation 9:4 "And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads." Revelation 9:5 "And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man." You will either have the seal, or truth, or oil of God's Word sealed away in your mind before the coming of Satan, or God will give you over to Satan and his locust army of fallen angels. The reason that you seek God and His ways is so that you can take part in the first resurrection. If you miss the first resurrection that comes by your faith in Jesus Christ, then what is left is the thousand years of the Millennium age, and your judgment then is by and through your works as are written in the books that are kept in heaven only. That is making it the hard way, and most of the Christians today have the stupor of slumber placed upon them, and that is the way that they shall be saved. This is why we are to "Seek ye the Lord while He may be found," for the signs of the end times are upon us, and the time is drawing to a close for this age of the flesh. The New World Order, the one world system, and all the signs that go along with them are part of our everyday life today. These are part of the signs the end times and the wise do understand. Isaiah 55:7 "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." This words "abundantly pardon" means that He will "repeatedly pardon" you over and over again. We are saved only once, but after we are saved will continue to fall short of His perfection, and that is why we are to go daily to Him for forgiveness as we see the sins that we commit. As long as we are in our flesh bodies, we will continue to sin and this is why God is saying through Isaiah that "He will have mercy upon him" each time we come to Him. There is forgiveness for you everytime that you sin and repent in Jesus name. The blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin. The standard that we fall short of are the thoughts of God. Man is not as God is, for man will forgive another a few times for the faults of a friend of family member, however God will forgive as long as you see the sin that you have committed, over and over. To understand this in the physical sense, apply it to your own children. When that little one comes to you every day and ask your fogiveness for something that they do which they are to innocent to understand, the loving parent will without hesitation grant the forgiveness with love every time. As long as you thirst for God's ways and for forgiveness from the Father, it goes a long way with Him. Isaiah 55:8 " "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways," saith the Lord." Note the introversion of the pronouns within this verse: "My", "your", "your", "My". This shows the great difference between God's thoughts and ways. and man's thoughts and ways. Our Heavenly Father is far more forgiving that man is, and it is hard for most people to relate to this. It is hard to understand God's plan without understanding the depth of God's love for His children. Isaiah 55:9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:10 "For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:" Remember that this chapter is directed to those that thirst after God's truth and love, and God is using an analogy here of an actual event, the falling of the rain that watereth a plant. He is comparing the falling of the rain, to those that seek the truth of His Word, and more knowledge of God's ways. God will rain down that truth from heaven, that spiritual water that falls on the minds and satisfies our thirst for knowledge. It is from that rain that the seeds that are planted grow, and provide the bread, or truth from God's Word to the eater, those with the will and desire and who thirst to understand. We have a long way to go before we can obtain the understanding of our Heavenly Father's love and His plan for His children. If you leave the love that God has for His Children out of His plan, you will never be able to see the plan of God. God's rain comes down on the just and the unjust alike, and when it comes down and hits the ears of the just, they will hear that rain of truth from His Word, and it will change their lives, and give them understanding of His love for them. However, when the rain of God's truth hits the ears of the unjust though, it will roll off them like water off a duck's back, God will bless them occasionally, while He is blessing those that please Him. This will be the "fall out" of the latter day rain. If you thirst after God's Word, you truly are fortunate, for when you seek His emotions, His love and truths he will give it to you. God is not some vast force way out in space, but in that we are all made in His image, we can understand that our Heavenly Father has the same emotions that we have; only His ways and thoughts are higher then ours. II Peter 3:8 "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." II Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." Our Heavenly Father has far more patience then any man, and it is within His Will that all souls come to repentance. Will they? Of course not, however it would please Him very much if they did. It is not God's desire to do away with any of His children. However, within God's plan, He knew that those elect would come back to Him in this age of the flesh, when He allowed them to be born innocent and with free will. They will, every last one of God's elect will, for their love was tested, judged and found true in the first earth age. Isaiah 55:11 "So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." If you pray to our Heavenly Father in a matter that pleases Him, He will find pleasure in that. When you love Him and trust God in all matters, then it will prosper well for you. Though we may pray for the immediate problems that we face, our Heavenly Father sees all matters in the long range, and He knows what is best for us. This is positive and absolute, that when you ask for anything in the name of Jesus, and that matter is in the will of the Father, It shall prosper. God's Word, as He spoke it through the prophets will come to pass exactly as it is written. God will place His power in the mouths of the two witnesses right here on earth very shortly, and as they speak, what they say will come to pass. Revelation 11:3 "And I will give power unto My two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth." Though this chapter focuses on the last three and one half days prior to the sounding of the seventh trumpet, when these witnesses are murdered by Satan, it also allows us to see that God has given great power over into the hands of these two witnesses. The time frame of these two witnesses is the last half of the great deception, or tribulation when Satan himself will be here on earth in the role of the "instead of Christ" or Antichrist. The two witnesses will be here on earth for the sole mission, as the sack cloth indicates, to warn all men of their sins. Revelation 11:4 "These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks, standing before the God of the earth." This verse verifies that these two witnesses are the same two "olive trees" that God said would come in Zechariah 4:3, 11, and 14. Remember the "candlesticks" of Revelations 2 and 3 were representative of the seven churches, and only two were the types that God would draw from at the close of this earth age. They were the churches of Smyrna and Philadephia who knew who the Kenites were, those that "said they were Jews, but lied and were of the synagogue of Satan". Revelation 11:5 "And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies; and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed." When these two witnesses appear on earth to start their witnessing there will be no doubt as to who they are. Today many ministers speculate who these witness will be, but their guesses are unimportant. You will know them by their words, if you are in tune with the Word of God. All of those that are all wrapped up in traditions and false doctrines will miss their identity and even be against them, because they will not recognize that these witnesses are speaking words of God. Their words will go against what is taught in most church houses of today. Revelation 11:6 "These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to trun them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will." The "waters" that these two witness have power over are the nations and peoples of this earth, as we read in Revelation 17:15; "And he saith unto me, "The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues." God will give these two witnesses power to smite the nations and peoples of the earth, and call down plagues whenever they see fit. When you see this come to pass before your eyes, then you know exactly what to expect next. As long as you are in our Heavenly Father's care, you have nothing to fear from the plagues and torments that these two witnesses bring upon the non-believers. Remember what God said to Satan and his locust army of fallen angels back in Revelation 9:4? "And it was commanded them that they should hurt not the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads." Well that also extends here, for the torments of the these two witnesses are against the "waters", those people and nations that part of that system "where the [spiritual] whore sitteth". God's entire Word will accomplish exactly what He intends to bring about. It is His purpose and plan, and if you are on God's side, and thirst for the truth of God's Word, the deceptions and torments of the final days are not intended for you. This whole chapter is important to you that thirst, and what all the promises that are here are for, to those that thirst. It is given to drive you into the study of His Word, so that you will absorb that Word to the point that it is part of your every day thinking. Then every time you gaze upon a rainbow, you will remember that that beautiful bow of colors seals God's promise here to you, just as it did to Noah over four thousand years ago. That Word is going to accomplish that which God intended it to, in your life, and it will not come back to Him void and without fruit. God will then use you in one form or another. God's Word will come to pass exactly as it is written. Isaiah 55:12 "For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands." When you see prophecies today growing closer together as they surface, God's labor pains are bringing us closer to the entering into the birth of a new age. God's Word shall always prosper. As we grow in the Word of God, you will live with the truths of His Word and be happy and content in all things. God's nature itself enjoys the presence of a servant of God. "For they shall go out with joy", means they "will give forth with life". Even nature itself is growning for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we are being filled with pollution all around us. Isaiah 55:13 "Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off." Remember that God stated in Hosea 14:8; "...I have heard Him, and observe Him: I am like a green fir tree [great cypress]. From Me is thy fruit found." When God calls himself "evergreen", the analogy is "ever-living". The "brier" is the "desert", and the tree of the desert is the bramble bush, which is the thorn bush. This bush is the symbol for Satan. The "myrtle tree" is the tree gives forth all its spice and is of good fragrance, and the myrtle tree shall come up within you, replacing those briers that have come up in your life. God's power and His love for His children shall not be cut off ever, and shall move from this age of the flesh, right into the Millennium kingdom that Jesus Christ shall set up, and into eternity following the judgment. It is not difficult what to know what the name is of the many membered body of Christ. Remember how this chapter started? it was written to those that thirst after the wine and milk of God's Word, and it was given without money, and that meas without wages. The wages had to be paid, and it came with a high price, but you could not buy it with your money. The reason was that Christ paid the price, and it was offered free to all those that thirsted after that wine, bread and milk. In the next Millennium age, it will require wages, for those that would not accept the true Word now, will earn it by their works in that thousand year Millennium age. When the books are opened on judgment day, it will be by their "works" that they will be found worthy or not. Faith is of this flesh age only, this is why the wine, bread and milk of His Word is given freely to all that thirst for it. This chapter flows right into the next chapter.
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