Isaiah 55:2 (ESV) … “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.”
Immediately we are reminded of a similar expression used by Jesus in his encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well in Sychar. ‘Everyone who drinks this water,’ he said, ‘will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life’ (John 4:13–14).
Relieving hunger by supplying bread reminds us of Jesus’ words at the occasion of the feeding of the 5,000: ‘I am the bread of life … But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world’ (John 6:48–51).
The full chapter of Isaiah 54 introduces to us the theme of a faithful husband’s undying love
and affection for his bride. God truly loves the church for which he gives the Servant as a Saviour and substitute. Thus, in a free and sovereign call, he gives a sincere invitation to all to partake of the feast he has prepared. And the perspective is wider still: Christ, having drawn the sting of death, makes salvation possible. He has dealt with the alienation that separates sinners from God and God from sinners. It is God’s purpose that not only should God’s children enjoy liberty from sin’s dominion and presence, but that all creation should rejoice in his grace (55:12–13).[1]
[1] Thomas, D. (1991). God Delivers: Isaiah Simply Explained (p. 352). Darlington, England: Evangelical Press.
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