Come to the Waters
Isaiah Chapters 54-57
A Brief Moment
Chapter 54 begins (54:5-6) by reminding us of the intended relationship between ourselves and God as God calls himself our “redeemer”. We think of this word as synonymous with “savior” as, in fact, it is, but in Hebrew the word is a metaphor with a specific meaning. When Naomi tells Ruth that Boaz is their “kinsman-redeemer”, she used this same word. A woman in the time of Isaiah had no legitimate income or authority and in these depended solely on her husband. If her husband died, then she was lost, but could be redeemed by a brother-in-law or another male relative. This is the way it is with our redeemer: we have no worth of our own and no rights but what our redeemer offers us.
Though our sin causes of to be briefly separated from our God, it is not the will of God that we suffer for ever (54:7-8). In contrast to the brief anger we bring upon ourselves, there is the everlasting love of God (Jeremiah 31:3-4). Though our sin hides from us the face of our God, the same God who sees all our sin sees also our affliction (Psalm 10).
Thoughts and Ways
Our thoughts could not be further from the thoughts of God (55:7-11). If we think we are gods, we deceive ourselves (1 Corinthians 3:18-20). Our words are week, changeable things, but the word of God is a powerful thing that will not return without affecting its redemptive intent. Jesus himself is the Word (logos) of God , the human expression of Divine thought (logos) (John 1:1-3).
Where our ways are petty and self-serving, the ways of God are completely just (56:1-2). Even the justice of God is far removed from our own: where we seek punishment, the Love of God seeks forgiveness (57:16-18). We want at least an eye for an eye (Matthew 5:38-45) but the love of God requires that we love others as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:35-40).
Come
Early in Isaiah, God calls us in an amazing way. In the midst of a catalog of sins, we are called to come together with the Lord, the very measure of good, so that not only are our sins forgiven, but there are washed away as if they never existed (1:18). In these later chapters we have another clarion call to come to the presence of God, to the waters of redemption (55:1-5). What must we do, how can we qualify for the waters of life? Nothing but the to thirst after righteousness (Matthew 5:6). The Lord our God says “Come.”
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17 KJV)
