Isaiah 55

Isaiah 55:1-13 . THE CALL OF THE GENTILE WORLD TO FAITH THE RESULT OF GOD'S GRACE TO THE JEWS FIRST.

1. every one--After the special privileges of Israel ( Isaiah 54:1-17 ) there follow, as the consequence, the universal invitation to the Gentiles ( Luke 24:47 , Romans 11:12 Romans 11:15 ).
Ho--calls the most earnest attention.
thirsteth--has a keen sense of need ( Matthew 5:6 ).
waters . . . wine and milk--a gradation. Not merely water, which is needed to maintain life at all, but wine and milk to strengthen, cheer, and nourish; the spiritual blessings of the Gospel are meant ( Isaiah 25:6 , Solomon 5:1 , John 7:37 ). "Waters," plural, to denote abundance ( Isaiah 43:20 , 44:3 ).
no money--Yet, in Isaiah 55:2 , it is said, "ye spend money." A seeming paradox. Ye are really spiritual bankrupts: but thinking yourselves to have money, namely, a devotion of your own making, ye lavish it on that "which is not bread," that is, on idols, whether literal or spiritual.
buy . . . without money--another paradox. We are bought, but not with a price paid by ourselves ( 1 Corinthians 6:20 , 1 Peter 1:18 1 Peter 1:19 ). In a different sense we are to "buy" salvation, namely, by parting with everything which comes between us and Christ who has bought it for us and by making it our own ( Matthew 13:44 Matthew 13:46 , Luke 12:33 , Revelation 3:18 ).

2. not bread--( Habakkuk 2:13 ). "Bread of deceit" ( Proverbs 20:17 ). Contrast this with the "bread of life" ( John 6:32 John 6:35 ; also Luke 14:16-20 ).
satisfieth not--( Ecclesiastes 1:8 , 4:8 ).
hearken . . . and eat--When two imperatives are joined, the second expresses the consequence of obeying the command in the first ( Genesis 42:18 ). By hearkening ye shall eat. So in Isaiah 55:1 , "buy and eat." By buying, and so making it your own, ye shall eat, that is, experimentally enjoy it ( John 6:53 ). Compare the invitation ( Proverbs 9:5 Proverbs 9:6 , Matthew 22:4 ).
fatness--( Psalms 36:8 , 63:5 ).