Reading: Isaiah 55-57, Psalm 119:129-152
Following the call for his own people to celebrate the accomplishments of the Servant, Isaiah turns his call to the world, and even to those who would normally be barred from the community worship of the God of Israel. He invites the foreigner and the eunuch into the assembly. He declares abundant pardon for all those who repent. God will not be holding a grudge, like humans do. His pardon is absolute for those who ask for it. Isaiah sees a wondrous future, but not everyone will accept it. Chapter 55 and half of 56 are a call to join the kingdom of God and his Servant. The other half of 56 and 57 is a warning to and about bad leadership. There will be those who appear to accept the new kingdom, but persist in disobedient behaviors. God is not amused by the abuse of his compassionate grace, and it will not go well for those people.
Full disclosure, Isaiah 55 is my favorite part of the Hebrew Scriptures. I feel like I could write a book on it, but I’ll settle for a couple paragraphs here. There is just so much going on. First, we have the call to the thirsty, hungry, and poor to join the new kingdom without cost to them. It is all free, though still “bought” by the Servant. Isaiah is telling us the Servant is responsible for this free access to abundance. Then there is the call to cease buying what is not bread and working for that which does not satisfy. These are good reminders in any era, but bear extra sharpness in today’s world where we have extraordinary abundance and limitless dissatisfaction. We live in the wealthiest society that has ever existed, yet are increasingly dissatisfied with what we have, and spend our lives striving after that which does not satisfy. We have relativized poverty and expanded it by creating “needs” that do not really exist, then fulfilled them for some by taking the means to fulfill real needs from others. Perhaps there is nothing so indicative of the modern human than the ability to create things to be dissatisfied about, then oppress other humans to get them. Ok, I’ll get off my soapbox. Isaiah tells us to instead come to the Servant, the new David, and his new covenant, where there is food, drink, and satisfaction.
Next there is a call to seek God while he may be found, since this is a time of total pardon for those who repent and turn to God. Nothing will be held against those who seek forgiveness. God will make all things new. He is not like humans, who forgive with conditions. He is not like humans, who promise but fail to deliver. He is higher and greater in a substantive way. For the same reason than God is not subject to our judgments, he is able to act in a mercy and with an effectiveness more complete than anything a human can conceive. Isaiah compares the words of God to rain watering the Earth. They may not appear to do much, but they bring life from the dry ground and dead seeds. Isaiah paints a picture of the people of God following the rainfall of God’s words through a rejoicing world that springs into life, replacing the afflicting thorns and briers with the beautiful and valuable cypress and myrtle.
In chapter 56 Isaiah turns to the universal acceptance that is accomplished by the work of the Servant. The foreigner is accepted into the kingdom of God, and need not fear being cut off from it. The eunuch, a deeply shameful state in the ancient world, is promised a memorial greater than children in the kingdom of God. Both of these categories were separated from the assembly of Israel in the books of Moses, but now because of the Servant, they are forever accepted. They are added to the assembly, meaning they can participate in temple worship, but the temple itself has been opened because of the Servant. The house of the God of Israel recalls both the tabernacle and the temple, the place where humans can interact with God, a little piece of the new creation inside of the broken one. Because of the Servant, this house is no longer only for the descendants of Jacob, but will be a house of prayer for all peoples.
Partway through chapter 56 and through 57, Isaiah turns from the celebratory declaration of God’s kingdom to cursing bad leaders. Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, God reserves some of his harshest judgments for those who mislead other people, and here is no exception. Those who misuse the graciousness of God in his new kingdom and lead others in the same will be destroyed. They are described as giving lip service to God but action in accordance with Canaanite worship- sacrificing their children, engaging in ritual prostitution, seeking to speak with the dead. For all the reasons we reviewed in the books of Moses, these are distortions of the creation as God meant it to be, and in the new kingdom they will not be any more tolerable than in the old. God will not contend with the wicked forever, eventually they will be destroyed in the new kingdom.
The rest of Isaiah will consist of several comparisons of these false worshipers and bad leaders with the kingdom of God and his Servant. The false worshipers will live in injustice and end in ruin, while the kingdom of God will bring liberation and justice, culminating in a new heavens and new earth. Isaiah is given a look into the future, where the Servant has accomplished his work and there is a decision placed before all people, not just the descendants of Jacob, to belong to the Servant’s kingdom or to persist in the independence of the human problem. In the Servant, God will made all things new, but he will not force anyone to join the party.