His Word will Never Fail
The fundamental reason man does not obey God is because man does not trust God. Man either does not trust God because he doesn’t believe God exists or he doesn’t trust God because he doesn’t believe God can or will punish him for refusing to trust Him. That was Adam and Eve’s fundamental problem and it is man’s fundamental problem today. Who are you going to trust?
It was the same problem for the Jews during Isaiah’s lifetime. They wanted to trust man. They wanted to trust their own pastors over the clear teaching of God’s word. They wanted to trust themselves, or anyone, except the God of heaven.
In Isaiah 55, the prophet calls on Israel (once again) to trust God. Since chapter 40, Isaiah pictures the Jews as being in Babylonian exile (where they would stay for 70 years). Isaiah, himself, will pass away long before they will even be taken into exile, much less return from exile. Yet, his messages were to sustain the Jews through the 70-year exile and through the ensuing centuries until the Messiah would come.
Through all those years, and in fact, on a day to day basis, the Jews needed to trust God’s word. In Isaiah 55, Isaiah begins with twelve imperatives! He calls on the Jews to come to God, to buy wine and milk, “without money and without cost.” These commands are not calls to buy literal wine and milk. In verse 2, God calls on them to “listen” and eat what God has prepared for them, “in abundance.”
Please observe this point: “How does one eat of this food and delight in its richness? By listening carefully (the verb is emphasized by the infinitive absolute immediately following) to the words that God speaks to the prophet” (Oswalt, 436). The same thing is true in John 6 when Jesus talks about eating His flesh and drinking His blood. He is not talking about eating Himself and He is not talking about eating the Lord’s Supper. He is talking about “consuming” His words, His Truth, His message (John 6:63, 68).
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Plus, God’s word is dependable, reliable, trustworthy in its nature and character. As the rain and snow fall from heaven and water the ground without fail, so God’s word leaves His mouth and does not return without accomplishing what God intends for it to accomplish (vss 10-11). “The Bible reveals his thoughts and ways, sets his targets, voices his promises and is powerful to achieve what it expresses” (Motyer, 391).
Smith writes (511): “God does not make impotent threats or empty promises; when he talks, people should listen because what he predicts is exactly what will happen. …When God speaks he externalizes who he is; his words represent his values, his will, and his existence.”
In light of the power and dependability of God’s word, the Jews are promised that they will leave exile “with joy” and “with peace.” The whole creation will celebrate their return – the mountains and hills and “all the trees of the field” (vs 12). Cypress will grow instead of thorns and the myrtle instead of nettles. All of God’s blessings will be a memorial to what God’s word had said and will be an everlasting sign that God keeps His promises.
There is no difference between the promises laid out for the Jews in the Old Testament and the promises laid out for Christians in the New Testament. God always keeps His promises. His word will never fail!
–Paul Holland
