![]() How can it be believed that all the power, victory, and triumph of God are in the word of a feeble human mouth? And so He comes to meet this scandal of the weak and the stubborn. For consolation, because the Word seems so weak and foolish that there appears to be no strength in it. This paragraph is spoken in part for the confutation of the stubborn, in part for the consolation of the weak. Yet, in a world that clamors for measurable results, how often do we preachers doubt the promise: “so shall my word be that goes out of my mouth”? How often do we want to give our hearers something to do beyond trusting in the promise ? 2Ĭonsider the comments from Martin Luther (1483-1546) on Isaiah 55.10: The power of the Word of God is not to be underestimated (Ecclesiastes 3:14). This is God’s word that does not return empty.Įarlier in Deutero-Isaiah, it reads: “The grass withers, the flower fades but the word of our God will stand for ever” (Isaiah 40:8). ![]() This is about God’s word that gives life, that does what it is intended to do, that accomplishes, that succeeds in God’s purpose. This is not just a poetic, theological glimpse of the water cycle. Ask any farmer, and she will tell you the importance of rain and snow to life.Īnd so the natural illustration turns towards its ultimate purpose: “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth,” says Yhwh. It is the rain and snow, moisture from above, that causes the earth to burgeon, “giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater.” When the earth does not receive this moisture, life shrivels-up. The earth is not the life-giver in this illustration. We are talking here about moisture - rain and snow that come down and water. Here the nature world illustrates the Lord’s wild claim. “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10-11). It is, rather, to put things into proper perspective, because what comes next depends on this role clarity. ![]() This is not to downplay the importance of any individual or humanity in general. Lest the hearer get tangled up in a lack of role clarity, the Lord is the Lord, maker of heaven and earth (cf. Verses 8-9 serve to put things into proper perspective: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways,… For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). The emphasis, however, is shifted from judgment to mercy - from the human turning away toward other gods toward the Lord’s resilient, merciful refusal to turn away from the Lord’s people. God’s expectation of complete devotion - you shall have no other gods before me! - is not softened. Yhwh, the God of return and pardon, invites repentance - a turning back toward the living God: “… let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7b).It is not that God’s people received something other than what their idolatry deserved but more centrally it is that God’s mercy and pardon triumph over God’s wrath. The Lord who delivered from the Israelites from Egypt is also the Lord who now delivers from Babylon. As if floating just in the background, we can almost hear the beginning of Exodus 20: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery you shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:2-3). Reminiscent of the First Commandment, the prophet’s hearers are encouraged to turn away from that which draws them away from the living God and toward death. Lest this be confused with morality, the text reaches past morality into the heart of the problem. Israel is addressed with the invitation to seek the Lord, forsaking wicked ways and unrighteous thoughts (Isaiah 55:6-7a). ![]() Insofar as the lectionary serves the church and not vice versa, consider including verses 6-9, which sets the stage what follows. In the interest of the integrity of the text, reconsider the boundaries of this particular pericope. This passage is a foundation for understanding God’s relationship to Christian proclamation. These last few verses of Isaiah 55 offer an image of new creation with the natural world serving as a metaphor for the life-giving movement and effectiveness of the word of the Lord. ![]()
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