Isaiah 55:5

Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee. BEHOLD, THOU - Yahweh addresses Messiah. SHALT CALL A NATION (THAT) THOU KNOWEST NOT, AND NATIONS (THAT) KNEW NOT THEE SHALL RUN UNTO THEE. God must call, before man can, or will, run (; ). Not merely shall come, but run eagerly. THAT THOU KNOWEST NOT - now as thy people (so in ). NATION ... NATIONS - gradation; from Israel, one nation, the Gospel spread to many nations, and will do so more fully on Israel's conversion. That...

5._Behold, thou shalt call a nation which thou knowest not. _Isaiah explains more largely what he formerly glanced at by a single word; for he declares that Christ shall be the “leader,” not of a single people, but of all the peoples. “To call” here denotes possession; for there is a mutual relation between the words “call” and “answer.” Christ therefore “calls” in the exercise of authority, as one who is invested with supreme power; and he “calls” the Gentiles, that he may bring them into a state of obedience, and may cause them to submit to his word. He says that they shall be ready to obey, though hitherto they were unknown; not that the Son of God, by whom they were created, did not know them, but because he paid no regard to them (83) until they began to be reckoned as belonging to the Church. God had in a peculiar manner called the Jews; the Gentiles appeared to be excluded as if t...

1-5 All are welcome to the blessings of salvation, to whom those blessings are welcome. In Christ there is enough for all, and enough for each. Those satisfied with the world, that see no need of Christ, do not thirst. They are in no uneasiness about their souls: but where God gives grace, he gives a thirst after it; and where he has given a thirst after it, he will give it. Come to Christ, for he is the Fountain opened, he is the Rock smitten. Come to holy ordinances, to the streams that make glad the city of our God. Come to the healing waters, come to the living waters, Revelation 22:17. Our Saviour referred to this, John 7:37. Come, and buy; make it your own by application of the grace of the gospel to yourselves. Come, and eat; make it still more your own, and enjoy it. The world comes short of our expectat...

BEHOLD, THOU SHALT CALL ... - This is evidently an address to the Messiah, and is a promise that the Gentiles should be called by him to the fellowship of the gospel. THAT THOU KNOWEST NOT - The phrase ‘thou knowest not,’ means a nation that had not been regarded as his own people. AND NATIONS THAT KNEW NOT THEE - The pagan nations that were strangers to thee. SHALL RUN UNTO THEE - Indicating the haste and anxiety which they would have to partake of the benefits of the true religion. BECAUSE OF THE LORD THY GOD - From respect to the God who had appointed the Messiah, and who had organized the Church. FOR HE HATH GLORIFIED THEE - John 16:5. God had glori

EXPOSITION ISAIAH 55:1 AN EXHORTATION TO SPIRITUALITY AND REPENTANCE. The prophet passes from the ideal to the actual, from the glorious future to the unsatisfactory present. The people are not ripe for the blessings of the Messianic kingdom—they do not sufficiently value them. Hence a tender exhortation is addressed to them by God himself, inviting them to become more spiritually minded (Isaiah 55:1), and fresh promises are held out to the obedient (Isaiah 55:3). The disobedient are then somewhat sternly exhorted to turn from their evil ways and repent ...

BEHOLD, THOU SHALT CALL A NATION THAT THOU KNOWEST NOT,.... And even nations, as in the next clause; not all the individuals of them, though the Gospel is sent to all nations; and in the latter day the kingdoms of this world shall be the Lord's, and all nations shall serve him. It denotes a great concourse of people to Christ, even such as were not known by him: he knows all mankind as he is the omniscient God, and especially them that are his, these he has a special and peculiar knowledge of; he knows them as his beloved, chosen, and redeemed ones, even before conversion; and yet, in a sense, they are unknown to him before calling; they are not taken notice of by him in an open way; they are not owned and acknowledged to be his; there is no intimacy between them; they are not admitted to fellowship and communion with him. The phrase denotes them to be a foreign people, and so properly d...

Tonight we shall read that precious chapter of gospel invitation, the fifty-fifth of Isaiah, which, I hope, you all know by heart. Isaiah 55:1. _Ho, every one that thirsteth,_ God would have the attention of sinners; he calls for it. Are not sinners eager for God? Oh, no! It is God who is eager for sinners; and so he calleth «Ho!» Men pass by with their ears full of the world's tumult; and God calleth, again and again, «Ho! Ho!» Be you rich or poor, learned or illiterate, if you are in need, and specially if you feel your need, «Ho, every one that thirsteth.» Isaiah 55:1. _Come ye to the waters,_ There are only in one place waters that can quench your thirst; and God calls you that way: «Come ye to the waters.»...

CHAPTER 55 SALVATION'S OFFER AND PROVISION 1. _The invitation to everyone and the promise (Isaiah 55:1) _ 2. _The sure mercies of David (Isaiah 55:3) _ 3. _The exhortation to seek and to forsake (Isaiah 55:6) _ 4. _God's thoughts and God's ways (Isaiah 55:8) _ 5. _The joy, peace and glory of the future (Isaiah 55:12) _ The scope and application of this chapter must not be limited. While Israel eventually will break forth in singing as the result of believing on Him, whom they once despised, the invitation to a free and full

THE GLORIOUS BLESSINGS OF THE NEW COVENANT WHICH YAHWEH WILL MAKE WITH HIS PEOPLE. Yahweh bids the thirsty come to the waters, the hungry to eat. Their life is now a constant striving issuing only in disillusion; but listening to His call they shall, without effort or cost, enjoy the utmost blessing (fat or oil was considered a great delicacy). He will grant (as a condescension, not make as on equal terms) His people a covenant, transferring to them the sure promises of loving-kindness which He made to David. Even as once by crowning his career with success He made David an evidence to the nations of His power and their suzerain, Yahweh will now prosper Zion so that nations as yet unknown shall obey her call, seek union with her, beholding the wonderful blessings wherewith Yahweh honours her....

THOU... THEE: i.e. Israel, who is addressed here. THE LORD. Hebrew. _Jehovah._ App-4. GOD. Hebrew. _Elohim._ App-4. THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL. See note on Psalms 71:22....