The ending of our chapter is as thrilling as its beginning!

And it points to a yet future time, definitely so … IF it is to be taken literally! (And Isaiah is not generally known as a poet, rather as a Prophet, a Preacher.)

“For ye (Israel) shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” Isaiah 55:12-13

Today I’d like to emphasize the “trees” that are mentioned in the Text.

I am currently studying the “Trees of the Bible,” and am astounded at their frequency of occurrence throughout Scripture. The Bible begins with a “tree” story and ends with one as well! Come to think of it, Jesus died on a “tree!”

In verse 12 above … the trees are so glad, so happy, they are “clapping their hands!” (Their limbs, I presume!)

Why so elated? Because Jesus has come again! To Israel! And this time that little Nation (but merely a surviving Remnant of her) sees Him and believes on Him and is “born again!”

And on that Day (the true Day of Atonement) even God’s creation (including these trees, not to mention the glorious impact on the little animals) will break out in joyful singing!

No more thorns … a result of the curse of sin anyway … but instead “fir trees.” (An evergreen!)

No more briers … but “myrtle trees” in their place! (Luxuriant in providing shade! An emblem of “rest.”)

Wow!

Paul the Apostle pictures creation presently … “groaning and travailing in pain!” Laboring under the curse of sin! See Romans 8:22. if you’re interested.

But … some day!

(I believe we Christians shall see this Isaiah 55:12-13 miracle and hear this joyful noise, this exuberant singing … as we will be “with” our Saviour when He comes again to earth to rule in Jerusalem … as the greater Son of David!)

Hallelujah!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Do you remember those first 39 chapter of Isaiah? Judgment and darkness everywhere! Now truly, as Isaiah 40 begins … “Comfort” is the key word! That’s our God!

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Can you have more than one “life verse?”

For decades I have used 1 Corinthians 15:58 as mine. Every time I sign a Bible, if the name is there … so will be this reference. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” I love it!

But, having studied Isaiah again, today’s Text is impressing me more than ever. Isaiah 55:10-11 … “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater. So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”

Clearly the Focus here is “God’s Word!” Which He lovingly calls “My Word.” (A “term of endearment” I’d say!)

If the Author Himself is not ashamed of His Bible … I surely will not be! In fact, I’m thankful for It! I believe every Line of it!

This amazing Text begins with a word picture, an illustration, from God’s creation. “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater.”

Oh, the success of a rain shower or a fresh coat of snow! The creeks and rivers and (yes, ultimately) oceans! The crops yielding vegetables and fruits! (Take away that moisture and you have an arid, barren landscape!)

Then, in Isaiah 55:11 … “as does the rain and snow, SO the mighty Word of God!” Only MORE so!

Here it is. God is talking: “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”

Wow!

The Word of God I preach … will NOT return void! “Void” means “empty, idle, worthless!” The Bible always bears “fruit!”

In fact, more than that … God promises “it shall prosper!” Again, we are talking about God’s Word! This verb means “to come mightily, to break out, to rush into battle (and be victorious)!”

Wow!

Notice too the “linkage” between God’s “Word” and God’s “Pleasure!” This noun means “that Which brings Delight!”

Here’s what I am thinking … love God’s Word (preach it, study it, meditate upon it, treasure it, obey it) … and you will be bringing the Lord Jesus Christ (Who died for you on Calvary) GREAT PLEASRUE!

Wow!

Enough should now have been said … to incite each of us to further (and more dedicated) involvement with the precious Word of God.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Isaiah 55:11

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Thank you for praying. Both flights homebound this morning were on time! And I have arrived safely. Now, the delayed Lesson …

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 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

Our God is omniscient, that is “all knowing.”

And He has never had a bad thought, nothing sinful or erroneous in any way. Yet His Reasoning is so DIFFERENT than ours!

“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Proverbs 14:12

So … if I am going to really walk with God (“Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” Amos 3:3) … I MUST learn how He thinks, best as possible anyway.

By the way, God’s Word (the Bible) is a Revelation of God’s Thoughts! Hence the necessity of mastering the Scripture!

God, according to today’s Text, thinks on a “higher plane” that we do.

Notice here also how one’s “thoughts” direct one’s ways! (The Text first mentions “thoughts,” then secondly, “ways.)

Wow!

So, to be the best student of God’s thoughts that I can … I must do two things.

First … realize the weakness and fallacy in our human (sinful) patterns of thinking. We are very often wrong, living in these fleshly bodies. With our fallen minds. This is why God tells us to “lean NOT to thine own understanding!” Proverbs 3:5

This is why our minds need to be “renewed.” Romans 12:2, “transformed” thought patterns!

Then secondly … study especially God’s very Word(s) in the Bible! Paul the Apostle even went so far to say that (in the Bible) we actually possess “the Mind of Christ!” 1 Corinthians 2:16

Also … think of the Word(s) of God in the Book of Job!

Then … think of God preaching a Sermon, a long one. And it’s in print yet today. The “Sermon on the Mount,” Matthew chapters 5-7, Jesus being the Speaker, God the Only-Begotten Son!

God’s Word reveals God’s Thoughts!

The Greek noun for the Bible, for God’s “WORD” … is “logos.” It gives us our English word “LOGIC!” Orderly, systematic, sequenced Thoughts!

Wow!

It takes a bit of humility (maybe a lot) to believe Isaiah 55:8-9. In fact, God plainly there says … “so are My Ways HIGHER than your ways, and my Thoughts than your thoughts.”

I close with a prayer.

Oh dear Lord Jesus, help us to so humble ourselves, to so discipline ourselves, to so educate (?) ourselves … to “think God’s Thoughts after Him.”

“How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!” Psalm 139:17

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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I’m typing this note at 11:00 PM Wednesday night, after a precious Revival Service in Mercer, Pennsylvania.

Tomorrow morning (just after 6:00 ) I board a plane for home. Though I must connect in Detroit.

For that reason … today’s Isaiah 55 Lesson will be delayed.

Pray for safety please, as I go back to Tunnel Hill, Georgia. Which is also the city where Calvary Baptist Church is located, the Church where I begin Revival Sunday Morning! Not 5 miles from our house!

The Lord sure blessed the trip northward Saturday. I carefully looked out of the airplane (always a window seat, please) and saw one of Pittsburgh’s three Rivers … then the skyline!

Oh what an invention Orville and Wilbur (Wright) engineered!

We love you folks.

Keep on studying the Word of God!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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I enjoyed a wonderful childhood!

By the Grace of God I was born into a home with Christian parents, and a godly heritage.

Today’s Text was one of the verses I learned as a lad. Sunday School, Bible School, family devotions, a Revival Meeting … I do not recall the exact catalyst for the memory work.

“Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.” Isaiah 55:6

The following “Isaiah” verse is good too, though that one is not in my little memory bank. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:7

No wonder Isaiah is called the “evangelist” of the Old Testament! Both the foregoing verses present the Gospel! In an “unlimited sense,” too!

Verse 6 suggests there could come a time when God might NOT be found! Therefore be saved today! (Paul used this thought in 2 Corinthians 6:2 … “Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”)

The verse also teaches us that a man (or woman) can “seek” the Lord at will. The verb is “darash,” and it means “to resort to” the Lord … or even “to require” the Lord! As when you MUST have something! Did I say “at will?” Yes … this verb is framed in the imperative mood, it being man’s supreme DUTY to so seek the Lord!

Wow!

And verse 7 is just as thrilling. Magnifying God’s Mercy! A God Who will “abundantly pardon!” Literally “greatly forgive!”

If anyone is reading the Lesson this morning and is not yet saved … ponder these two verses. Act upon them. This is God’s invitation to you! Backed by the authority of His Holy Word!

Let’s end by putting both verses together, in tandem.

“Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”

I am so thankful to know this Almighty and Loving God!

Do you?

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Isaiah again, on “how” to be saved! “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” Isaiah 45:22

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