II. SEEKING JEHOVAH
AND RETURNING TO HIM AND HIS WORD
In verses 6 through 13 we have the matters of seeking Jehovah and returning to Him and His word.
A. Seeking Jehovah While He May Be Found
and Calling upon Him While He Is Near
"Seek Jehovah while He may be found" (v. 6a). This is to come to the Lord in order to drink of Him. "Call upon Him while He is near" (v. 6b). This is the way to drink. We drink of the Lord by calling, "O Lord Jesus!"
"Let the wicked forsake his way,/And the evildoer, his thoughts;/And let him return to Jehovah, and He will have compassion on him;/And to our God, for He will pardon abundantly" (v. 7). The wicked one is the one who does not come to drink. In the sight of God, it is wickedness not to believe in the Lord Jesus. Whoever does not believe in Christ, God regards as sinful. Jehovah will have compassion on the one who returns to Him and will pardon him abundantly. Here pardon abundantly means that God forgives us not just in one way but in many ways.
B. Jehovah’s Thoughts Not Being Our Thoughts,
and Our Ways Not Being His Ways
"For My thoughts are not your thoughts,/And your ways are not My ways, declares Jehovah./For as the heavens are higher than the earth,/So are My ways higher than your ways,/And My thoughts higher than your thoughts" (vv. 8-9). We should give up our thought and take God’s thought. We should also give up our way and take God’s way. God’s way is the way of calling, the way of drinking.
C. Jehovah’s Word Not Returning to Him Vainly
Verses 10 and 11 are a further definition of God’s thoughts and ways. "For just as the rain comes down/And the snow from heaven,/And does not return there,/Until it waters the earth/And makes it bear and sprout forth,/That it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater;/So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;/It will not return to Me vainly,/But it will accomplish what I delight in,/And it will prosper in the matter to which I have sent it." We need to eat the word and drink of the water in the word so that we may be filled, renewed, strengthened, and transformed into His image for the building up of the Body of Christ. This is what God has sent His word to do.
D. Israel Going Out with Rejoicing
and Being Led Forth in Peace
"You will go out with rejoicing,/And you will be led forth in peace;/The mountains and the hills/Will break forth before you with a ringing shout,/And all the trees of the field will clap their hands./In place of the thorn bush, the fir tree will come up;/In place of the brier, the myrtle will come up;/And it will be to Jehovah as a name,/As an eternal sign that will not be cut off" (vv. 12-13). What God is doing regarding us will become both a name to God and an eternal sign. Here name signifies a memorial, and sign indicates strong proof. What God is doing by sending forth His word will be a memorial and also a sign which will never be cut off. God has sent forth His word to water us, to sanctify us, to transform us, and to conform us to His image that the Body of Christ may be built up. To God, this will be an eternal memorial and an eternal sign.
(Life-Study of Isaiah, Chapter 28, by Witness Lee)
