Isaiah 55:3
Give ear and come to me;
listen, that you may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
my faithful love promised to David. (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Isaiah 55:1-5
In verse 3, God gives Israel three things to do that will enable them to fully experience His everlasting covenant with them:
- “Give ear” – natah
- “Come to me” – hālak
- “Listen” – šāmaʽ
What God seems to be saying here is to be obedient, come to Him and listen to what He says so that you may truly live. This was also the message of Jesus:
“He replied, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it’” (Luke 11:28).
“Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death” (John 8:51).
“Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them’” (John 14:23).
God then makes a promise to establish an everlasting covenant with Israel because that is what he promised to David:
“The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever” (2 Sam 7:11-16).
This “offspring” was the Messiah who God punished to save us from our sins. This new covenant would give us the gift of eternal life if we put our faith in him. No more animal sacrifices. One sacrifice for all time.
Paul referenced this verse as proof that Jesus was the fulfillment of this promise:
“God raised him from the dead so that he will never be subject to decay. As God has said, ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David’” (Acts 13:34).
So this brings us back to the beginning of the verse. This new covenant is for all of us. If we are obedient to come to Him and listen to His Word, then we will live. Jesus equips us through his Word and the Holy Spirit with everything we need to be obedient.
“Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (Heb 13:20-21).
Christ in the Old Testament 
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