Day Twenty One : 18th December

Isaiah 55

1 Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;
and you that have no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread
and your labour for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.

Brueggemann (2) p158/9:

In these verses, the poet makes a sharp contrast between old modes of life under Babylonian authority and the new offer of life with Yahweh. The initial verse, perhaps, in the summoning mode of a street vendor, offers to passersby free water, free wine, and free milk. This of course is in contrast to the life resources offered by the empire that are always expensive, grudging, and unsatisfying. Israel is invited to choose the free, alternative nourishment offered by Yahweh. Thus, although we may ponder the metaphor of free food, the underlying urging is the sharp contrast between the way of life given in Babylon that leads to death and the way of Yahweh that leads to joyous homecoming.