Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. - Isaiah 55:1
In one short verse we are invited to receive three different drinks- water, wine, and milk. All of these are important for different purposes, and today I'd like to look at how they fit into the broader biblical narrative.
Water
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. -John 7:37–39
Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”- John 4:14
O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water. -Jeremiah 17:13
Water has been used in many ways throughout the Bible, but one of the themes that has been used consistently is the Holy Spirit as a fountain. In Christ, we are able to freely drink from the Living Water, to drink from the crystal river, whose source is the Throne of God (Rev 22:1-2). His well is as deep as His love, and only when we are grounded in Him can we possess the strength to comprehend the breadth and width and length and height and depth of His knowledge-surpassing love (Eph 3:17-19, paraphrased). On this side of Heaven we can never experience the full, unveiled glory of God, but everyday we are able to go deeper into His waters, because in Christ we are able to equip our hearts with a river.
Wine
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said,“Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; -Genesis 14:18–19
Note: there is abundantly more to talk about in regards to Melchizedek, but I'll save that for another day. Instead I included this verse because it is the first time wine is used in more of a "godly" sense, and foreshadowed Jesus' Last Supper.
They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink. -Psalm 69:21
When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. -John 19:30
Here sour wine was used to fulfill ancient prophecy.
Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” -Mark 14:25
Like water, wine is interpreted in so many different ways in Scripture, most likely because it was very common and very intertwined with the culture and era. Wine was used as a metaphor for everything between the blood of Christ spilled out of the cross...
And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. -Luke 22:20
And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” -Matthew 26:39
to the wrath of God.
he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. -Revelation 14:10
Milk
If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. -Numbers 14:8
“And in that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the streambeds of Judah shall flow with water; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the LORD and water the Valley of Shittim. -Joel 3:18
But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, -1 Corinthians 3:1–2
Here we can see that milk is a common metaphor for youth, but is also a sign of prosperity in general.
Researching this was exhaustive, because all three of these terms were used in very different ways throughout the Bible. In Isaiah 55:1, though, the best interpretation is the one you get at first glance.
Our ransom is paid by the blood of Christ, so we are able to drink from His cup "without money and without price". So anyone who thirsts can come near, because through Jesus we are paid for, our stripes healed, our shackles removed, and it was bought with something far more precious than gold or silver.
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