The Inevitable Harvest: God's Word and a Singing Creation
Introduction: The Unstoppable Word
We live in an age of profound skepticism. Our culture is saturated with the assumption that words are cheap, that promises are made to be broken, and that grand declarations are just hot air. Politicians make pledges they never intend to keep. Advertisers make claims that are demonstrably false. And in our personal lives, we have all experienced the sting of a word that failed, a promise that fell to the ground empty. The result is a deep-seated cynicism. We have been conditioned to believe that words are, at best, aspirational, and at worst, manipulative. We think of them as flimsy, ephemeral things that evaporate as soon as they are spoken.
Into this world of broken vows and empty speech, Isaiah 55 comes as a thunderclap. God makes a startling claim about the nature of His Word. He declares that His Word is not like our words. It is not a suggestion. It is not a hopeful wish. It is not a trial balloon. God’s Word is a force of nature. It is as reliable and as effectual as the hydrological cycle. It is a creative power that does not return to Him until it has fundamentally reshaped reality according to His sovereign purpose.
This passage is a direct assault on all forms of unbelief. It confronts the deist, who imagines a God who wound up the world like a clock and then stepped away, remaining silent. It confronts the pragmatist, who trusts in human ingenuity, political maneuvering, or military might, but scoffs at the power of preaching. And it confronts the despairing Christian, who looks at the state of the world, the apparent triumph of evil, and the weakness of the church, and concludes that God's project has somehow stalled out. Isaiah tells us that this is an impossible state of affairs. God has spoken, and therefore, the world must and will be transformed.
This is not just a promise about personal salvation, though it certainly includes that. This is a promise about cosmic restoration. The effect of God's Word going out is not just a quiet, internal change in the hearts of a few individuals. The result is a creation that erupts in joy. It is a world where the curse is reversed, where thorns and nettles are replaced by cypress and myrtle. This is a postmillennial vision in miniature. It is the logic of the Great Commission. God sends His Word, the gospel of the Kingdom, and it will not fail. It will accomplish its purpose. It will succeed. And the result will be a world filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, a world where the mountains and hills sing and the trees of the field clap their hands.
The Text
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth
And making it bear and sprout,
And giving 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 empty,
Without accomplishing what pleases Me,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
For you will go out with gladness
And be led forth with peace;
The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you,
And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up,
And instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up,
And it will be to Yahweh for His renown,
For an everlasting sign which will not be cut off.”
(Isaiah 55:10-13 LSB)
The Hydrology of Omnipotence (vv. 10-11)
God begins by giving us a picture from the created order that we can all understand. He points to the weather.
"For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And giving 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 empty, Without accomplishing what pleases Me, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:10-11 LSB)
The analogy is simple, powerful, and comprehensive. Rain and snow come down from heaven. This is a divine initiative. The parched earth does not ascend to the clouds to get water; the water descends to the earth. In the same way, God’s Word is always an act of condescending grace. He speaks down to us. Revelation is not a human achievement; it is a divine gift.
Notice the purposefulness of the water. It does not return to heaven "without watering the earth." It has a job to do, and it does it. It is sent on a mission. And what is that mission? It is to make the earth fruitful. It causes the ground to "bear and sprout." This is not a sterile or abstract process. It has a tangible, life-sustaining result: "seed to the sower and bread to the eater." The water cycle is God's ordained system for providing for His creation. It is reliable, it is effective, and it results in life and sustenance.
"So will My word be," God says. The parallel is exact. God's Word "goes forth from My mouth." Like the rain, it is a divine initiative. And like the rain, it is sent on a mission. It will not return "empty" or void. The Hebrew word here means "in vain." God does not waste His breath. His every utterance is freighted with omnipotent purpose. When God speaks, things happen.
He gives us a threefold description of its success. First, it will accomplish what pleases Him. God's Word is the instrument of His sovereign pleasure. What God desires, His Word brings into being. Second, it will succeed in the matter for which He sent it. The word "succeed" here means to prosper, to push forward, to break out. God's Word is not tentative. It is aggressive. It is an invading force. It is sent to conquer, and it will not fail. This is the logic of the gospel. The Father sends the Son, who is the living Word (John 1:1), and He sends the preached word, the gospel about the Son. And that Word has a mission: to create a new people, to build a new kingdom, to disciple the nations. And God says here that it will not return to Him having failed. It will prosper. It will succeed.
This is the bedrock of our confidence in preaching, in evangelism, in Christian education, in raising our children in the Lord. We are not casting worthless seeds on concrete. We are channels for the very Word of God, which has the same creative power that spoke the universe into existence. It cannot fail. Our task is not to make the Word successful. Our task is simply to be faithful in declaring it, and to trust that God will make it do what He has sent it to do.
The Exodus of Joy (v. 12)
The result of this successful Word is not quiet contemplation. It is a joyful, triumphant exodus.
"For you will go out with gladness And be led forth with peace; The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands." (Isaiah 55:12 LSB)
The immediate context for Isaiah's audience is the promised return from Babylonian exile. But the language is far too grand to be limited to that one historical event. This is the language of the new and greater Exodus, the release from the bondage of sin and death that is accomplished by the Messiah. When God's Word of pardon and redemption takes root in a people, they "go out with gladness." Salvation is not a grim duty; it is a jubilant liberation. They are "led forth with peace." This is not a chaotic retreat, but an orderly, triumphant procession led by their King.
But then the imagery explodes beyond the human participants. The whole of creation joins the celebration. "The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you." This is not simply a poetic flourish. The Bible teaches that the creation itself is groaning under the curse of man's sin, waiting eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God (Romans 8:19-22). When God's people are redeemed, creation itself begins to be liberated. The redemption of man is the redemption of the cosmos.
And "all the trees of the field will clap their hands." This is the picture of a world set right, a world where every part of creation is joyfully fulfilling the purpose for which it was made, all to the glory of God. This is what happens when the gospel truly takes root in a culture. It doesn't just change hearts; it changes everything. It affects agriculture, architecture, music, and politics. A redeemed people begin to exercise their dominion mandate in a godly way, and the creation responds with fruitfulness and beauty. This is the optimistic, world-conquering vision of the Christian faith. The gospel is not a plan for a secret evacuation of a few souls from a sinking ship. It is the power of God to reclaim and restore the entire world.
The Reversal of the Curse (v. 13)
The final verse makes the nature of this transformation explicit. It is a direct reversal of the curse pronounced in Genesis 3.
"Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up, And instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up, And it will be to Yahweh for His renown, For an everlasting sign which will not be cut off.” (Isaiah 55:13 LSB)
What was the curse on the ground because of Adam's sin? "Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you" (Genesis 3:18). The thorn bush and the nettle are the very symbols of the curse, of a creation hostile to man, of toil and frustration. And here, Isaiah says, the efficacious Word of God reverses that curse. Where the signs of the curse once flourished, now signs of blessing and beauty will grow. The cypress is a tall, strong, evergreen tree, a symbol of endurance and life. The myrtle is a fragrant, beautiful shrub, a symbol of peace and joy.
This is a picture of the gospel's effect on the world. It takes the cursed ground of human hearts and fallen cultures and makes them into a garden for God. It replaces the thorns of strife, bitterness, and rebellion with the cypress of righteousness and the myrtle of peace. This is the progressive work of the Kingdom of God in history. As the gospel goes forth, it doesn't just save souls for the hereafter; it transforms the here and now.
And what is the ultimate purpose of all this? It is not for our comfort or our glory. It is "to Yahweh for His renown." The transformation of the world is a monument to the power and grace of God. It is "for an everlasting sign which will not be cut off." This is not a temporary revival that will fizzle out. This is the establishment of an everlasting kingdom. The progress of the gospel may seem slow to us. There are battles, and there are temporary setbacks. But the sign will not be cut off. The victory is assured because the Word that guarantees it cannot fail. God's reputation is on the line. He has sent His Word, and for His own renown, it will accomplish all that He has purposed.
Conclusion: The Inevitable Kingdom
So what does this mean for us? It means that we must banish all despair and cynicism from our hearts. The future does not belong to the secularists, the pagans, or the statists. The future belongs to Jesus Christ. He has been given all authority in heaven and on earth, and He has commissioned us to go and disciple the nations, teaching them to obey everything He has commanded.
He has given us His Word, which is the instrument of this conquest. That Word is not returning to Him empty. It is at work right now, like the slow, silent, powerful work of rain soaking into the ground. It is causing things to bear and sprout. It is producing seed for the sower and bread for the eater. It is building the Church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.
Therefore, we should be people of immense and rugged hope. We should preach the gospel with confidence. We should pray for revival with expectation. We should build Christian institutions, families, churches, schools, with a view to the long haul, knowing that we are laying the foundation for a future Christian civilization. We should work and witness and worship, knowing that our labor in the Lord is not in vain. For the Word of God has gone forth. The redemption He has purposed will be accomplished. The joy He has promised will erupt. And this world, which now groans under the curse, will one day be filled with the glory of God, as the mountains sing and the trees of the field clap their hands.