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Buy Without Money and Without Price by Larry M. Jaynes Learning about the culture of the biblical lands, from the times of the Old Testament up until Jesus' time, can help enrich our lives today. This can be clearly seen in one example we have from Isaiah, chapter 55. Isaiah 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Buying without money almost sounds too good to believe, doesn't it? The Bible, having been written in the East, has many truths that we in the Western culture do not comprehend upon a simple reading of Scripture. However, once we begin to learn the intent behind some of the words and phrases and understand the culture of the Bible lands, we can bring unknown truths to light. This is the case in the verse above, even today in Eastern marketplaces, such as in India, the merchants yell out these words, "Ho, every one that hath money, let him come and buy! Ho, such a one, come and buy!" Yet, from time to time a merchant would yell out the exact wording of Isaiah 55:1. To us in the Western Hemisphere this does not make any sense at all because if we did that in our businesses we would eventually go broke. How can a merchant survive if he gives away his products? The answer is quite wonderful, it relates to a person who has passed a milestone in their life, such as a wedding anniversary, or a graduation, but usually on ones own birthday they would give presents rather than receiving them like we do. They were grateful to God Whom they would want to thank, and the way that they achieved this was to give to people, like Jesus taught in the Gospels, even giving a cup of water to someone blesses God and also the giver (Mark 9:41). So on someone's birthday they would go out into the marketplace and strike up a deal with a merchant. They would pay for a certain amount of the merchant's goods and then stand beside the merchant and as he called out, "Ho, come buy without money," the shoppers would understand that someone was giving for a special occasion. They would fill their water pot or their milk container, etcetera, and then go up to the benefactor and think him for his generosity, and wish him well on his achievement, and this blessed the giver and the receiver as well. Isaiah
55:1 is significant to us today
because Jesus Christ is our benefactor, he went to the cross in
our place, he gave his life so that we could live for eternity.
Jesus paid the just price for our total redemption to the merchant
and enslaver of lost souls (who is the prince of the power of the
air). Our very lives were bought with a price (I Corinthians 6:20;
7:23), that being the price of the life and blood of Jesus Christ
himself. Now he stands at the right hand of God (Acts 7:56) as our
benefactor, having paid the full price so that we could freely
receive eternal life. The three words waters, wine, and milk in
Isaiah 55:1 also has great spiritual significance for us today. Larry M. Jaynes
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