Isaiah 55:11says, "So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effort, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." Let's call this "The Power of the Word." Here in Isaiah 55:11 we see the Lord is talking, and here is a gracious offer of pardon, peace, and happiness, because His Word is calling us and His spirit is striving with us. "So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth," this is Jesus Christ, the eternal Word, who is called the Word of God, and may be said to go forth out of his mouth, being spoken of by all of God's holy prophets, since the beginning of time.
John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God." John 1:14 says, "The word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory." The Word of God came into the earth in the flesh and the flesh was Jesus. Jesus accomplished everything that God sent Him to do. He paid for our redemption. He purchased our salvation. He suffered our penalty of death. Jesus, the Word paved the way for us. The "Word" was not unproductive. The "Word" was not void of power. The "Word" had a purpose and was very productive.
But to unlock this piece of golden nugget, here in verse eleven, please allow me to view verse eight. Isaiah makes a comparison analogy. He gives a positive and a negative in the same verse, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord." God ways are higher, because He is celestial. The things that God thinks and purposes are not the things that we think nor the purpose that we have in mind. Therefore, our thoughts are different, the outcomes of them indeed are divergent. God's ways are His acts. The manner and course of His working is considered as a path on which He moves, and on which, in some sense, we can also journey. Our "ways," our manner of life are not parallel with His, as we should be.
Now let's look at verse eleven again and here we are able to see again the grace and beauty as Isaiah renders God's Word. He says, "So shall My word be that goes forth out of M mouth: it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." My "word" is God and God is my "word." God's word is sent forth to produce. It's not empty, nor powerless, and is never ever void. Romans 1:16 says, "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes." You must believe in the integrity of the Word of God. You must believe that the Word of God is God breathed.
Let's back up to the Book of Genesis and see God's Word in action. With the mere utterance of God's "word," "Let there be light: and there was light" (Genesis 1:3). Do we need more enlightenment to the Power of God's word. We are told, "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth" (Psalms 33:6). The Apostle John states, "All things were made by him and without Him was not anything made that was made" (John 1:3).
God's word was relevant back then and it is still very relevant today. We should never feel that since we cannot see the hand of God working, that His word is not working out His ultimate desire for His accomplishment and for His people.
Isaiah's purpose was to call the nation of Judah back to God and to tell of God's salvation through the Messiah, but the people of God was steep in their wickedness and they could not hear God nor respond to the words spoken by the prophets. Doubts, unbelief, disobedience, and a lack of faith cut them off from the blessings of God. It is no difference today, because so many people are still in denial. Many people fail to read the Word for themselves and to trust God faithfully, not in a few things, but in ALL things. God made it plain and simple, "if you do good and be obedient, you would be bless, but if you choose the way of sin, then you would be cursed." Who would not want the abundance of God's blessings? After all they were God's chosen light to the world. They were His covenant people. His "word" was suppose to have been coded in their hearts. His "word" had been passed on from generation to generation. They were to be His holy nation. A kingdom of priest and they were never without the "word." The priests were bearers of the "word."
God's word is like "the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish" (Isaiah 55:10). His word "shall not and will not return to the Lord void," because it is God's who spoke the "word" into existence and the "word" is God. "But is shall accomplish that which He pleases." Mankind cannot alter what God has put forth. Christianity started out as a small movement and look at it now. Persecution of the "word" is still present, but God has an expected ending. Mankind will not destroy this world, God will do it when He comes back. God's "word" will prosper, because the "word" is God. God can do all things and anything, except fail.
"God's word shall not and will not return void." God's "word" shall not return void, because the Word of God is God. The Bible makes is plain and simple, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made" (John 1:1-3).
God's word shall not return void, because God's "word" has the power to create, even when there is nothing. Genesis 1:1-3 states, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." Only God's "word" can create something out of nothing.
God's word shall not return void, because God's word is a living and powerful "word." How powerful? "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).
God's word shall not return void and it would behoove you to take note of this. From Genesis to Revelations is God's "word" and it is to all people and for all ages. God's word has not fail and it will never fail. Every one of us have a responsibility to know God's word. Along with the responsibility comes accountability. The sinner and the saint will have to stand before God one day. His word will be the standard in which we will have to give account of ourselves. The sinner's reward will be damnation. The Believer's reward will not be judgement to damnation, but we will be placed in the presence of God with rewards and everlasting life.