Isaiah 61:1-11
Isa 61:1
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the
LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to
bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening
of the prison to them that are bound;
The one who is speaking in this verse is the LORD Jesus
Christ who is revealing the ministry that he will have when he comes to earth.
These words of Isaiah are retold in Luke 4:17-19 where the Lord Jesus
Christ is given the book of Isaiah and states that the prophecy was fulfilled in
their ears.
17 And there was delivered unto him the book
of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where
it was written, 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because
he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal
the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of
sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To
preach the acceptable year of the Lord. (Luke 4:17-19)
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is the Holy Spirit as we saw
him come down upon the Lord Jesus Christ at his baptism.
And the Holy Ghost descended in a
bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said,
Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. (Luke 3:22)
The LORD God had anointed him or consecrated him to preach good tidings
to the meek which was the preaching of the gospel.
Blessed
are the meek: for they shall
inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5)
The meek in this case would be those he came to save.
The meek are those who are gentle and humble.
Then he was to bind up the brokenhearted.
These are the people who are convicted by their sins and who have sorrow
for them. The Lord never leaves
them in this state but he binds them or heals them with the healing properties
of the gospel.
Who his own self bare our sins in his own
body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness:
by whose stripes ye were healed. (1 Peter 2:24)
Then he came to free the captives, those who were prisoners in the
kingdom of Satan and were bound by their sins.
Then they would be taken from Satan’s kingdom and then translated into
the Kingdom of God.
That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed
the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? (Isaiah
14:17)
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and
hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: (Colossians 1:13)
God, through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary, has delivered us
from all the authority of the kingdom of darkness. Not only were we rescued from
that kingdom but we were then translated into the Kingdom of Christ. This verse
is a drastic example of what happens to the Elect of God. We are snatched out of
the kingdom of darkness and placed into the Kingdom of God.
No man can enter into a strong man's
house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then
he will spoil his house. (Mark 3:27) Satan
was bound at the cross and could not keep anyone from becoming saved. This is
the teaching of Mark 3:27 where Satan is the strong man and Christ is the one
who bound him and spoils his house, that is, He plunders Satan’s kingdom and
brings His Elect out of it and into His Kingdom.
Isa 61:2
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day
of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
The acceptable year of the LORD is not a specific year or
years but it is reference to the period of grace where God will be saving the
Elect throughout time. The
acceptable year was given to his people because of the sacrifice of the Lord
Jesus Christ on Calvary. On the
other end of the spectrum will be the teaching of the everlasting damnation of
those who are not saved. Christ
came to preach about both salvation and damnation.
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his
name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a
day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with
the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 24:50-51)
Isa 61:3
To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto
them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for
the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the
planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
Then those who have become truly saved will receive
mighty gifts from the LORD to give them a powerful Christian walk.
Those who were mourning in Zion were the ones who became convicted of
their sins by the Holy Spirit as we read in verse 1 were described as the
brokenhearted. The unregenerate are
filled with arrogance and pride. A
person who was sorry and truly repentant for their sins or who suffered a
traumatic situation would normally put ashes upon themselves but here the LORD
is stating that the ashes will be taken away and they will be given the
beautiful garments of Christ’s
salvation in place of the sackcloth.
Then those who have the spirit of heaviness which could be feebleness or
weakness will be clothed with the garment of praise as their heart will come out
of the heaviness and will sing praises to the Lord.
Before there was hopelessness but now there is hope.
Then one of my favorite metaphors the
true believer will be called the trees of righteousness as they grow and bring
shade to the weary traveler by giving them the true gospel.
The righteousness that we receive is the imputed righteousness of Christ.
Then we are called the planting of the Lord.
Thy people also
shall be all righteous: they
shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my
hands, that I may be glorified. (Isaiah 60:21)
We are the branches which were once dead pieces of wood but the LORD
plants us into his gospel and cause us to be regenerated and to be witnesses of
the glory of God to the rest of the world.
The great salvation plan which God initiated would bring glory to him for
saving sinners and granting them eternal life and would glorify the believer in
a future time in Heaven.
Isa 61:4
And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up
the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations
of many generations.
Then those who have become saved by being released from
Satan’s prison and who have become trees of righteousness will then build the
old wastes which were the places that were destroyed.
The destruction is speaking about being destroyed by sin when the true
believer will begin to evangelize with the true gospel and those old waste
places will flourish because the true gospel is now supplanting the false gods
and their false religions which caused people to live in a spiritual wasteland.
Then in the contemporary time of Isaiah God had promised that when they
return from captivity, they will once again rebuild the cities which were burned
down and repair the city of Jerusalem which was allowed to go in disrepair while
they were in captivity in Babylon and prior to that when they departed from the
truth of God, their cities lost the blessing of the LORD and they became
spiritual waste lands. The truth of
the gospel will repair all the spiritual wastelands they created by following
false gods.
Isa 61:5
And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the
sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
The strangers which would be those Gentiles that have
come to know Christ as Savior will be the ones who will stand like a teacher
among the people just like Ezra and his group did.
And Ezra the scribe stood upon a
pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood
Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his
right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and
Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, and
Meshullam. (Nehemiah 8:4) These
will feed the flocks of Israel as they bring the true gospel to the people.
The sons of the aliens shall also bring the gospel as they are considered
plowmen that turn over the soil and plant the seeds.
Sow to yourselves in
righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for
it is time to seek the LORD,
till he come and rain righteousness upon you. (Hosea 10:12)
National Israel had allowed themselves to be saturated with false gospels
and idols and now after their captivity, they will now turn as they hear the
true gospel being implanted in the fallow ground of their minds.
The vine dressers are the ones who grow and nurture the plants of the
field, they would also be considered teachers of the gospel who will help the
people grow in their faith and help them put off all the false teachings they
learned under false religions. In
other words, they will plant the seeds and help them grow.
Isa 61:6
But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men
shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the
Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.
Then the people who become saved will have no need of a
special class of priests to intercede for them but will become priests in the
kingdom of God.
And hast made us unto our God kings and
priests: and we shall reign on the earth. (Revelation 5:10)
Every true believer shall be called a priest.
But ye
are a chosen generation, a
royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth
the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous
light: (1 Peter 2:9) Notice
that we will be called a “royal priesthood” something of which the priesthood of
Aaron was never called. Then we
will be called the ministers or servants of the LORD who will be called upon to
do the spiritual work of a child of God.
These children are given spiritual gifts to accomplish whatever ministry
the LORD has assigned to them. Then
God promises those in national Israel who become saved that they will share in
the riches of the Gentiles which is the true spiritual riches.
Unto me, who am less than the
least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the
Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; (Ephesians 3:8)
Then they shall share in the glories wherein they can boast themselves
and that glory is not a physical thing but Christ himself.
Just as the Gentile converts boast in him, those of the nation of Israel
who have become saved will also have the right to boast in him.
Isa 61:7
For your shame ye shall have double; and for
confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they
shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.
Those in national Israel at the time they are released
from captivity will receive double and this would apply to those who have become
saved in Christ. The shall receive
respect in both the civil and religious aspects of life plus they will have
eternal life when their earthly sojourn is completed.
No longer will they be confused as to what religion to follow or idol but
they will be delivered from those things and will follow the LORD and there will
be no confusion as to which God is the real and true God.
Then the land which is in view is not the earthly land but the heavenly
land which they will inherit because of Christ as we read they will have
everlasting joy and the only place everlasting joy can occur is in the New
Heavens and the New Earth. The
present earth is loaded with sin and that curtails true and pure joy the LORD
gives to his people.
Isa 61:8
For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt
offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting
covenant with them.
The LORD desires to dispense proper and fair judgment
against the enemies of his people and for the people of God among themselves.
His wants his people to treat each other fairly and righteously which is
what is prescribed under the law.
There is no tier system in Christianity where the wealthy receive preferential
treatment and the poor do not. Then
when burnt offerings were made, they must be completely consumed because a
partial offering would be considered robbery.
In other words, partial dedication is no dedication and God considers
that robbery.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God, which is your
reasonable service. (Romans 12:1)
Then God is going to assign all his children specific spiritual works
which God himself will direct to make sure they are accomplishing his will.
For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we
should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)
Every true believer will be empowered by a certain spiritual gift which
will coincide with the task God has appointed them to do.
Then the everlasting covenant is the new covenant of grace which will be
put into force when Christ goes to Calvary.
Behold, the days come, saith the
LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the
house of Judah: (Jeremiah 31:31)
The new covenant with the house of Judah and the house of Israel means
that the covenant will be for the entire nation of spiritual Israel which is why
both kingdoms are mentioned denoting completeness in the body of Christ.
Isa 61:9
And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and
their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that
they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed.
Then the true believers will be known among the Gentiles.
While the Gentile nations will continue to embrace their false religions
and idols, they will know that there is something definitely different about the
people of God that they will not take up the false religions of the idols and
not only will they be known but those who have come to be saved through their
ministries will also be light to their own generation.
The seed is Christ and through those who become saved will continue to
send forth the true gospel teaching that there is only one way to become saved
and that is through Christ.
Now to Abraham and his seed were the
promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy
seed, which is Christ. (Galatians 3:16)
This visible lifestyle which goes opposite of the false religions will be
so open that the people they come in contact with will acknowledge that they are
the true children of God which the LORD has blessed, not only in this world but
in the one to come, giving them a double blessing.
Isa 61:10
I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be
joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath
covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself
with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
Then this will be the testimony of the true believer
wherever they abide whether it be in national Israel or the Gentile nations.
They will greatly rejoice as their rejoicing has a focus and that is the
LORD himself. Their soul shall be
joyful in their God because before they were saved they were spiritually dead
but now God has resurrected their souls and gave them eternal life.
And you, being dead in your sins
and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him,
having forgiven you all trespasses; (Colossians 2:13)
He took away the garments of mourning which would be found in false
religions all over the world and replaced them with the garments of true
salvation as we read in verse 3.
Then the robe of righteousness is given to the true believer which is the robe
of Christ’s righteousness. Then as
the bridegroom decks himself with ornaments and also the bride adorns herself
with ornaments is what the believer is likened to.
In Oriental weddings the bridegroom also decks himself with the
appropriate ornaments just as the bride does.
And he saith unto him, Friend, how
camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
(Matthew 22:12) Just like today
special clothing is worn by both the bride and the groom.
Isa 61:11
For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the
garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD
will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.