What is so remarkable about this second half of the book of Isaiah is how the prophet alternates description of Israel's sins with sections of encouragement and comfort. In our last posting, our teacher explained how in chapter 59 we learn that even those Israelites who believed God's promises of a return from exile and a redemption through the Suffering Servant experienced spiritual failure, and needed the encouragement offered in chapter 60—encouragement like that which God also gives to Christians today in the promise of the indwelling Holy Spirit to produce godly living in us (Romans 7-8). Isaiah promised the Jewish exiles "Your people shall all be righteous, and they shall inherit the land forever" (60:21).
This in turn leads the prophet to a further description of the coming blessings upon Israel and those of the nations who join themselves to her in faith (chapters 61-62).
1. The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release … for the prisoners, 2 to announce the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. (Isaiah 61:1-3 NIV)61:1 This is the first reference in Isaiah to the Suffering Servant as an "anointed" person. Other than here, the word "anointed" appears only in 45:1, where it describes Cyrus the Great of Persia, whom God raised up to set the Jewish exiles free to return to their homeland. Both in the case of Cyrus and of the Servant, the anointing is in order to carry out a commission from God. Cyrus was to proclaim to the Jewish captives in Babylonia liberation from exile in a foreign and pagan land; the Servant was to proclaim to Jewish (and associated gentile) captives a greater liberation from sin and death. Now it is possible to see in the Servant's ministry a near-view comforting of the returning exiles as they faced discouragement at the seemingly impossible task of rebuilding their land. Certainly there were "brokenhearted" Israelites at that time who were filled with discouragement. They needed to hear promises of God's blessing upon them and the fulfillment of the promises (see v 4 "they shall build up the ancient ruins").
But it is impossible to read these verses and not feel that the plight addressed goes beyond those times. And it was this understanding that also underlay Jesus' words to the synagogue in Nazareth, when he was called upon to read and comment upon this passage in the weekly assembly (Luke 4). In the time of Ezekiel and Daniel there was a physical exile and detainment in Babylonia that was both painful and discouraging. It left God's people wondering if there was any hope of the fulfillment of the ancient promise to Abraham and to Moses. But Jesus taught that there was a spiritual exile from God, a captivity to sin and death, that was a more profound danger than the ancient physical one.
Jesus was not alone in his day in reading these lines this way. But he alone as God's promised Servant knew—and indeed was himself— the true answer to that predicament. Others in his day argued about what the answer might be. He alone did what was necessary to provide the answer. When he stood to read Isaiah 61 on that Saturday in Nazareth, he was the embodiment of the answer. As Cyrus "proclaimed" liberty not just by talking about or promising it, but by announcing it as a fact which he had performed by the royal authority that was his, so Jesus announced redemptive liberty from sin and death as a fact which he had accomplished by the authority that was his. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation didn't just talk about freeing the American slaves, it enacted that freedom the moment Lincoln pronounced its words.
Notice that the parallel with the first part of this verse suggests that the anointing of the Servant is by filling him with the "Spirit of my lord Yahweh".
The Servant's mission is to people called the "poor", the "brokenhearted", the "captives" and the "prisoners". In short, to all who are in desperate need. The terms need not be taken absolutely literally. At least, when Jesus quoted them in Nazareth, he was addressing people who did not consider themselves literally poor or in prison. But sin has enslaved everyone and impoverished us all.
His message to them was good news because it promised a meeting of their need. It was an announcement, not a demand. That is why it was good news then and remains good news to us today.
The language is the language of debt canceling and amnesty—often announced by a new king who had just come to the throne. That is what the words "year" and "day" refer to.
The Servant's words also constituted an invitation to those who needed this liberation. If the Servant tells us here that God has given him the authority to announce or proclaim this debt cancellation, he is implicitly inviting all with debts to come to him and ask for that cancellation.
There is an interesting clause in the ancient Babylonian law code of Hammurabi that illustrates the thought. This code was issued at the initiation of Hammurabi's reign and was inscribed on a pillar which stood in the public square. At the end of the text the king invites anyone who sees on the pillar a ruling that affects any injustice done to him to come and receive redress. In our passage here the Suffering Servant is entitled by virtue of his suffering for the sins of the world (Isaiah 53) to offer amnesty and forgiveness of the "debt" incurred by sin to anyone who will come and claim it. When Jesus stood and read this words in the synagogue of Nazareth and then said "This day this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing" (Luke 4:21), he was making the same offer on the basis of his future death on the cross.
The words "year of the LORD's favor" express the positive side: the experience of the person freed from poverty and imprisonment. The words "day of vengeance of our God" express the other side of the coin. The oppressed person is freed, but the oppressor must be judged and punished.
In historical terms, Israel was freed from captivity, but the Babylonians who put them there had to be punished, which they were by the armies of Cyrus the Great of Persia. In terms of the Suffering Servant's mission, those oppressed by sin and death are delivered by accepting the good news of the Servant's suffering in their places. But also the great oppressor who put enslaved them must be judged.
The true fulfillment of that took place at the Cross, when Jesus "disarmed the powers and authorities [i.e., Satan and his demons], [and] made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross" (Colossians 2:15).
But Christians today have to heed Paul's command "Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace (Romans 6:12–14 NIV)". It is our privilege as partakers of the same promises of victory over the oppression of sin to read the following passages in both their historical and their transferred meaning.
2. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. 4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. 5 Aliens will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards. 6 And you will be called priests of the LORD, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. 7 Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs. 8 “For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity. In my faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them. 9 Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the LORD has blessed.” (Isaiah 61:3-9 NIV)61:3 But in the verses that follow, the prophet's words focus exclusively on those who will have been mistreated and will receive God's rewards and comforts. They will receive the symbols of celebration and joy instead of those of mourning and sadness: a garland, fragrant oil to anoint the face and hands, lovely clothing. Even in the physically impoverished circumstances of the initial return to Zion under Zerubbabel, the sheer joy of being "home" again could not be overestimated. But because of the intense joy of this experience, we need to read the following verses as the language of joyful hyperbole.
61:4 The rebuilding of ancient ruined cities did actually take place after the return under Ezra and Nehemiah. But in the immediate context the full fulfillment will take place at Messiah's second advent.
61:5-6 The nations serve the Judeans (cf. 60:4-16), and the Judeans in turn the nations as priests. At Sinai God described his people as a "kingdom of priests" (Exodus 19:6). For "priests" merely substitute the word "missionaries", and you have the concept. This ideal would now come to pass. In our last class we claimed that those verses in ch. 60 would find fulfillment at the Second Coming, when after "all Israel" calls upon her Messiah and is saved (Romans 11), she will again be God's witness to the nations. If the picture of Israel as the bearer of God's gospel to the nations and receiving physical gifts in return seems strange to you, it can be seen in miniature in the days of the ministry of Peter and Paul. Most of the earliest missionaries of the Gospel were believing Jews, and the center of the outreach was Jerusalem. Because Paul's converts in a real sense owed their salvation to Jewish missionaries, they sent gifts of support to the poor saints in Jerusalem. What we see there in miniature, is what will transpire when the "blindness in part" which has befallen Israel during the present age is lifted and she becomes God's prodigal son, "no longer worthy to be called your son", but welcomed with open arms and a fatted calf. But we should also be clear that the true "wealth of the nations" brought to Israel at that time will be new believers, just as Paul brought along with the money from his churches also gentile believers to present to the church in Jerusalem.
61:7 The mention of the "double portion" of inheritance refers to the right of the "firstborn" to an inheritance portion twice the size of his siblings. All nations are children of God by creation. But Israel is God's "firstborn" son by redemption. Therefore, Isaiah anticipates that will be blessed above the other nations.
61:8-9 The blessing promised here to repentant and converted Israel is an "everlasting covenant". Some think this is the final aspect of the fulfillment of the covenant with Abraham, given in Genesis: Israel as Abraham's "seed" will become a blessing to the nations of the earth, only possible once they themselves are "blessed" by receiving forgiveness of sins through their Messiah (cf. Acts 3:26). In v 7 the word translated "offspring" (ESV; "descendants" in NIV) is literally "seed". Only one other covenant in the OT is called "everlasting", the one with David in 2 Samuel 7, which however focuses on the perpetuity of the royal line of David, fulfilled in the ultimate Son of David, Jesus.
3. I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations. (Isaiah 61:10-11 NIV)61:10 As we have learned, Isaiah's language makes quick turns from one speaker to another. In vv 8-9 the Lord God is the speaker. But in v 10 it is believing Israel. Verse 10 is the song of thanksgiving of the converted Israel, which can apply also to the converted and redeemed Christian. We too are clothed with the garments of salvation. We are adorned as the bride of Christ. We are priests of God, indeed a royal priesthood: "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light" (1 Peter 2:9). We wear Christ's own righteousness like a robe. Some of the imagery of v 3 is repeated here. Although the righteousness in v 10 can be seen as conferred right standing with God, that promised in v 11 is tangible and visible right living that emerges like a new sprout from a planted seed. It provides the evidence to the observing "nations" that God has produced a dramatic change in Israel, as it provides evidence to family and friends that God has made a great change in our lives.
4. (Isaiah 62:1-7 NIV) For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. 2 The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow. 3 You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD’S hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. 4 No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be married. 5 As a young man marries a maiden, so will your sons marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you. 6 I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest, 7 and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.62:1 Chapter 62 is generally entitled "the Vindication and Salvation of Zion". Like portions of many other OT prophets, this chapter promises that the Lord will someday make his people, whom his once cast off because of their sins, to be to the praise of his glory. What I like to think of as the "economy" of God is that he never really loses anything that he can redeem. Of course, over the centuries of human history billions of individuals may have gone to their graves in unbelief. But larger entities in God's redemptive program are never completely lost. In the garden of Eden Satan attempted to ruin God's creation, which consisted of the heavens and the earth, but especially the human race. When Adam and Eve fell into sin, death entered the scene. Death and alienation from God. And this resulted in the Earth itself—animals, plants, everything—entering what Paul calls the "bondage to decay" (Romans 8:18-25). Someday a redeemed human race will rule a redeemed Earth, freed from that bondage. The earth itself groans in anticipation of that coming freedom. A part of what Satan thought to ruin was God's chosen people Israel. And so, although that nation fell from God's favor by rejecting her Messiah, God will redeem her as well. And that redemption will constitute a vindication not just of Israel's status as a chosen people, but also of God who chose her.
As is frequently the case in Isaiah, it is not clear who speaks in v 1. Since his not remaining silent seems to refer to persistent intercessory prayer, it must either be the prophet himself or the godly remnant. . He will not keep silent until Israel's "righteousness" and "salvation" shines so brightly that all nations will see it. The same theme is taken up again in vv 6-7, where it is clear that it is the faithful human intercessors for Israel who are in view. They are not to keep silent, not to give Yahweh any rest, until he fulfills his promise to Israel and restores her. St. Paul certainly applied this to himself, when in Romans 10:1 he wrote: "Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for [my fellow Jews] is that they may be saved".
62:2 The new name to be given to Israel refers to what the prophet talks about in v 4. Once sent into exile as punishment for her idolatries and called "the deserted woman" and "the desolate woman", she will now be called Hephzibah ("My Sweetheart") and "the happily married woman". These terms reference a common metaphor for God's relationship to Israel: he was her husband, and she his wife. Verse 5 makes this clear. Other so-called gods seduced her, and her worship of them was labeled "adultery", for which she was divorced and sent away to Babylonia. But now God will re-marry her.
A similar metaphor is applied to Christ and his church: he is the Bridegroom and we his bride. But the specific form of the metaphor in Isaiah and elsewhere in the Old Testament is unsuitable to be simply equated to Christ and his church, since it presupposes the renewal of a previous marriage which was ended by a divorce. This fits a restored Israel, but is untrue of Jesus and the Church. The genius of the Old Testament metaphor, as was acted out in the life of the prophet Hosea, is that a wife guilty of adultery is first divorced and sent away and then retrieved and re-married. This theme of God's unending concern to restore wayward Israel stretches from Moses' words at the end of Deuteronomy to Malachi's.
5. (Isaiah 62:8-12 NIV) 8 The LORD has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm: “Never again will I give your grain as food for your enemies, and never again will foreigners drink the new wine for which you have toiled; 9 but those who harvest it will eat it and praise the LORD, and those who gather the grapes will drink it in the courts of my sanctuary.” 10 Pass through, pass through the gates! Prepare the way for the people. Build up, build up the highway! Remove the stones. Raise a banner for the nations. 11 The LORD has made proclamation to the ends of the earth: “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your Savior comes! See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.’” 12 They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the LORD; and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted.62:8-10 When God takes an oath, you know he is deadly serious. Men swear by God, but God can only swear by himself, which he does here ("by his right hand and his mighty arm"). What he swears is "never again". He has already taken such an oath in 54:9-10.
6. “To me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again. 10 Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you. (Isaiah 54:9-10 NIV)God swears that he will never do again something that he has done before to Israel. What he did before was the Babylonian exile. This will not be repeated. But what are we to make of the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 and the worldwide dispersion of the Jews that followed? Isn't this God's doing it "again"?
62:11-12 There is no easy answer to this question. But a partial answer is to see this promise as contingent upon Israel's heeding the Lord's proclamation to the "ends of the earth" given in v 11, and accepting her coming Savior, so as to be called as in v 12 "the Holy People, the Redeemed of the LORD". They did not fulfill that condition in AD 30, but according to Romans 11:26, they will do so in the End Time and will receive the promised "Deliverer" who comes "out of Zion". Then there will truly be a "never again".
Verse 11 should be compared to Zechariah 9:9 ("Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; he is righteous and having salvation, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey") and to Matthew's application of it to Jesus' "triumphal" entry into Jerusalem on Passion Week in Matthew 21:5.
Personal Reflection
Beyond all the discussion of how the details of these two chapters should be interpreted historically and prophetically there remain in them several glowing and timeless truths about our God. Like the good shepherd in Jesus' parables, he is not unconcerned about his straying sheep. He doesn't just content himself with the 99 who do not stray. His heart is always with the one that does. It makes no difference whether that "one" is ethnic Israel, his ancient chosen people, or individuals today who wander from a once vibrant faith in Jesus into unhealthy beliefs and behavior. We all know individuals like that. Sometimes they are relatives, sometimes even our own children. If we cannot wash our hands of them or cease to care for them, it is because our love mirrors God's own love for them. As unlovable as they may act, he created them and he paid the price of their redemption in the Cross of Jesus.
Will there be a miracle turnaround for these individuals like that predicted here for the rebellious and unbelieving Israel? We simply do not know. But for our part we cannot claim to be followers of a God who never ceases to love and pursue the strays, if we are unwilling to do likewise. God's part is his persistent offer of forgiveness and restoration. Our part is not to give the impression to these strays that the way back to God has been closed off. The Father of the prodigal son stands in the road looking for him, with arms open to welcome him home. We act on behalf of that loving Father.
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