Chapter 61

Verse 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 broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the mouth of the prison to them that are bound.”

Verse 2 — “To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn”. Cf Luke 4:16ff. When Jesus stood up in the synagogue and read this passage from Isaiah he stopped in the middle of verse 2 after “To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Not only did He stop but He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And then He began to say unto them, Today is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. This is one reason He stopped in the middle of the verse; the rest of the scripture was not fulfilled. The rest of the scripture in verse 2 deals with the second advent. Only verse 1 and part of verse two was pertinent. This was the first advent; only the events surrounding the first advent were pertinent, and therefore He had to stop in the middle of the verse because in the middle of the verse you go from the first advent to the second advent. Therefore only this much of it was fulfilled at this time.

Isaiah chapter 61: the Messiah’s ministry

In the first three verses we have the panorama of the ministry of the Messiah. In this section the ministry of the Messiah is categorised by His advents. He came the first time to provide salvation; He comes the second time to deliver Israel. Both of them are covered in summary form in these three verses.

Verse 1 — “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me” .The Spirit of the Lord God is the third person of the Trinity. And this is one of several references in Isaiah to the Holy Spirit; “upon me” — the Lord Jesus Christ during His incarnation. In the eternal state the Holy Spirit and the Son are coequal and co-eternal; one does not have to sustain the other. “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me", then, is a reference to the Holy Spirit to the humanity of Christ during the first advent. One other passage in Isaiah mentions this specifically: chapter 42:1 — the Father also sustained Him — and also: “I have put my Spirit upon Him” — reference to the Holy Spirit. “upon him” simply means that the Holy Spirit sustains the humanity of Christ during the incarnation.

Doctrine: The ministry of the Spirit in the humanity of Christ

1. The Holy Spirit was the agent of conception at the virgin birth — Matthew 1:18, 20-21; Luke 1:35.

2. The Holy Spirit was not given by measure to the humanity of Christ — John 3:34. In other words, Christ was filled with the Spirit from the time of the virgin birth.

3. The Holy Spirit guided the humanity of Christ — Matthew 4:1.

4. Christ performed His miracles in the power of the Holy Spirit — Matthew 12:28; Acts 10:38.

5. The Holy Spirit remained with Christ (indwelling Him) from the virgin birth until 12 noon on the cross, at which time Christ was made sin for us — 2 Corinthians 5:21.

6. The Holy Spirit helped to raise Jesus Christ from the dead — Romans 8:11; 1 Peter 3:18.

7. The Holy Spirit empowered the preaching of Christ — Isaiah 61:1.

“because the Lord [Jehovah, reference to God the Father] hath anointed me” — this is why the Holy Spirit sustained Christ, because God the Father had appointed Christ to the incarnation and to fulfil the ministry of salvation. The word “anointed” means to provide the power, to authorise and it refers to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the word from which we get the word “Messiah", so Messiah simply means the anointed one. God the Father sent God the Son as the appointed One. To what was He appointed? First of all salvation; secondly, to rule Israel but that was postponed. He was rejected by Israel as the Son of David. But, of course this did not change the plan of the Father, this was anticipated, and He went on to the cross to provide eternal salvation. Now in this anointing or appointing we have some responsibilities. First of all we have, “to preach good tidings.” This is an infinitive of purpose, it was His purpose to preach good tidings, or literally, to announce good tidings, good news. And He announced good news constantly, the good news of salvation.

“unto the meek” — not a correct translation. Literally, it is “unto the afflicted,” those who are afflicted by sin: the human race; “he [the Father] hath sent me [the Son] to bind up the broken hearted,” the “broken-hearted” are literally, those who are broken. There is no “heart” in the original. The word “bind up” is reconciliation — to provide reconciliation for those who are broken. “to proclaim liberty [referring to the doctrine of redemption] to the captives.” The human race born inside the slave market of sin. Liberty is proclaimed to us because Christ provides that liberty; He purchased our freedom with His own precious blood.

The seven points of redemption

1. The Redeemer has been recognised from ancient times — Job 19:25 — “I know that my redeemer liveth”; Genesis 3:15 — the seed of the woman.

2. The basic concept of redemption is bondage or slavery to sin — John 8:31-36.

3. Christ has purchased our freedom from bondage to sin — Psalm 34:22; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 1:18.

4. Redemption results in adoption — Galatians 4:4-6.

5. Redemption is the basis of eternal inheritance — Hebrews 9:15.

6. The blood of Christ is the purchase price of redemption — Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18,19.

7. Redemption is the basis of justification — Romans 3:24.

“to them that are bound” — lit. to those who receive binding, slaves to the slave market of sin.

Verse 2 — “To proclaim [announce] the acceptable year of the Lord” .The acceptable year of the Lord is a phrase which is used in connection with the year of Jubilee. Jubilee was the fiftieth year and a lot of interesting things happened in the year of Jubilee — Leviticus 25. Captives were released from prison on the year of Jubilee — 25:8-55. Notice the tie-in, Is. 61:1 — the opening of the prison to them who are in bondage; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. The acceptable year of the Lord, then, is the year of Jubilee about which there were three characteristics:

1. Manumissions — 25:29-35. All those who were slaves were free, as were all those who were in prison. So it removed slavery and it removed those in prison from their bondage. These people didn’t necessarily deserve this, so the principle of grace was involved. Principle: Christ provides freedom.

2. Rest — 25:11. The object of rest was the soil — no planting or harvesting during the fiftieth year. They were to depend upon the Lord for their food. Principle: Christ provides rest [faith-rest]..

3. The recovery of property. 25:12ff; 27:16-24. Everyone, when he came into the land was given property — each family, tribe. He may lose it for various reasons such as business transactions but on the fiftieth year it was to be given back to him. This again illustrates the principle of grace. These people didn’t earn it or deserve it back. Behind everything is grace. The property reverted to its original heirs, its original owners. There was one exception: a house in a walled city. This would dispossess people who lived in cities and the objective was not to dispossess these people.

So, first of all, we have manumission or freedom, and the ministry of Christ at the first advent provides freedom. Secondly, we have rest, and the Lord Jesus provides faith-rest for us — rest in Him. Finally, the reversion of the property refers to heirship — Christ has provided for us “an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved for us in heaven, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

This is a wonderful phrase. “The acceptable year of our Lord” does not mean simply the time when He could be accepted as saviour but it refers specifically to the year of Jubilee. As a matter of fact Christ could be accepted as saviour any year, any month, any day, any moment that a person will believe in Him. The principle is that the year of Jubilee was a principle of grace whereby all of those who were imprisoned and all of those who had lost their property, and all of those who were in some way afflicted recovered what they had lost.

After the phrase, “To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” is where Christ stopped and rolled up the manuscript. So in the ministry of the Messiah we start in the middle of verse two with the second advent ministry. We skip, of course, everything after the resurrection and ascension; “and the day of the vengeance of our God” — second advent. The acceptable year of the Lord is the period of grace but grace comes to a sudden conclusion with the second advent. Now we have the “day of vengeance” which refers to the baptism of fire which takes place at the second advent. The day of vengeance is a judgment on the population of the earth. All unbelievers will be cast off the earth and all believers will go into the Millennium.

“to comfort all that mourn” — those who mourn specifically refers to the Jews in the Tribulation who are believers. To comfort those who mourn simply refers to delivering these believers at that time. Their mourning is described in Zechariah 12:10-14. The word “mourn” is not a verb, it is an adjective.

The principle of the sudden stop. Christ said: “To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,” and He stopped there. Between the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance is a gap.

The doctrine of intercalation — the great parenthesis

1. The Church Age is a mystery not revealed in the Old Testament scriptures — Eph. 3:1-6.

2. The Old Testament scriptures reveal everything up through the incarnation, the cross, the resurrection, the ascension and session. Then they skip the Church Age and move to the Tribulation.

3. All doctrine pertaining to the Church Age is intercalated [inserted] by means of the New Testament epistles.

4. Hence there is a principle in the Old Testament called the principle of the great parenthesis.

Five points with regard to the word “vengeance”

1. The prophetical declaration of this vengeance — Matthew 3:11-12. (All of the actions in the Gospels took place in the dispensation of Israel) Matthew tells us about the closing days of the Age of Israel. The chaff being burned with unquenchable fire is the casting off of the earth those who are unbelievers at the end of the Tribulation.

2. An analogy to the day of vengeance — Matthew 24:36-41.

3. There are also some parables of the day of vengeance — Matt. 13:24-30, the parable of the wheat and the tares; 13:47-50, the good and the bad fish; 24:45, the wise and the wicked servants; 25:1-13, the wise and foolish virgins.

4. The day of vengeance with emphasis on the Gentiles — Matthew 25:31-46.

5. The day of vengeance in connection with the Jew — Ezekiel 20:34-38. Verse 37 — “And I will cause you to pass under the rod” — passing under the rod was a way of separating sheep. So here we have the separation again; “will bring you into the bond of the covenant” — the Abrahamic, Palestinian, Davidic covenant all brought together under the New covenant to Israel. Verse 38 — the separation of the sheep and the goats again; “transgression” is rejection of Christ. The verse refers to the day of vengeance.

Isaiah 61:3 — “To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion” — the word “appoint” means to establish. It is a qal infinitive of purpose; it is God’s purpose to establish those that mourn in Zion, specifically born again Jews under the pressure of the Tribulation; “to give” — a second qal infinitive denoting purpose; “unto them [the born again Jews of the Tribulation].” The next word is “beauty” and it is not beauty in the original. The Hebrew word is a “turban” — “instead of ashes.” When you are mourning and under pressure, and you are a Jew in the Old Testament, what is the terminology for it? Ashes on the head. In the Tribulation the Jews have ashes on the head; in the Millennium the born again Jew has a turban. The word for “turban” is the turban of the high priest, as it were, a beautiful head-dress. The head is no longer covered with ashes but with a beautiful turban. It means that they go to the opposite extreme. In the Tribulation they were under great pressure and in the Millennium they will be under great blessing. These are the born again Jews.

They also have something else on the head called “the oil of joy instead of mourning.” The oil of joy is a perfumed ointment which was poured upon the head of a guest at a king’s banquet only. And the Millennium is a king’s banquet for those who are the guests of the King only. Every believer from the Tribulation who is alive at the second advent is the guest of the King during the course of the Millennium. It was a very rare perfume which was poured upon the heads of the guests of the king.

“the garment of praise,” literally a mantle of praise. The garment is specified, an outer cloak or coat; instead of a spirit of dejection, literally. The believers of the Tribulation are said to be naked. They are without good proper clothes and whatever they have is in very poor condition. So they go from the Tribulation where they have a patched-up coat to the robe of a king.

“that” introduces a purpose clause: “they might be called trees of righteousness.” Trees are used to illustrate people. The cedars of Lebanon are used to illustrate people of great beauty. Here they are called trees of righteousness — “the planting of the Lord.” The righteousness refers to absolute righteousness, imputed righteousness received at the point of salvation. The principle: Only the regenerate of Israel are included in the four unconditional covenants to Israel. Only born again Jews will enter the Millennium [plus born again Gentiles from the Tribulation]. Unbelieving Jews will be cast off.

“that” introduces a second purpose clause. The purpose in giving them +R and providing all of these other things: “that he [the Lord Jesus Christ] might be glorified” — a hithpael infinitive. The infinitive expresses purpose; the hithpael is reflexive — “that he, Jesus Christ Himself and only Jesus Christ, might be glorified.” Jesus Christ can only be glorified by the works of Christ and never by the works of man. It is the work of Christ which gathers them; it is the work of Christ which comforts them; it is the work of Christ which clothes them; it is the work of Christ which provides for them; and all of the work on behalf of those who are born again will result in praise and glory to Christ, not only for one thousand years, but for all eternity.

The Millennial benefits of the Messianic ministry

Verse 4 and 5 — Israel’s recovery program. There is no recovery for Israel until the second advent of Christ. Only Christ, and no one else, can cause Israel to recover. As long as the Lord Jesus Christ is in heaven; as long as the Church Age continues; and, after that in the Tribulation, Israel will remain scattered in spite of all efforts to get Israel back in one spot. This is a discipline from God and only He can end it.

Verse 4 — “And they shall build the old wastes [the desert areas]” .One of the characteristics of Israel’s recovery is going to be the fact that the desert is going to blossom like a crocus. The desert will be reclaimed and utilised; “they shall raise up the former desolations [the work which is wrought by invasion]” .All of the invasions of the Tribulation will cause tremendous devastation. This is typical of wherever armies move; “they shall repair the waste cities” — the cities of Israel shall thrive again — “the desolations of many generations” — literally, the desolations of ancient generations. Many of the cities of the ancient world will be raised up and restored. There is a principle in verse four: All the destructive forces which have wrought in Israel since the beginning of time will be erased at the second advent of Christ. In other words, perfect environment will be established on the earth and perfect environment includes the complete restoration of Israel.

Verse 5 — Gentiles who have formerly been destructive will now help the Millennial recovery program. “Strangers” and “sons of aliens” are two titles for Gentiles. And whereas in the past Gentiles have been destructive all of these destructive movements will be erased in a moment of time after the Lord Jesus Christ returns to the earth. “And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks” — in other words, the Jews are going to be so busy that they will not have time to tend their own flocks. Remember the descriptions of success here are described under the concept of an agricultural economy. “and sons of aliens [Gentiles] shall be your ploughmen and vine dressers” — in other words, all of the work will have to be let out to Gentiles because every Jew in the land will be occupied with something which is far more important.

Verse 6 — Israel has a revival of their spiritual life and their spiritual purpose. “But ye [you all] shall be named the priests of the Lord.” This refers to all the Jews, not just the tribe of Levi; “men shall call you the ministers of our God” — and this refers to all the Jews of the land. Remember that the unbelieving Jews are going to be cast off the earth at the second advent — Ezekiel 20. They will not be in the Millennium which starts off with believers only; “ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles.” That is, the Gentiles will support the Jews in their spiritual ministry; “and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves” — but that isn’t what the Hebrew says. Lit. “in their glory [scale of values] shall ye substitute yourselves,” hithpael, reflexive stem. or “Ye yourselves shall substitute for their scale of values.” In other words, the Gentiles have all this wealth but it isn’t important to them. The important things of life are the spiritual things and these Jews ministering to them spiritual things will be first in the scale of values of the Gentiles, even though they will be wealthy.

Verse 7 — the double portion or the fulfilment of the Palestinian covenant. Only the Davidic covenant is not mentioned here but it is mentioned in Isaiah 55. So between chapter 55 and chapter 61 we have specific reference to the fulfilment of all four of the unconditional covenants to Israel.

The principle of the double portion is very simple. There is a double portion blessing. First of all in the Age of Israel received double portion. That is they were a small nation but were always blessed of God when they fulfilled their spiritual function — dissemination of the Word, evangelise, and so on. Now, of course, Israel is dispersed and under discipline. They have double discipline even as they had double blessing in this operation of Israel.

“For your shame double” — the word “shame” refers to the dispersion, the discipline of Israel. And they are to have double discipline. Israel failed to fulfil their responsibility before the Lord. It was their responsibility to go forth into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, just as this responsibility lies with the Church today. This double discipline is very easily defined. First of all it was connected with the land; they were dispossessed of their land. Secondly, it means they are dispossessed of their responsibility as custodians of the Word and as missionaries. But in the Millennium Israel will receive double blessing.

“and for confusion” should be “for your shame and confusion, double.” Confusion is another description of their discipline and Israel is in status quo confusion today.

But Israel will have double blessing when they are back in the land. The first part of their blessing will be occupation of the promised land forever, the fulfilment of the Palestinian covenant. Secondly, the dissemination of divine truth will be theirs again. They will be the priests, the ministers of God; they will have spiritual responsibility before the Lord again. So they will have double blessing; “they shall rejoice in their portion.” The word “rejoice” here means to have inner happiness instead of confusion, and the word “confusion” means mental depression. Jews are not only out of their land and scattered but they are very quickly depressed, often by persecution or for other things. So there is a general depression and unrest; they realise that wherever they are, even though they have citizenship, are they really citizens? When will someone turn against them?; “their portion” — their land. Rejoicing in their portion is a fulfilment of four passages: Genesis 15:18; Numbers 34:1-12; Deuteronomy 30:1-9; Joshua 1:3,4; “therefore in their land they shall possess the double,” double blessing now. First of all they will occupy the land provided for them under the Palestinian covenant. Secondly, they will have a restored spiritual ministry which was lost by their discipline after the crucifixion. They lost their spiritual ministry on the Day of Pentecost in 32 AD, the day the Church began; “everlasting joy” — everlasting inner happiness — “shall belong unto them” — their possession.

Principle: Israel as a nation can only be happy when they are in their divinely appointed place. Today Israel as a nation cannot be in that place because of God’s discipline and Israel as a nation will never be happy until the second advent of Jesus Christ.

Verse 8 — the fulfilment of the New covenant to Israel. “For I the Lord love justice [not judgment].” This is the basis of our salvation. God’s justice can only be satisfied by the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. When justice is satisfied, love and eternal life are poured out to man. The point at which justice is satisfied is the cross. Therefore, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.

“I hate robbery to obtain a burnt offering” — robbery is the means; burnt offering is the result. And the Jews in their false worship were saying the means justifies the result. In other words, if the Jew could offer a burnt offering as the Bible required in Leviticus then even if he committed robbery, as long as he offered this burnt offering, regardless of how he obtained the sacrifice or anything else, it was acceptable to God. But God says the means does not justify the result. The end is a ritual worship in which the burnt offering is presented. But if the burnt offering is presented by a false means God will not accept the burnt offering because He loves justice.

The means of man does not justify the end. Man’s mean is robbery; that doesn’t justify offering a burnt offering. But God is +R and justice, which adds up to holiness. God is perfect and with God the means justifies the end because He is perfect and therefore can only use a perfect means to accomplish a perfect end. The perfect means is the second advent and the perfect end is the Israeli recovery program, the restoration of Israel.

“and I will direct their word in truth” — wrong translation. The Hebrew word “direct” is the Hebrew word nathan [pronounced naathan] which means to give. Literally, “I will give their production in the sphere of truth [and/or doctrine].” All bona fide production for God comes from God. There is no bona fide production on the basis of energy of the flesh or human works. There is nothing that man can do in the energy of the flesh which is pleasing to God. The principle today: it must be done in the power of the Spirit and in conformity to the doctrine of the Word of God. The whole basis of production is doctrine. Therefore a believer’s production is based on his understanding of doctrine.

“I will make an everlasting covenant” — the New Covenant to Israel. There are two passages which describe the New Covenant to Israel — Jeremiah 31:31ff; Hebrews 8:8ff. The New Covenant to Israel has to do with their regeneration and their eternal future. The covenant is fulfilled, not on the basis of who and what the Jews are, but on the basis of who and what Christ is.

Verse 9 — fulfilment of the Abrahamic covenant. “And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles” .The phrase “their seed” is the fulfilment of Genesis 13:15,16; 22:17,18; 26:3,4; 35:12. This is a reference to the regenerate of the physical seed of Abraham — those who are born again. “shall be known among the Gentiles,” the Gentiles shall honour the Jews in the Millennium, “and their offspring among the peoples: all that see them [the Jews] shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed.” Everyone will acknowledge that it is the Lord that has done this thing. Therefore, God will be glorified by the restoration of Israel, not anyone else.

Verse 10 — Israel’s joy in the Lord. “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord” — they respond now. Israel’s response to the fulfilment of their covenants. “I will greatly rejoice” is the repetition of a verb. The first time the verb appears in the qal infinitive, the next time in the qal imperfect, and it should be translated: “rejoicing, I will keep on rejoicing” .They will never stop. “my soul shall be joyful” — inner happiness that expresses itself overtly. Where do they get the ability to express it. They have tremendous physical health. The Millennium is a time of perfect health on the earth. No doctors in the Millennium!

“for he hath clothed me with garments of salvation” — first of all because they are saved. Only believing Jews are the recipients of the four unconditional covenants; “he hath covered me with a robe of righteousness” — imputation of divine righteousness to the believer — “as a bridegroom decketh himself with a garment, and as a bride adorneth herself with jewels [ornaments].” This is a picture of Israel’s beauty. Often today the Jews are unattractive for one reason or another. But they will be attractive in the Millennium.

Verse 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 up before all the nations” .In other words the Jews who were unattractive as a part of their discipline will become as beautiful as they were unattractive before. And in that day, therefore, they will not only be a source of spiritual blessing but people will desire to be around them.