Deeper Commentary

Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is on me; because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted-

Prophets were not usually anointed; anointing is the rite whereby a priest consecrates a king or priest. Although a prophet was anointed in 1 Kings 19:16. But the figure here is of an anointed king, a prophet, who also will go on to use priestly language. And "anointed" is the word for Messiah, the Christ. When the Lord stood up in the Nazareth synagoguge and claimed to be the fulfilment of this passage, the people complained that He could not be any of those things- they knew Him, so they thought. He was not from the royal nor priestly lines. He was a carpenter, He could bind up planks of wood, but not the broken hearted. The voice that now suddenly appears is initially that of the prophets calling the exiles out of Babylon. The Chaldee has: "The prophet said, the spirit of prophecy from the presence of Yahweh God is upon me". But the exiles failed to respond and so these words became true of the Lord Jesus. Although this is not technically a servant song, the language is very similar to that of the servant songs previously in Isaiah. Anointing and being sent by the Lord with His Spirit is Is. 42:1; 48:16. And it was the servant of Is. 42:7 who was sent to open blind eyes and release the prisoners. The day of God's favour / gracious acceptance is the language of Is. 49:8.

 

I suggest that this :1 is another of the voices in Isaiah that appears as it were out of left field. To the exiles, this was the voice of Isaiah, or, the prophetic ministry then speaking to them. This was the possibility of Ps. 147:2 (NIV) "The Lord builds up Jerusalem, He gathers the exiles of Israel; He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds". The prophets had frequently made the point that Judah's spiritual condition was not curable. Nothing could be done to bind up their broken hearts. Indeed Isaiah begins with this statement: "The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it: wounds, welts, and open sores. It is not possible for them to be closed, neither bandaged, neither soothed with oil" (Is. 1:5,6 LXX). The Christ of Yahweh, however, could achieve the psychologically impossible- through the Gospel of the Spirit, He could bind up the broken hearted.

Although God has the power to heal the broken hearted, to do the psychologically impossible, they refused it; and so the Lord Jesus arose in the synagogue in Nazareth at the start of His ministry in Lk. 4, read these words, and said that "Today this scripture is fulfilled" in Him. He had just received the Spirit (Lk. 4:14,15) and then entered the synagogue and applied Is. 61:1,2 to Himself, the Messiah anointed with the Spirit. But the people took him to the cliff in Nazareth and tried to kill Him there and then, after initially gasping at the gracious words He spoke. When however He underlined that there were no miracles for them, even though there had been for other neighbouring villages- the powre of self interest and pride turned them the other way. They were so furious in their rejection of Him- for they had no power to execute people being under Rome, and such lynching would have carried heavy consequences for them. And so the promise is offered to us under the new covenant. To proclaim the "year of favour / acceptance" is cited by Paul when he urges us to understand that now, in our lives, in this dispensation, is the acceptable time or today of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2 "behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation"). The Lord clearly alludes to the humble, broken hearted, prisoners etc. in His beatitudes, which are His opening mission statement. He clearly built them all upon Is. 61:1, on the basis that He was the fulfilment of the preacher of those things, and His message of the Kingdom was the answer for the poor, humble, imprisoned etc. Thus Matthew as well as Luke have the Lord open His ministry with reference to Is. 61.

The sending forth of Isaiah was the sending forth of God's word to His people (s.w. Is. 6:8; 9:8). Isaiah like the Lord Jesus and like us, was the word made flesh. The man became his message; there was a congruence between him personally and the word preached. In the immediate context, Isaiah himself was the servant messenger sent forth (s.w. Is. 42:19; 48:16; 61:1); but he was largely rejected, and Jewish tradition has it that Isaiah was sawn in two by Hezekiah's son Manasseh (Heb. 11:37). And so the messenger came to fulfilment in the Lord Jesus. He came to proclaim “the opening of the prison”, or “the opening of the eyes to them that are bound” (Is. 61:1 RVmg.)- He came to open blind eyes, to change the self-perceptions which imprison most of humanity. But that was possible if they wished to see. The Israelites were seen as grasshoppers by their enemies- and so this is how they came to perceive themselves (Num. 13:33). Prov. 23:7 RV observes: “As he reckoneth within himself, so is he”. We are defined by our own self-perception. We must come in the end to perceive ourselves from God’s perspective and not according to how men perceive us.

Lk. 4:18 parallels “the poor” with “the brokenhearted... the captives... the bruised”. The whole mission of Jesus was to bring good news to the poor (Is. 61:1,2 cp. Lk. 4:18–21; Mt. 11:5). This doesn’t mean that the materially rich are outside the scope of the Gospel. It means that we are all “the poor”. Therefore the huge emphasis on helping the poor applies to the poor themselves- to be generous to the poor in spirit. You don’t need money in your pocket to be generous to “the poor”. Paul could say that although he was poor, he made many rich (2 Cor. 6:10). The initial appeal of these words was to the exiles, who were not materially poor. But they were depressed and poor in spirit. The good news to the poor is the Gospel, and is fulfilled by preaching it to the poor in spirit- not good deeds for the materially poor.

To proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to those who are bound- The allusion is to the proclamation of the year of Jubilee on the day of atonement. The Jubilee hinted at return to originally held land, and that was so relevant to the exiles: "It shall be a jubilee for you: you shall return, every one of you, to your property and every one of you to your family” (Lev. 25:10 ). All debts- the huge debt of Judah's sin- were cancelled. The go'el had redeemed them; the Lord Jesus gave His life a ransom payment for many. The release of prisoners alludes to how there was an amnesty given to prisoners when a new king was enthroned. The initial reference is clearly to the exiles imprisoned in Babylon. The cross was that enthronement, the lifting up of the Lord on high, when in the eyes of the world- this was the lowest point any man could be brought to. The year of jubilee depended on the calendar. But the Lord Jesus stated that "this day is this scripture fulfilled". He was the Lord of history, and so proclaimed the jubilee there and then. With the implication it was now an era of Jubilee and not just a year. Through the cross, freedom was obtained for the spiritually imprisoned; but that jubilee is to be proclaimed by us. And so the Lord Himself quoted Is. 61:1 about Himself: He proclaimed liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. For the exiles refused to accept they were imprisoned and largely didn't want the freedom proclaimed. But this passage is evidently behind Peter’s assertion that after His resurrection, the Lord Jesus preached to the spirits in prison (1 Pet. 3:18,19). His resurrection was the basis of His command to go into all the world and preach the word; and thereby His preachers went out to do and continue the work which He personally had done. Those who are bound are expanded into "the bruised" in Lk. 4:18; alluding to the temporal bruising of the heel of the seed  of the woman by sin, the seed of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). The opening of the prison in practice means, for now, the opening of blind eyes to the wonderful spiritual vista of the Kingdom and things of the Lord Jesus.

The teaching of Jesus included frequent quotations from and allusions to the Old Testament. When we go back and read around the contexts of the passages He quoted, it becomes apparent that He very often omits to quote the negative, judgmental, or conditional aspects of the blessings which He quotes. Consider the way He quotes Is. 29:18; 35:5,6 and 61:1 in Mt. 11:4,5. These are all talking about Messianic blessings. But they are embedded amidst warnings of judgment and the conditionality of God’s grace. Likewise Luke records how Jesus read from Is. 61:1,2, but He stopped at the very point where Isaiah’s message turns from promise to threat. None of this takes away from the terrible reality that future failure is a real possibility, even tomorrow. We can throw it all away. We may do. We have the possibility. And some do. There is an eternity ahead which we may miss. And each one who enters the Kingdom will, humanly speaking, have come pretty close to losing it at various points in his or her mortal life.

These words have often been taken as a kind of credo for Christians to try to implement social justice in the world. But that is not at all the context, nor the original intention, nor the way in which these words were interpreted by the Lord when He quoted them about Himself. The literally poor may hear the Gospel and remain poor. The prisoner serving a life sentence may believe these words but remain in prison. The literally blind will have their spiritual eyes opened, but will not necessarily gain physical sight. The message is of the greatest psychological reversal imaginable- that depressed sinners, poor in spirit, imprisoned by sin, can be released. And the mortal shall finally be clothed in immortality with eternal joy. Social justice is not in view here. The literal prisoner remains in prison, even whilst rejoicing at the great reversal that has happened to him due to accepting the message of the Anointed one. It is "good news", the Gospel, that is brought to the oppressed- not a package of housing and welfare benefits.

Isaiah 61:2 To proclaim the time of Yahweh’s grace, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn- "Time" is "year", alluding to the year of Jubilee of :1 being proclaimed. We note the contrast between a year of grace and the singular day of vengeance. When reading this passage (Lk. 4:20,21), the Lord Jesus stopped His reading after "the year of Yahweh's grace"; because the "day of vengeance" had been postponed by His work until the last day (2 Thess. 1:7-9). The comfort of the mourners was that spoken of in Is. 40; the coming of Messiah was to be prefaced by comfort to the mourners, those who mourned for their sins. It is not those generally in sorrow who are in view, but those who mourn their sins in repentance. Or we could think that the Lord stopped short of quoting "And the day of vengeance" because He had dealt with judgment. His focus was upon the wonderful transformation and salvation now possible.

AV "To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD". Just a few verses earlier we have read the same word; of how "in My favour / acceptance have I had mercy on You" (Is. 60:10). This grace was now being proclaimed. By the sinful behaviour of the returned exiles, they had precluded the day of God's acceptance of them. "Grace" here is the word for "acceptance". And it is acceptance which is such a huge need in human psychology... we crave acceptance by parents. And above all, at least subconsciously, by our Heavenly Father. And we have that acceptance in the Lord Jesus. It is the word God used when He reprimanded them for their hypocrisy: "Will you call this an acceptable day to Yahweh?" (Is. 58:5). The word is used of how Yahweh refused to "accept" the offerings of the returned exiles (Mal. 2:13), just as He had refused to accept them before the exile (Jer. 6:20). Therefore the Lord Jesus made this proclamation of the acceptable year to Israel in His hometown of Nazareth (Lk. 4), and to all who would follow Him by making this passage the basis of the beatitudes. Which are the opening manifesto of His Kingdom message. And He closed the scroll without quoting "And the day of vengeance...". We note the contrast between the year of Yahweh's acceptance / grace, and the day of vengeance / redress. God's focus is far more upon acceptance than necessary vengeance / redress.

The "comfort" of the mourners is that pronounced in Is. 40, "Comfort, comfort My people". But it was a comfort that had to be accepted. Initially, this "comfort" would have been in the restoration of Zion: "As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted in Jerusalem" (Is. 66:13). Those who mourned "in Zion" (Is. 61:3) would be comforted "in" Jerusalem / Zion. But the Jews refused this. And so the comfort is now offered to God's new people through the work of the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, and will come to full term when the Lord returns to Jerusalem to visibly establish His Kingdom.

Isaiah 61:3 To appoint to those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a garland for ashes- The good news / Gospel of :1 was not only deliverance from sin but also deliverance into a new condition; beauty instead of ashes, joy instead of mourning and praise instead of despair. Zion is specifically the temple mount. At the rebuilding of the temple [which was not according to the plans given in Ez. 40-48) some Jews had wept [because it clearly wasn't the restoration that was possible] and others rejoiced because it was at least a temple of sorts. Those who mourned in Zion were therefore those who mourned both for their own disobedience and for the dysfunctional state of God's people, and how they had missed so much potential in the things of the Kingdom. That despair for the people of God, and for our own personal failures, is perhaps the hallmark spanning the generations of all God's genuine people. And that mourning in and for Zion shall be turned to joy finally, and even now. As noted on :1, these words are initially offered to the captives in Babylon. Those who at the same time mourned in Zion would then refer to the poor of the land who had remained and not gone into exile. It seems from Jer. 41:5 that even when the temple site had been destroyed, the faithful from amongst those "poor of the land" brought bloodless sacrifices to the temple site; and they did so in mourning, with shaved beards, torn clothes and having gashed themselves in mourning: "There came men from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even eighty men, having their beards shaved and their clothes torn, and having cut themselves, with meal offerings and frankincense in their hand, to bring them to the house of Yahweh". LXX adds "striking their breasts". Here we have evidence for mourners in Zion. Doing their best to serve their God despite not having a temple and being unable to meet all their obligations. Joy was promised for them, and for all those of their spirit down the generations.

"Garland" is literally a bonnet, and is used of the bonnets with which the priests were to be clothed in the restored temple (Ez. 44:18; Ex. 39:28). But they refused to build and operate the structure of Ez. 40-48 and so precluded any possibility of this being fulfilled in them; and they didn't mourn for their sins.

The oil of joy- The term is only used for the anointing of the sinless Messiah, the Lord Jesus (Ps. 45:7 = Heb. 1:9). But His anointing will become that of all who are "in Christ". Anointing with oil was used to consecrate both priests and kings. Ps. 45:7 uses "the oil of joy" to describe the coronation ritual. The mourners will be suddenly exalted not only to joy, but to kingship. King-priests to reign on earth (Rev. 5:10). These people who in this life were so depressed and unsure of themselves, the mourners and poor in spirit, will become rulers and priests for others, to bring them to God. Such a huge transformation. And surely this is the secret desire of every spiritual person- to be a blessing to others, to bring others to God and His salvation in Jesus.

For mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness- Mourning is contrasted with being planted as trees of righteousness, confirming the suggestion on :2 that the mourning in view is of penitence, rather than sadness in general. Sorrow and mourning shall flee away in that forgiveness and salvation will finally come. The joy which replaces the mourning is the joy of good conscience with God. Nehemiah in his mourning for the state of his people began to fulfill Is. 61:3, concerning how those who wept over Zion would be given joy- but the prophecy continues to speak of how the old wastes of Zion would be rebuilt and repaired, and the Messianic age ushered in. He didn’t go on to fulfill this. Mourning being turned into joy would have happened if the mourning exiles (Ps. 137:1; Lam. 1:4) had accepted the new covenant offered them (s.w. Jer. 31:13 "I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow"); but they rejected it. And so this comes true in the experience of those in our age who accept that covenant.

As noted on :1, although this is not technically a servant song, the language is full of reference to the earlier servant songs. A "spirit of heaviness" is literally a failing spirit, a spirit of almost giving up; the same word used for the “dimly burning” wick that the servant was to fan into life in Is. 42:3. Those now clothed with the garment of praise had at one point been dimly burning wicks, about to go out and lose it all- but for the amazing efforts of the Messianic servant, our Lord and Saviour. Our saviour in that He revived our faith and kept it burning. Truly we shall look back and reflect how we very nearly lost it all, lost the wonderful eternity we will then reside it- were it not for His careful, sensitive efforts in keeping our flame burning and growing. And we are to reflect His efforts for us in how we attempt to keep the weak flame burning in others. Every one of us who will finally be saved will have been the dimly burning, smouldering wicks that nearly went out completely.

That they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, that He may be glorified- This is the time of Ez. 34:29 (s.w.), and also of Is. 60:21 "Your people also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified". Their salvation would be on account of their identity with the Messianic "branch", the Lord Jesus; they would be "in Christ" and thereby saved. Inheritance of the land forever is the language of the Abrahamic covenant; this would come true because of righteousness being imputed to them. And the end result of that system of salvation, as Paul brings out in Romans, would be glory to God.

 
Isaiah 61:4 They shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations- "Arise / raise up" is the word used often of the 'rising up' of the exiles to rebuild Jerusalem (Ezra 1:5; 3:2; 9:5; Neh. 2:18; 3:1). This was a fulfilment of the command to "Arise... Jerusalem!" (Is. 51:17; 52:2; 61:4). But this 'arising' was to be associated with the dawning of Zion's light in the form of Yahweh's glory literally dwelling over Zion (Is. 60:1). This didn't happen at the time, because the appearance of 'arising' by the exiles was only external and wasn't matched by a spiritual revival.

And they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations- The temple still lay “waste” (Hag. 1:4,9) just as it had lain “desolate” [s.w. Jer. 33:10,12] after the Babylonian destruction. The ‘restoration’ was in fact not really a restoration at all, in God’s eyes. Thus Ezra sat down desolate [AV “astonied”] at the news of Judah’s apostasy in marrying the surrounding women; using the very same word as frequently used to describe the ‘desolate’ Jerusalem that was to be rebuilt (Ezra 9:3 cp. Is. 49:8,19; 54:3; 61:4). He tore his priestly garment (Ezra 9:3), as if he realized that all Ezekiel’s prophesies about those priestly garments now couldn’t come true (s.w. Ez. 42:14; 44:17,19). Is. 58:12,13 prophesied that the acceptable rebuilding of Zion was dependent upon Judah keeping the Sabbath acceptably; and yet Nehemiah’s record makes clear their tragic abuse of the Sabbath at the time of the restoration; and this therefore meant that the rebuilding of the temple and city were not going to fulfill the Messianic prophecies about them which existed. And this seems to have been foreseen in this prophecy, because it speaks of the desolations of "many generations", implying a far longer desolation than the 70 years exile in Babylon.

But "desolations of many generations" is literally 'the perpetual / eternal generations'.  Jer. 25:9 had said that Zion was to be "perpetual desolations / ruins". Is. 61:4 promises a restoration of the perpetual / eternal desolations which were the judgment for Judah's sin in Jer. 25:9. This was by amazing grace alone. Just as we ask for punishment of eternal death for sin to be undone in our case. But it is by grace alone.

This physical rebuilding of Zion and the cities of Judah is clearly presented as being part of the re-established Kingdom of God on earth, with Gentiles serving the Jews (:5). But this great potential didn't happen. The exiles precluded it by their lack of real faith and apostacy. These things were reapplied to the Lord Jesus, who was the supreme temple of God; in Him Yahweh dwelt, as John's Gospel often states. But that temple of His body was destroyed, and rebuilt in His resurrection: "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up" (Jn. 2:19).  

Isaiah 61:5 Gentiles shall stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners shall be your plough men and your vine dressers- This is all because "But you shall be... priests" (:6). The picture is of all their secular matters being attended to by Gentiles so that they might focus upon their priestly work. This is surely the hope and dream of every servant of God; to have all secular issues taken care of, so they can focus upon spiritual things.

Isaiah 61:6 But you shall be named the priests of Yahweh; men will call you the ministers of our God-

We must not fail to recognize how radical was the statement that the "ministers" in the restored city and temple would be Gentiles (Is. 56:6). For "ministering to Yahweh" is the language of the Levites and priesthood. The priesthood was going to be radically changed; clearly enough, a new covenant is in view. We must compare this with the statement that the restored Zion and people of God would be the ministers, whilst Gentiles would be their servants: "Gentiles shall stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners shall be your plough men and your vine dressers. But you shall be named the priests of Yahweh; men will call you the ministers of our God" (Is. 61:5,6). The contrast appears to be between the "Gentiles" and the "you" who will be "the ministers of our God". That "you" is defined in Is. 61:3 as the restored Zion / people of God. But Is. 56:6 says that Gentiles and eunuchs would be the "ministers of our God". We conclude that "Zion" is being redefined to include Gentiles, eunuchs and whoever wants to be "in" the Servant Israel.  But "Gentiles" are still mentioned as if it were unbelievers; but believing foreigners / Gentiles are included in the people of God and spoken of differently: "foreigners will not drink your must for which you have laboured... foreigners shall till your land and dress your vines, but you shall be called priests of Yahweh" (Is. 62:8; 61:5,6). Another approach is to understand that the Jews will be made priests, and the Gentiles elevated to the position of Israel. Thus the true Israel will finally fulfil their intended potential to be a “kingdom of priests” (Ex. 19:6).

Time and again, the Old Testament speaks of the priests ministering in the priest's office. The priests are specifically called God's ministers (Is. 61:6; Jer. 33:21; Ez. 45:4; Joel 1:9,13; 2:17).  "Men", the Gentiles, would treat Israel as their priests. The early Christians would have heard and read many of the New Testament references to ministers and ministry as invitations to see themselves as a new priesthood. The Lord said that we should aim to be a minister, priests, to every one of our brethren, not expecting them to minister to us, but concentrating on ministering to them (Mt. 20:26). This is exactly against the grain of our nature, and also of the concept of religion we find in the world. People expect to have others spiritually ministering to them. They expect a priest-figure to do all their thinking for them. But our Lord said that we are each other's priests, we're not here to be ministered  ('priest-ed') to, but to minister, and give our lives in service to each other.

You will eat the wealth of the nations, and you will boast in their glory- The Hebrew is difficult, literally "in their splendor you shall be substituted in their stead". The idea seems to be that the Gentiles will not glory in their own wealth, but rather in how much they can do for Israel.

Isaiah 61:7 Instead of your shame you shall have double- LXX "thus shall they inherit the land a second time". Or the idea may simply be that they inherit double what they ought to, such is God's grace to them and desire to load them with double blessing (Is. 40:2; Zech. 9:12), just as He gave double to Job as representative of restored Israel (Job 42:10).

And instead of dishonour they shall rejoice in their portion- Their "portion" is parallel with "their land". But they didn't rejoice in their land because they preferred the softer life of Persia, as the book of Esther makes clear; rather than returning to a desolated land and rebuilding God's Kingdom there.

Therefore in their land they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be to them-  “In their land” the Jews would receive “everlasting joy”- but they didn’t want to return to their land to receive it.

We could render Is. 40:2: “Indeed, she will receive double from the hand of Yahweh in exchange for all of the suffering on account of her sins". This double blessing is that of Is. 61:7: "Instead of your shame you shall have double; and instead of dishonour they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess double". It is in Is. 53 that we have the explanation as to how suffering for sin can lead to this double blessing- it was through the suffering servant, representative of Israel and yet morally perfect.

LXX "Thus shall they inherit the land a second time, and everlasting joy shall be upon their head". Verse 10 LXX likewise stresses the intense eternal joy: "and they shall greatly rejoice in the Lord. Let my soul rejoice in the Lord... the garment of joy". This in turn is building upon earlier such prophecies in Isaiah: "Yahweh’s ransomed ones will return, and come with singing to Zion; and everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away" (Is. 35:10, repeated in Is. 51:11). Joy is such a major theme, especially the eternal nature of that joy.

Isaiah 61:8 For I, Yahweh, love justice, I hate robbery with iniquity; and I will give them their recompense in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them-

We could render: "For I am the Lord, Who loves justice, hates robbery in a burnt offering". And yet Malachi rebuked the returned exiles for offering God stolen animals. Thus they precludes the wonderful potential possible. A love as strong as God's is going to also elicit the emotion of hatred and anger when that love is rejected and abused. He "hated" (s.w.) Judah's insincere worship and relationship with Him (Is. 1:14; 61:8; Jer. 44:4). But it is hard to separate the sin from the sinner. That distinction may be helpful for us in order to avoid judging others too personally, but God it seems doesn't make that decision. He gave Israel into the hands of those who hated her (s.w. Ez. 16:27,37) and in that sense He hated her. The feelings of hatred which Hosea had for Gomer due to her abuse of His love were those of God for Israel: "There I hated them" (Hos. 9:15). God is not simply "love" in the abstract. He is love for real, with all the emotion and psychological complex which goes along with love; and this will include hatred if that love is abused.

Isaiah 61 gives a detailed prophecy of the restoration and how it could flourish into God’s Kingdom, and then adds that "I hate robbery for burnt offering"; as if to say that if Judah offered with the right spirit and showed justice, then the everlasting covenant would be entered with them. But this just didn’t happen. They themselves disallowed it. Malachi laments that the exiles offered such stolen animals for sacrifice; and Ez. 22:29 laments that the "people of the land" robbed [s.w.] the poor; and now we learn, that they even sacrificed some of the stolen animals to God.

"I will make an everlasting covenant with them" references the offer of the new covenant to the exiles. They refused it, preferring to keep parts of the old covenant which was already broken. And so it has been offered to us.

Isaiah 61:9 Their seed shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which Yahweh has blessed- The implication seems to be that the children of the repentant exiles would be known among the nations, as if they would travel amongst them revealing by example and teaching the Abrahamic covenant. They would be the fulfilment of the promises of blessing upon the seed.

Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in Yahweh, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels-

We naturally enquire who is speaking here. Quite possibly the same voice as in :1, which I suggested was initially Isaiah or the prophets. The same language will be used in Is. 62:1-3 about Zion, the redeemed community, being made righteous by God's huge efforts, and thus being a witness to the Gentiles: "For Zion’s sake will I not hold My peace... until her righteousness go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns. The nations shall see your righteousness... you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of Yahweh shall name... You shall also be a crown of beauty in the hand of Yahweh, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God". This recalls the mitre or "garland" here spoken of. It could be that Isaiah personally grasps the wonder of his personally being part of these general prophecies of "Zion". Just as we are to grasp the wonder of our personal part in these collective prophecies. We shall be priests for the nations; our desire to bring others to God will then finally be realized. Yet we must develop that desire now, and not simply be a religious attender or box ticker.

Isaiah as representative of the true Israel rejoices in prospect of salvation, imagining and understanding how his salvation was due to being clothed as a high priest; being, in our terms, "in Christ". The LXX uses the language of the High Priest: "he has put a mitre on me as on a bridegroom, and adorned me with ornaments (NEV "jewels") as a bride". The jewels would then allude to the precious stones of the breastplate. It is the Messianic priest, the Lord Jesus, who is in view; and all those who are in Him. The idea is that high priest is getting married, and as he would clothe himself with these things to go into the sanctuary on service, he now does so in order to marry. His service of his wife is therefore in being her loving high priest.

We have been clothed with God's righteousness (Is. 61:10; Rev. 3:18) , and therefore we should be clothed with humility too, as our response to this (1 Pet. 5:5). And the element of unreality here is that God as it were dresses up His own bride. Israel is so often set up as the bride of God (Is. 54:5; 61:10; 624,5; Jer. 2:2; 3:14; Hos. 2:19,20). This is why any infidelity to God is spoken of as adultery (Mal. 2:11; Lev. 17:7; 20:5,6; Dt. 31:16; Jud. 2:17; 8:27,33; Hos. 9:1). The very language of Israel 'selling themselves to do iniquity' uses the image of prostitution. This is how God feels our even temporary and fleeting acts and thoughts of unfaithfulness. This is why God is jealous for us (Ex. 20:15; 34:14; Dt. 4:24; 5:9; 6:15)- because His undivided love for us is so exclusive. He expects us to be totally His.

Isaiah 61:11 For as the earth brings forth its bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord Yahweh will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nation- The returned exiles, or [later] all who wished to become part of God's restored Kingdom, would be empowered by the water of the Spirit (see on Is. 44:3) to "spring up" on what had previously been dry ground (Is. 44:4). That Spirit would be articulated partly through the prophetic word (Is. 55:10 s.w. "bud" AV). This will be the restored Eden, where Yahweh had caused the vegetation to "spring up" (s.w. Gen. 2:5). This springing up or growing would be in the fulfilment of the promises to David of the establishment of the Kingdom of his seed (s.w. 2 Sam. 23:5; Ps. 132:17). But the springing up would be of a community of people, the plural seed who were "in" the singular Messianic seed. And this is now experienced through baptism into the Lord Jesus (Gal. 3:27-29). It is "righteousness" which would "spring up" (s.w. Is. 61:11); the work of the Spirit would result in the seed becoming righteous through their spiritual transformation. And yet it will also be on account of their status as "in" the "branch of righteousness" which will "spring up" (Jer. 33:15). The work of the Spirit will be, and is, to transform the plural seed in practice into what they are by status in the Messiah- righteous. And it is this power, this gift, this Divine 'causing' us to be righteous, which every spiritual person so thirsts for.