Isaiah’s prophetic proclamation of the Lord’s favor spoke not to the rulers and the wealthy, but the downtrodden and impoverished. The entitled would not experience God’s favor in the same way as those who had nothing.
Isaiah spoke of a people who perhaps had lost hope as beloved of God, who perhaps accepted as their lot the loss of the Promised Land, the loss of their destiny. Isaiah reassured them that
“Because their shame was double
Isaiah 61:7 (NRSVUE)
and dishonor was proclaimed as their lot,
therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion;
everlasting joy shall be theirs.”
What It Means to be Impoverished
The author Philip Yancey (whose books are in the “Books to Read” tab on this website) explored what it means to be poor and why being in this condition would move God’s heart to compassion
- The poor know they are in urgent need of redemption.
- The poor know not only their dependence on God and powerful, wealthy people, but also their interdependence on each other.
- The poor rest their security not on things, but on people.
- The poor have no exaggerated sense of their own importance.
- The poor expect little from competition and much from cooperation.
- The poor can distinguish between necessities and luxuries.
- The poor can wait, because of the patience they have learned in being dependent on others.
- The fears of the poor are more realistic and less exaggerated because they already know they can survive great suffering and want.
- When the poor have the gospel preached to them, it sounds like good news and not like a threat, or a scolding, or a cramping on their style.
- The poor can respond to the call of the gospel with a certain abandonment and uncomplicated totality because they have so little to lose and are ready for anything.
God addressed all this through Isaiah’s words.
In Isaiah 6:2-3, God would comfort all who mourn, giving them, in Isaiah’s words, a garland instead of ashes, anointing them with the oil of gladness, dressing them in a mantle of praise to strengthen their fainting spirits. Isaiah was prophesying to a future generation of people, the children and grandchildren of those who would be exiled.
“They will be called oaks of righteousness,
Isaiah 61:3 (NRSVUE)
the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.”
Isaiah was giving hope and courage to this as yet unborn generation, for they would return to the remnants of a war-torn land, their cities in ruins. They would need God’s favor to rebuild.
“They shall build up the ancient ruins;
Isaiah 61:4 (NRSVUE)
they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.”
Jesus’ Ministry
Jesus’ mission was specifically aimed at the poor, the brokenhearted, the prisoners.
| Isaiah 61, God’s Promises | Matthew 5:1-12, The Beatitudes | ||
| 3 | Replacing a faint spirit with a mantle of praise | Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven | 3 |
| 2-3 | Comfort all who mourn, giving a garland, anointing with the oil of gladness | Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted | 4 |
| 7 | Because their shame was double and dishonor was proclaimed as their lot, therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; everlasting joy shall be theirs | Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth | 5 |
| 8 | For I, the Lord, love justice, I hate robbery and wrongdoing; I will faithfully give them their recompense | Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled | 6 |
| 10 | I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my whole being shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation | Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy | 7 |
| 6 | but you shall be called priests of the Lord; you shall be named ministers of our God; | Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God | 8 |
| 9 | Their descendants shall be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge that they are a people whom the Lord has blessed | Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God | 9 |
| 1 | The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted | Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven | 10 |
| 1 | to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners | Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account | 11 |
| 7 | everlasting joy shall be theirs. | Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you | 12 |
First Fulfillment of God’s Prophetic Promise
Isaiah 61:4 was literally fulfilled when the Jewish people returned to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. Isaiah’s prophecy continues to be fulfilled spiritually in every person who puts their faith in Jesus.
Isaiah 61:5-7 refers to when God had gathered the Hebrew people around Mount Sinai and told them, You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. The apostle Peter later used this same imagery in his first letter. Isaiah now envisioned the fulfillment of God’s intention for God’s people. The nations would one day serve Israel physically and provide for them, and the Israelites would serve the nations’ spiritual needs.
Like the firstborn in ancient times, Israel would receive a double portion of the family inheritance, enjoying God’s special blessing.
Isaiah 61:8-9 is the everlasting covenant God would make, through the anointed one, the Messiah, Jesus. Jesus’s first coming was to establish this new covenant, what the writer of Hebrews even called a better covenant, with all those who come to the Lord in faith. This is the covenant of grace and mercy, the covenant of compassion.
Isaiah drew on two events that mark the highest celebration in every culture: marriage and the harvest. Here is the culmination of hope, expectant waiting, many preparations, and finally the glorious day when the young couple join as one, and when the harvest comes with baskets filled with food, understanding that these images are just metaphors for the even richer spiritual truth
“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
Isaiah 61:10-11 (NRSVUE)
my whole being shall exult 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.
For as the earth brings forth its shoots
and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
to spring up before all the nations.”
The day of God’s favor comes well before the day of God’s vengeance
Jesus’s first coming was to bring mercy and grace. Jesus’s second coming will bring justice and judgment. Sometimes you and I can forget that. We want to hurry along God’s justice, to take matters into our hands, God seems to be taking a very long time to right the wrongs in our lives.
When you and I are wronged, and we are hurt and angry, how willing are we to wait for God to set it right in God’s own way, and in God’s time? How willing are we to continue leaning into God’s time of favor rather than try to hasten God’s day of vengeance?
In what situation may God be calling you and me to continue extending God’s grace, for the sake of salvation? In what ways could we bring praise to God, even during this really difficult time?
