CHAPTER 61

(698 B.C.)

MESSIAHS FIRST ADVENT

¹The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me; because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them who are bound (the first nine Verses of this Chapter present the Messiah and His People. Actually, the Speaker in Verse 1 is the Messiah Himself, as He proclaims His First and Second Comings. That the Speaker is the Messiah is proved by Lk. 4:16-21.

The Anointing of Jesus was the Sanctification of His human nature by the Holy Spirit, which commenced in the womb of the Blessed Virgin [Lk. 1:35], which continued as He grew to manhood [Lk. 2:40, 52], which was openly manifested at His Baptism, and never ceased till He took His Glorified Body and Soul to Heaven.

That which the Father anointed Him to do addressed itself to every aspect of life and living. In Truth, Christ Alone can address these problems, which means that humanistic psychology holds no answers);

²To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn (this is the Year of Jubilee, as proclaimed in Lev. 25:9. Such was brought about every Fiftieth year, according to the Law of Moses. Scholars point out that the reading of this Verse by the Lord in the Synagogue of Nazareth took place on the first Sabbath of the Year of Jubilee.

The year of acceptance contrasts with the day of vengeance. Nearly 2,000 years have already intervened between this year and that day, though only separated by a comma in the Text.

The Lord, when reading these Verses at Nazareth, stopped in the middle of the second line, and did not go on to read of the day of vengeance. Thus, He rightly divided the Word of Truth; for the year of acceptance is the present period of Grace connected with His First Coming, and the day of vengeance, the future day of Wrath connected with His Second Coming. Hence, He closed the Book, on reaching the Name Jehovah.

At His Second Coming, He will truly comfort all who mourn, respecting Israel, who has finally come home to Him [Zech. 12:11-14]);

MESSIAHS SECOND ADVENT; ZION, WASTEPLACES REBUILT

³To appoint unto them who 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. (Beauty refers to a nuptial crown. Wood ashes placed upon the head expressed mourning, a nuptial garland signified gladness. The trees of this Verse are the redeemed of 60:21. It should be noticed that no praise is to be given to the beauteous trees, but all praise will be given to their wondrous Planter.

All of this will come to Israel on that coming Glad Day, which, in fact, they could have had 2,000 years ago, had they only accepted Christ.)

⁴And 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. (To assure the reality of these statements, they are repeated. Thus, the first and third lines of the Verse predict the rebuilding of the deserted cities, and the second and fourth lines foretell the fertility of the desolate fields.

Such speaks of the coming Kingdom Age, and in a literal and material sense, but even more so speaks of the spiritual rejuvenation that takes place in the hearts and lives of Believers.

The words, build, raise, and repair, are used to signify the material resurgence, but even more so, the spiritual renewal in the life of the Believer.

The words, waste and desolations, characterize the unbeliever.)

⁵And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. (To the proud nations of the past and present, it was, and is, a degradation to be associated thus with the Jew; but in the future it will be an honor, but only because of Israels acceptance of Christ.)

⁶But you shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: you shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall you boast yourselves. (In that day of Restoration, the entire nation of Israel will be a nation of Priests and Ministers, and will act as such in relation to God and the inhabited world. Actually, what God intended for Israel to be at the beginning, they shall now be! [Ex. 19:6]. In brief, Ezekiel proclaims this in the last nine Chapters of his Book.)

⁷For your shame you 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. (Possessing the double pertained to the following:

In ancient times, if someone in Israel went bankrupt, they were to list all their indebtedness on a skin, and have it posted in a conspicuous place for all to see. At times, a wealthy benefactor would come to the rescue and pay all the indebtedness. He would take down the skin, double it over, hence hiding all of the indebtedness, and then write his name on the front. He would post it as well in a conspicuous place, and all could come to him for payment.

When Jesus died on the Cross, He atoned for all sin. Upon Faith in Him, He took down the list of all our sins, doubled it over, where these sins could no longer be seen, and wrote His Name on the front, meaning that all the indebtedness was settled; therefore, every single Believer in the world has the privilege of possessing the double.)

⁸For 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 word judgment here is justice. Hence, the Lord loves fairness, equality, correct measures, honesty, integrity, truthfulness, and rightness. I hate robbery for Burnt Offering, refers to nations that robbed Israel of her status and thereby stopped the Burnt Offerings, which typified Calvary.

And I will direct their work in Truth, refers to the Lord directing the work, and it, thereby, being guaranteed of Truth. The phrase also means as they have been wronged, they shall be righted; they shall be faithfully and exactly compensated for what they have suffered. As they have Everlasting Joy, they now also have an Everlasting Covenant.)

⁹And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD has blessed. (In that day, the restored sons of Jacob will be a testimony to the moral glory of the Messiah. The Seed actually refers to Christ [Gal. 3:16]. The seed which the LORD has blessed, unequivocally states that one cannot be blessed without Christ. Even in redeemed men, it is Christ within men Who is blessed!)

HYMN OF PRAISE TO GOD

¹⁰I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, 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 ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. (This speaks of Christ and His ornamentation by the Father. In the Incarnation, He lived as a Peasant, and was despised and rejected of men; still, the Lord has blessed this Seed, and has made His soul to be joyful in His God.

All of this tells us that Salvation and Righteousness belong strictly to Christ.

Whereas He was formerly decked with the form of a servant [Phil. 2:7], now He is decked with Ornaments and Jewels. These Jewels are the Church [Mal. 3:17].

These Jewels are strictly Ornaments, and, as such, are not actually needed by the Messiah, and in fact add no beauty to Him, but He rather adds beauty to them.

So, He decks and adorns Himself with that which He does not need, not in order that it beautify Him, but rather that He beautify us! His Name truly is Wonderful!)

¹¹For as the Earth brings forth her bud, and as the garden causes 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. (Adonai-Jehovah will introduce a government which will evoke praise. Until then, all mans efforts to set up a praiseworthy rule in the Earth will be fruitless. At the present, wickedness, blasphemy, profanity, and vulgarity spring forth from the nations; however, this will soon change! Ultimately and eventually, everything that has breath will praise the LORD [Ps. 150:6].)