The Book Of Isaiah. Day 166, The Messiah's Message, Part One

We have been studying some prophecies of Isaiah that have been fulfilled in part but will not be fully fulfilled until the Messiah reigns over the eternal kingdom. Today we take a look at one of the prophecies that has already been fulfilled in part by the advent of the Messiah. We will be looking at this passage in conjunction with passages from the New Testament. It will take us several days to look at this passage and we will begin talking about it today and will pick back up with it on Sunday after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend has mostly passed. 

Isaiah has been speaking the words of God the Father. Now he speaks the words of God the Son. He is enabled to to this through God the Holy Spirit, who is mentioned as well, so we see the Trinity at work here. "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor." (Isaiah 61:1a) I want to point out that we can be certain Isaiah is not speaking of himself when he says "me"; that is why I have rendered it as "Me". The reason we can be absolutely confident Isaiah isn't speaking of himself is because the Lord Jesus Christ stated this was bout Him in Luke 4.

Jesus will preach "good news to the poor". I believe He primarily means those who are poor in spirit (discouraged at heart, bereft of hope, spiritually/morally bankrupt) but I also believe He means those who are economically poor. Spiritual poverty exists in those who have not given their hearts to the Lord. Economic poverty exists because sin created a fallen world in which bad things happen. Another thing that could be going on here is that many teachers charged a fee to hear them preach. The Apostle Paul will speak of this in his epistles, pointing out that he never charged anyone for preaching the gospel message. The Lord Jesus Christ never charged anyone anything either. He came to preach to those who are poor in every way a person can be poor. 

Let us continue. "He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion---to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." (Isaiah 61:1b-3a)

In Luke's gospel account, Jesus went to His hometown of Nazareth after spending the time of testing in the wilderness. On the Sabbath day He entered the synagogue and stood up to read to the assembly. Luke says that the scroll of Isaiah was handed to Him. We do not know whether Jesus requested the scroll of Isaiah or if that was the book the congregation was currently studying. I tend to believe that Jesus specifically requested the book of Isaiah. Luke tells us that Jesus unrolled the scroll to Isaiah 61 and read aloud verse 1 and verse 2a. He stopped after reading the portion where He was sent to "proclaim the year of the Lord's favor".

Why did He stop there? Because verse 2b speaks of "the day of vengeance of our God". That day had not yet come. That day still has not yet come. What had come was the year of the Lord's favor. In the original Hebrew, the word translated in the NIV as "year" can also mean "era". It depends on the context as to which it means. If we intended to say "the year of 2024", for example, then that word would literally mean "year". But if we were speaking of a period of time greater than a year, then it would be clear that the word means an "era". So we see that Jesus was telling the people that the "era" of the Lord's favor had come, for this era began at His advent (and even more particularly at the advent of His ministry) and we are still living in the era of the Lord's favor. We are still living in the era where the gospel message about the Lord Jesus Christ is being proclaimed. We are still living in an era in which we can accept Him as our Savior and Redeemer.

It is possible to wait too long to accept Him as Savior and Redeemer. Death can take a person while they are still rebelling against the Lord. A person can reject the gospel message time and time again until a disease or accident (or in some cases, their own hand) takes them out of this life. A person can reject the gospel message up until the "day of vengeance of our God", which we will study when we arrive at the book of Revelation, for in that book we will find people rejecting Him right up until the judgment, during which they are judged guilty for their sins because they have not accepted the Lord's repeated offers of redemption.

As long as we have breath in our bodies, we are living on the earth during the era of the Lord's favor. He longs to save everyone! He paid the greatest price that could be paid in order to set us free from the guilt of our sins. There is no other way to be free of that guilt except to accept the price He paid and to make Him the Lord of our lives. We don't know what tomorrow holds. We don't even know what the next minute holds. Anyone who doesn't already know the precious and holy and loving Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and Redeemer needs to make a decision for Him now, while they still can.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 165, The Glory Of Zion, Part Four

I have been mostly offline for several days with my mother-in-law in town. We've been helping her get the house ready here that she's going to move into and I haven't had time to work on the blog for the past few days.

Today we will be concluding Chapter 60. The Lord has been promising a glorious future for Isaiah's people. Some of these things have been fulfilled in part but the complete fulfillment of them will be during the everlasting kingdom of Christ.

The Lord speaks of how the people will have the very best. "Instead of bronze I will bring you gold, and silver in place of iron. Instead of wood I will bring you bronze, and iron in place of stones." (Isaiah 60:17a) These "upgrades" are probably more figural than literal. These upgrades in materials symbolize the Lord replacing waywardness with righteousness. They symbolize the Lord making people into something better than they used to be. In our own times, prior to the eternal kingdom of Christ, we who have placed our trust in Him have been made something better than we used to be, although we cannot be completely perfect in these mortal bodies. How much more will we glorify Him when we are in our immortal bodies that are free of sin? 

What do we think is more difficult for the Lord to do: to turn bronze into gold or to save the degenerate souls of mankind? Certainly it must be the changing of ourselves into new creatures! Certainly it must be making a way for us to be at peace with Him! Therefore the Lord goes on to say: "I will make peace your governor and well-being your ruler." (Isaiah 60:17b)

We cannot be at peace with God or with our fellow man as long as we resist His calling to be saved, as long as we choose to remain in our unredeemed state. In our current lives we are able to better love God and our fellow man by submitting our hearts and souls to Him. In the eternal kingdom this will be even more the case, when no violence will ever occur again, when no one will rebel against the Lord, when no one will hate or do harm to anyone else. "No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates praise." (Isaiah 60:18) Walls will not be used anymore for protection and security; there will be nothing we need to be protected from. Instead they will symbolize the way the Lord is our source of eternal security and believers will praise Him for that.

This next portion may be literal or figural or both. "The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end." (Isaiah 60:19-20)

We often refer to bad times as being "dark". When our circumstances change for the better, it feels like the sun came out again, so to speak. In that sense the verses above are symbolic of how we will never again have days of sadness or fear. Our eternal existence with the Lord will day after day of sunshine and happiness.

These verses may also be literal, for they correspond with a passage from the book of Revelation which many scholars take literally. They believe that the remade heavens and earth will not contain a sun and a moon because those things will not be necessary to sustain life or keep the world in orbit. I cannot say whether the passage from Revelation is to be taken literally or whether it simply symbolizes the happiness and peace of the eternal kingdom of the Lord, but this is what the Apostle John said he saw in the New Jerusalem when the Lord gave him the prophecy of Revelation: "The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp." (Revelation 21:23)

In the prophecy the Lord is giving to the prophet Isaiah, He says: "Then all your people will be righteous, and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of My hands, for the display of My splendor. The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation. I am the Lord; in its time I will do this swiftly." (Isaiah 60:21-22) The prophecy is primarily spoken about the people of Israel but we know that the eternal kingdom includes Gentile believers too. Time and time again the Lord has spoken about how the "light" will shine on Gentiles too.

This light began to shine on the Gentiles when they began turning away from idolatry and coming to faith after the advent of Christ. In our next chapter we will look at a verse from the book of Isaiah that Jesus Christ said was spoken about Himself. He stated, as He began His ministry, that the passage was being fulfilled that very day.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 164, The Glory Of Zion, Part Three

Isaiah has been relaying the Lord's message about the future glory of Zion (Jerusalem). There is far more in view here than the return from captivity that Isaiah has already foretold. What we are seeing in this prophecy is the prosperity of the nation of Israel during what is known as the "millennial kingdom" and then later during the eternal reign of the King of kings.

Today's verses regard the way the Lord intends to give these believers only the very best of all things. "The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the juniper, the fir and the cypress together, to adorn My sanctuary; and I will glorify the place for My feet. The children of your oppressors will come bowing before you; all who despise you will bow down at your feet and will call you the City of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel." (Isaiah 60:13-14) 

The superiority of the fine woods grown in Lebanon is mentioned a number of times in the Bible. I believe the mention of these woods in the verses above have to do with the Lord's sanctuary during the millennium (the thousand years when Christ reigns from Jerusalem before the final judgment). We will study more about the millennium when we arrive at the book of Revelation, but we know from the book of Revelation that there is no temple in Jerusalem after the final judgment, during the eternal reign of Christ, because when the Apostle John beheld the city he said, "I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple." (Revelation 21:22) This is how we know that the reference to the Lord's sanctuary must have to do with the millennial kingdom. 

Gentile believers from all over the world will glorify the God of Israel and will make pilgrimages to Jerusalem, for it will be the capitol city of all nations. "Although you have been forsaken and hated, with no one traveling through, I will make you the everlasting pride and the joy of all generations. You will drink the milk of nations and be nursed at royal breasts. Then you will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob." (Isaiah 60:15-16) 

Many nations throughout history have attempted to wipe out the people of Israel. The people of Israel are still hated by a number of nations in the world today, who would love to see every descendant of Jacob gone from the earth, who would love to take over the land for themselves. But God will be true to His word. No matter how many obstacles have been in the path of the people of Israel, and no matter how many times this future glorious prosperity has appeared impossible, the Lord will do exactly what He has promised.

 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 163, The Glory Of Zion, Part Two

We continue on with Chapter 60 which deals with a prophecy of future prosperity for Isaiah's people.

"Who are these that fly along like clouds, like doves to their nests? Surely the islands look to Me; in the lead are the ships of Tarshish, bringing your children from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the Lord their God, the Holy One of Israel, for He has endowed you with splendor." (Isaiah 60:8-9) Here we see the Gentile nations honoring the Lord God of Israel. They are helping descendants of Jacob to return to their homeland and they are giving valuable gifts to the nation of Israel. There have been times in history when nations have extended a hand of friendship to Israel. There are still some nations, such as the United States, who extend a hand of friendship to Israel. But in the eternal kingdom of Christ, all nations will be friends with Israel. 

"Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Though in anger I struck you, in favor I will show you compassion." (Isaiah 60:10) In ancient times the Lord allowed enemy nations to strike the inhabitants of the Promised Land. He did this to discipline them for their idolatry and waywardness. But the discipline was intended to correct them, not to destroy them, just as the discipline of a loving parent is intended to correct the disobedient behavior of a child, not to destroy the child.

The fulfillment of these verses will find their final completion in the kingdom of the Messiah, when He reigns over all the earth from Jerusalem. People whose ancestors persecuted the Jews will recognize them as an honored and chosen people of God. They will love the Messiah and they will love the nation from which He sprang.

The Lord says of Jerusalem: "Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, so that people may bring you the wealth of the nations---their kings led in triumphal procession. For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly ruined." (Isaiah 60:11-12) The Lord will be the king in those days and forevermore, so I think the "kings" mentioned here may be some type of governors under the Lord. In the Bible we find kings appointing various officials whose rank is under that of the king. Or these kings may be people who were leaders of nations and tribes before Christ came to reign over the earth and they may be coming to lay down their authority at His feet.

When the Apostle John was given a vision of the eternal kingdom of Christ, he said of Jerusalem: "The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." (Revelation 21:24-27)

People in ancient times would shut the city gates at night. They did this to secure the city against enemies that might try to sneak in under cover of darkness. But there will be no darkness in the kingdom of Christ. There will be no enemies: none outside the gates, none inside the gates. You and I have lived our whole lives in a fallen world where there are plenty of things to be afraid of, but that will not be the case on the restored earth with Christ as the king. No one will have an enemy. We will live unafraid and at peace. 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 162, The Glory Of Zion, Part One

Chapter 60 is titled "The Glory Of Zion" as the Lord talks about the wonderful things the future holds.

"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you." (Isaiah 60:1) The Lord speaks of His glory like the sunrise. There is no glory for us apart from Him; He is our glory. 

Isaiah's people have been through some dark times. There are some dark times still ahead. But as our previous chapter stated, the Redeemer is coming to Zion. The glory of Zion was partially fulfilled at the advent of Christ, after which many Gentiles and a number of Jews believed on Him. "See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn." (Isaiah 60:2-3)

The complete fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy will occur when Christ returns to reign over the whole earth forever, but we already see "peoples" and "nations" coming to Him. These are expressions used to describe the Gentiles who have placed their faith in Him. 

This next passage was partially fulfilled when the people were allowed to return to their land and rebuild after their defeat and captivity. It found another partial fulfillment when Israel became a sovereign nation in the world again in 1948, after which many Jewish people returned to their ancestral land. It's complete fulfillment will occur when, presumably, all the Jewish believers return to their ancestral land when Christ reigns over the world from Jerusalem.

"Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the hip. Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come." (Isaiah 60:4-5) The Apostle John foresaw this in Revelation 21:24 when he said of Jerusalem: "The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it."

The Apostle John also foresaw the entire earth restored to an Eden-like state in Revelation 22, where he describes the beauty and bounty of the world. The world will flow with milk and honey; Jerusalem will be the crown jewel of the world because the Lord's throne will be there. Isaiah speaks of the prosperity of Jerusalem and of the eternal kingdom. "Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord. All Kedar's flocks will be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaith will serve you; they will be accepted as offerings on My altar, and I will adorn My glorious temple." (Isaiah 60:6-7)

The passage above had some literal fulfillment when the people went home from captivity and rebuilt their ruined temple. They were able to set up an altar to the Lord, consecrate it, and resume making offerings to Him. But I think the passage above is being used figurately as well, to denote the overflowing goodness of the reign of Christ. I think the language used is intended to indicate that no one will do without anything they need. No one will be hungry or thirsty. No one will be homeless. No one will be without clothes on their back and shoes on their feet. No one will ever have an illness or injury. No one will ever die. 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 161, The Lord's Own Righteousness And Justice

As we conclude Chapter 59 we learn that, because righteousness and justice were not found in the land, the Lord did what humans were not doing. 

In the previous portions of this chapter we saw that the people were perverting justice, that they didn't have compassion on the needy, that they were trusting in idols, that they were living lives of excess as if life would always continue the same way, and that they were only calling upon the Lord when troubles came---and even then they weren't confessing and repenting of sins. No one stood up for what was right, other than the prophets, and we know that they were scorned. The Lord speaks of this situation below.

"The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, He was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so His own arm achieved salvation for Him, and His own righteousness sustained Him." (Isaiah 59:15b-16) He has sent prophet after prophet to the nation, urging the people to repent. But we know from our study of the kings that the spiritual condition of a majority of the people continued to grow worse. Adversity is going to do what words did not do. In captivity in foreign lands, a number of the people will be sorry for having lost the way and they will turn back to the Lord.

Human armies will bring about the adversity but this is by the will of God. "He put on righteousness as His breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped Himself in zeal as in a cloak." (Isaiah 59:17) Here we see Him dressing for battle, for the battle is actually His, no matter what nation comes against the people. If it were not His will, no nation on earth could defeat them. He promised them that very thing before He ever brought them into the land, saying that their security depended on their faithfulness. But He also said that unfaithfulness would bring disaster and that He would remove them from the land.

"According to what they have done, so He will repay wrath to His enemies and retribution to His foes; He will repay the islands their due. From the west, people will fear the name of the Lord, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere His glory. For He will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the Lord drives along." (Isaiah 59:18-19) Who are the enemies and foes of the Lord? Those who reject Him. His enemies and foes are also those who persecute people faithful to Him. In these two verses I believe He is speaking not only of disciplining Isaiah's people who have forsaken Him (by allowing Assyria to conquer Israel and by allowing Babylon to conquer Judah) but also He is speaking of the judgment that will fall upon the heathen nations. In time, as He has promised earlier in our study of Isaiah and other prophetic books, He will deal with those who invaded the nation and carried people to foreign lands. The captives will be set free and many will go back to the Promised Land.

An even bigger picture of deliverance is found in today's passage. The Lord will allow the people to return to their land and the Redeemer will come from these people and from their land. The Lord says: "'The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,' declares the Lord. 'As for Me, this is my covenant with them,' says the Lord. 'My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and My words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants---from this time on and forever,' says the Lord." (Isaiah 59:20-21) 

The Messiah could not come "to Zion" unless the people are allowed to return to Zion, for the Lord has already made it clear in the Bible that the Messiah will come from the lineage of King David and that He will be born in Bethlehem in Judah. Therefore, the people know that the promise to return to the land is true, for none of the promises following that one can come true unless they are in their land. But it's important to note that the Lord is not promising salvation for all but salvation for those "who repent", as He states in the concluding verses. The entire human race is not saved simply because the Redeemer was born, only those who repent of their sins and place their faith in the Redeemer. 

This salvation is offered to the descendants of Jacob and to the descendants of pagan idolaters. That is why the Lord said in today's passage that people from the east to the west (in other words, all over the map) would revere and glorify His name. We are blessed to be living in the church age, to be living after the advent of the Messiah, so we can believe on Him. My ancestors were Gentiles, no doubt bowing to all sorts of heathen idols and living in all sorts of abominable depravity, but I have found redemption through the Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone can! He makes His invitation for redemption to every person on the face of the earth. We could not save ourselves, so the Lord accomplished a method of salvation for us through His own righteousness.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 160, Personal And National Sin

In yesterday's study we viewed some of the things that were preventing the people's prayers from being heard. Today we look at some of the results of those sins, of which they have not repented.

But since the people are persisting in sin, they are seeing no relief. They are stumbling and fumbling about like someone trying to find an exit in pitch darkness. "Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like people without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead." (Isaiah 59:10) When we give in to our own compulsions and go our own way, we can end up in a very dark place. But what happens when our lives are guided by the Lord? The Lord Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12) We don't have to stumble and fumble through life; we can have the guidance of the Lord.

A life not centered upon the Lord is unsatisfying. We can run to and fro and we can look here and there but nothing we try will satisfy the needs of our souls. The Lord compares the unsatisfied soul to the growls of a hungry bear or a bird in distress. "We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away." (Isaiah 59:11) It seems like nothing good is happening. Everywhere the wayward person looks, there is more bad news.

Why is no justice found? Why are people's rights being ignored? Why are enemies increasing on every side? Troubles have increased because sins have increased, as Isaiah confesses on behalf of the whole nation to the Lord. "For our offenses are many in Your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities: rebellion and treachery against the Lord, turning our backs on our God, inciting revolt and oppression, uttering lies our hearts have conceived. So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey." (Isaiah 59:12-15)

Isaiah sets an example for us to follow in prayer. Although Isaiah himself hasn't committed the specific sins listed above, since he loves the Lord and is faithful to Him, he is not a perfect man. He has committed some sins, as we all do, and he is also aware of the sins the citizens of his nation are committing. He lumps himself in together with all the people and with all the sins of the people. We can do the same in our prayers, praying for forgiveness for our own sins and praying for forgiveness for all the citizens of our nation. We are not perfect, for no one is, and although we may never have committed sins as grievous as some folks have, we have made our own mistakes. We should deal with our own mistakes first and then move on into praying for the whole nation, just as Isaiah did, and we can ask the Lord for mercy on all of us together.