Sketched VII Day 7 A Mother’s Heart: Digging Deeper
Digging Deeper Days
Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
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The Questions
Isaiah 61:1-11
The Spirit of the Lord God is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and freedom to the prisoners;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,
and the day of our God’s vengeance;
to comfort all who mourn,
3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion;
to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
festive oil instead of mourning,
and splendid clothes instead of despair.
And they will be called righteous trees,
planted by the Lord
to glorify him.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins;
they will restore the former devastations;
they will renew the ruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.
5 Strangers will stand and feed your flocks,
and foreigners will be your plowmen and vinedressers.
6 But you will be called the Lord’s priests;
they will speak of you as ministers of our God;
you will eat the wealth of the nations,
and you will boast in their riches.
7 In place of your shame, you will have a double portion;
in place of disgrace, they will rejoice over their share.
So they will possess double in their land,
and eternal joy will be theirs.
8 For I the Lord love justice;
I hate robbery and injustice;
I will faithfully reward my people
and make a permanent covenant with them.
9 Their descendants will be known among the nations,
and their posterity among the peoples.
All who see them will recognize
that they are a people the Lord has blessed.
10 I rejoice greatly in the Lord,
I exult in my God;
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation
and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness,
as a groom wears a turban
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth produces its growth,
and as a garden enables what is sown to spring up,
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
to spring up before all the nations.
Original Intent
1) What does the “year of the Lord’s favor” reference? (verse 2)
The prophet Isaiah is prophesying through the Spirit of the Lord. Remarkably, Isaiah gives testimony of a tremendous reality in verse 1, “The Spirit of the Lord God is on me…”! Throughout Scripture, the Lord always gives His Spirit for a specific purpose, and here Isaiah tells us that purpose, “because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news…” Often, a prophet of the Lord brought bad news of coming punishment, or hard to hear news as the prophet confronted sin and called for repentance, but this news was GOOD NEWS! These welcome tidings were the precursor for the coming “year of the Lord’s favor” which would be marked by healing, freedom, and comfort for the broken. Isaiah’s prophecy goes on by describing the recipients of the good news as being the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, prisoners, and all who mourn. This encompassed ALL of Israel. Isaiah’s prophecy foretells of two events that were yet to come in Israel’s future. Salvation through the coming of the Messiah would fulfill the prophecy “the year of the Lord’s favor”. The second, is one we are still waiting for today, “the day of our God’s vengeance”, which is the second coming of Christ when His righteous judgement will condemn those who rejected His offer of life to eternal death and condemnation. (2 Thessalonian 1:8-10) There is a saying that goes, “The Old Testament contains the New Testament concealed. The New Testament contains the Old Testament Revealed.” We see this evidenced in Luke 4:16-30 where Jesus read this prophecy from Isaiah in the Nazareth synagogue and boldly declared with all authority, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.” (Luke 4:21) The year of the Lord’s favor began with Christ’s physical presence on earth as He came to set the captives free and heal the brokenhearted!
2) What is the “day of our God’s vengeance”? (verse 2)
Verse 2 contrasts two futuristic events, “the year of the Lord’s favor” and “the day of our God’s vengeance”. The day of our God’s vengeance refers to a future, final, judgement while the year of the Lord’s favor is a time of grace (2 Corinthians 6:2), which happens first, while God graciously waits with patience for humanity to choose Him and come to Him in full surrender of their hearts and lives. (2 Peter 3:9) Note the contrasting time periods where “favor” lasts a “year”, but “vengeance” is but a “day”. This is meant as a literal 365 days or 24-hour span, but rather as a figure of speech depicting length. God is granting favor now! Today is the day of salvation! This is our opportunity to choose Christ! One day, the time period allotted by God for humanity to come to know Him through Jesus will be over and the Day of Vengeance will dawn. The prophet Malachi describes that day like this, “For look, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and everyone who commits wickedness will become stubble. The coming day will consume them,” says the Lord of Armies, “not leaving them root or branches.” (Malachi 4:1)
3) What is the Lord saying about those who mourn and are brokenhearted in this passage?
The persons benefiting from Isaiah’s message are described as poor, brokenhearted, captives, and prisoners. These descriptions could definitely be in a literal sense for the first audience who would soon be exiled to Babylon, but there are overtones of a deeper, spiritual meaning. “Poor” includes not only those who lack monetary funds (Psalm 72:12-14), but also those who are poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3), meaning utterly bankrupt with no means to gain salvation or access to God of our own ability. “Brokenhearted” depicts persons who mourn and grieve inconsolably without relief. While the coming Messiah would bring deep comfort to the brokenhearted who grieve, the fullest sense of comfort is evidenced by Christ’s satisfaction of our grief over sin and separation from God, which is precisely the comfort Christ came to bring by His sacrifice to bridge the gap between us and God. (Matthew 5:4) “Captives” or “prisoners” would have first meant physical, as in Israel’s coming exile to Babylon from which God would one day free them, but this reference was especially intended to describe all of humanity held captive to sin and death. (Romans 6:16-18) Christ came to bring freedom in His righteousness, which He will clothe us with when we trust Him. (Isaiah 61:10, 2 Corinthians 5:21)
Everyday Application
1) What does the “year of the Lord’s favor” reference? (verse 2)
Just as Isaiah the prophet was anointed through the Spirit of the Lord to deliver the good news, so are Christians today. Every believer has been indwelt by the Holy Spirit and has been commissioned to deliver the good news of Jesus and the salvation available through Christ’s work on the cross where He took our punishment for sin upon Himself on our behalf. This indwelling of the Holy Spirit can only happen if one is born again. (John 3:3-8) Today, despite the difficulties and pain of this world, the Bible tells us we are living in an extremely favorable time because Christ has already died, was buried, and rose from the grave. His return is soon, and in the meantime, we are favored with stewarding this gift of grace by telling others. (Ephesians 3:1-2) Salvation for eternity by God’s grace through faith is available to everyone who repents and believes in HIS atoning work on the cross. Once we receive the Good News for ourselves, we are no longer spiritually broken or held hostage as captives to shame and sin. We may continue to be physically broken or monetarily poor, but our spirits are free, no longer slaves to sin or condemnation because we belong to God who holds our eternal hope and freedom securely.
2) What is the “day of our God’s vengeance”? (verse 2)
We like to think and operate our lives from the Year of Favor. We feel it will all be okay in the end, or maybe we barely, if ever, spend time considering a day of judgement and vengeance from God. Surely, a loving God would never exact judgement, right? Sweet lies the enemy feeds us, but our God is a just and righteous God. One day when Christ returns, every one of us will stand before His throne awaiting His righteous, just judgement. Only those whose names are found written in the Lamb’s book of eternal life will have eternal life and enjoy peace with God. Those who have rejected Christ will face an eternity apart from the presence of God; the Bible calls this “hell” or “lake of fire”. (Revelation 20:12-15) The Lord’s vengeance will be carried out quickly, but the Lord’s favor is still available until He comes. However, His return is imminent and time is of importance, we must be ready for His return by choosing now while it is still called “today”. (Hebrews 3:12-13)
3) What is the Lord saying about those who mourn and are brokenhearted in this passage?
The psalmist sings, “The sacrifices of God are a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17) The very mention of words like “poverty, brokenness, and captive” may cause us to shudder, but the Christian knows spiritual brokenness is necessary for spiritual growth, as well as fruitfulness. Spiritual brokenness for a non-believer would be mourning without hope, despair, unrighteousness, shame, disgrace and ruin without HOPE FOREVER. A non-believer only puts their trust in the things of the world and their own abilities. Spiritual brokenness for the one who has placed the full weight of their trust on Christ, though they share the circumstantial experiences of the non-believer like sadness, loss, shame, disgrace, and difficulty, they are being renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16) because of Christ in them! Their hope is unshakeable (1 Peter 1:3-4) and their victory has already been won. (Romans 8:37-39) God can restore every heart, bringing life from the dead, hope to the broken, and setting captives free! In Isaiah 61:3 God promises to give those who mourn and are broken a “crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning, splendid clothes instead of despair, and they will be called righteous trees planted by the Lord to glorify HIM!” When we surrender our hearts and lives to Christ, His Spirit resides within us, making us new, changing us through His power to become more like Christ. What once was broken is now being healed and renewed. Where we once were slaves to sin, we are now freed to righteousness in following Christ! Casting Crowns sings it like this, “Living He Loved me, dying He saved me, buried He carried my sins far away, rising He justified, freeing forever, One day He is coming, OH GLORIOUS DAY!”
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Digging Deeper is for Everyone!
1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!
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Why Dig Deeper?
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Study Tools
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
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