Isaiah 61:4 - Meaning and Application

Promises here are made to the Jews who had returned from captivity and settled again in their own land. But these promises also reach the gospel church and all believers, who are delivered by grace from spiritual slavery. They can be applied in a spiritual way, because what God did for Israel pictures what he does for his people in Christ.

First, their houses are promised to be rebuilt, and their cities raised again from the ruins where they had long lain. They would rebuild the old wastes, repair the wasted cities, and restore the former desolations, even those that had stood empty for many generations. The spread of Christianity in the world repaired the decay of natural religion and lifted up those long-standing ruins of godliness and honesty that had shamed mankind for ages.

An unsanctified soul is like a city broken down with no walls, or like a house in ruins. But by the power of Christ’s gospel and grace, that soul is repaired, put in order again, and fitted to become a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Those who are set free from captivity are the ones who do this work, because we are brought out of bondage so that we may serve God, both by building ourselves up for his glory and by helping build up his church on earth.

Second, those who were lately servants themselves, working for oppressors and living at their mercy, would now have servants to do their work. These would not be their brothers, since all believers are the Lord’s freemen, but foreigners and outsiders, who would keep their sheep, till their ground, and care for their gardens, the common work of shepherds, farmers, and gardeners. This is the meaning of, “Strangers shall feed your flocks” (Isaiah 61:5).

When, by God’s grace, we become rightly detached from the affairs of this world, buying as though we do not fully possess what we buy, then the sons of the foreigner are our plowmen and vine dressers. Our hands may be busy with worldly things, but our hearts are not trapped by them. Instead, they remain fully given to God and his service.

Third, they would not only be released from captivity, but also highly honored and given holy work to do (Isaiah 61:6). While strangers are caring for your flocks, you will be keeping charge of the sanctuary. Instead of being slaves to taskmasters, you will be called the priests of the Lord, a high and holy calling. Priests were equals of princes, and in Hebrew they were called by the same word.

You will be the ministers of our God, as the Levites were. Those whom God sets free, he also sets to work. He delivers them from their enemies so they may serve him (Luke 1:74-75; Psalm 116:16). But his service is perfect freedom, and more than that, it is the greatest honor. When God brought Israel out of Egypt, he took them to be a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:6). The gospel church is also a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). All believers are made kings and priests to our God, and they should live like it in prayer and in all their conduct, with holiness to the Lord marked on them, so people may call them the priests of the Lord.

Fourth, the wealth and honor of Gentile converts will add to the good name and benefit of the church (Isaiah 61:6). The Gentiles will be brought into the church. Those who were strangers will become fellow citizens with the saints, and they will bring what they have with them to be devoted to God’s glory and used in his service. The priests, the Lord’s ministers, will gain from this. It is a great help, joy, and encouragement to all faithful Christians to see Gentiles serving the interests of God’s kingdom.

They shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, not riches seized by force, but riches fairly and freely given, like gifts brought to the altar, from which the priests and their families lived. The promise is not, “You shall hoard the riches of the Gentiles,” but, “You shall eat them.” That is because the best use of wealth is to use it well and do good with it.

They shall boast in their glory. Whatever honor Gentile converts had before conversion, such as noble rank, wealth, learning, virtue, or public office, will turn to the credit of the church they joined. Whatever glory they have after conversion, including holy zeal, strict living, usefulness, patient suffering, and every sign of the blessed change God’s grace has worked in them, will bring glory to God. For that reason, all good people will rejoice in it.

Fifth, they will have great comfort and satisfaction in their own hearts (Isaiah 61:7). The Jews no doubt enjoyed this after their return. They were in a new world, and they learned to value liberty and property, with pleasures that felt fresh and full again. Much more do all who are brought by Christ into the glorious freedom of God’s children rejoice, especially when the full blessings of adoption are completed in the resurrection of the body.

They shall rejoice in their portion. They will not only have their own again, but also, as another gift from God, the ability to enjoy it with gladness (Ecclesiastes 3:13). Even though the houses of the returned Jews, and their temple, were much less glorious than before the captivity, they would still be satisfied and thankful. It was their portion in their land, their own land, the holy land, Immanuel’s land, so they had reason to rejoice, especially after knowing what it meant to be strangers in a foreign land. Those who have God and heaven for their portion have every reason to say their portion is good and to rejoice in it.

Everlasting joy will be theirs, meaning a joyful condition that lasts a long time, much longer than the captivity did. Yet the joy of the Jewish nation was often dimmed, interrupted, and soon brought to an end, so this promise reaches its full meaning in the spiritual joy believers have in God and the eternal joy they hope for in heaven.

This will be a double reward, and more than double, for all the shame and trouble they suffered in the land of their captivity. “For your shame you shall have double honor, and in your land you shall possess double wealth” compared with what you lost. God’s blessing on it, and the comfort they will find in it, will more than make up for every loss they endured.

You shall be recognized not only as God’s children, but as his firstborn (Exodus 4:22), and so entitled to a double share. Their captivity was so bitter that Isaiah says they received double punishment for all their sins (Isaiah 40:2). In the same way, their return will be so joyful that they will receive double for all their shame. The first points to the full satisfaction Christ gave for our sins, where God received more than enough for them. The second points to the full joy of heaven, where we will receive more than enough for all our service and suffering.

Job’s life gives a picture of this. When God restored his fortunes, he gave Job twice as much as he had before. So God’s people may trust that their loss will not be the end of their story. He can restore far beyond what was taken away.

God will also be their faithful guide and remain in covenant with them, that is, in a binding promise relationship with them. “I will direct their work in truth” (Isaiah 61:8) means that God, in his providence, will arrange their affairs for the best according to his true word. He will lead them into true prosperity by true wisdom. By his grace, he will direct the works of good people into the right way, the way that leads to happiness, and he will help them do what is sincere and pleasing to him.

God desires truth in the inward parts. If we do our work honestly, he will make an everlasting covenant with us. For those who walk before him and are upright, he will surely be a God who is enough for every need. He does not merely call for outward religion, but for truthful hearts and honest lives.

These promises rest on God’s own character: “I the Lord love justice.” He loves justice among people, whether between rulers and subjects or between neighbors. Because he loves justice, he hates every kind of unfairness. When wrong is done to his people by oppressors, he is angry, not only because they are his people, but because the wrong itself goes against eternal fairness. If people do not do justice, he himself will do judgment, giving relief to the oppressed and punishing the wrongdoer.

God defends his people’s injured cause, not only because he cares for them, but because he cares for justice. The text adds that he hates robbery for burnt offerings. He hates dishonesty even among his own people, even when they claim to honor him with their sacrifices. He hates it even more when robbery is done against his people, and even more still when stolen goods are offered to idols. If he hates robbery when it is used to make offerings to himself, then he certainly hates it when it is used to cover greed and oppression.

This is a great honor to God’s truth: religious acts can never make up for breaking moral commands. No one can excuse theft by saying, “It was for an offering,” or “It is a gift.” To obey is better than sacrifice, and to do what is right and love mercy is better than thousands of rams. In fact, robbery is most hateful to God when it is covered with religious language, because it tries to make the righteous God look like he approves unrighteousness.

Some understand these words as a reason why the Jews were set aside when the Gentiles were brought in (Isaiah 61:6). The Jews had become corrupt in morals. They tithed mint and cumin, yet ignored justice and mercy (Matthew 23:23). God loves justice and requires it, and he hates both robbery for burnt offerings and burnt offerings for robbery, as in the case of the Pharisees who made long prayers while they devoured widows’ houses.

Others read the words this way: “I hate robbery done in wickedness,” meaning the plunder that God’s enemies had taken from his people. God hated that oppression, and he would call them to account for it.

God will also leave a blessing to their children after them (Isaiah 61:9). Their seed, meaning the children of these blessed people, or their descendants in faith, shall be counted to the Lord as a lasting generation (Psalm 22:30). They will show themselves openly, so that others notice them. They will be known among the nations by the seriousness, humility, cheerfulness, and brotherly love in their lives, by which all people will know them as Christ’s disciples.

As they stand out in this way, God will honor them. He will make them a blessing in their own time and a means of his glory. He will also give them clear signs of his favor, so they will become well known and respected. Children of godly parents should live in such a way that people can tell they belong to such families, seeing in them the fruit of good training and the answer to prayers offered for them. Then they may expect God to make them known, just as he promised that the generation of the upright will be blessed.

God will receive the glory for all of it. Everyone who sees them will notice so much of God’s grace and favor in them that they will say these are the seed whom the Lord has blessed and continues to bless. That is what it means to be blessed by God. Whatever good appears in anyone should be recognized as the fruit of God’s blessing, and God must be honored for it.