And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your ploughmen and your vinedressers.
Isaiah 61 opens with the words Jesus read aloud in the synagogue at Nazareth. By verse 5 the prophet has moved far past anything the world has yet seen: foreigners tending Israel's flocks and working their fields and vines. When does this happen? And why would God set up a world where the other nations serve one?
Verse 5 sits beyond the point where the Lord stopped reading from this chapter. That break sets the timing for everything after it.
The prophets, who do not speak of the times of the Gentiles as Daniel does, pass over the present age altogether and connect Christ's second coming to earth with His first... The prophet adds, "and the day of vengeance of our God." Christ did not read this, though it stands in the same sentence. He stopped in the middle of the sentence, after reading as far as "to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." "He rolled up the scroll … and sat down," because the rest of the prophecy reached beyond the time they were in then, and that we are still in, to a time yet to come — the time of vengeance of the Lord.
Isaiah says your flocks, your plowmen — as if speaking to the people standing in front of him. But the promise reaches far past his own listeners.
So Isaiah says, "Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks; foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers. But you shall be named the Priests of the Lord." (Isa. 61:5-6.) Everybody knows this does not mean the Jews of Isaiah's day, but far-off generations, and yet nobody finds any difficulty in the prophet's writing in the second person.
A people once despised and persecuted are here on the receiving end of other people's work. One writer lists this among the changes that day will bring.
Even in that day creation will be set free from its present groans and bondage. The church will share Christ's glory above and over all things. Israel will own the crucified but all the more exalted Messiah, the Son of man and Heir of all things. Then kings here below will be like fathers to the Jew, never again despised or persecuted, and queens like mothers. Strangers will build up Zion's walls, and their kings will serve in that day. Foreigners will be their plowmen and vinedressers.
The service in verse 5 is not an end in itself. It clears the way for the calling named in the next verse.
The land will be renewed, the ruined cities built up again, and strangers who once despised them will become their servants. But the crown of it all will be their spiritual blessing. They will be the "Priests of Jehovah" and "Ministers of God" in the coming age. Under the law the offerings of the people supported the priests, and so it will be for them, in abundant measure, for they are going to "eat the riches of the Gentiles." In that day even the Gentiles will have abundance, and out of their riches will flow abundance to the priestly nation.
God offered that title at Sinai:
At Sinai He said, "If you will obey My voice … you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests" (Ex. 19:6). This has never yet been realised. In Hosea 4:6 we hear the voice of Israel's indignant God, "I will reject you, that you shall be no priest to Me." But in the day of kingdom-glory, "you shall be named the priests of Jehovah: men shall call you the ministers of our God" (Isa. 61:6).
Verse 5 sets the nations in an order. That is not the truth Christians live under today.
In the kingdom of Christ, the Gentiles are to be subject to Israel; they are to hold a subordinate or inferior place. This is important, for in the present age the great truth is that "in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, Barbarian nor Scythian, bond nor free." For proof that it will not be so in the kingdom of Christ, as foretold in the Old Testament, see among others Isa. 61:5-9 and Zech. 8:22-23.
The reason is a design, not a grudge:
The Divine plan for the coming age of Christ's kingdom is that Israel will be the central nation, surrounding His glorious temple, as a nation of priests. The other nations will stand around them, expressing through them their submission and devotion to the King of kings... It will be the age of Divine government. We live at present in the age of grace.
- Grace first. The chapter runs from Christ's first coming to His second. Verse 5 lies past the sentence He left unfinished at Nazareth, in the day still to come.
- Reversal next. Kings will care for the people once despised like fathers. Foreigners will tend their flocks, fields and vines.
- Freedom follows. With others doing the field work, Israel is free for the title offered at Sinai and never yet taken up: priests of the Lord.
- Overflow after that. Priests once lived from the people's offerings. In the same way this nation will eat the riches of the nations — and those nations will have plenty too.
- Order, not oppression. In that age Israel stands at the centre, with the other nations around them. Today is different: in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek.
But as for you, ye shall be called priests of Jehovah; it shall be said of you Ministers of our God. Ye shall eat the wealth of the nations, and into their glory shall ye enter.
Isaiah 61 promises comfort to a mourning people, and verse 6 names their highest honour: a whole nation called priests of the LORD. But when does this happen, who is meant, and how does a nation that failed ever come to wear that title?
The wording reaches back to a promise God made at Sinai, on condition of obedience. One writer traces that promise, its collapse, and its recovery.
Israel will in that day, compared with other nations, stand in priestly nearness to God. At Sinai He said, "If you will indeed obey my voice … you shall be to me a kingdom of priests" (Ex. 19:6). This has never yet happened. In Hosea 4:6 we hear the voice of Israel's angry God, "I reject you from being a priest to me." But in the day of kingdom glory, "you shall be called the priests of the LORD; they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God" (Isa. 61:6). The knowledge of God and His great salvation will spread everywhere.
So the fulfilment cannot rest on Israel's record. One writer explains why the failure did not cancel the plan — and why the new footing holds.
This was the original intention of God, as we see if we turn to Exodus 19:6. Had Israel kept the law God gave through Moses at Sinai, they would have been "a kingdom of priests." They broke the law, so this they never were. But the purpose of God is never defeated. So here we learn that what failed then is achieved at last, as the fruit of the mercy of God. … If it had come about on a legal basis, some later breaking of the law would put the whole position at risk. Standing on the basis of mercy, it is permanent — as stable as the new heavens and new earth of the coming age.
Under the law only Aaron's descendants served at the altar. The promise as worded here appears to widen far past that circle.
In that future age the restored remnant of Israel will have an honoured place. What Israel forfeited through faithlessness will be restored on the ground of grace. They shall then "be named the Priests of the LORD … the Ministers of our God" (Isa. 61:6). This, it seems, will be true of the whole people, and not only of the house of Aaron.
How will a whole nation live on the wealth of others? Under the law, priests already lived that way.
They will be the "priests of the LORD" and "ministers of our God" in the coming age. Under the law the offerings of ordinary people supported the priests, and so it will be for them — and in abundant measure, for they are going to "eat the wealth of the nations." In that day even the nations will have plenty, and out of their riches will flow abundance to the priestly nation.
The verse keeps two parties in view: a priestly people, and the nations whose wealth and glory they share. One writer sets that beside the order of things now.
In Isaiah 61:6, Israel are to be "called the priests of the LORD," and men shall speak of them as "the ministers of our God." Then they shall "eat the wealth of the nations" and boast in their glory. … Everywhere it is the same Israel and the nations in their own places, in most telling contrast with what the apostle insists on as marking the present order of things.
Is this the same priesthood the Christian has now? One writer sets the two places side by side.
Ezekiel 44 and other passages make it clear that Israel will one day have an earthly priesthood, as well as being a priestly nation compared with the nations then to be blessed. But our position is heavenly, even while we are on earth: for we are Christ's body, and that will not be their relationship in that day.
- Offered — At Sinai God offered Israel "a kingdom of priests," on condition of obedience.
- Forfeited — Israel broke the law, and Hosea records God rejecting them from priesthood. This verse promises the very thing they lost.
- Restored — God's purpose never fails. The title returns as the fruit of mercy — a footing that cannot break — and it seems to cover the whole people, not only Aaron's family.
- Supplied — Priests once lived on the offerings of the people. This priestly nation will live on the wealth flowing in from the nations.
- Distinguished — Israel and the nations stay distinct in that day. Their priesthood then is an earthly one, unlike the heavenly place that belongs to Christ's body now.
Instead of your shame [ye shall have] double; instead of confusion they shall celebrate with joy their portion therefore in their land they shall possess the double; everlasting joy shall be unto them.
God speaks here to a people who have carried public disgrace for generations. He promises that their reward will match the exact measure of their shame. Three questions follow: what is this "double," when does it come, and how can shame turn into joy?
The Lord Jesus read the opening of this chapter aloud and applied it to Himself. He stopped partway through verse 2. What follows that break belongs to a later moment.
Luke 4 tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ applied the opening verses to Himself... But our Lord did not quote the whole of verse 2. He only read up to "the acceptable year of the Lord." That sentence marks the work He did at His first coming. His second coming brings the day of vengeance. The verses that follow describe the results of His second coming.
The disgrace will not simply fade. God will reverse it.
Verse 7 speaks of shame and confusion. These things have been their portion under the strong hand of their God. He governed them in holiness because of their many sins. But now all of it is to be reversed.
The reversal reaches to those who caused the shame as well as to those who bore it.
The shame of God's servants will be taken away. Their enemies will certainly be put to lasting disgrace. This comes after the downfall of their pride, and after all the painful discipline that the people of Israel will pass through.
How much is a "double portion"? One writer names what is doubled.
The Lord will repay double — double in comfort and blessing compared with what they have suffered. (See Isaiah 40:1-2.)
Two things stand together here. God did discipline His people. Yet their suffering does not buy the blessing that follows.
By sovereign grace they will "be saved out of it," and they will look on Him whom they pierced... And the answer will be: "Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins." Yet without Christ's cross it would all have been in vain. On Him the LORD laid the iniquity of all who believe. But this does not stop the LORD from also governing His people, so that they may learn His ways of faithfulness.
This verse promises joy without end. The next verse gives the ground it stands on.
Other passages have shown us that their whole spiritual condition will be reversed under "the everlasting covenant," which verse 8 speaks of. The everlasting joy promised in verse 7 rests on that everlasting covenant. Everyone will have to admit that they are now a born again people, "an offspring the LORD has blessed."
The verse says where this portion is held: "in their land." One writer describes the kingdom it belongs to.
It will be a literal kingdom, with its centre in Jerusalem or Zion... This kingdom will reach out to the nations. They will be subject to Israel (Isaiah 61:5–9).
That kingdom also gives the whole nation a priestly place, not just one family.
God will restore on the ground of grace what Israel lost through unfaithfulness. They will then "be called the priests of the LORD … the ministers of our God" (Isaiah 61:6). This, it seems, will be true of the whole people, and not only of the family of Aaron.
- Double received — God's hand first gave Jerusalem double for her sins. The discipline was real and measured.
- Double returned — the same measure comes back as comfort and blessing, matched to what they suffered.
- Double secured — none of it stands without the cross. There the LORD laid on Christ the iniquity of all who believe.
- Double held — the portion is theirs in their own land. It is a real kingdom centred on Zion, with the nations serving them.
- Double lasting — an everlasting covenant holds up an everlasting joy. The shame is not just over. God has reversed it for good.
For I, Jehovah, love judgment, I hate robbery with wrong; and I will give their recompence in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
Isaiah 61 looks past Christ's first coming to the full restoration of Israel. At verse 8 God gives the reason it will all happen: not something in the people, but what He Himself loves and hates, and a covenant He makes.
Verse 7 has just spoken of shame and confusion; verse 8 answers it with a covenant. One writer traces how this settles the whole reversal:
This is a remarkable prophecy. It shows the end God is going to reach in His dealings with His earthly people. Verse 7 speaks of shame and confusion. These things have been their lot under the strong hand of their God, in holy government because of their many sins. But now God will turn it all around. Other passages have shown us how "the everlasting covenant" of verse 8 will have turned their whole spiritual condition around. The everlasting joy predicted in verse 7 rests on that everlasting covenant. All will have to acknowledge that now, as a born again people, they are "the seed which the Lord has blessed."
Notice the order. The joy is not the foundation; the covenant is.
The two halves of the opening line belong together. One writer turns them on the person who gives:
We must give what is our own. "To deal your bread to the hungry" — it must be bread of your own, "For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering."
The older translation reads "robbery for burnt offering." The ESV reads, "I hate robbery and wrong." Either way the point stands: an offering never cleans up how you got it.
If God loves justice, how can He bind Himself to a people who rejected His Christ? Writers answer that the everlasting covenant is not an agreement between equals:
This could only become true out of pure grace and mercy… A verse in Isaiah 55 links the sure mercies promised to David with the new covenant. It is a covenant of pure grace. God takes all the obligations and Israel receives all the blessing. This covenant rests on one foundation only: the shedding of the blood of Christ.
That is why the promise can be called everlasting. Another writer shows where its security lies:
How secure, how stable, how sure everything must be in Him. The Letter to the Hebrews calls Him "the Surety" of the new covenant. His precious blood is "the blood of the everlasting covenant." It calls Him "the Mediator" of the new covenant. But in Isaiah, He Himself is the Covenant. So the covenant must be, like Himself, unfailing and perfect… Everything depends upon Him, not upon us. God forgives because of Him, and will remember the believer's sins no more. This will be Israel's blessing too, when they turn to the Lord and come into the covenant.
One writer places the chapter's two halves in the Lord's two comings:
The prophet here sees that the second coming of Christ, in power and glory and in judgment, must happen. The glorious state of things he predicts will never arrive till Christ comes again. Christ laid the foundations for it in the redemption He accomplished at His first coming. He will bring it to pass in power, and with vengeance, at His second coming.
The covenant of verse 8 flows into the promise about their descendants in verse 9. One writer takes it as a real future event on earth:
Here, beyond dispute, we have the literal fulfilment of the promises to Abraham and his seed. But the terms of the prophecy, like the terms of the original covenant, cannot be squared with the idea that Jews and Gentiles receive identical blessings, with every difference between them wiped out. The nations of the earth may gain great privileges from these promises. Even so, a clear and blessed superiority belongs to Israel as a right that cannot be taken away… All this agrees perfectly with the covenant made with Abraham, whose fulfilment in any strict sense is still future.
- Because — the verse opens with a reason. God acts for Israel not because they deserve it, but because of what He loves: justice.
- Hates — He refuses an offering built on robbery. What you give must first be your own.
- Gives — the covenant is pure grace. God takes all the obligations, the people receive all the blessing, and the blood of Christ is its one foundation.
- Holds — it cannot fail, because Christ Himself is the Covenant. Everything depends on Him, not on us.
- Shows — the outcome is public. When Christ comes again, their shame turns into everlasting joy, and the nations acknowledge them as the seed the Lord has blessed.
And their seed shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are a seed that Jehovah hath blessed.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.