Isaiah continues celebrating the coming age of the Messiah, when the Kingdom of Heaven, the Realm of the Spirit, shall be manifest among the people of Israel. That the leaders and teachers of Israel downplayed the spiritual elements and seized upon the literal meaning of some portions of this chapter helps explain why Jesus had such a struggle getting people to see what it was all about, and what boundless joy He offered.
So we begin with the passage Jesus Himself read on a particular Sabbath and taught it's meaning. The Messiah would come to those at the bottom of society because they would be the only ones with nothing to lose, and everything to gain, by embracing the other-worldly gospel of spiritual redemption. God's last and final vengeance on sin was at the Cross. Everything which follows is merely the extended realization of what that sacrifice purchased. Very few people in Jesus' day mourned their sins; very few felt the call of repentance when John the Baptist began preaching. Those few were the ones who were able to enter into the joy of eternal living.
It is they who would restore the name "Israel" to what it should have meant in this world. The ruins of her calling to bring revelation would be built up, to create the refuge of nations fleeing the wrath of God. This new Realm of Christ would draw strength and sustenance from people eager to present an offering to God, to include their very lives. Christ would open the door by His eternal sacrifice, and every living being could embrace His offering as their own answer to the desperation of sin. The only way any Israelis could partake is to embrace that same sacrifice for their own, as it was theirs first. Those who do would fully exemplify the priesthood to which Israel had first been called. Jews coming to Jesus have a double portion of His glory, and rightly so.
Since the Lord is Truth Himself, it stands to reason He hates falsehood. He is the standard of justice, and will not accept the offerings of a man's hands, but only the offering He gives Himself. Those who embrace His provision will partake a covenant which cannot be broken by anything a man can do or fail to do, because it will be rooted in God's own nature. Those who live that divine nature will become instantly recognizable the world over. Such people are filled with joy, clothed with God's gift of righteousness. The nature of the Lord growing out of His people is beyond words.
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By Ed Hurst
11 September 2009
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