mh_parser/vol_split/23 - Isaiah/Chapter 61.xml

<div2 id="Is.lxii" n="lxii" next="Is.lxiii" prev="Is.lxi" progress="24.18%" title="Chapter LXI">
<h2 id="Is.lxii-p0.1">I S A I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Is.lxii-p0.2">CHAP. LXI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Is.lxii-p1" shownumber="no">In this chapter, I. We are sure to find the grace
of Christ, published by himself to a lost world in the everlasting
gospel, under the type and figure of Isaiah's province, which was
to foretel the deliverance of the Jews out of Babylon, <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.1-Isa.61.3" parsed="|Isa|61|1|61|3" passage="Isa 61:1-3">ver. 1-3</scripRef>. II. We think we find the
glories of the church of Christ, its spiritual glories, described
under the type and figure of the Jews' prosperity after their
return out of their captivity. 1. It is promised that they decays
of the church shall be repaired, <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.4" parsed="|Isa|61|4|0|0" passage="Isa 61:4">ver.
4</scripRef>. 2. That those from without shall be made serviceable
to the church, <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.5" parsed="|Isa|61|5|0|0" passage="Isa 61:5">ver. 5</scripRef>. 3.
That the church shall be a royal priesthood, maintained by the
riches of the Gentiles, <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.6" parsed="|Isa|61|6|0|0" passage="Isa 61:6">ver.
6</scripRef>. 4. That she shall have honour and joy in lieu of all
her shame and sorrow, <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.7" parsed="|Isa|61|7|0|0" passage="Isa 61:7">ver.
7</scripRef>. 5. That her affairs shall prosper, <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.8" parsed="|Isa|61|8|0|0" passage="Isa 61:8">ver. 8</scripRef>. 6. That prosperity shall enjoy these
blessings, <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.9" parsed="|Isa|61|9|0|0" passage="Isa 61:9">ver. 9</scripRef>. 7. That
righteousness and salvation shall be the eternal matter of the
church's rejoicing and thanksgiving, <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.10-Isa.61.11" parsed="|Isa|61|10|61|11" passage="Isa 61:10,11">ver. 10, 11</scripRef>. If the Jewish church was
ever thus blessed, much more shall the Christian church be so, and
all that belong to it.</p>
<scripCom id="Is.lxii-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61" parsed="|Isa|61|0|0|0" passage="Isa 61" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Is.lxii-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.1-Isa.61.3" parsed="|Isa|61|1|61|3" passage="Isa 61:1-3" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.lxii-p1.11">
<h4 id="Is.lxii-p1.12">The Office of the Messiah. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lxii-p1.13">b. c.</span> 706.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.lxii-p2" shownumber="no">1 The Spirit of the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lxii-p2.1">God</span> <i>is</i> upon me; because the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lxii-p2.2">Lord</span> hath anointed me to preach good tidings
unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to
proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to
<i>them that are</i> bound;   2 To proclaim the acceptable
year of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lxii-p2.3">Lord</span>, and the day of
vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;   3 To
appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for
ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the
spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of
righteousness, the planting of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lxii-p2.4">Lord</span>, that he might be glorified.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxii-p3" shownumber="no">He that is the best expositor of scripture
has no doubt given us the best exposition of these verses, even our
Lord Jesus himself, who read this in the synagogue at Nazareth
(perhaps it was the lesson for the day) and applied it entirely to
himself, saying, <i>This day is this scripture fulfilled in your
ears</i> (<scripRef id="Is.lxii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.4.17-Luke.4.18 Bible:Luke.4.21" parsed="|Luke|4|17|4|18;|Luke|4|21|0|0" passage="Lu 4:17,18,21">Luke iv. 17, 18,
21</scripRef>); and the gracious words which proceeded out of his
mouth, in the opening of this text, were admired by all that heard
them. As Isaiah was authorized and directed to proclaim liberty to
the Jews in Babylon, so was Christ, God's messenger, to publish a
more joyful jubilee to a lost world. And here we are told,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxii-p4" shownumber="no">I. How he was fitted and qualified for this
work: <i>The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.1" parsed="|Isa|61|1|0|0" passage="Isa 61:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. The prophets had the
Spirit of God moving them at times, both instructing them what to
say and exciting them to say it. Christ had the Spirit always
resting on him without measure; but to the same intent that the
prophets had, as a Spirit of counsel and a Spirit of courage,
<scripRef id="Is.lxii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.11.1-Isa.11.3" parsed="|Isa|11|1|11|3" passage="Isa 11:1-3"><i>ch.</i> xi. 1-3</scripRef>. When
he entered upon the execution of his prophetical office the Spirit,
as a dove, <i>descended upon him,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.3.16" parsed="|Matt|3|16|0|0" passage="Mt 3:16">Matt. iii. 16</scripRef>. This Spirit which was upon him
he communicated to those whom he sent to proclaim the same glad
tidings, saying to them, when he gave them their commission,
<i>Receive you the Holy Ghost,</i> thereby ratifying it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxii-p5" shownumber="no">II. How he was appointed and ordained to
it: <i>The Spirit of God is upon me, because the Lord God has
anointed me.</i> What service God called him to he furnished him
for; <i>therefore</i> he gave him his Spirit, because he had by a
sacred and solemn unction set him apart to this great office, as
kings and priests were of old destined to their offices by
anointing. Hence the Redeemer was called the <i>Messiah,</i> the
<i>Christ,</i> because he was <i>anointed with the oil of gladness
above his fellows. He has sent me;</i> our Lord Jesus did not go
unsent; he had a commission from him that is the fountain of power;
<i>the Father sent him</i> and <i>gave him commandment.</i> This is
a great satisfaction to us, that, whatever Christ said, he had a
warrant from heaven for; his doctrine was not his, but his that
sent him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxii-p6" shownumber="no">III. What the work was to which he was
appointed and ordained.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxii-p7" shownumber="no">1. He was to be a preacher, was to execute
the office of a prophet. So well pleased was he with the good-will
God showed towards men through him that he would himself be the
preacher of it, that an honour might thereby be put upon the
ministry of the gospel and the faith of the saints might be
confirmed and encouraged. He must preach <i>good tidings</i> (so
<i>gospel</i> signified) <i>to the meek,</i> to the penitent, and
humble, and poor in spirit; to them the tidings of a Redeemer will
be indeed good tidings, pure gospel, <i>faithful sayings, and
worthy of all acceptation.</i> The poor are commonly best disposed
to receive the gospel (<scripRef id="Is.lxii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Jas.2.5" parsed="|Jas|2|5|0|0" passage="Jam 2:5">Jam. ii.
5</scripRef>), and it is likely to profit us when it is received
with meekness, as it ought to be; to such Christ preached good
tidings when he said, <i>Blessed are the meek.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxii-p8" shownumber="no">2. He was to be a healer. He was sent to
<i>bind up the broken-hearted,</i> as pained limbs are rolled to
give them ease, as broken bones and bleeding wounds are bound up,
that they may knit and close again. Those whose hearts are broken
for sin, who are truly humbled under the sense of guilt and dread
of wrath, are furnished in the gospel of Christ with that which
will make them easy and silence their fears. Those only who have
experienced the pains of a penitential contrition may expect the
pleasure of divine cordials and consolations.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxii-p9" shownumber="no">3. He was to be a deliverer. He was sent as
a prophet to preach, as a priest to heal, and as a king to issue
out proclamations and those of two kinds:—(1.) Proclamations of
peace to his friends: He shall <i>proclaim liberty to the
captives</i> (as Cyrus did to the Jews in captivity) and the
<i>opening of the prison to those that were bound.</i> Whereas, by
the guilt of sin, we are bound over to the justice of God, are his
lawful captives, sold for sin till payment be made of that great
debt, Christ lets us know that he has made satisfaction to divine
justice for that debt, that his satisfaction is accepted, and if we
will plead that, and depend upon it, and make over ourselves and
all we have to him, in a grateful sense of the kindness he has done
us, we may by faith sue out our pardon and take the comfort of it;
there is, and shall be, <i>no condemnation to us.</i> And whereas,
by the dominion of sin in us, we are bound under the power of
Satan, sold under sin, Christ lets us know that he has conquered
Satan, has <i>destroyed him that had the power of death and his
works,</i> and provided for us grace sufficient to enable us to
shake off the yoke of sin and to loose ourselves from <i>those
bands of our neck. The Son</i> is ready by his Spirit to <i>make us
free;</i> and then we shall be <i>free indeed,</i> not only
discharged from the miseries of captivity, but advanced to all the
immunities and dignities of citizens. This is the gospel
proclamation, and it is like the blowing of the jubilee-trumpet,
which proclaimed the great year of release (<scripRef id="Is.lxii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.25.9 Bible:Lev.25.40" parsed="|Lev|25|9|0|0;|Lev|25|40|0|0" passage="Le 25:9,40">Lev. xxv. 9, 40</scripRef>), in allusion to which it
is here called <i>the acceptable year of the Lord,</i> the time of
our acceptance with God, which is the origin of our liberties; or
it is called the <i>year of the Lord</i> because it publishes his
free grace, to his own glory, and an <i>acceptable year</i> because
it brings glad tidings to us, and what cannot but be very
acceptable to those who know the capacities and necessities of
their own souls. (2.) Proclamations of war against his enemies.
Christ proclaims <i>the day of vengeance of our God,</i> the
vengeance he takes, [1.] On sin and Satan, death and hell, and all
the powers of darkness, that were to be destroyed in order to our
deliverances; these Christ triumphed over in his cross, having
spoiled and weakened them, shamed them, and <i>made a show of them
openly,</i> therein taking vengeance on them for all the injury
they had done both to God and man, <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Col.2.15" parsed="|Col|2|15|0|0" passage="Col 2:15">Col. ii. 15</scripRef>. [2.] On those of the children of
men that stand it out against those fair offers. They shall not
only be left, as they deserve, in their captivity, but be dealt
with as enemies; we have the gospel summed up, <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Mark.16.16" parsed="|Mark|16|16|0|0" passage="Mk 16:16">Mark xvi. 16</scripRef>, where that part of it, <i>He
that believes shall be saved,</i> proclaims <i>the acceptable year
of the Lord</i> to those that will accept of it; but the other
part, <i>He that believes not shall be damned,</i> proclaims <i>the
day of vengeance of our God,</i> that vengeance which he will take
on those that <i>obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:2Thess.1.8" parsed="|2Thess|1|8|0|0" passage="2Th 1:8">2 Thess. i. 8</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxii-p10" shownumber="no">4. He was to be a comforter, and so he is
as preacher, healer, and deliverer; he is sent to <i>comfort all
who mourn,</i> and who, mourning, seek to him, and not to the
world, for comfort. Christ not only provides comfort for them, and
proclaims it, but he applies it to them; he does by his Spirit
comfort them. There is enough in him to <i>comfort all who
mourn,</i> whatever their sore or sorrow is; but this comfort is
sure to those who <i>mourn in Zion,</i> who sorrow <i>after a godly
sort,</i> according to God, for his residence is in Zion,—who
<i>mourn because of Zion's</i> calamities and desolations, and
mingle their tears by a holy sympathy with those of all God's
suffering people, though they themselves are not in trouble; such
tears God has <i>a bottle</i> for (<scripRef id="Is.lxii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.56.8" parsed="|Ps|56|8|0|0" passage="Ps 56:8">Ps.
lvi. 8</scripRef>), such mourners he has comfort in store for. As
<i>blessings out of Zion</i> are spiritual blessings, so
<i>mourners in Zion</i> are holy mourners, such as carry their
sorrows to the throne of grace (for in Zion was the mercy-seat) and
pour them out as Hannah did before the Lord. To such as these
Christ has appointed by his gospel, and will give by his Spirit
(<scripRef id="Is.lxii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.3" parsed="|Isa|61|3|0|0" passage="Isa 61:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), those
consolations which will not only support them under their sorrows,
but turn them into songs of praise. He will give them, (1.)
<i>Beauty for ashes.</i> Whereas they lay in ashes, as was usual in
times of great mourning, they shall not only be raised out of their
dust, but made to look pleasant. Note, The holy cheerfulness of
Christians is their beauty and a great ornament to their
profession. Here is an elegant <i>paronomasia</i> in the original:
He will give them <i>pheer—beauty,</i> for <i>epher—ashes;</i> he
will turn their sorrow into joy as quickly and as easily as you can
transpose a letter; for he speaks, and it is done. (2.) <i>The oil
of joy,</i> which <i>make the face to shine,</i> instead of
<i>mourning,</i> which <i>disfigures the countenance</i> and makes
it unlovely. this <i>oil of joy</i> the saints have from that
<i>oil of gladness</i> with which Christ himself was <i>anointed
above his fellows,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Heb.1.9" parsed="|Heb|1|9|0|0" passage="Heb 1:9">Heb. i.
9</scripRef>. (3.) <i>The garments of praise,</i> such beautiful
garments as were worn on thanksgiving-days, instead of the
<i>spirit of heaviness, dimness,</i> or <i>contraction</i>—open
joys for secret mournings. The <i>spirit of heaviness</i> they keep
to themselves (Zion's mourners <i>weep in secret</i>); but the joy
they are recompensed with they are clothed with as with a garment
in the eye of others. Observe, Where God gives the oil of joy he
gives the garment of praise. Those comforts which come from God
dispose the heart to, and enlarge the heart in, thanksgivings to
God. Whatever we have the joy of God must have the praise and glory
of.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxii-p11" shownumber="no">5. He was to be a planter; for the church
is God's husbandry. <i>Therefore</i> he will do all this for his
people, will cure their wounds, release them out of bondage, and
comfort them in their sorrows, <i>that they may be called trees of
righteousness, the planting of the Lord,</i> that they may be such
and be acknowledged to be such, that they may be ornaments to God's
vineyard and may be <i>fruitful in the fruits of righteousness,</i>
as the branches of <i>God's planting,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.60.21" parsed="|Isa|60|21|0|0" passage="Isa 60:21"><i>ch.</i> lx. 21</scripRef>. All that Christ does for
us is to make us God's people, and some way serviceable to him as
living trees, <i>planted in the house of the Lord,</i> and
<i>flourishing in the courts of our God;</i> and all this <i>that
he may be glorified</i>—that we may be brought to glorify him by a
sincere devotion and an exemplary conversation (for <i>herein is
our Father glorified, that we bring forth much fruit</i>), that
others also may take occasion from God's favour shining on his
people, and his grace shining in them, to praise him, and that he
may be for ever <i>glorified in his saints.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Is.lxii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.4-Isa.61.9" parsed="|Isa|61|4|61|9" passage="Isa 61:4-9" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.lxii-p11.3">
<h4 id="Is.lxii-p11.4">The Office of the Messiah; The Prosperity of
the Church. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lxii-p11.5">b. c.</span> 706.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.lxii-p12" shownumber="no">4 And they shall build the old wastes, they
shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the
waste cities, the desolations of many generations.   5 And
strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the
alien <i>shall be</i> your ploughmen and your vinedressers.  
6 But ye shall be named the Priests of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lxii-p12.1">Lord</span>: <i>men</i> shall call you the Ministers of
our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their
glory shall ye boast yourselves.   7 For your shame <i>ye
shall have</i> double; and <i>for</i> confusion they shall rejoice
in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the
double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.   8 For I the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lxii-p12.2">Lord</span> love judgment, I hate robbery
for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I
will make an everlasting covenant with them.   9 And their
seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among
the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they
<i>are</i> the seed <i>which</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lxii-p12.3">Lord</span> hath blessed.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxii-p13" shownumber="no">Promises are here made to the Jews now
returned out of captivity, and settled again in their own land,
which are to be extended to the gospel church, and all believers,
who through grace are delivered out of spiritual thraldom; for they
are capable of being spiritually applied.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxii-p14" shownumber="no">I. It is promised that their houses shall
be rebuilt (<scripRef id="Is.lxii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.4" parsed="|Isa|61|4|0|0" passage="Isa 61:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>),
that their cities shall be raised out of the ruins in which they
had long lain, and be fitted up for their use again: <i>They shall
build the old wastes;</i> the <i>old wastes</i> shall be built, the
<i>waste cities shall be repaired,</i> the <i>former
desolations,</i> even <i>the desolations of many generations,</i>
which it was feared would never be repaired, shall be <i>raised
up.</i> The setting up of Christianity in the world repaired the
decays of natural religion and raised up those desolations both of
piety and honesty which had been for many generations the reproach
of mankind. An unsanctified soul is like a city that is broken down
and has no walls, like a house in ruins; but by the power of
Christ's gospel and grace it is repaired, it is put in order again,
and fitted to be a habitation of God through the Spirit. And
<i>they</i> shall do this, those that are released out of
captivity; for we are brought out of the house of bondage that we
may serve God, both in building up ourselves to his glory and in
helping to build up his church on earth.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxii-p15" shownumber="no">II. Those that were so lately servants
themselves, working for their oppressors and lying at their mercy,
shall now have servants to do their work for them and be at their
command, not of their brethren (they are all the Lord's freemen),
but of <i>the strangers, and the sons of the alien,</i> who shall
<i>keep their sheep, till their ground,</i> and <i>dress their
gardens,</i> the ancient employments of Abel, Cain, and Adam:
<i>Strangers shall feed your flocks,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.5" parsed="|Isa|61|5|0|0" passage="Isa 61:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. When, by the grace of God, we
attain to a holy indifference as to all the affairs of this world,
<i>buying as though we possessed not</i>—when, though our hands
are employed about them, our hearts are not entangled with them,
but reserved entire for God and his service—then <i>the sons of
the alien are our ploughmen and vine-dressers.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxii-p16" shownumber="no">III. They shall not only be released out of
their captivity, but highly preferred and honourably employed
(<scripRef id="Is.lxii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.6" parsed="|Isa|61|6|0|0" passage="Isa 61:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): "While the
strangers are <i>keeping your flocks,</i> you shall be keeping
<i>the charge of the sanctuary;</i> instead of being slaves to your
task-masters, <i>you shall be named the priests of the Lord,</i> a
high and holy calling." Priests were princes' peers, and in Hebrew
were called by the same name. You <i>shall be the ministers of our
God,</i> as the Levites were. Note, Those whom God sets at liberty
he sets to work; he <i>delivers them out of the hands of their
enemies</i> that they may <i>serve him,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.1.74-Luke.1.75 Bible:Ps.116.16" parsed="|Luke|1|74|1|75;|Ps|116|16|0|0" passage="Lu 1:74,75,Ps 116:16">Luke i. 74, 75; Ps. cxvi. 16</scripRef>. But
his service is perfect freedom, nay, it is the greatest honour.
When God brought Israel out of Egypt he took them to be to him a
<i>kingdom of priests,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.19.6" parsed="|Exod|19|6|0|0" passage="Ex 19:6">Exod. xix.
6</scripRef>. And the gospel church is a <i>royal priesthood,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.lxii-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.2.9" parsed="|1Pet|2|9|0|0" passage="1Pe 2:9">1 Pet. ii. 9</scripRef>. All believers
are made to our God kings and priests; and they ought to conduct
themselves as such in their devotions and in their whole
conversation, with <i>holiness to the Lord</i> written upon their
foreheads, that men may <i>call them the priests of the
Lord.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxii-p17" shownumber="no">IV. The wealth and honour of the Gentile
converts shall redound to the benefit and credit of the church,
<scripRef id="Is.lxii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.6" parsed="|Isa|61|6|0|0" passage="Isa 61:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. <i>The
Gentiles</i> shall be brought into the church. Those that were
strangers shall become <i>fellow-citizens with the saints;</i> and
with themselves they shall bring all they have, to be devoted to
the glory of God and used in his service; and the priests, the
Lord's ministers, shall have the advantage of it. It will be a
great strengthening and quickening, as well as a comfort and
encouragement, to all good Christians, to see the Gentiles serving
the interests of God's kingdom. 1. They shall <i>eat the riches of
the Gentiles,</i> not which they have themselves seized by
violence, but which are fairly and honourably presented to them, as
<i>gifts brought to the altar,</i> which the priests and their
families lived comfortably upon. It is not said, "You shall
<i>hoard the riches of the Gentiles,</i> and treasure them," but,
"You shall <i>eat them;</i>" for there is nothing better in riches
than to use them and to do good with them. 2. They shall <i>boast
themselves in their glory.</i> Whatever was the honour of the
Gentiles converts before their conversion—their nobility, estates,
learning, virtue, or places of trust and power—it shall all turn
to the reputation of the church to which they have joined
themselves; and whatever is their glory after their
conversion—their holy zeal and strictness of conversation, their
usefulness, their patient suffering, and all the displays of that
blessed change which divine grace has made in them—shall be very
much for the glory of God and therefore all good men shall glory in
it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxii-p18" shownumber="no">V. They shall have abundance of comfort and
satisfaction in their own bosoms, <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.7" parsed="|Isa|61|7|0|0" passage="Isa 61:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. The Jews no doubt were thus
privileged after their return; they were in a new world, and now
knew how to value their liberty and property, the pleasures of
which were continually fresh and blooming. Much more do all those
rejoice whom Christ has brought into the glorious liberty of God's
children, especially when the privileges of their adoption shall be
completed in the resurrection of the body. 1. <i>They shall rejoice
in their portion;</i> they shall not only have their own again, but
(which is a further gift of God) they shall have the comfort of it,
and a heart to rejoice in it, <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.13" parsed="|Eccl|3|13|0|0" passage="Ec 3:13">Eccl.
iii. 13</scripRef>. Though the houses of the returned Jews, as well
as their temple, be much inferior to what they were before the
captivity, yet they shall be well pleased with them and thankful
for them. It is a portion <i>in their land,</i> their own land, the
holy land, Immanuel's land, and therefore they shall rejoice in it,
having so lately known what it was to be <i>strangers in a strange
land.</i> Those that have God and heaven for their portion have
reason to say that they have a worthy portion and to rejoice in it.
2. <i>Everlasting joy shall be unto them,</i> that is, a joyful
state of their people, which shall last long, much longer than the
captivity had lasted. Yet that joy of the Jewish nation was so much
allayed, so often interrupted, and so soon brought to an end, that
we must look for the accomplishment of this promise in the
spiritual joy which believers have in God and the eternal joy they
hope for in heaven. 3. This shall be a double recompence to them,
and more than double, for all the reproach and vexation they have
lain under in the land of their captivity: "<i>For your shame you
shall have double</i> honour, and <i>in your land</i> you <i>shall
possess double</i> wealth, to what you lost; the blessing of God
upon it, and the comfort you shall have in it, shall make an
abundant reparation for all the damages you have received. You
shall be owned not only as <i>God's sons,</i> but as his
<i>first-born</i> (<scripRef id="Is.lxii-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.4.22" parsed="|Exod|4|22|0|0" passage="Ex 4:22">Exod. iv.
22</scripRef>), and therefore entitled to a double portion." As the
miseries of their captivity were so great that in them they are
said to have received <i>double for all their sins</i> (<scripRef id="Is.lxii-p18.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.40.2" parsed="|Isa|40|2|0|0" passage="Isa 40:2"><i>ch.</i> xl. 2</scripRef>), so the joys of
their return shall be so great that in them they shall receive
<i>double for all their shame.</i> The former is applicable to the
fulness of Christ's satisfaction, in which God received <i>double
for all our sins;</i> the latter to the fulness of heaven's joys,
in which we shall receive more than <i>double for all our
services</i> and sufferings. Job's case illustrates this: when God
<i>turned again his captivity,</i> he gave him <i>twice as much as
he had before.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxii-p19" shownumber="no">VI. God will be their faithful guide and a
God in covenant with them (<scripRef id="Is.lxii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.8" parsed="|Isa|61|8|0|0" passage="Isa 61:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>): <i>I will direct their work in truth.</i> God by his
providence will order their affairs for the best, according to the
word of his truth. He will guide them in the ways of true
prosperity, by the rules of true policy. He will by his grace
direct the works of good people in the right way, the true way that
leads to happiness; he will direct them to be done in sincerity and
then they are pleasing to him. God <i>desires truth in the inward
parts;</i> and, if we do our works in truth, he will <i>make an
everlasting covenant with us;</i> for to those that <i>walk before
him</i> and <i>are upright</i> he will certainly be a <i>God
all-sufficient.</i> Now, as a reason both of this and of the
foregoing promise, that God will recompense to them <i>double for
their shame,</i> those words come in, in the former part of the
verse, <i>I the Lord love judgment.</i> He loves that judgment
should be done among men, both between magistrates and subjects and
between neighbour and neighbour, and therefore he hates all
injustice; and, when wrongs are done to his people by their
oppressors and persecutors, he is displeased with them, not only
because they are done to his people, but because they are wrongs,
and against the eternal rules of equity. If men do not do justice,
he loves to do judgment himself in giving redress to those that
suffer wrong and punishing those that do wrong. God pleads his
people's injured cause, not only because he is jealous for them,
but because he is jealous for justice. To illustrate this, it is
added that he <i>hates robbery for burnt-offering.</i> He hates
injustice even in his own people, who honour him with what they
have in their burnt-offerings, much more does he hate it when it is
against his own people; if he hates robbery when it is for
burnt-offerings to himself, much more when it is for
burnt-offerings to idols, and when not only his people are robbed
of their estates, but he is robbed of his offerings. It is a truth
much to the honour of God that ritual services will never atone for
the violation of moral precepts, nor will it justify any man's
robbery to say, "It was for burnt-offerings," or <i>Corban—It is a
gift.</i> Behold, <i>to obey is better than sacrifice,</i> to <i>do
justly and love mercy</i> better than <i>thousands of rams;</i>
nay, that robbery is most of all hateful to God which is covered
with this pretence, for it makes the righteous God to be the patron
of unrighteousness. Some make this a reason of the rejection of the
Jews upon the bringing in of the Gentiles (<scripRef id="Is.lxii-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.6" parsed="|Isa|61|6|0|0" passage="Isa 61:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>), because they were so corrupt in
their morals, and, while they tithed mint and cummin, made nothing
of <i>judgment and mercy</i> (<scripRef id="Is.lxii-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.23.23" parsed="|Matt|23|23|0|0" passage="Mt 23:23">Matt.
xxiii. 23</scripRef>), whereas <i>God loves judgment</i> and
insists upon that, and he hates both <i>robbery for burnt
offerings</i> and <i>burnt-offerings for robbery</i> too, as that
of the Pharisees, who made long prayers that they might the more
plausibly devour widows' houses. Others read these words thus: <i>I
hate rapine by iniquity,</i> that is, the spoil which the enemies
of God's people had unjustly made of them; God hated this, and
therefore would reckon with them for it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxii-p20" shownumber="no">VII. God will entail a blessing upon their
posterity after them (<scripRef id="Is.lxii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.9" parsed="|Isa|61|9|0|0" passage="Isa 61:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>): <i>Their seed</i> (the children of those persons
themselves that are now the blessed of the Lord, or their
successors in profession, the church's seed) shall be <i>accounted
to the Lord for a generation,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.22.30" parsed="|Ps|22|30|0|0" passage="Ps 22:30">Ps.
xxii. 30</scripRef>. 1. They shall signalize themselves and make
their neighbours to take notice of them: <i>They shall be known
among the Gentiles,</i> shall distinguish themselves by the
gravity, seriousness, humility, and cheerfulness of their
conversation, especially by that brotherly love by which all men
shall know them to be Christ's disciples. And, they thus
distinguishing themselves, God shall dignify them, by making them
the blessings of their age and instruments of his glory, and by
giving them remarkable tokens of his favour, which shall make them
eminent and gain them respect from all about them. Let the children
of godly parents love in such a manner that they may be known to be
such, that all who observe them may see in them the fruits of a
good education, and an answer to the prayers that were put up for
them; and then they may expect that God will make them known, by
the fulfilling of that promise to them, that <i>the generation of
the upright shall be blessed.</i> 2. God shall have the glory of
this, for every one shall attribute it to the blessing of God; all
that see them shall see so much of the grace of God in them, and
his favour towards them, that they shall <i>acknowledge them to be
the seed which the Lord has blessed</i> and doth bless, for it
includes both. See what it is to be blessed of God. Whatever good
appears in any it must be taken notice of as the fruit of God's
blessing and he must be glorified in it.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Is.lxii-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.10-Isa.61.11" parsed="|Isa|61|10|61|11" passage="Isa 61:10-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.lxii-p20.4">
<h4 id="Is.lxii-p20.5">The Prosperity of the
Church. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lxii-p20.6">b. c.</span> 706.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.lxii-p21" shownumber="no">10 I will greatly rejoice in the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lxii-p21.1">Lord</span>, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he
hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me
with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh
<i>himself</i> with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth
<i>herself</i> with her jewels.   11 For as the earth bringeth
forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown
in it to spring forth; so the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lxii-p21.2">God</span> will cause righteousness and praise to
spring forth before all the nations.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lxii-p22" shownumber="no">Some make this the song of joy and praise
to be sung by the prophet in the name of Jerusalem, congratulating
her on the happy change of her circumstances in the accomplishment
of the foregoing promises; others make it to be spoken by Christ in
the name of the New-Testament church triumphing in gospel grace. We
may take in both, the former as a type of the latter. We are here
taught to rejoice with holy joy, to God's honour, 1. In the
beginning of this good work, the clothing of the church <i>with
righteousness and salvation,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.10" parsed="|Isa|61|10|0|0" passage="Isa 61:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. Upon this account <i>I will
greatly rejoice in the Lord.</i> Those that rejoice in God have
cause to rejoice greatly, and we need not fear running into an
extreme in the greatness of our joy when we make God the gladness
of our joy. The first gospel song begins like this, <i>My soul doth
magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my
Saviour,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.1.46-Luke.1.47" parsed="|Luke|1|46|1|47" passage="Lu 1:46,47">Luke i. 46,
47</scripRef>. There is just matter for this joy, and all the
reason in the world why it should terminate in God; for salvation
and righteousness are wrought out and brought in, and the church is
clothed with them. The salvation God wrought for the Jews, and that
righteousness of his in which he appeared for them, and that
reformation which appeared among them, made them look as glorious
in the eyes of all wise men as if they had been clothed in robes of
state or nuptial garments. Christ has clothed his church with an
eternal salvation (and that is truly great) by clothing it with the
righteousness both of justification and sanctification. The
<i>clean linen is the righteousness of saints,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Rev.19.8" parsed="|Rev|19|8|0|0" passage="Re 19:8">Rev. xix. 8</scripRef>. Observe how these two are
put together; those, and those only, shall be clothed with the
garments of salvation hereafter that are covered with the robe of
righteousness now: and those garments are rich and splendid
clothing, like the priestly garments (for so the word signifies)
with which the <i>bridegroom decks himself.</i> The brightness of
the sun itself is compared to them. <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p22.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.19.5" parsed="|Ps|19|5|0|0" passage="Ps 19:5">Ps.
xix. 5</scripRef>, <i>He is as a bridegroom</i> coming out of his
chamber, completely dressed. Such is the beauty of God's grace in
those that are clothed with the robe of righteousness, that by the
righteousness of Christ are recommended to God's favour and by the
sanctification of the Spirit have God's image renewed upon them;
they are decked as a bride to be espoused to God, and taken into
covenant with him; they are decked as a priest to be employed for
God, and taken into communion with him. 2. In the progress and
continuance of this good work, <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p22.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.11" parsed="|Isa|61|11|0|0" passage="Isa 61:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. It is not like a day of
triumph, which is glorious for the present, but is soon over. No;
the righteousness and salvation with which the church is clothed
are durable clothing; so they are said to be, <scripRef id="Is.lxii-p22.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.23.18" parsed="|Isa|23|18|0|0" passage="Isa 23:18"><i>ch.</i> xxiii. 18</scripRef>. The church, when she
is pleasing herself with the righteousness and salvation that Jesus
Christ has clothed her with, rejoices to think that these
inestimable blessings shall both spring for future ages and spread
to distant regions. (1.) They shall spring forth for ages to come,
as the fruits of the earth which are produced very year, from
generation to generation. <i>As the earth,</i> even that which lies
common, <i>brings forth her bud,</i> the tender grass at the return
of the year, and as <i>the garden</i> enclosed <i>causes the things
that are sown in it to spring forth</i> in their season, so duly,
so constantly, so powerfully, and with such advantage to mankind
<i>will the Lord God cause righteousness and praise to spring
forth,</i> by virtue of the covenant of grace, as, in the former
case, by virtue of the covenant of providence. See what the
promised blessings are—<i>righteousness and praise</i> (for those
that are clothed with righteousness <i>show forth the praises</i>
of him that clothed them); these shall spring forth under the
influence of the dew of divine grace. Though it may sometimes be
winter with the church, when those blessings seem to wither and do
not appear, yet the root of them is fixed, a spring-time will come,
when through the reviving beams of the approaching Sun of
righteousness they shall flourish again. (2.) They shall spread
far, and <i>spring forth before all the nations;</i> the great
salvation shall be published and proclaimed to all the world and
the ends of the earth shall see it.</p>
</div></div2>