Torah and New Testament Foundations-Understanding the Redemption-Part 39

It is interesting to think that when Yeshua read from Isaiah in the synagogue at Capernaum at the beginning of his ministry, he was reading from the Servant Passages. Isa 61.1 begins by saying that the Spirit and power of God is on Yeshua as the Messiah (Isa 59.20-21) to bring the Basorah (good news) to the poor and to proclaim liberty (from death). Isa 61.2 goes on to say that Yeshua is going to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord, but then he stops in the middle of the verse. This will be fulfilled in his first coming. The rest of the verse says “and the day of vengeance of our God” won’t be fulfilled until his second coming, as the High Priest anointed for war. Yom Kippur terms are used in verse 3 with the words “mourn”, “mourning” and “fainting.” These will be replaced by “gladness” which is a term for the following festival, Sukkot. The people will be called “oaks of righteousness” in verse 3 and that is the same as a Tzaddik Ha Tamar, or “Palm of Righteousness” (Isa 55.12-13; Psa 92.12). The palm was a tree of righteousness because it grew straight, no knots or flaws, the leaves are high off the ground, meaning our rewards are not immediate but reserved for later (in the Olam Haba). The “planting of the Lord” means man has nothing to do with this gift of righteousness, it is all of the Lord.

In Isa 61.4 it says they will rebuild the ancient ruins (Isa 58.12) and this not only refers to the physical, but also to the spiritual rebuilding of true doctrine. Strangers (v 5) will stand and pasture your flocks and foreigners will be your farmers and your vine dressers, meaning Israel will have no time for it. Verse 6 tells you why, because Israel will be set apart from the nations. Within the nation, Levi is set apart with a higher kedusha. Within Levi, the sons of Aaron have a higher kedusha. Israel will be set apart and called “priests” of the Lord and ministers of the Lord. Now, this does not mean that anyone will be a priest, but it refers back to Exo 19.6 in the Egyptian Redemption where he says they were going to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. The same concept is seen in 1 Pet 2.8-9. They will have spiritual blessings (Zeph 3.19; Isa 42.5; Jer 31.1-32).

In Isa 61.8 repeats the fact that he hates “robbery in the burnt offerings” which means that they had wrong motives. Isa 1.11-15 refers to this same concept. The entire sacrificial system would appear brutal unless administered in an almost perfect religious atmosphere. Only a nation of the highest moral and spiritual character could be worthy of it. It must feel very different. The people were missing the point, the essence of what the Lord was trying to teach. They were failing the course. Messiah was the goal and the redemption (Rom 10.4), not culture or substituting anything in its place. It is not going through the motions of the ceremonies, but what you put into them and derive out of them. The issue in this verse and Isa 1.11-15, as well as any verse that seems to be against the Temple or the sacrificial system is this. The issue is the mundane performance of any commandment, void of its deeper meanings and the concerns of love, mercy, kindness and justice, is basically a waste of time.

Isa 61.9 says that “then their offspring will be known among the nations.” Verse 10 describes a wedding and a coronation, along with Isa 62.1-5, when Messiah comes. Righteousness and praise will spring up among the nations. The word “sprouts” is “tzemach” and a term for the Messiah. The fruit of righteousness will spring up before all nations (Mal 3.16; Rev 21.1-2; Psa 122.1-9; 1 Cor 3.12-15; Isa 4.1-6; Eph 5.27; Matt 22.11-12). All of this alludes to the New Jerusalem.

Isa 62 has Rosh Ha Shannah terms. The context is the future glory of Israel and when the Messiah comes. In verse 1 we have the name Jerusalem, which means “He sees peace” and it is based on Gen 22.14. The word salvation there is “yeshua’tah” and we see Yeshua’s name in it, and it is like a torch (lapid), and this is also a name for the Messiah (Gen 15.17; Hab 3.4; Exo 19.16; Zech 12.6). In Judges 4.4 we have have Deborah (meaning a “congregation), and her husband is Lapidot (a type of the Messiah), and the whole story there is a picture of the coming of the Lord. Verse 2 says that “you (Jerusalem) will be called by a new name (Jer 23.5-6; Jer 33.15-16; Isa 4.1-6) and this alludes to marriage. Isa 62.3 says that they will be called a crown of beauty and brides wore crowns, more wedding terms. It will no longer be said of Jerusalem in verse 4 that they are “forsaken” and the land “desolate” (Isa 54.1). It goes on to say that they will be called “my delight is in her” and “your land married.” This alludes to the people of the land, seen in Rev 21.1-10, the “bride” with the Shekinah. The imagery is of the Olam Haba. As any man rejoices over his bride (v 5), so the Lord will rejoice over his people. He has set watchmen (prophets) over Jerusalem (the people) to announce the Basorah (the Hebrew term for “gospel”-1 Sam 31.9; Isa 52.7), interceding and teaching. Isa 62.7 says to give God no rest until he establishes Jerusalem to be a praise in the earth. They will wrestle with God like Jacob. But, he has sworn by his right hand and by his strong arm (zeroah) that he will accomplish these things. Both of these terms allude to the Messiah, meaning the power of the Lord. Israel will never again be overrun by their enemies (v 8). But they will eat and drink the food they have harvested (v 9) “in the courts of my sanctuary” (The Temple).

In Isa 62.10 we have Rosh Ha Shannah terms. “Go through the gates” and “clear the way for the people” clearly allude back to the “voice” of Isa 40.3. It goes on to say “build up, build up the highway; remove the stones, lift up a standard over the peoples” means to “show the people the way to go.” This refers to the “Poretz” or the “breachmaker” who goes before the king to open the way for the sheep to enter into the Kingdom of God. This is the “Elijah” who goes before the Messiah, like Yochanon Ha Matvil before Yeshua comes again (Mal 31.1, 4.5; Isa 40.3, 61.4; Matt 11.10; Mic 2.12-13; Psa 24; Gen 38.27-30). One of the Two Witnesses will come as “Elijah” to show the way before Yeshua comes again.

Isa 62.11 says that the Lord has proclaimed the Basorah to the ends of the earth saying, “your salvation (Yeshua) comes” and his “reward is with him, and his recompense before him.” The word salvation is “Yeshua” in Hebrew and this concept is personified in Yeshua. This is quoted in Rev 22.12, when Yeshua returns (Isa 40.10). Verse 12 goes on to say that the people will be called “the holy people” and the “redeemed of the Lord.” They will be called “sought out, a city not forsaken.” So, the people will be called a “city” and the “bride” with the Shekinah. Rev 21.1-10 calls them the “New Jerusalem” and this is based on our verses here in Isa 62.1-12.
Believers are seen as a “city” (Jer 1.18; Ecc 9.14-15; Isa 60.14). Isa 40 is where we started with all of this and we have come right back to it by Remez, and it all dove tails together.

We will pick up here in Part 40 with Isa 63.

Posted in All Teachings, Articles, Idioms, Phrases and Concepts, Prophecy/Eschatology, The Festivals of the Lord, The Tanak, Tying into the New Testament

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