Isaiah 61: The Jubilee Calling: Chapter 1: Releasing All Captives

When God said that He would “hasten it in its time” (Isaiah 60:22), He was referring to the fulfillment of His New Covenant vow when the light and glory of God would cover the earth. We know from Isaiah 9:1, 2 that this light was to begin in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali when Christ began preaching the gospel of the Kingdom.

Yet this was only the beginning of a long process. Even His second coming was to glorify only the overcomers (Rev. 20:5), those that He has called to rule and reign in the Age to come. During that Age, the glorified overcomers, being fully in union with their Head, will convey the Spirit of God to the rest of the world.

The Messiah’s Mission

Isaiah 61:1, 2 says,

¹ The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news [basar] to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to prisoners; ² to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance [naqam] of our God.

When Jesus began His ministry, the people of His hometown, Nazareth, heard of His miracle in nearby Cana and asked Him to teach in their synagogue (Luke 4:16). There He opened the scroll and read Isaiah 61:1, 2, saying in Luke 4:21, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” At first “all were speaking well of Him” (Luke 4:22), but when He actually began to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah, things turned sour.

Nazareth was a settlement of the radical settler movement, as they attempted to “redeem” the land from Samaritan control. They did not believe in proclaiming liberty to the Samaritan captives. They were quite exclusive about the messianic calling, thinking the Messiah was going to set Jews free from Rome and essentially to perform a reverse captivity. They looked forward to oppressing Rome—and all other nations with them, including the Samaritans.

But Jesus gave two examples of God’s love toward foreigners, showing how He provided for a Phoenician woman in the time of famine, and again how he healed Naaman the Syrian of leprosy. He spoke about many Israelites who were in need during the famine, and about the many lepers in Israel who were not healed.

This enraged the Nazarenes, and they attempted to throw Jesus off the cliff (Luke 4:28, 29). They were not interested in the welfare of foreigners, nor did they believe in the universal salvation set forth in the revelation of Isaiah. The light of the gospel thus fell on deaf ears in Jesus’ hometown.

Nonetheless, the light shined in the darkness of the land of Naphtali, Zebulun, and “on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Nations” (Isaiah 9:1). At the time, these were lands inhabited by many non-Jews, who received the good news with joy. It was the start of a long age in which the gospel would spread from “Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). This is how Isaiah 61:1, 2 ought to be interpreted and applied, so that we may avoid following the example of the narrow-minded Nazarenes.

How to Bring Good News

The Messiah was anointed “to bring good news.” The Hebrew word is basar, which, as I have said before, has a double meaning: flesh and good news (called by the apostles, the gospel). This is perhaps the least understood of the entire list in Isaiah 61:1.

The good news is the provision of the New Covenant, which was mediated by Jesus, even as the Old Covenant was mediated by Moses. This good news was to be “eaten” in a figurative way. So Jesus said in John 6:48-58 that He was the manna that came down from heaven to feed the Israelites in the wilderness. Hence, true believers would “eat” His flesh and “drink” His blood.

One cannot understand this without knowing the difference between the Old and New Covenants. Physical lambs were eaten under the Old Covenant to signify their belief in God’s deliverance. The Lamb of God was eaten under the New Covenant to signify a greater form of deliverance, not only from Egypt but from the power of sin.

But in the time of Moses, the people vowed obedience to God (Exodus 19:8) as a condition of salvation. When Christ died on the cross as the Passover Lamb, He secured the promise and vow of God to save all mankind by the power of His own will. The Old Covenant type and shadow ultimately failed, because “all have sinned” (Rom. 3:23). On the other hand, God’s New Covenant vow succeeded, because Christ’s perfect life was imputed to those who had the faith of Abraham, who believed that God was able to fulfill His promises (Rom. 4:21).

God’s promise is the “good news” that the Messiah was anointed to proclaim. Unfortunately, most Christians today seem to base their salvation upon their own will as they “decide” to follow Jesus and to be obedient to Him. They do not seem to believe that it is based, not on the will of man but of God (John 1:13). The result is that their salvation is based upon Old Covenant faith. They need an upgrade.

Abrahamic faith is not based upon the works of men, nor is it even based on the will of man. In fact, the law of Jubilee sets men free by the will of God. At the Jubilee, all sin-debt is canceled, regardless of how much is still owed. God issued this law; man’s will can only respond by faith to the will of God.

The law under the Old Covenant was a set of commands to be obeyed through one’s will and one’s works; the same law under the New Covenant is a set of promises, and those who have faith believe that God is able to fulfill all that He has promised.

The good news, then, is God’s promise that says, “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Deut. 5:7). Another promise of God says, “You shall not murder” (Deut. 5:17). Another promise says, “You shall not steal” (Deut. 5:19).

There are ten wonderful promises of God given to us. New Covenant believers can rejoice that God is working in their hearts, transforming them into His image so that they never again worship a false god, that they will not murder (or even hate), nor will they ever again steal what is not theirs. This is truly “good news.”

This is rooted in the law of grace, which is called the Jubilee. The Messiah’s mission was rooted in “the favorable year of the Lord” (Isaiah 61:2), that is, the Year of Jubilee. The law of Jubilee set free every debtor, so that “each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family” (Lev. 25:10).

Those who were enslaved by sin (debt) were to be set free by the law itself, that is, by the will of God. There was neither endless punishment nor endless slavery, for the law of Jubilee was designed to limit the time of judgment for sin.

More than that, the Jubilee sets us free in other ways as well, for He came to “bind up the brokenhearted,” which is about full healing—in body, soul, and spirit. The Jubilee liberates captives and gives freedom to prisoners. It eliminates slavery as a cultural practice, and it ultimately sets people free from sin, which Paul personifies as a hard taskmaster in Rom. 6:16-22.

In the end, “the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom. 8:21). Jesus died for the sin of the world in order to save the whole world and set creation free (1 John 2:2).

The Day of Vengeance and Comfort

As for “the day of vengeance of our God,” there is a good reason why we are not to take vengeance but to leave it to God (Rom. 12:19; Deut. 32:35). Men usually have a warped sense of “justice” that is really injustice. Man’s vengeance, implemented by the carnal mind, does not have the same good goal that God intends by His vengeance.

We see this reflected in Isaiah 61:2, where “vengeance” (naqam) is linked to “comfort” (nacham). The day of God’s “vengeance” is a day of “comfort,” as God overcomes evil with good (Rom. 12:21). The religious mindset can scarcely comprehend the mind of God in this matter, for the carnal mind demands endless punishment (for others), rather than redemption and mercy, which is God’s ultimate purpose for all judgment (Isaiah 26:9).

God’s vengeance is a temporary judgment designed to restore the lawful order and establish righteousness in the earth. Man’s vengeance is shortsighted, for it cannot see beyond the judgment. Man’s goal is to destroy sinners; God’s goal is to restore them to Himself.

Naqam and nacham are homonyms. They sound alike, and this suggests that they are connected in the mind of God. Yet the carnal mind sees them more as opposites. God sees even the worst of sinners as future believers who will one day be reconciled in peace and unity with Him. That, in fact, is the “good news” of the New Covenant gospel. It is only the Old Covenant that contains bad news, for it is based on the will of man, not the will of God (John 1:13).

Isaiah 61:3 continues by describing the manner in which God comforts us with His “vengeance,”

³ To grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness [sasown] instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting, so they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

Recall that the word of the Lord promised, “the days of your mourning will be over; then all your people will be righteous” (Isaiah 60:20, 21). This was initiated in Christ’s first coming, where a few found righteousness through Abrahamic faith (Rom. 4:21, 22). These are the children of Abraham—sons of the covenant—who are called to bless all families of the earth (Gen. 12:3; Acts 3:25, 26).

This work will not be complete until the Creation Jubilee, when God has instilled true faith in every heart, when all of creation is set free from its bondage to sin (Rom. 8:21), when all things have been put under the feet of Christ, and when God is “all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28).

From Mourning to Gladness

God promises to replace their “ashes” with “a garland.” It was common practice in those days to mourn in sackcloth and ashes. They covered themselves with ashes to remove all beauty and pride. But God promises them “a garland instead of ashes.” Garlands denote beauty, honor, and rejoicing.

God also promises to replace “mourning” with “the oil of gladness.” They used essential oils in those days, not only for medicinal purposes but also as perfumes to make themselves happy. These are described and interpreted in Psalm 45:7, 8,

⁷ You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of joy [sasown] above your fellows. ⁸ All your garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia…

In other words, those who are anointed with “the oil of joy” are those who love righteousness and hate wickedness. Such people are fragrant to God, because their character aligns with His view of sin and righteousness.

God also promises “the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.” The word for “fainting” is kaheh, “dim, dull, dark, faint.” The contrast is in the fact that praise is a joyful celebration, whereas “a spirit of fainting” is dark and depressing. Those who grasp the New Covenant promise of God, those who have seen the “great light” (Isaiah 9:2) of the gospel, cannot help but praise Him with joy and thanksgiving, even when surrounded by depression and darkness.

These “will be called oaks of righteousness,” which God has planted, so “that He may be glorified.” Oaks represent strength. Neh. 8:10 says, “the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Hence, those who are anointed with the oil of joy remain strong in the midst of the storm.

Yet what many miss is that God’s purpose in turning the weak into strong oaks is “that He may be glorified.” It is most commonly interpreted to mean that God empowers men and women so that they might praise and glorify Him. But the underlying thought is that God gains glory by fulfilling His New Covenant promise to turn the hearts of the people and to implement the law of Jubilee that sets everyone free to return to the inheritance—the glorified body—that was lost when Adam sinned.

The Work of the Anointed Ones

Isaiah 61:4 says,

⁴ Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, they will raise up the former devastations; and they will repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations.

The prophet mentioned this task earlier in Isaiah 58:12, speaking of those who keep the fast (Day of Atonement) by loosening the bonds of wickedness and freeing those who are oppressed,

¹² Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins, you will raise up the age-old foundations; and you will be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the streets in which to dwell.

The “ancient ruins” in Isaiah’s day looked back to the time when the world was brought to ruin when the earth “became formless and void” (Gen. 1:2, literal rendering). We know little about this, but the word implies that there was an original civilization that was destroyed before God began to rebuild the present order.

We read in 2 Peter 3:5, 6 that “the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.” This took place long before Noah’s flood. Hence, the earth had already been destroyed and fully covered by water when God said in Gen. 1:9, 10,

⁹ Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good.

Later, Adam was put in charge of this restoration, and his mandate was to restore all things. He failed, because his sin made him part of the problem. Hence, “the last Adam” (Christ) was sent to do the work that Adam failed to accomplish. While Old Covenant believers fail to fulfill the Adamic mandate, New Covenant believers succeed, because their success does not depend upon the will of man but only upon the will of God (John 1:13).

These New Covenant believers are called to rebuild the ancient ruins. Hence, they have the same calling that Adam was given. Yet the only way they can fulfill that calling is through the Last Adam, who is also the Mediator of the New Covenant (Heb. 8:6). Through Adam we can only fail; through Christ we can only succeed.

The overcomers in Christ are also called to rebuild the tabernacle of David. Quoting from Amos 9:11, Acts 15:16-18 says,

¹⁶ “After these things I will return, and I will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen, and I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, ¹⁷ so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles [ethnos, “nations”] who are called by My name,” ¹⁸ says the Lord, who makes these things known from long ago.

The tabernacle of David was an open tent where David prayed and worshipped, and it was separate from the tabernacle where the high priest ministered. David was a Melchizedek priest. His tabernacle was greater, for men from all nations could approach God directly and speak to Him face to face, even as Moses and David had done.

In the days of Herod the Great, the second temple in Jerusalem was taken down stone by stone and replaced with a more beautiful structure. He built the dividing wall in the outer court to please the religious leaders. From then on, the ethnos and even Jewish women were kept at a distance. As bondwomen, they were denied the right to approach God except indirectly through their husbands or guardians.

This injustice was rectified by Christ’s teaching, for He broke down that dividing wall (Eph. 2:14). Those who are called to rebuild the ruins of David’s tabernacle are thus called to tear down the wall that divided Jews from Gentiles and men from women.

This great work cannot be done by those who insist on rebuilding that dividing wall. Our impartial God will not tolerate impartiality. Those who try to include the dividing wall in their temple-building plan will have to alter it later or fail entirely.

We ourselves have resolved to rebuild the fallen tabernacle of David (and the New Covenant temple) according to the pattern that God has shown to us. By abolishing that dividing wall, we are able to rebuild the more ancient ruins that trace back to the destruction of the original creation.

That calling is to restore all things (Acts 3:21). This can be done only through the message of universal salvation that Jesus set forth when the people of Nazareth rejected His message and calling.