Scripture Reading: Isa. 61:1-3; 63:1-6, 9; 64:1; 65:17-25; 66:15, 22
Prayer: Lord, how we thank You for Your mercy and grace that You have brought us to today. Lord, You know what we need. We thank You that we have gotten through all the points concerning Yourself as the all-inclusive Christ in Isaiah. Thank You tonight that You have brought us to the last message. Lord, bless us as You did in the past. We trust in You, in Your mercy, in Your blessing, in Your utterance, in Your speaking, and even in our being one spirit with You. Stand with us and speak in our speaking. Defeat the enemy and bless every attendant. Thank You. Amen.
In this message we want to see the all-inclusive Christ as the Servant of Jehovah in two aspects. First, He is the Anointed of Jehovah. This is a very precious term in the Old Testament. Second, He is the Angel of the presence of Jehovah. Some may think that to say "the Angel of the presence of Jehovah" is wrong. We may prefer to say "the Angel in the presence of Jehovah." But the text of the Scripture says "the Angel of His presence" (Isa. 63:9).
The most striking chapter on the Angel of Jehovah is Exodus 3. The Angel of Jehovah was the One who escorted the entire race of Israel out of Egypt through the wilderness and into the good land. Eventually this One, the Angel of Jehovah, is in Zechariah 1. He is the One who rides on the red horse, who was suffering with God's suffering people in order to serve them. The Angel of Jehovah served the children of Israel in their whole journey of forty years in the wilderness. In Exodus 14 we can see that He was taking the lead at the forefront. When the Egyptian army was chasing after Israel, the Angel turned to the rear (v. 19). He Himself protected Israel from the Egyptian army. That Angel of Jehovah was the Lord Jesus.
The last item of the all-inclusive Christ in the book of Isaiah is the Angel of, not in, the presence of Jehovah. His being the Angel of the presence of Jehovah means that He is the presence of Jehovah. Of indicates apposition. If I am with you, that means you and I are two persons. If I am of you, this makes us one. A husband may say that he is of his wife. That means that he and his wife are one. In the presence implies two persons. Of the presence means one person. The Angel of Jehovah is just Jehovah's presence. If I say, "the life in Christ," this means the life and Christ are two. If I say, "the life of Christ," this means the life is Christ. The Angel of the presence of Jehovah means that this very Angel is the presence of Jehovah.
The Angel of Jehovah, from Exodus 3 through Isaiah to Zechariah, was always with Israel. Quite often He was suffering with Israel. Zechariah 1 presents the vision of a man as the Angel of Jehovah riding on a red horse and standing among the myrtle trees in the bottoms of the valley (vv. 7-17). The myrtle trees signify the humiliated people of Israel in their captivity. Christ as the Angel of Jehovah was standing among these myrtle trees in the bottoms of the valley. This means that He was remaining strongly among the captured Israel in the lowest part of the valley in their humiliation.
Eventually, this One will tread the great winepress at Armageddon. Armageddon is referred to in Isaiah 63. That winepress will extend from Bozrah of Edom (vv. 1-6) to Armageddon (Rev. 16:16), a distance of one thousand six hundred stadia, that is, one hundred eighty-two miles (Rev. 14:20). The Angel of Jehovah, the coming back Jesus, will tread that great winepress. Without Isaiah we would not know that the treader of that great winepress will be the Angel of the presence of Jehovah.
The Anointed of Jehovah and the Angel of the presence of Jehovah are the last two items of what the all-inclusive Christ is to Israel in Isaiah. The Anointed of Jehovah is a sweet term to God's people. But the Angel of the presence of Jehovah is a term mostly applied toward the enemies of God's people. First, He was there dealing with Pharaoh and his Egyptian army. He was protecting God's people in the front and at the rear. Even in Zechariah He was the protecting Angel, depicted as the rider on the red horse. Isaiah concludes his view of the all-inclusive Christ with these two items — one is so sweet to God's elect, and the other is so strong toward the enemies of God's elect.
Israel's last enemy will be Antichrist and all the nations with him. Revelation 19 tells us that Antichrist will collect all the evil persons on this earth to be the armies to destroy Israel. Even today there are many Arab nations who would like to destroy Israel. The final one who will have a kind of conspiracy to destroy Israel will be Antichrist with his allies, the nations. But the Angel of Jehovah will fight him down, will defeat him, and will put him directly into the lake of fire. The Angel of Jehovah is the Lord Jesus as the presence of the Triune God. He will come to defeat Antichrist and his armies.
Isaiah 61:1-3 is a prophecy concerning Christ as the Anointed of Jehovah.
This prophecy concerning Christ as the Anointed of Jehovah had a foretaste fulfillment at Christ's first coming. In the Old Testament, we cannot see the two comings of Christ. It shows us only that Christ will have one coming. The two comings of Christ can be likened to two peaks of a mountain range. They may only look like one peak from a distance, but when you come near them, you can see that there are two peaks with a big valley, a big plain, between them. The prophecy concerning the coming of Christ in Isaiah 61 is actually in two aspects.
In the New Testament, the peak of the Lord's first coming is mentioned in Luke 4. Luke 4 speaks of the Lord entering into a synagogue on the Sabbath day. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him, and He read the first few verses of Isaiah 61. Then the Lord rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, sat down, and said, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" (v. 21). All of them marveled at the words of grace proceeding out of His mouth (v. 22).
Luke 4 gives us a record of the first "peak" of the prophecy in Isaiah 61:1-3. But in Isaiah 61 itself we can see only one peak, not two peaks. The final twenty-seven chapters of Isaiah, from Isaiah 40 through 66, speak about Christ's coming. Isaiah told us that the Lord's coming will bring in the time of restoration, the restoration of Israel. But when we come to Isaiah 40—66 today, in the view of the New Testament light, we can see two comings here.
For instance, Isaiah 40 speaks of the glory of Jehovah being revealed (v. 5) and of the Lord Jehovah coming with might (v. 10). This refers to Jesus' appearing. That appearing surely is not His second coming. It was His first coming ushered in by John the Baptist (vv. 3-5; Luke 3:4-6). The chapters following Isaiah 40 contain many verses telling us about Christ's coming. Isaiah 53 tells us that the Lord comes as a tender plant, as a root out of dry ground (v. 2), and as a man of sorrows (v. 3). This surely refers to His first coming. Today we know this, but in the ancient times they did not have this thought. I doubt even whether Isaiah knew this. They only knew that Messiah would come. To them there was only one coming. But actually Messiah, the Anointed One of Jehovah, will come two times. The first time is for the age of grace, and the second time will be for the age of restoration.
The age of grace is a foretaste of the age of restoration. Hebrews 6 tells us that the age of grace is a foretaste of the power of the coming age (v. 5). Today we are enjoying the power of the coming age, the age of restoration. This coming age is the age of the kingdom, the age of the millennium. When we get into the age of grace, we are walking toward the next age, the age of restoration, the age of the kingdom. What we are enjoying today is the foretaste, but this foretaste will have a full taste in the time of restoration. The first fulfillment of the prophecy concerning Christ's coming is a foretaste, whereas the second fulfillment is the full taste.
The prophecy concerning Christ as the Anointed of Jehovah had a foretaste fulfillment, at Christ's first coming, for the age of grace, in producing the church, as the acceptable year of Jehovah (Luke 4:16-22a). In the Old Testament, the church was hidden. The church was hidden between the two peaks of Christ's coming. After the Lord read Isaiah 61:1-2, He sat down and said, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" (Luke 4:21). That meant that since the Lord was there, that was the acceptable year of Jehovah. But this was just a foretaste. The acceptable year of Jehovah will come in full when Christ comes the second time.
The prophecy concerning Christ as the Anointed of Jehovah in Isaiah 61:1-3 will have a full taste fulfillment at Christ's second coming, for the restoration of Israel unto the new heavens and new earth. The restoration age will usher in the new heaven and new earth.
Isaiah 61:1a says, "The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon Me." The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah was upon Christ in His first coming and will be upon Him in His second coming. When the Lord Jesus comes the second time, the striking significance will be that the Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon Him. Here Isaiah especially adds in the word Lord. It is not just the Spirit of Jehovah but the Spirit of the Lord Jehovah. The Spirit of such a One will be upon the coming Jesus.
Jehovah has anointed Christ (Isa. 61:1b; Matt. 3:16). He anointed Christ in His first coming. When Christ was baptized, He rose up from the water, and the Spirit of God came upon Him in a bodily form as a dove (Luke 3:21-22). Today the Spirit upon us is not in a visible figure. But on the day of Jesus' baptism, the Spirit came upon Him in a bodily form as a dove. It was very striking. The Spirit's coming upon Jesus after His baptism was the fulfillment of Isaiah 61:1 and was carried out to anoint the new King and introduce Him to His people. That anointing Spirit will still work in His second coming.
Jehovah anointed Him to do a number of things. First, He was anointed to bring good news, the gospel, to the afflicted, the suffering ones (Isa. 61:1c). Second, He was anointed to bind up the wounds of the brokenhearted (v. 1d) and third, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the release of those who are bound (v. 1e). This may also mean the release of those who are imprisoned. Fourth, Christ was anointed to proclaim the acceptable year of Jehovah and the day of vengeance of our God (v. 2a). The acceptable year is toward God's people; the day of vengeance is toward the enemies of God's people. When Christ comes again to Israel, that will be the acceptable year to them and also the day of God's vengeance over the enemies of God's people, Antichrist and his followers. Fifth, Jehovah anointed Christ to comfort all who mourn (v. 2b). Mourning indicates that you are suffering more. At the beginning of your suffering, you may not mourn. Later, you mourn.
Sixth, Christ was anointed to grant to those who mourn in Zion a headdress instead of ashes, oil of gladness instead of mourning, and the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of heaviness (v. 3a). Zechariah tells us that when Christ comes again all the scattered Israelites will have returned to their forefathers' land. Two-thirds of them will be slaughtered by their enemies (13:8). Even today the nations around Israel hate Israel. The plight of Israel throughout the last twenty centuries is the fulfillment of the Lord's word in Matthew. The Lord lamented over Jerusalem (Matt. 23:37) and prophesied of its coming destruction (24:2). This prophecy was fulfilled when Titus and the Roman army came in A.D. 70 to destroy Jerusalem and the temple, not leaving one stone upon another. From that day the Israelites were scattered from their forefathers' land to all the nations for nearly nineteen hundred years. They were wandering for so many centuries, but in 1948 they were re-formed as a nation. Nineteen years later, in 1967, they captured back Jerusalem and the Golan Heights through the six-day war.
Today Israel is being pressed to release the land which they have regained. Israel will not do this. All the Arab countries which surround Israel hate Israel today. In the future Antichrist and his armies will do their best to slaughter the people of Israel. According to Zechariah they will slaughter two-thirds of them, so only one-third will be left (13:8-9). Out of this one-third, half of the city of Jerusalem will be captured (14:2). Then the Lord will return to fight against and defeat Antichrist and his armies.
At that time the Lord will grant something to those who mourn in Zion. They will mourn because they will have lost their relatives. But when Christ comes, He will give them a headdress instead of ashes. A headdress is a turban. Those who mourn in Israel put ashes upon themselves, but Christ will remove the ashes and give them a turban, a headdress. He will also give them the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and the mantle of praise for praising Jehovah instead of a spirit of heaviness. These are also very fitting for us believers today. Before we were saved, we were like this on the negative side, but the Lord gave Himself to us in such a rich way as all the above items. He will also be all these things to Israel at His return.
The Lord does all these things in order that the people of Israel may be called the terebinths of righteousness, the planting of Jehovah, that He may be glorified (Isa. 61:3b). Although many of them will be slaughtered, those who remain will become growing trees of righteousness. Terebinths, according to my study, are the best oaks. The people of Israel will be the planting of Jehovah, that Jehovah may be glorified. This will be at Christ's second coming, in which He will be the Anointed of God to take care of God's scattered and suffering people.
At Christ's return, He will be as a standard raised up for the gathering of Jehovah's scattered people (Isa. 62:10b). By that time, all Israel will be coming back. They have to see a sign, a standard, to which they can all be gathered together. Christ, the Anointed of Jehovah, will be that gathering standard.
This Anointed of Jehovah will come to rescue Zion. Zion was one of the mountains upon which Jerusalem was built, and that mountain originally was called Moriah, where Abraham offered up his son, Isaac (Gen. 22:1-2). The temple was built on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem (2 Chron. 3:1). Later, Moriah was referred to as Mount Zion (Psa. 2:6; 48:2, 11; 74:2). The Lord will be the salvation coming to Zion to rescue her from the destruction of Antichrist and the nations with him (Isa. 62:11b; Zech. 12:2-9). At that juncture, Antichrist will have captured half of the inhabitants in Jerusalem. Christ as the Anointed of Jehovah will come to rescue them out of the killing hand of Antichrist.
Christ is the Angel of the presence of Jehovah for dealing with the nations (Isa. 63:1-6, 9; 64:1; 65:17-25; 66:15, 22).
He will rend the heavens and come to save Israel from the nations (Isa. 63:9; 64:1). The heavens will be rent, and there will be a wide opening for the Angel of the presence of Jehovah to appear, to come to the earth. By that time He will no longer be a tender plant. He will be so great.
He will come with fire to judge the nations on the whole earth with His burning (Isa. 66:15-16a). Recently there was a great wildfire, a great burning, in Oakland, California, and many people lost their homes. But when Christ comes the second time, the whole earth will be a wildfire. He will come with fire to judge the nations with His burning.
He will also come to tread the great winepress, to destroy Antichrist and the evil people of the nations at Armageddon (Isa. 63:1-6; Rev. 16:12-16; 19:19-21). This treading is not the positive reaping of a harvest. It is the negative reaping of God's judgment upon the evil people.
Finally, when Christ returns, He will bring in the time of restoration — the millennial kingdom unto the new heavens and new earth (Isa. 65:17-25; 66:22; Rev. 20:4-6). At Christ's coming back, He will burn the world and tread the great winepress, which includes Antichrist. By doing these two things, He will clear up the whole earth. Then He will bring in God's kingdom to this earth, and that will be the time of restoration. The returned, repentant Jews will enjoy that restoration, and the overcoming Christians will be in the heavenly part of the kingdom of the heavens. The Jews will remain on this earth to enjoy God's creation, which was damaged but will be restored by Christ's second coming. That restoration will usher in the new heaven and new earth. This is the best eschatology.
