Sunday
Morning Bible Study
July 16, 2000
Introduction
We begin a chapter that Jesus claimed to be about Him.
:1-3
:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is
upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek
Spirit – ruwach
– wind, breath, mind, spirit
Lord – ‘Adonay – my lord, lord
GOD – Y@hovih
– Jehovah-used primarily in the combination ‘Lord Jehovah’; equal to 03068 (Yahweh) but pointed with the vowels of
Elohim.
anointed – mashach – to
smear, anoint, spread a liquid; putting oil on a person.
The priests were anointed with the holy anointing oil, and this gave them
their qualification for ministry (Ex. 30:30).
(Exo
30:30 KJV) And thou shalt anoint Aaron
and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the
priest's office.
Boys became kings when they were anointed (1Sam. 16:13; 1Ki. 1:39-40). The
word “Messiah” (the Greek word is “Christ”) means “anointed” (Dan. 9:25)
(1
Sam 16:13 KJV) Then Samuel took the
horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the spirit of
the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to
Ramah.
(1 Ki 1:39-40 KJV) And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle,
and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God
save king Solomon. {40} And all the people came up after him, and the people
piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the
sound of them.
(Dan
9:25 KJV) Know therefore and
understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to
build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince …
The term “anointing” is used to
refer to the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer.
(1
John 2:27 KJV) But the anointing which
ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you:
but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no
lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
This is the Messiah speaking here.
He’s saying that God’s Spirit is the anointing that has qualified Him to
preach, to do His ministry.
Lesson
Ministry requires anointing.
When Jesus was baptized by John, Jesus had prayed and the Holy Spirit came
down in the form of a dove upon Jesus (Luke 2:21-22). If you keep following the story, you see Jesus being tested in
the wilderness for 40 days, then going back to Nazareth to start His
ministry. He starts by going to the synagogue
in Nazareth (Luke 4:16-21), reading Isaiah 61:1-2, and then announcing that the
prophecy had been fulfilled that day.
He had been anointed. He was now
beginning His ministry.
Taste Test.
The topic of the “Holy Spirit” is one that makes many people uncomfortable.
Many of us know what it’s like to see some pretty yucky
things happening, all supposedly being led by the Holy Spirit. We’ve said to ourselves, “If that’s the Holy
Spirit, then I don’t want any!”
You’ve tasted of the wrong thing. It wasn’t the Holy Spirit.
Come and see what the Holy Spirit really tastes like. The Holy Spirit produces “fruit”. Come and take a taste and see if you like
it.
Illustration
The other day at lunch my wife took some nectarines, cut
them up, and put them on a plate in the center of the kitchen table. Two of my boys knew how good nectarines were,
and they didn’t have any trouble snatching up all the pieces of the delicious
fruit. One of my sons was a little
reluctant. He wasn’t sure he liked the
looks of the fruit. We found ourselves
trying anything we could just to get him to taste and see how good it was.
(Gal
5:22-23 KJV) But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, {23}
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Taste the real thing.
You need the Holy Spirit in your life.
How? I don’t think it’s a
coincidence that Jesus was praying when the Holy Spirit came upon Him (Luke
3:21-22).
The empowering of the Holy Spirit is often tied to prayer. Prayer is a large part of learning to walk
under God’s anointing.
That great Baptist preacher, Charles Spurgeon, writes to young pastors in Lectures
to My Students (pgs.49-50), about the benefits of spending time alone with
God in prayer,
“One bright benison which private prayer brings down upon
the ministry is an indescribable and inimitable something, better understood
than named; it is a dew from the Lord, a divine presence which you will recognize at once when I say
it is “an unction from the holy One.”
What is it? I wonder how long we
might beat our brains before we could plainly put into words what is meant by preaching
with unction; yet he who preaches knows its presence, and he who hears soon
detects its absence …Every one knows what the freshness of the morning is when
orient pearls abound on every blade of grass, but who can describe it, much
less produce it of itself? Such is the
mystery of spiritual anointing; we know, but we cannot tell to others what it
is.”
Spurgeon then goes on to say,
“Unction is a thing which you cannot manufacture, and its
counterfeits are worse than worthless; yet it is in itself priceless, and
beyond measure needful if you would edify believers and bring sinners to
Jesus. To the secret pleader with God
this secret is committed; upon him rests the dew of the Lord, about him is the
perfume which makes glad the heart. If
the anointing which we bear come not from the Lord of hosts we are deceivers,
and since only in prayer can we obtain it, let us continue instant, constant,
fervent in supplication. Let your
fleece lie on the threshing-floor of supplication till it is wet with the dew
of heaven. Go not to minister in the
temple till you have washed in the laver.
Think not to be a messenger of grace to others till you have seen the
God of grace for yourselves, and had the word from his mouth.”
How do I pray for this “anointing”?
(John 7:37-39 KJV) In the last day, that great day of the
feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come
unto me, and drink. {38} He that believeth on me,
as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
{39} (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should
receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet
glorified.)
Underline the words “thirst”, “come”, “drink” and
“believeth”.
1. Your prayer for
God’s anointing needs to come from a place of being “thirsty”. you need to know that you need the
Holy Spirit. That’s where the “asking”
comes in. You ask because you need.
2. You need to be
coming to Jesus. Only Jesus has the
real thing.
3. You need to
receive. Drink. It’s not just about asking for a drink when
the can of Pepsi is sitting on the table in front of you. Take time to drink.
Sometimes you pull in to the gas station and only have
time to put in a few gallons, but most of the time you need to slow down and
take the time to fill up your tank.
Receive.
4. You receive by
believing. You only have to trust Jesus
to fill you with the Holy Spirit. It’s
not some sort of psyched up, pumped up believing. You just have to know in your heart that Jesus will keep His
promise. Can you trust Jesus to keep a
promise to you? Jesus didn’t promise
the Holy Spirit to those who would feel, but to those who would believe.
Ministry – anointing - prayer
:1
to preach good tidings unto the meek
preach good tidings – basar
– (Piel) to gladden with good news; to bear news (as a messenger); to
announce (salvation) as good news, preach
meek – ‘anav – poor, humble, afflicted, meek;
lowly
Jesus’ ministry involved telling
humble people that God cared about them.
:1 he hath sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted
bind up – chabash
– to tie, bind, bind on, bind up, saddle, restrain, bandage, govern
Before sutures, when a person got a deep cut, you’d have to press the cut
together and wrap it up tight so it would heal.
broken – shabar – (Niphal)
to be broken, be maimed, be crippled, be wrecked; to be broken, be crushed
(fig)
hearted – leb –
inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding
God has a concern for those with broken hearts. He has sent Jesus to heal your heart. Let Jesus get close enough to work on your heart.
That’s the ministry of Jesus.
Sometimes we can get frustrated with people who are depressed or
emotional cripples. But if you want to
be in ministry, you need to be concerned for broken hearts.
Near the close of his ministry, a famous British preacher of the Victorian
Age said, “If I had my ministry to do over, I would preach more to broken
hearts.” (Wiersbe)
:1 to proclaim liberty to the
captives
to proclaim – qara’
– to call, call out, recite, read, cry out, proclaim
liberty – d@rowr
– a flowing, free run, liberty
captives – shabah
– to take captive
This is actually language that points back to the “Year of Jubilee”.
Le 25:10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and
proclaim liberty throughout [all] the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it
shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession,
and ye shall return every man unto his family.
The Jews were given certain laws to help keep their economy in
balance. Every seven years, those who were slaves were to be set
free. Every fifty years, every
piece of property that had been mortgaged or sold to someone outside of the
family was to revert back to the original family.
It was like a fresh start. It was
like getting a notice that your credit cards have all been paid.
Lesson
Forgiving others
The concept of “forgiveness” is the idea of releasing a person from debt.
Illustration
If you find yourself owing a bank $20,000, and you’ve lost
your job, and you have no way to repay, you might be able to plead with the
lender to “forgive” part of your debt.
They would rather get at least $5,000 from you than get nothing at
all. And so they might “forgive” you of
$15,000. Maybe.
When someone does something to hurt you, they “owe” you. They ought to pay you something in return
for damaging you.
When you “forgive” a person, you release them from their
debt. You are saying to them, “You no
longer owe me”.
Sometimes I’ll be counseling with someone and they’ll be
telling me about something hurtful that has happened in their life. They’ll be careful to tell me that they’ve
forgiven the other person, but the way they describe it all to me, it’s clear
that they think the other person still owes them. They don’t usually like this, but I’ll tell them that it doesn’t
sound like they’ve really forgiven the other person.
Telling the other person that you’ve forgiven them doesn’t
make it so. Forgiveness means that you
stop calling their bank to see if the check is good. Forgiveness means that you don’t send the Terminator to
collect. Forgiveness means that you let
it go.
Lesson
Jesus forgives you.
Jesus’ ministry was all about paying debts. Jesus’ ministry was all about
forgiveness. He spent a lot of time
with people who were in deep debt to God.
He spent time with sinners. But
rather than just helping them get even deeper in debt to God, Jesus helped
people out of debt.
He was telling them about this Year of Jubilee, when all debts would be
cancelled.
(Luke 5:18-25 KJV) And, behold, men brought in a bed a man
which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay
him before him. {19} And when they could not find by what way they might bring
him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down
through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. {20} And when he
saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. {21} And
the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which
speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? {22} But when Jesus
perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your
hearts? {23} Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say,
Rise up and walk? {24} But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon
earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee,
Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. {25} And immediately he
rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own
house, glorifying God.
We too are paralyzed, unable to move because of our sin. We too owe God a great deal. But God is willing “forgive” your debt.
God is willing to forgive because Jesus has paid the debt Himself.
Jesus died on a cross, paying for the price of your sins.
Are you willing to repent? Are you
willing to turn from your sins? God is
willing to cancel your debt.
:1 and the opening of the prison to
them that are bound
opening of the prison – p@qach-qowach
– opening (of eyes), wide
bound – ‘acar
– to tie, bind, imprison
Literally, “the most complete
opening”, or, “the opening of the eyes”
After Jesus healed a man who had
been born blind, He said,
(John
9:39 NLT) Then Jesus told him, "I
have come to judge the world. I have come to give sight to the blind and to
show those who think they see that they are blind."
There is a sense in which those who
don’t believe in Jesus are “blind”.
(2
Cor 4:4 NLT) Satan, the god of this
evil world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe, so they are
unable to see the glorious light of the Good News that is shining upon them.
We need to pray for blind eyes to
be opened.
:2 To proclaim the acceptable year
of the LORD,
proclaim – qara’
– to call, call out, recite, read, cry out, proclaim
acceptable – ratsown
– pleasure, delight, favour, goodwill, acceptance
God really, really cares about you.
:2 and the day of vengeance of our
God
vengeance – naqam
– vengeance; vengeance (by God, by Samson, by enemies of Judah)
When Jesus quoted Isaiah 61 (Luke 4:18-19), He stopped short of this
phrase.
Even though Jesus would indeed
preach that God would be one day judging the world, the fulfillment of this
portion of the prophecy won’t be fulfilled until the day that Jesus comes back.
We have an example of “prophetic
telescoping” here. The span of time
between the comma and the next phrase enveloped a two thousand year jump.
From this point, it would seem that the rest of the chapter moves from the
time of Jesus’ first coming to the time of His second coming.
:2 to comfort all that mourn
comfort – nacham
– (Piel) to comfort, console
mourn – ‘abel – mourning; for the dead; because
of calamity
We’ll see how He’ll comfort them in the next verse. God is talking about comforting those who
mourn over their sin. Those who mourn
over their debt to God.
We’ll come back to verse 3 at the end.
:4-9
:4 And they shall build the old wastes
old – ‘owlam – long duration, antiquity,
futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world
wastes – chorbah
– a place laid waste, ruin, waste, desolation
When Jesus comes back, the ancient places in Israel will be rebuilt.
:4 they shall raise up the former
desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many
generations.
desolations – shamem
– (Qal) to be desolated, be deflowered, be deserted, be appalled; to be
appalled, be awestruck
waste – choreb
– dryness, desolation, drought, heat
:5 And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks
strangers – referring to Gentiles, to us.
:6 But ye shall be named the
Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat
the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.
Priests – kohen
– priest, principal officer or chief ruler
Ministers – sharath
– (Piel) to minister, serve,
minister to
:7 For your shame ye shall have
double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion:
confusion – k@limmah
– disgrace, reproach, shame, confusion, dishonour, insult, ignominy
:7 therefore in their land they
shall possess the double
The “double portion” of the inheritance usually went to the firstborn
(Deut. 21:17). When a father would die,
the children would all get a portion of the inheritance, but the first born son
would get twice as much as the others.
Israel was called God’s “firstborn” among the nations (Ex. 4:22).
(Isa
61:7 NIV) Instead of their shame my
people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice
in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land,
and everlasting joy will be theirs.
:8 For I the LORD love judgment
judgment – mishpat –
justice; proper, fitting. God loves what is right.
:8 I hate robbery for burnt
offering
robbery – gazel
– robbery, something plundered
burnt offering – ‘olah – whole burnt offering
(Isa 61:8 NIV) I hate robbery and iniquity
:8 and I will direct their work in
truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
direct – nathan
– to give, put, set; to give, bestow, grant, permit, ascribe, employ,
devote, consecrate, dedicate, pay wages, sell, exchange, lend, commit, entrust,
give over, deliver up, yield produce, occasion, produce, requite to, report,
mention, utter, stretch out, extend; to put, set, put on, put upon, set,
appoint, assign, designate; to make, constitute
work – p@‘ullah
– work, recompense, reward
truth – ‘emeth – firmness, faithfulness, truth;
sureness, reliability; stability, continuance
:9 And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles
The descendants of the Jews will be famous.
:10-11
:10 I will greatly rejoice in the
LORD
Or, “rejoicing, I will rejoice
in the Lord”
:10 my soul shall be joyful in my God; for
joyful – giyl
– to rejoice, exult, be glad
:10 he hath clothed me with the
garments of salvation
salvation – yesha‘–
deliverance, salvation, rescue, safety, welfare
It seems that those who are saved are speaking here.
:10 as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments
decketh – kahan
– to act as a priest, minister in a priest’s office
ornaments – p@’er
– head-dress, ornament, turban
or, “as a bridegroom puts on a
priestly turban”. Interesting. Jesus is our “bridegroom” and He’s also our
“high priest”.
:10 and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
God will really fix us up!
:11 the Lord GOD will cause
righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
Right now, it’s pretty hard to get
good things to come out of people. Not
when Jesus comes back.
Closing
:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion,
appoint – suwm
– to put, place, set, appoint, make
These promises are for those who mourn.
Those who grieve over their sin.
:3 to give unto them beauty for
ashes,
beauty – p@’er
– head-dress, ornament, turban; from – pa’ar
– to glorify, beautify, adorn
ashes – ‘epher – ashes
We don’t see it in English, but there’s a little play on words here with
“beauty” and “ashes” (p@’er and ‘epher). They sound very similar, but they are very
different. God can take something as ugly
as ashes and make a little change and turn it to beauty.
:3 the oil of joy for mourning
joy – sasown
– gladness, joy, exultation, rejoicing
Oil was considered a part of personal grooming (2Sam. 14:2). When you “dressed up”, you put on oil. It was a way to “bless” others when they
came to your house by putting a perfumed oil on them (Luke 7:46).
Don’t forget, “oil” is a picture of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us joy.
:3 the garment of praise for the
spirit of heaviness;
praise – t@hillah
– praise, song or hymn of praise
heaviness – keheh
– dim, dull, colorless, be dark, faint
Instead of dull, colorless clothes, He brightens our lives with praise.
:3 that they might be called trees
of righteousness
trees – ‘ayil – ram; pillar, door post, jambs,
pilaster; strong man, leader, chief; mighty tree, terebinth
righteousness – tsedeq
– justice, rightness, righteousness
planting – matta‘–
place or act of planting, planting, plantation
These people will be like tall, strong oak trees, a witness of God’s
faithfulness.
:3 that he might be glorified
glorified – pa’ar (related
to “beauty”, p@’er) – to glorify,
beautify, adorn; (Hithpael) to glorify
oneself; to get glory to oneself, be glorified
God brings glory or “beauty” to Himself by changing our lives. God looks good when He changes our lives.
Lesson
God’s restoration.
Though this is talking about what God will do for the Jews in Jerusalem
when Jesus comes back, there’s a sense in which He does it for us now.
(Luke 15:11-24 KJV) And he said, A certain man had two sons:
{12} And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of
goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. {13} And not
many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey
into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. {14}
And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he
began to be in want. {15} And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that
country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. {16} And he would fain
have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave
unto him. {17} And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of
my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! {18} I
will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned
against heaven, and before thee, {19} And am no more worthy to be called thy
son: make me as one of thy hired servants. {20} And he arose, and came to his
father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had
compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. {21} And the son
said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am
no more worthy to be called thy son. {22} But the father said to his servants,
Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and
shoes on his feet: {23} And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let
us eat, and be merry: {24} For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was
lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
Illustration
Ernest Hemingway wrote a story about a father and his teenage son. In the
story, the relationship had become somewhat strained, and the teenage son ran
away from home. His father began a journey in search of that rebellious son.
Finally, in Madrid, Spain, in a last desperate attempt to find the boy, the
father put an ad in the local newspaper. The ad read: “Dear Paco, Meet me in
front of the newspaper office at noon. All is forgiven. I love you. Your
father.” The next day, in front of the newspaper office, eight hundred Pacos
showed up. They were all seeking forgiveness. They were all seeking the love of
their father.
-- George Munzing, "Living a
Life of Integrity," Preaching Today, Tape No. 32.
It’s time to come home to the Father.