Commentary - Isaiah 61:8-9

Bird's-eye view

In these two verses, the Lord grounds the glorious promises of the new creation in His own unchanging character. The entire project of redemption, from start to finish, is established upon who God is. He begins with His inherent love for justice and His hatred for hypocritical worship (v. 8). Because He is this way, He will act faithfully toward His people. He will give them their true reward, not based on their merit but on His grace, and He will formalize this relationship by cutting an everlasting covenant with them. The result of this covenantal action is not a private or hidden reality. Rather, it is a public and glorious manifestation of His blessing. The people of God, their children, will become a visible phenomenon among the nations, so much so that the world will have no choice but to recognize them as the people whom Yahweh has blessed (v. 9). This is a promise of the gospel's historic and global success.

Outline

Commentary on the Text

Isaiah 61:8

For I, Yahweh, love justice, I hate robbery in the burnt offering; And in truth I will give them their recompense And cut an everlasting covenant with them.

For I, Yahweh, love justice... The verse begins with the bedrock of all reality: the character of God. The great promises of the gospel are not suspended in midair; they are anchored to the very nature of God Himself. He declares that He loves justice. This is not a sentimental preference, but a statement about His being. Justice, or right order, is what God is. Therefore, His salvation must be a just salvation. He does not save sinners by sweeping their sins under the rug or by pretending He did not see. He saves them by satisfying His own justice perfectly in the person and work of His Son. The cross is the ultimate expression of God's love for justice, for there His wrath against sin was fully poured out.

I hate robbery in the burnt offering... Following His love for justice, God states what He hates. He hates religious fraud. A burnt offering was meant to be a total gift to God, a symbol of consecration. To bring an offering that was stolen, robbery, is a profound insult. It is an attempt to worship God with the proceeds of a crime committed against a neighbor made in God's image. It is trying to buy God off with stolen goods. This is the very definition of hypocrisy. God will not be mocked. Worship that is disconnected from righteousness in our daily lives is an abomination to Him. He is not interested in the external performance if the heart and hands are unclean. This applies directly to us. Singing praises on Sunday while engaging in shady business deals on Monday is to offer robbery as a burnt offering.

And in truth I will give them their recompense... The word "truth" here can also be rendered "faithfulness." Because God is just and hates hypocrisy, He will deal faithfully with His people. He will give them their "recompense," their reward. But what is this reward? Given our sin, the only reward we have earned is condemnation. But God is operating on a different economy. The recompense He gives is the reward earned by Christ. He gives us the gift of His Son's perfect righteousness. This is the great exchange of the gospel. Our sin was credited to Christ on the cross, and His righteousness is credited to us by faith. God faithfully gives us what we do not deserve, all on the basis of Christ's work.

And cut an everlasting covenant with them. This is how God secures this faithful arrangement. He binds Himself to His people through a covenant. This is not a temporary deal, but an "everlasting covenant," the New Covenant sealed in the blood of Jesus. A covenant is a solemn bond, sovereignly administered, with blessings and curses. In this covenant, Christ took all the curses for us, so that we might receive all the blessings. This covenant is the unbreakable, unshakeable foundation of our hope. God has sworn by Himself to be our God and to make us His people, forever.

Isaiah 61:9

Then their seed will be known among the nations, And their offspring in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them Because they are the seed whom Yahweh has blessed.

Then their seed will be known among the nations... What is the historical result of this everlasting covenant? It is not the creation of a small, beleaguered remnant hiding in a corner. The result is explosive and global. Their "seed", their descendants, will be known among the nations. The primary seed is Christ Himself, and all who are united to Him by faith become part of that covenantal offspring. This promise is about the visibility and influence of the Church in world history. The people of God will not be an obscure footnote; they will be a recognized force among the gentile nations.

And their offspring in the midst of the peoples. Isaiah repeats the thought for emphasis. The church will be planted right in the middle of the world's peoples. This is a fulfillment of the Great Commission. We are not called to retreat from the world, but to disciple the nations, baptizing them and teaching them all that Christ commanded. This verse is a powerful promise for our postmillennial hope. The gospel will prevail. The church will grow to be a mountain that fills the whole earth.

All who see them will recognize them... The presence of God's people will be so distinct that everyone who sees them will have to acknowledge them. They will be recognizable. What will they recognize? They will not simply see a group with peculiar customs. They will be forced to grapple with the reason for their distinctiveness, which the next clause makes clear.

Because they are the seed whom Yahweh has blessed. This is the ultimate explanation. The world will look upon the church, its joy, its peace, its fruitfulness, its order, its love, and they will be compelled to admit that the only explanation is a supernatural one. This is the blessing of God made visible. It is not our cleverness, our programs, or our political maneuvering that will win the day. It is the undeniable, manifest blessing of the covenant-keeping God upon His people. When the world sees a people who are truly blessed, they will know who blessed them. This is the testimony that will disciple the nations.

Application

First, we must ground our faith in the character of God. Our salvation is secure not because of the strength of our grip on Him, but because of the strength of His grip on us, a grip guaranteed by His love for justice and His covenant faithfulness.

Second, we must take care that our worship is not hypocritical. God hates robbery in the burnt offering. We cannot separate our Sunday worship from our Monday-through-Saturday living. A life of integrity, honesty, and justice toward our neighbor is the necessary prerequisite for acceptable worship before God.

Finally, we should live with a robust and optimistic faith. The promises in this passage are not for some far-off ethereal realm, but for history. God has promised that the seed of the church will be known among the nations, and that the world will recognize His blessing upon us. Therefore, we should labor, preach, build, and raise our children with the confident expectation that the gospel will triumph in time and on earth, to the glory of God the Father.