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The focus of Isaiah 61 is the status of the poor. Notice there are several similarities between that passage and Yeshua’s “happy are”/”woe to” discourse, commonly known as the Beatitudes.
Texts: Luke 6:20-26; Matt. 5:1-12; Isa. 61:1-8
Various translations start Isa. 61:1 as, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted….”
The word translated as “afflicted” is translated from anav (אנו, Strong’s lexicon No. H6035), which is used on Quman and Hebrew codices as “crouching” or “bowing” before someone, particularly God. The greek equivalent is ptochois (πτοχοις, Strong’s G4434) which is what is usually translated as “poor.”
This is usually considered a bad term in Greek, but that changes when one reads the Apostolic scriptures. So Yeshua’s “happy are the ptochois…” is not a classical Greek notion, because ptochois was something people didn’t want to become.
The freedom promised by God is more than a physical freedom. The Septuagint version of Isaiah 61 agrees with that in the Dead Sea Scrolls that the freedom and recovery of sight is not just physical but spiritual too.
God promises to bring out a reversal of fortunes for His people. From bondage to liberty, from mourning to gladness and from indifference and apathy to praise.
The Servant will plan “oaks of righteousness” as a testimony. The text also predicts that there will be a day when the people will return to Israel and they will restore the Land and that the foreigners will work the land, rather than occupying it. Israel will receive a double portion and the nations will applaud this.
Some people believe that the temporary restoration during the time of the Maccabees’ was a fulfillment of this prophesy, but that weak and quickly corrupted kingdom did not last and instead descended into re-occupation by foreigners.
The “woe to” crowd are the completely clueless crowd. They did not care about or want to understand God’s plan. They were more concerned with the fact that Rome’s boot was on their neck and looking for someone to oppress in a similar manner to seek after the spiritual release God was offering them.
The “happy are” crowd understand and see with spiritual eyes that the oppression of current times will be radically changed to its polar opposite in God’s time. What changes is not the situation but the person him or herself.
One of the greatest tragedy today, that since no one trusts any authority at all, they are all alone to fend for themselves. But we don’t have to fend for ourselves when we lean on the loving authority of God.
The Pharisees, for right or wrong, brought many priestly rituals into the home but they made this rituals such a burden to the people and Yeshua had to speak out against the overreaching of these temple rituals into the home.
God calls upon us to be peacemakers, as He is a peacemaker (εἰρηνοποιός eirenopoios, Strong’s G1518; James 3:18; Heb. 12:14; Rom. 12:18). God is going to make peace but some people will not want God’s peace but God will make it His way.
Banner Photo: Yeshua preaches in the synagogue in Nazareth quoting from Isaiah. Photo by the LUMO project (www.LumoProject.com).
Reader: Daniel Agee. Speaker: Jeff. Summary: Tammy.