The Good News of Isaiah 61:7 = Honor and Joy
The Good News of Isaiah 61:7 = Honor and Joy.
“In place of your former shame and humiliation you shall have a double portion of honor; because people cried out against you with contempt, ’They deserve disgrace,’ you will shout for joy over all you will receive. What they own in the land will be doubled. Everlasting joy will be theirs.” (Isaiah 61:7).
Shame is common in Scripture because that particular aspect of the fallen world unfortunately happens to us all. The Hebrew word for shame in the Old Testament is “bosheth,” and means to be disgraced, to feel like the grace of God has been taken away; humiliated, made to look unworthy of love; dishonor, made to feel like one’s honor and dignity as a person made in God’s image has been removed. The New Testament Greek root word “aischos” means “disfigurement.” The feeling of shame is rooted in the idea of one’s spirit being disfigured, the face of one’s inner being marred in a painful way. Shame defaces the appearance of one’s beautiful identity found as God’s creation, and can be brought about by injuries such as rejection, inadequacy, abandonment or exposure. One can be put to shame by what we have done, by what someone has done to us, or both together. In Israel’s case in this passage, God’s chosen people were shamed and humiliated by the Babylonian conquest and exile, by the Lord’s public judgment of them because of their habitual disobedience and many spiritual failures, by their sense of God’s disappointment in them for their covenantal unfaithfulness, for their international embarrassment in becoming a subjugated people.
Rejoice. The Hebrew word used here is “ranan,” which means to sing and shout for joy; to give a ringing and resonant cry of praise and thanksgiving; to give an ecstatic burst of exultation for being delivered from distress; to shout in deep gladness when troubles are overcome. In this case, Isaiah is assuring the Israelites that the Lord will enable them to experience victory after their defeat, honor after their disgrace, and the people will rejoice in their good fortunes after the shame and humiliation of judgment and defeat.
Forever and Ever. The good news of everlasting joy is proclaimed by Isaiah as the destiny of the Lord’s chosen people. The Hebrew word here is “olam” and means from everlasting to everlasting; an eternal continuance; perpetual without end; something that is ageless and outside the bounds of time; from ages to ages; an indefinable time period that cannot be measured; a time that has no chronology and simply always is; something that always remains in the present tense. The root word refers to conceal or hide, something beyond the visible horizon, a time that is hidden and can’t be grasped, such as a vanishing point in the remote distance.
Isaiah 30 – So It Will Be || Bible in Song || Project of Love
Joy. The Hebrew word is “simchat,” and means exceeding joy and deep gladness; an inner emotion of elation that is expressed outwardly with jubilation. As promised earlier in this Isaiah passage, the Lord will give to His people the “oil of gladness” that will replace the debilitating guilt of our failures and the drenching sorrow of our sinful nature, replace the grief and hopelessness of our brokenness. The Lord will anoint us with His sacred oil of joy, and lavishly pour onto us, from head to foot, a blessing of light-heartedness to replace our mourning.
‘The joy of the Lord Yahweh is your strength!” (Nehemiah 8:10).
Joy and Happiness. Joy is not happiness. Happiness is unsteady, dependent on external circumstances. Happiness goes up and down, it comes and goes, based on the changeable whims of life. Happiness is temporary and superficial, and can’t be relied upon. Happiness is natural; joy is supernatural. Happiness is a result of circumstance; joy is a gift of God. Happiness is horizontal; joy is vertical. Happiness is the uncertain wave dependent on the wind; joy is the steady, delightful undertow that takes you into the deep, drawing us to our inner heart’s desire.
Joy Described. But what is joy, exactly? Let’s describe it to better understand it, even though we’ll never get to the bottom of it. Joy is a settled assurance of God’s love and lordship. Joy is a deep-seated delight, a confident pleasure of the soul. Joy is an encouraged understanding of God’s presence and character. Joy is an inner gladness based on spiritual realities, that “we live in a gloomy town but a merry universe.” (Chesterton). Joy is a quality of holy optimism that affects the whole personality. Joy is a foundational light-heartedness that overflows into one’s spirit. Joy is an abiding satisfaction that all is well with God. Joy is a hopeful sense of well-being that rejoices in gratitude. Joy is a gladsome result of faith, a by-product of love, a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Joy is our most dependable and accurate foretaste of heaven.
“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold – though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.” (1 Peter 1:6-8, NLT).
Simchat Torah. A invaluable source of joy and delight to the chosen people through the centuries has been known as the “Joy of the Torah.” Faithful Jews knew that the Torah Scripture was their way of discovering God’s will, God’s instructions for how they should live, their only true guidance in a confusing world. The longest chapter in all of Scriptures is Psalm 119, with its 176 verses. The entire psalm is dedicated to honoring the Torah, and it centers on how much joy and delight a believer takes in God’s word. The word Torah has been translated as the “Law” by most English translations for some reason, and that is unfortunate. Jews do not understand Torah to mean Law, but instead God’s teaching, instruction, guidance, direction. The Jews are so thankful that the Lord graciously didn’t leave them on their own to try to figure out life with God. They didn’t have to guess how to please their Lord, how to follow His direction for a blessed life. So, to the faithful Jews, Psalm 119 is a heartfelt celebration of the virtues of Torah, and its importance in their daily life with God. Rather than the straitjacket of the Law with its primary focus on rules and regulations, Torah was a life-giving, practical, tangible sign from God that He loved them and would be a faithful Lord for them through life.
Faithful Jews celebrate Scripture as a tangible sign of God’s mercy and wisdom. This ethic of celebration of Scripture has been wonderfully amplified since the early medieval era when the Simchat Torah became a valued tradition in Judaism. Simchat Torah means “the joy of Torah” or “rejoicing in the Torah.” It is an ecstatic ceremony in the synagogue that celebrates their gratitude for Scripture and their love of God’s Word. The celebration is sheer joy and merriment. Some aspects of Simchat Torah:
(1.) As is customary in the synagogue, Jewish worshippers read a portion of Torah each week from the first five books of the Bible, so that by the end of a religious year, the entire Torah would be read. It is time then to celebrate the Torah! The ceremony always brings an end to the High Holy Day season in Judaism, a joyous closure to all those feasts and festivals.
(2.) The ceremony occurs in the evening at the synagogue, when the rabbi takes the Torah scrolls out of their special holding place called the ark, and all the people form a single file line behind the rabbi as he holds the Torah up high for all to see. They then begin to raucously dance and sing as they complete seven circuits around the stage on which the pulpit rests. It’s similar to a long exuberant conga line as they continue to make their rounds in the boisterous celebration. During these seven circuits around the stage, they are whistling, singing, dancing, clapping hands, hoisting children onto the adults’ shoulders, and generally getting lost in the joy and mayhem. Men and women both participate, men with men, women with women, and young daughters with their fathers. Many participants in the Simchat Torah have said that, “You have never seen joy until you have seen the Simchat Torah!”
(3.) The completely unbridled joy of the ceremony expects everyone to participate for as long as it takes, sometimes several hours. There is no need to be self-conscious, because no one is self-conscious! We are rejoicing in the Torah, they sing, God’s Word for us! Rabbi Solomon Schecter once said about the Simchat Torah: “Think of King David dancing before the ark! David praised God with every limb in his body, and with his head, his eyes, his mouth, his ears, his throat, his tongue, his lips, his heart, his hands, and with his feet!” (as told in Marvin Wilson’s great book, Exploring our Hebraic Heritage).
(4.) It is commonly understood that the participants become the “feet” of the Torah as it is carried around the synagogue. Many a time the celebrants bring the Scrolls out into the street to continue the celebration in full public view, sharing their joy in God’s Word.
(5.) Just before dancing begins, the end of Deuteronomy is read, and then the beginning of Genesis. There is much joy in completing the reading cycle each year, just as there is an exciting sense of anticipation as they begin a new year of reading the Torah once again. While dancing and singing the traditional chants, biblical prayers and even children’s songs, the participants have time to think about what they have learned in the past year as they rejoice at what new truths they can learn from Torah the next year. The participants have plenty of time to think, as the celebration often lasts into the early hours of the morning.
(6.) The energetic celebration of Simchat Torah is also an act of gratitude for the privilege of being given the Scripture from the holy God, and an act of faith that they will submit to God’s will as revealed in the Torah. This is known as “glorifying the Torah,” holding the Scripture high in honor of its glorious presence in the world. The Torah is considered the most important knowledge in all the earth, and the study of Torah is considered the highest act of worship. Scripture is a heavenly treasure brought to earth, and brings profound joy and fulfillment to those who believe it and digest and live it out. The faithful Jews are indeed the People of the Book.
Biblical Hope for Those Who Are Shamed. “All you who hope in the Lord, be strong and let your heart take courage, for with the Lord there is lovingkindness, and with Him is abundant redemption. God has a thousand ways to set us free. This hope will not let us down or put us to shame, because the love of God has already been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. So my heart is glad and my spirit rejoices, my body also will rest in hope.” (Ps. 31:24; Ps. 130:7; Romans 5:5; Ps. 16:9).