Isaiah 61:5

And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. AND STRANGERS SHAL stand - (shall wait on you as servants, Isaiah 14:1; ) "and feed your flocks....

5._And strangers shall stand. _He means that foreigners and strangers shall be ready to yield obedience to them; for, in consequence of their being at that time separated from the rest of the nations, none was willing to assist them, and therefore he says that “strangers stand;“ that is, are ready to meet and assist them. As to what follows, about “feeding sheep” and “cultivating fields and vines,” these are metaphorical expressions; for the Prophet treats of the kingdom of Christ, which is spiritual, but by means of these figures describes its perfect happiness, that we may understand it better from examples drawn from those things which are known to us. Let us therefore understand that we shall be truly happy when Christ shall exercise his dominion over us; for in this way shall we likewise obtain, beyond expectation, many advantages of which the children of Adam are justly deprived....

4-9 Promises are here made to the Jews returned out of captivity, which extend to all those who, through grace, are delivered out of spiritual thraldom. An unholy soul is like a city that is broken down, and has no walls, like a house in ruins; but by the power of Christ's gospel and grace, it is fitted to be a habitation of God, through the Spirit. When, by the grace of God, we attain to holy indifference as to the affairs of this world; when, though our hands are employed about them, our hearts are not entangled with them, but preserved entire for God and his service, then the sons of the alien are our ploughmen and vine-dressers. Those whom He sets at liberty, he sets to work. His service is perfect freedom; it is the greatest honour. All believers are made, to our God, kings and priests; and always ought to conduct themselves as such. Those who have the Lord for their portion, have...

Verse Isaiah 61:5. _STRANGERS SHALL - FEED YOUR FLOCKS_] Gentiles shall first preach to you the salvation of Christ, and feed with Divine knowledge the Jewish congregations....

AND STRANGERS SHALL STAND - (See the notes at Isaiah 14:1; Isaiah 60:10). AND FEED YOUR FLOCKS - The keeping of flocks constituted a very considerable part of the husbandry of those who dwelt in Palestine. Of course, any considerable prosperity of a spiritual nature would be well represented by an accession of foreigners, who should come to relieve them in their toil. It is not necessary to suppose that this is to be taken literally, nor that it should be so spiritualized as to suppose that the prophet refers to churches and their pastors, and to the fact, that those churches would be put under the care of pastors from among the pagan. The idea is, that it would be a time of signal spiritual prosperity, and when the accession would be

SECTION VIII.—SOLILOQUY OF THE SERVANT OF THE LORD, WHO PROMISES GLORY AND PROSPERITY TO JERUSALEM (Isaiah 61:1; Isaiah 62:1.). EXPOSITION ISAIAH 61:1 THE MISSION OF THE SERVANT OF THE LORD. The words of our Lord in...

AND STRANGERS SHALL STAND AND FEED YOUR FLOCKS,.... The several congregated churches of Christ, which shall be set among them, compared to flocks of sheep, as they often are; and which shall be fed with knowledge and understanding, with the words of faith and sound doctrine, by pastors of the Gentile race; who shall be raised up by Christ, and shall freely, and faithfully, and constantly perform the office they are called unto; see Acts 20:28: AND THE SONS OF THE ALIEN SHALL BE YOUR PLOUGHMEN, AND YOUR VINEDRESSERS: the sons of Gentiles, who were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, Ephesians 2:12, but now being converted and brought to the knowledge of Christ, and gifted by him, will be of eminent service in his church; which, as it is "God's

Isaiah 61:1. _The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;_ How condescending and how kind are the objects of our Saviour's mission to put an end to sorrow. He looks out the mourners: they are the especial objects of his care, and all that he does has this for one of its grand objects to comfort all that mourn. Surely if there be any troubled heart here, it may claim an interest in such a divine work as this. Jesus has come to comfort all that mourn. Shall he not comfort you? Isaiah 61

CHAPTER 61 The King, Jehovah's Messenger: His People and their Salvation Song 1. _Jehovah's Messenger and His work (Isaiah 61:1) _ 2. _His people a kingdom of priests and their work (Isaiah 61:6) _ 3. _The salvation song (Isaiah 61:10) _ 4. _The blessings of the whole earth (Isaiah 61:11_ Luke 4:1 tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ applied the opening verses to Himself. The destructive criticism denies both the Isaiah authorship of this chapter and its messianic application. The satanic origin of this kind of criticism is here ful

The prophet now addresses the people directly. Men of other nations shall serve as labourers at their bidding and call them Yahweh's priests, or Servants of our God, recognising Yahweh as such. As a priestly caste they will enjoy the wealth of the peoples, as priestly tithe, and deck (so emend boast; _cf._ LXX) themselves in their splendours. This privileged treatment is justified. _For_ as their (so emend your) shame was in double measure, and ignominy their lot (emending for confusion. portion), they shall have in their own land a double portion and everlasting joy. For Yahweh loves justice, and hates iniquitous plundering; so He will recompense His wronged people, making _with them_ a covenant (_cf._ Isaiah 55:3)_._ Their descendants shall be so prosperous that all nations shall recognise their pre-eminent blessedness. As surely as the seed germinates in the soil shall thei