July 23
Biblical prophecy is ‘yea and amen.’ It has never failed. It will never fail. The Old Testament is a remarkable book. It not only accurately chronicles the history of God’s chosen people Israel, it also includes many types and shadows of the Messiah who is to come. The Word includes prophecies that have been fulfilled of the ‘Suffering Messiah,’ and prophecies that are yet to be fulfilled of the ‘Conquering Messiah.’
One of these prophetic passages was read by Jesus when He stood up in the congregation at the onset of His earthly ministry. Doing so was His way of announcing that He was the One whose coming had been long awaited by the Jews, yet when He stated the prophecy in Luke 4:18, 19, He stopped short of its full message from Isaiah 61:1, 2.
He read Isaiah 61:1 in its entirety but only part of verse two, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon Me because He has anointed Me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and to release the prisoners from darkness, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Indeed, these words encompass the ministry of Jesus during the three years He walked upon the earth.
Jesus healed the sick and broken in spirit; he set free those who were imprisoned in spiritual darkness and He declared that now is the time to receive Him, but He did not proclaim the second part of verse two which says, “…to proclaim the day of vengeance of our God.” That day, when He shall set all things right and establish His complete authority, is yet to come. As we see the signs of that day unfolding before our eyes, may we be ready to see Him, to meet Him in the air (I Thessalonians 4:17).
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