Our look at Isaiah 61 is almost over. We’ve seen how God
promises to work in and through us to heal and restore. We have an everlasting
covenant with the One who cannot fail us.
The last part of Isaiah 61 is a hymn of joy to God by one
who has embraced the promises in the first 9 verses. Isaiah says, “I
will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my
whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of
salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom
decks himself with a garland, and as a
bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its
shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and
praise to spring up before all the nations.” (Isaiah 61:10-11) For
me, this calls to mind the vision in the Book of Revelation of the church as
the Bride coming down from heaven.
The writer of Revelations tells us, “I saw the Holy City,
new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned
for her husband.” (Revelation 21:2) For many young girls the idea of being a
bride is something that is almost like being a princess. When I was a little
girl, dressing up in a long dress and veil was great fun.
Isaiah says that God has covered us “with the robe of
righteousness” as when a bridegroom prepare for his wedding. For a Jewish bride,
in Biblical times, one of the important parts of the bridal array was the dowry
necklace. In these coins and/or jewels was the bride’s security if something
should happen and leave her a widow with no family. The groom paid the family
for the privilege of marrying the girl. A portion of that, plus, if he was
able, a gift from the father of the bride, was given to the girl as her dowry. Most
often this was in the form of easily worn jewelry.
Jesus talks about the woman who had 10 coins and loses one.
This coin was probably part of her dowry and losing it would be a great
hardship. No wonder she calls everyone together for a party when she finds it.
(Luke 15:1-xx) And remember the parable about the bridesmaids, (Matthew 25:1-13) who waited for
the bridegroom to arrive? Some of them missed the wedding itself because they
were not prepared with extra oil. Jesus warns us to be
prepared and ready because we, as the people of God, will one day join with
Christ as is promised in Revelation.At the very end of Revelation, we hear, “The Spirit and the
bride say, "Come!" And let the one who hears say, "Come!"
Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift
of the water of life.” (Revelation 22:17)
As the Bride, we are issuing that
invitation each day to all we meet. Our lives, lived as those “clothed
with the garments of salvation…the robe of righteousness” show that the “Lord
God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations”. As
we’ve seen throughout this study, we cannot do this without the Spirit of God
who ‘anoints us’ for our work. For that work we are given gifts to use to build
up the Kingdom. This is our dowry necklace of talents and time and, yes,
treasure.
What coins are in your dowry necklace?
How can we, as the anointed of God, become a more true and
perfect ‘bride’?
