Oil of Joy for Mourning
To
appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the
oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified; Isa. 61: 3.
Strong's Greek: 5479. χαρά (chara) -- Joy, gladness, delight
Joy in the New Testament is more than emotion; it is the settled,
Spirit-given delight that arises from the redemptive acts and abiding presence
of God. It is rooted in divine initiative, …[1]
Strong's Greek: 3997. πένθος (penthos) -- Mourning, grief, sorrow
Penthos (Strong’s 3997) appears five times in the Greek New Testament,
describing deep, heartfelt mourning. In each context the grief is not a
fleeting emotion but an intense reaction to …[2]
Because
sin impoverishes, He will preach good tidings to the poor. Because sin breaks hearts, He will heal the brokenhearted. Because sin makes captives, He will proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to
those who are bound. Because sin oppresses, He will proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.[3]
Gentleness
of wisdom
Contrasting God’s wisdom with earthly wisdom and learning to integrate God’s wisdom in our day-to-day lives.
Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him
shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye
have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against
the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual,
devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil
work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle,
and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality,
and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them
that make peace;
Jam.3:13-18.
These verses show the difference between men pretending to be wise, and their being really so. He who thinks and talks well, is not wise if he does not live according to what is written.
True wisdom descends from above and is reflected in the meekness of the
spirit and temper. Those who live in malice, envy, and contention, always live
in confusion. Such people easily fall a prey for the enemy’s schemes and are
liable to be provoked and hurried to any evil work.
This wisdom comes not down from above, but springs up from earthly principles, powers of darkness, and the wicked hosts of heaven, and is reflected by earthly motives, and is intent on serving earthly purposes, which leads to destruction eventually.
Those who are lifted up with such
wisdom, described by the apostle James, is near to the Christian love,
described by the apostle Paul. Every man need to be responsible and discern to prove
the reality of his attainments and that is from where they receive their
wisdom.
“James addresses the person who is ‘wise and understanding.’ The word sophos (‘wise’) was the technical term among the Jews for the teacher, the scribe, the rabbi.” Prautes is gentleness, but not a passive gentleness growing out of weakness or resignation. It is an active attitude of deliberate acceptance.” (Burdick)
Instead of the mourning all the time, think about God of all wisdom who gives His people the oil of joy, in discomfort. In Biblical days, in mourning, they put ashes upon their head; Ref. 2 Sam. 13: 19. God replaces the ashes with a beautiful crown. The restored place of God’s people is glorious. They are as strong, beautiful, and useful as trees – and like trees of righteousness.
A Call to Linger in Savior’s Presence
Jesus was redefining all that His disciples thought they understood about suffering and the nature of the fallen world. Jesus was explaining to them that creation was broken by sin, and that suffering would inevitably follow as a result. Jesus was also holding out a new hope to them, having come as a light into the darkness. He had the power to redeem suffering for the glory of God. It was a promise true not only for the blind beggar, but also for all who are wounded by the fall.[4]
A good tongue is healing, healing to wounded consciences by
comforting them, to sin-sick souls by convincing them, to peace and love when
it is broken by accommodating differences, compromising matters in variance,
and reconciling parties at variance; this is the healing of the tongue,
which is a tree of life, the leaves of which have a sanative virtue (Revelation 22:2). Matthew Henry.
This wisdom has no deceit, nor the wisdom of
the world, not crafty nor guile, but sincere, open, steady, and consistent.
This is full of purity, peace, gentleness, teachableness, meek, full of mercy, and bearing fruit of righteousness in life. This demonstrates that God had given these excellent gifts from
above. Replacing our mourning to oil of joy.
Fruit of earthly wisdom
The wisdom of the world, is of the flesh, and the devil; and will not eventually finish well. They may accomplish something, achieve things, and may be what they wanted and intended. They are earthly, sensual and demonic. The ultimate fruit of this earthly wisdom is always, confusion, every evil thing and belongs to the prince of the powers of darkness and his deeds will be reflected.
Think about this: Why do anyone of us need to sit in the ashes, and
mourn, and indulge with the spirit of heaviness when Jesus gave us something so much better? The
wonderful thing is specially, when people see us, they see us like well-nourished
and cherished trees of righteousness. This is because, we are marvelously, superbly,
excellently, delightfully and sensationally planted by the LORD.
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