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Righteousness Sprouts in ZionIsaiah’s Prophecy—Light for All Mankind II
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7, 8. (a) What are the two ‘years of goodwill’? (b) What are Jehovah’s ‘days of vengeance’?
7 There is a timetable for preaching the good news. Jesus and his followers were commissioned: “Proclaim the year of goodwill on the part of Jehovah and the day of vengeance on the part of our God; to comfort all the mourning ones.” (Isaiah 61:2) A year is a long time, but it has a beginning and an end. Jehovah’s “year of goodwill” is the period during which he gives meek ones the opportunity to respond to his proclamation of freedom.
8 In the first century, the year of goodwill for the Jewish nation started in 29 C.E. when Jesus began his earthly ministry. He told the Jews: “Repent, you people, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.” (Matthew 4:17) That year of goodwill lasted until “the day of vengeance” of Jehovah, which climaxed in 70 C.E. when Jehovah allowed the Roman armies to destroy Jerusalem and its temple. (Matthew 24:3-22)
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Righteousness Sprouts in ZionIsaiah’s Prophecy—Light for All Mankind II
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Thus, Isaiah fulfills his prophetic commission, that is, “to assign to those mourning over Zion, to give them a headdress instead of ashes, the oil of exultation instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of the downhearted spirit; and they must be called big trees of righteousness, the planting of Jehovah, for him to be beautified.”—Isaiah 61:3.
11. Who in the first century had good reason to praise Jehovah for his great deed?
11 In the first century, the Jews who accepted release from bondage to false religion also praised God for his great deed in their behalf. Their downhearted spirit was replaced with a “mantle of praise” when they were delivered from a spiritually dead nation. Such a change was first experienced by Jesus’ disciples when their mourning over his death turned to rejoicing over their anointing with holy spirit by their resurrected Lord. Soon after, a similar change was experienced by 3,000 meek individuals who responded to the preaching of those newly anointed Christians and got baptized at Pentecost 33 C.E. (Acts 2:41) How good it was to be confident of having Jehovah’s blessing! Instead of “mourning over Zion,” they received holy spirit and were refreshed by “the oil of exultation,” which symbolizes the exultation of those who are richly blessed by Jehovah.—Hebrews 1:9.
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Righteousness Sprouts in ZionIsaiah’s Prophecy—Light for All Mankind II
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6. Who received relief from hearing the good news preached in ancient times, and what about today?
6 Isaiah’s inspired message brought relief to repentant Jews in Babylon. In the days of Jesus and his disciples, it brought relief to Jews who were brokenhearted because of the wickedness in Israel and were languishing in captivity to the false religious traditions of first-century Judaism. (Matthew 15:3-6)
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Righteousness Sprouts in ZionIsaiah’s Prophecy—Light for All Mankind II
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15 In 33 C.E., Jesus’ disciples were greatly saddened by his arrest, trial, and death. (Matthew 26:31) However, their outlook changed when he appeared to them after his resurrection. And once holy spirit was poured out on them, they got busy with the work of preaching the good news, “both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the most distant part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) Thus they began to restore pure worship.
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