The day of vengeance

Isaiah 61 is the mission statement of Jesus. However when Jesus announced His ministry in Luke chapter 4, although He quoted Isaiah 61 He left out a major portion of it. He stopped in the middle of verse 2. The later part of His mission could not be fulfilled until Jesus was raised from the dead and His church was in place.

He stopped at, "And the day of vengeance of our God," and all the promises that follow. Why did He leave it out? Because He had not yet been to the Cross to defeat Satan. The beginning of vengeance was at the Cross, but now it is up to individuals to complete that process. The end of vengeance for demons is the Pit and finally the Lake of Fire. It also means removing the curse from your personal life that gave these demons license to operate in your life. Certainly vengeance will be complete when the Lord returns, but in the meantime we may contribute to the process and even fast forward it.

"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD" (Isaiah 61:1-2a).

 

And the day of vengeance of our God (Isaiah 61:6b).

Normally when we are in the overcoming process it has to do with a curse. As we go through that process, not only is the curse removed, but also the demon that has used that curse as his handle, has to let go. In Jesus’ days on earth the demons in Mark 5 could not be sent to the Pit, they were allowed to stay in their own "country." The time of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection had not yet taken place, therefore these demons were not candidates for early retirement.

The same account of the man in Gadarenes filled with demons in Matthew 8 tells this in more detail. "And suddenly they (the demons) cried out, saying, ‘What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?’" (Matthew 8:29).

Look at Judges 11:12 which says, "Now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon, saying, "What do you have against me, that you have come to fight against me in my land?’" ( Judges 11:12).

Until Jesus went to the Cross, the demons were in their own territory, their own land, but now they are outlaws and we have the right to give them early retirement.

Our overcoming process completes vengeance, and then all of the following promises can be activated. In addition, we give the demon an early retirement to the Pit.

Here is a summary of what we may possess through overcoming:

To be comforted; to have the ash heap of our lives turn into beauty; to live with the joy of the Lord; to have praise replace heaviness; to be established in righteousness; to glorify God by receiving all of this. To put away the curse coming down our family line. To have our material needs supplied and be able to lift our heads up out of confusion and shame. God will then use us in His service and we will become His ministers. We will have spiritual authority. Our offspring will have a godly inheritance and serve the Lord. (Isaiah 61:3-11 paraphrased).

What is the overcoming process? We will address that in later devotions.

 

Larry Chkoreff

February, 2001