“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted; to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord; and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give to 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” (Isaiah 61:1-3).

Planting (Def): (Heb): Matta from Nata: To strike in, fix in place, fasten, something planted, or a place of planting (a Garden or Vineyard)

The Prophet gives us a wonderful description of the many and sundry workings of the Messiah. The final working of the Spirit is His establishment of Zion as the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified. This theme of being glorified is repeated by the Prophet in another place in his writings, namely:

“Your people shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the Land forever, the Branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified” (Isaiah 60:21).

From these passages we see that the working of righteousness in His people brings great glory to our God. The working of righteousness in Mount Zion, which is:

“The heavenly Jerusalem, the City of the Living God. . . the Church of the Firstborn, whose names are written in Heaven” (Hebrews 12:22-23a).

Mount Zion, the planting of the Lord, is according to the Psalmist:

“The joy of the whole earth. . .the City of the Great King” (Psalm 48:2).

The Prophet further tells us that it is from “out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3b).

The Planting of the Lord is to flourish in proclaiming the Good News, the Gospel of our salvation and to speak forth “the word of the Lord”. This planting of the Lord shall be a place of trees of righteousness, a place of great joy and gladness, a beautiful place of singing and praise to His glorious Name.

There is a caution to be observed when we speak of plantings, however. Jesus said:

“Every plant which My Heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up” (Matthew 15:13).

We must emphasize The Planting of the Lord. When the planting is not of the Lord, it will not remain. Even more specifically, the Father, Himself, will pluck it up by the roots. How many works of Man have been removed and are no more. Christ gave this warning to the Churches in the Letters from John:

“To the Angel of the Church of Ephesus write: These things says He that holds the seven stars in His right hand, Who walks in the midst of the seven golden candelsticks. . .remember from where you have fallen, and repent, and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly, and will remove your candlestick out of his place, except you repent” (Revelation 2:1,5).

In his short Epistle Jude writes concerning those who walk after the flesh and carnal mind and not after the Spirit and the Mind of Christ:

“These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear; clouds they are without water, carried about of the winds, trees whose fruit withers, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots” (Jude 1:12).

But as the writer to the Hebrews exclaims:

“Beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak” (Hebrews 6:9).

Indeed, the Lord is righteous and of His righteousness we have all received and grace for grace. We shall remain, we shall flourish, we shall prosper in the word of the Lord, for He shall cause His word to prosper in us. We, the planting of the Lord, shall receive the blessing, shall receive the early and latter rain and shall be nourished by Him in righteousness, that He might truly be glorified even as the Prophet has spoken.

Oh, may His Prophets ever speak, and may we hear them gladly and prosper in the way (cf. II Chronicles 20:20).

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