Repairer of the breach

As one who is close to being a full preterist, I have long believed that Isaiah chapters forty through sixty-six are very important to new covenant people. Actually, I think that they are perhaps more pertinent than the actual first century writings in the New Testament. My reason for this is that the New Testament writings chronicle the lives and times of the early church in a transition period between covenants. Isaiah forty through sixty-six was written specifically to new covenant people. With that said, I would like to begin my examination with the promises in Isaiah 58.

 Isa 58:10-14 NKJV:  “If you extend your soul to the hungry And satisfy the afflicted soul, Then your light shall dawn in the darkness, And your darkness shall be as the noonday.  (11)  The LORD will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.  (12)  Those from among you Shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.  (13)  "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, From doing your pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, The holy day of the LORD honorable, And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, Nor finding your own pleasure, Nor speaking your own words,  (14)  Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the LORD has spoken."

 I include the passage on the Sabbath for this reason. It is important. Not the day Saturday, but what Saturday was a metaphor of. It is important because of the Sabbath Rest (Hebrews 3&4.) The entire purpose of the Sabbath was to point to resting from work and trusting in God. There is so much in this passage and as the days go on we will look at other passages in Isaiah 40 – 66 but this is a good place to begin. What the world desperately needs today is new covenant people; People who are willing to be repairers of the breach.

There is a double entendre in the phrase repairers of the breach. First, it is a metaphysical breach between man and God. This is precisely why God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself not counting sin. Repairing the breach also has a natural and physical component.  It is well defined in this passage and in Jesus words in Matthew 25:31-46. Repairing the breach is also the process of bringing social justice to the poor and disadvantaged. It is a way of off-setting greed. Gordon Gekko was completely wrong. Greed is not good. Greed is a symptom of humanities pathology.

I hope this is helping a light to click on for you. We are not necessarily the church, nor are we just the kingdom of God. We are the NEW COVENANT PEOPLE. As such, we house the potential to be repairers of the breach. More to come on this subject.