Ep.1249: What Will We Be Doing When We Get to Heaven? (Part II)

Isaiah 61

Jesus himself told us that the prophecy of Isaiah 61 began with a description about him. In the book of Luke, he quoted the first few verses of Isaiah 61 and told his listeners those words were being fulfilled before them. Though Jesus stopped quoting the prophecy, the prophecy didn’t stop describing what would happen after his first advent. It spoke of the Day of Vengeance and the journey of his faithful followers through it. Then the prophecy began to describe his followers after they were given heavenly glory as "trees of righteousness."

Trees of righteousness

In Part I of this series, we confirmed that these strong trees picture Jesus’ glorified followers as deeply rooted and immovable symbols of God’s will and way. Their divinely appointed work on earth is described as massive and important. Among the many facets of the work we discuss on this episode that Isaiah 61 describes, here we will just touch on two: These trees are called “priests of the Lord" and "ministers of our God.”

Priests and ministers

At first glance, we might think that being a priest and minister of God are two ways to describe the same thing. While these two responsibilities do work towards the same end, they are very different in application. The biblical priesthood in ancient Israel was responsible to receive the offerings of the people before God. They taught the people and positioned them to be blessed of God as well. While being a priest is to hold a position before the people, being a minister is doing the work of God among the people. It shows an interactivity with those whom the minister serves.

So, how are trees supposed to be priests and ministers? And what about the Apostle Peter telling us that this priesthood is a "royal" priesthood? What does that mean? And what about Israel? Aren’t they supposed to be God’s chosen people on earth? The Isaiah prophecy addresses all of these questions and more! Check out our October 3, 2022 podcast, “What Will We Be Doing When We Get to Heaven? Part II." The future work of Jesus’ followers is not just fascinating, it is thoroughly inspiring as well. Join us as we look into scriptures that paint a vivid picture of the future!