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;

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)