Isaiah 61:4
And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.
The old wastes and desolations are places and lives long ruined across many generations that are to be rebuilt and healed by the gospel. This rebuilding belongs to the work of Christ to comfort mourners and set things right, raising them up as trees of righteousness planted for the glory of God. Those who do the rebuilding are all who return to loyalty to God as His commandment-keeping people. Their work is to repair the breach made in God's law by restoring its principles, especially by exalting the Sabbath of the fourth commandment as the memorial of creation and foundation of enduring reform. That restoration is carried out as gospel work joining preaching with healing the sick and relieving suffering, and through educating the youth, reaching the unreached, and entering unworked cities and spiritually barren places.
Setting and Promise
The old wastes, former desolations, and waste cities are places long ruined and desolated across many generations, and they stand in need of the gospel's healing work of rebuilding what has been ruined and restoring neglected places. That rebuilding follows the promise of comfort and renewal for mourners in Zion, whose restored lives are described as trees of righteousness planted by the Lord for His glory, and it includes restoring former desolations and repairing cities laid waste for many generations as part of Christ's mission and the work of His followers.
The verse belongs to a passage defining Christ's work of setting things right and bringing salvation, testifying to the work He came to do. People would have recognized the harmony of these prophecies with Christ's life and ministry if they had studied them sincerely and compared Scripture with its fulfillment. The chapter would be understood as the people heeded Isaiah 60 and 65 and stopped complaining and doing evil, and then the Lord would show His power in the conviction and conversion of souls.
The work set before God's people is rebuilding what has long been ruined, restoring former desolations, and repairing cities laid waste across generations. The following verses describe strangers helping with the work and God's people being called priests and ministers of the Lord. The chapter's promises give encouragement to those called to work for God, and the promised rebuilding of ruined places and cities desolated over many generations applies to sowing the gospel and entering new fields.
Repairing the Breach
The verse outlines the spiritual restoration symbolized by the work carried forward in Nehemiah's day, describing a people living in a time of general departure from truth and righteousness who seek to restore the principles that are the foundation of the kingdom of God. Building and repairing the wastes and desolations means repairing the breach made in God's law, the wall He placed around His chosen ones for their protection, where obedience to its precepts of justice, truth, and purity is their perpetual safeguard. In the time of the end every divine institution is to be restored, and the breach made in the law when man changed the Sabbath is to be repaired. God's remnant people stand before the world as reformers showing that the law of God is the foundation of all enduring reform and that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is to stand as a memorial of creation and a constant reminder of the power of God, presenting in clear, distinct lines the necessity of obedience to all the precepts of the Decalogue. Constrained by the love of Christ, they cooperate with Him in building up the waste places as repairers of the breach and restorers of paths to dwell in.
The old waste places are the ruin caused by sin through violations and breaking of God's law by people of high and low standing and at every level. Those converted to Christ become His co-workers, joining His work of redemption and restoration to repair them. The they who rebuild are all who return to loyalty to God by keeping His commandments, God's commandment-keeping people who claim to believe present truth. Building the old wastes and raising the former desolations is the work now to be done by those who see the Lord's Sabbath trodden down.
That work means giving the Sabbath of the fourth commandment the exalted position it deserves by pen, by voice, and in every possible way, ringing out the truth. It means presenting the true Sabbath in contrast to the false papal Sunday sabbath at the very time effort is made to enforce Sunday, so that the Sabbath of God's Word is set before the people and before legislative assemblies as a witness. The waste places of Zion are to be rebuilt, its gates restored, and its walls made strong as a defense for the people, applied to a needed reformation in homes and among parents and ministers. Building up the waste places in Zion is also applied to churches needing the ministry and shared labor of brethren who had left them to hear Haskell preach.
The promise of building the old waste places applies to the work God carries forward through His commandment-keeping people. As they labor under the Spirit's direction, God opens opportunities for this work, and their experience grows in assurance and power until Christ returns in glory and gives final triumph to the faithful.
Gospel Restoration Work
Restoring what has long lain in ruins is part of the gospel work entrusted to God's people, who are to rebuild former wastes and desolations and repair damage that has lasted for generations as part of restoring and blessing people. They carry out Christ's gospel commission by joining the preaching of the gospel with the healing of sickness and disease, in the same way Christ sent His twelve disciples to preach that the kingdom of heaven is at hand while healing the sick, cleansing the lepers, raising the dead, and casting out devils. That rebuilding is medical missionary work bringing to humanity the gospel of release from suffering, the pioneer work of the gospel, the gospel practiced and the compassion of Christ revealed. There is great need for this work and the world is open for it, so new fields are to be entered immediately, and when its importance is understood the work of the ministry will be after the Lord's order, the sick will be healed and poor, suffering humanity will be blessed. Health reform and medical missionary work relieve suffering, open fields otherwise difficult to reach, and prepare the way for the gospel.
The rebuilding also describes the repair of a disordered society and the renewal of its social fabric by people formed through true education. It is to be carried out through educational reform and reformatory work in educating children and youth, who must be educated in a different order shaped by the needs of the last days and the proclamation of the three angels' messages. Many families have been slow to understand and carry out this work.
The restoration is the work of reaching people who do not know the special truths for the present time and bringing them to conversion. Ruined and long-desolate places are to be rebuilt through city outreach, with believers planning and carrying out work for unworked cities, proclaiming present truth wisely, and seeking people who have become scattered from the faith. The verse applies to spiritual waste places where consecrated families settle to serve God, becoming like fruit-bearing trees of righteousness in spiritually barren places, and by sowing truth and opening Scripture to families in darkness they touch hearts and reap a rich harvest.