Isaiah
Chapter 60
Isaiah 60:1-14
1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the
LORD is risen upon thee.
2 For, behold, the darkness shall
cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon
thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the
brightness of thy rising.
4 Lift up thine eyes round about,
and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall
come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.
5 Then thou shalt see, and flow
together, and thine heart shall fear, and be
enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the
forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.
6 The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries
of Midian and Ephah; all
they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD.
7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be
gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth
shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and
I will glorify the house of my glory.
8 Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?
9 Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver
and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy
One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.
10 And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and
their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee.
11 Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall
not be shut day nor night; that men may bring
unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be
brought.
12 For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall
perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.
13 The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree,
the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and
I will make the place of my feet glorious.
14 The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come
bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at
the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion
of the Holy One of Israel.
This first verse represents the beauty of Christ’s victory!
Many teach falsely about the “Church Triumphant!
Will the Church of Jesus Christ
triumph?
Of course it will, because it is
the Church of, and in Jesus Christ! It will not triumph due to human striving
to succeed!
Christ Jesus is our Light!
So, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come!”
John
1:7 The same (John the baptist) came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light that all men through him might believe.
We, as Christians, are to bear witness that the Light, Christ Jesus, has come
to shine His Light of Truth on the world!
In telling the world of Christ Jesus, “the
glory of the LORD is risen upon” all who, through the power of the Holy Spirit
acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior!
Prior to Christ’s first advent, the darkness of sin covered
the earth! Gross darkness completely enveloped the people (Heb leʾōm- לְאֹם), be they Jews or Gentiles!
However, Christ came to deal specifically with man’s lost
condition!
John
1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith,
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of
the world.
At His birth and especially at His
resurrection, the glory of the Lord arose upon us! We who believe have seen the power of His
resurrection.
Those of us who began life as Gentiles can testify, or
affirm that the brightness of His Light has been made manifest to us!
The brightness of His rising, the resurrection is apparent
to those of us who shall rule and reign, as subordinate kings with Him in the
age to come!
The fact is that Christ came, went to the gross bearing our sins upon Himself,
died, was resurrected from death and has promised to come again bringing full
salvation with Him to give to all who call upon His name!
So, lift up your eyes look round, and see the glory of the
Lord!”
All, who are appointed to gather in the Lord, shall come to
Christ Jesus. Your sons shall come from
far, and your daughters shall be nursed at your side.
It is only when God opens our eyes and hearts that we shall
look around and see the work of the Holy Spirit! It is only at that time that
we shall see those who are called, chosen, and anointed by God the Father to be
in Christ Jesus the Son flow together in Him!
When we fear (Heb. pāḥad-פָּחַד),
stand in awe of the Lord that we are “enlarged” (Heb. rāḥab-רָחַב), broadened in our ability to understand God’s work in our
lives!
All that is good for us is the result of God’s work within
us!
Phil
1:6 Being confident of this very thing,
that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the
day of Jesus Christ:
Even the abundance of the sea shall
be ours! Those who do not now believe, Gentiles, shall come to us seeking to
know our Lord, Christ Jesus!
Gentiles are unbelievers! Those of
us who have been born again are no longer Gentiles!
Looking at the percentage, there are
as many Gentiles within physical Israel as there are among those who are born
outside of Israel!
When we come to Christ as the
results of His calling and choosing, we become new creations!
1
Cor 12:2
Ye know that ye were
Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye
were led.
Prior
to Christ’s coming. And our
being born again, you WERE
Gentiles, but now you have been adopted into the family of God!
Verse 6 is interesting in that is
says, “The multitude of camels shall cover thee,…”
What does that mean?
It refers to caravans coming to
Jerusalem increasing commerce. America’s
economic well being is directly related to Israel.
When President Roosevelt turned away
a ship, the SS
St. Louis, filled with Jews and returned them
to die in the Nazi death camps, the result was America’s entrance into WWII!
When Barak Hussein Obama was elected
and turned his back on Israel the direct result has been economic devastation
for many Americans!
All the Middle East and Africa shall
bring wealth (i.e. commerce) to Israel!
In doing that they shall show “forth the praises of the LORD.”
Isaiah continues with the economics
theme in verse 7. In that day, those who come to worship God shall be accepted
at His alter!
Verse 7 ends by saying, “I will
glorify the house of my glory.” That
refers to the Temple in the New Jerusalem of Revelation 21. It speaks of the beauty of that temple. Without exaggeration it shall be the most
beautiful Temple ever built! That Temple is now under construction in heaven!
Verse 8 is a question, “Who are
these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to
their windows?”
Could that be describing airplanes?
Let me offer a different view to
that which is most taught in verse 9.
One of the reflections on “isles” is
in Genesis 10:5, “the isles of the Gentiles”.
Verse 9 may be telling us that the
Gentiles will wait, serve God!
Psalms
86:9 All
nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and
shall glorify thy name.
In the above Psalm, “nations” comes
from the Hebrew word Goyim meaning Gentiles. The only question at this point
is, “How many Gentiles did God make?”
They shall bring silver and gold to
“the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath
glorified thee.”
Isaiah proclaims that men shall
bring their riches to God the Father and to Christ, because the Father has
glorified the Son!
In
the true Lord’s Prayer, Christ Jesus prayed, “Father,
the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:”
(John 17:1)
Gentiles, the sons of strangers,
shall build up the walls of the Kingdom!
1
Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones,
are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to
offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
The kings of the Gentiles shall
minister to the Father!
Ps 72:11 Yes, all kings shall fall down before
Him; all nations shall serve
Him
When we discuss judgment and mercy,
we must understand that mercy is more powerful than judgment!
James
2:13b mercy rejoiceth
against judgment.
The last section of verse 10 tells
us, “for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour
have I had mercy on thee.”
The gates of heaven shall
continually be open to all who would truly desire to worship God and the Lamb!
And the nation and kingdom that will
not serve God and the Lamb shall perish (Heb ābad-אָבַד)! Those that will not acknowledge Christ Jesus shall be
utterly wasted (Heb ḥārēb-חָרֵב).
The glory of Lebanon shall be part
of the beauty that shall be the Sanctuary! At this time, Lebanon is an
anti-Jewish terrorist-run nation! But,
that shall change!
The children of those who now
afflict Israel shall bow in reverence to the God of Abraham and Abraham’s
children! Jerusalem shall be known to all as the city of Yahweh!
Isaiah 60:15-22
15 Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man
went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency,
a joy of many generations.
16 Thou
shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD am
thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of
Jacob.
17 For brass I will bring gold, and
for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will
also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors
righteousness. 18 Violence shall no more be heard in
thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.
19 The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for
brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee
an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.
20 Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon
withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine
everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. 21 Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall
inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands,
that I may be glorified.
22 A little one shall become a thousand,
and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in his time.
Israel and Christians shall be
greatly blessed following our afflictions!
That requires faith that Christ fulfilled
His mission!
It is obvious that Christians who
continually whine about their lives do not believe that Christ Jesus was
successful!
The people of God, Israel forsook
the Messiah! They hated the message,
Good News He brought to them!
God told Israel that he would come
and yet the vast majority of the Israeli leaders did not avail themselves of
the salvation offered! That should not come as a surprise!
Romans
11:32 For God hath concluded them all in
unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
The Father promised the Son that He
would make the Son a majestic figure forevermore and a joy for many generations!
That was accomplished in the
resurrection!
Verse 16 refers to those good things
the Lord provides in the strengthening of the Kingdom!
Children need milk, and spiritual
children need the milk of the Spirit to grow strong!
The purpose of God’s provision is
to show Him as Lord, Savior, Redeemer, and the mighty One of Jacob, Israel!
No matter how wonderful we think our
offerings are, God provides better offerings for Himself! There is no better offering then the Son,
Christ Jesus!
The time shall come that violence,
wasting, and destruction shall be completely eliminated! In that day, after the New Jerusalem appears,
it shall bring salvation and praise to mankind!
There shall be no need for sunlight,
because the world will be filled with Sonlight, the
glory of God!
Verse 20 tells us that all mourning shall be ended!
At that time righteousness shall
reign! Israel shall inherit all that was
promised to Abraham!
The little flock of Luke 12:32 shall
increase into the great multitude of Revelation 7:9.
Isaiah 60 ends with the
proclamation, “I the LORD will hasten it in his time.”