Isaiah 60:1-7

IX. ZIONTHE ZENITH, Chapter S 60 - 66
A. REWARD OF ZION, WEALTH OF THE NATIONS
CHAPTER 60

1. GLORY

TEXT: Isaiah 60:1-7

1

Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of Jehovah is risen upon thee.

2

For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but Jehovah will arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

3

And nations shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

4

Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: they all gather themselves together, they come to thee; thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be carried in the arms.

5

Then thou shalt see and be radiant, and thy heart shall thrill and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned unto thee, the wealth of the nations 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 frankincense, and shall proclaim the praises of Jehovah.

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.

QUERIES

a.

When does Zion's light come?

b.

How is the abundance of the sea turned to her?

c.

Where is Nebaioth?

PARAPHRASE

Do not let the coming captivity prostrate you Zion. Stand up, be stedfast and faithful and begin to be a light to the dark world. The glorious light of God is shining on youthe grandeur, splendor and righteousness of Jehovah is being given to you. It is still night and darkness to the heathen nations around you, but you are going to be light for the whole world when Jehovah gives you His glory. You will become a reflection of God's truth and love that will be seen by people from all over the world. The Gentiles will be attracted to your glory and come to it; great and famous rulers will humbly come to bask in the splendor of your majesty. Look around you, Zion, from all directions people of every nation and tribe and tongue are coming to you; they are all bringing others to you with the tenderness and compassion a foster-parent shows its adopted child. You will see all this and it will make you radiate joy and gratitude, Your heart will be thrilled and swell with excitement toward the Gentiles coming to you. This will be your attitude because you will recognize that God is giving you, in these who are coming, the true wealth of the islands and coastlandsbelievers! Multitudes of people will make their way to you, Zion; people from every direction will come bringing their most precious possessions as gifts and they will testify to the majesty and power of Jehovah. Even your inveterate enemies from Mesopotamia and Idumea will be accepted by Me and by you and they will join you in ministering and worshipping Me. The Lord will make His house more glorious than ever when He brings people from all over the world into it.

COMMENTS

Isaiah 60:1-5 LIGHT: It has been our purpose to show the student of Isaiah the logical progression of the prophet's message. In the first 35 Chapter s Isaiah has declared that Israel's salvation is not in any human programs; neither self-righteousness nor idolatry nor military alliance with the heathen will save her. In Chapter s 36-39 Isaiah inserts parenthetically a record of an historical event which demonstrates precisely what he is preaching; that Israel, God's covenant people, can only be saved and reach her messianic destiny through faith in Jehovah by keeping covenant with Him. Finally, in Chapter s 40-66, Isaiah will prophesy and typify the grand climax of God's program for the redemption of the whole world through the Servant and Covenant relationship to Him. The last section, with which we now begin to deal, predicts the glorious consequence of Zion's appropriation of the Servant's work by Covenant-communion. Zion will enjoy Reward, Regeneration and Rest, among other blessings. Zion is going to be made whole (see our discussion of the word shalom/peace on Isaiah 59:8) because she will have given to her a covenant of peace or wholeness (cf. Isaiah 54:10) when the Servant becomes peace/ shalom for her (cf. Isaiah 53:5).

In anticipation of this wholeness (peace) Zion is told to arise and shine. The future glory of Zion is so certain (although it is centuries away from accomplishment by the Messiah) Isaiah speaks of it as if it had already come. The remnant of Judah will be prostrated in exile along with the unbelievers of the nation. It will be a temptation for the remnant to despair and give up hope that God will ever keep His promises made to their forefathers (Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David). But Isaiah says, Stand up, stand fast in your witness as those who believe God will keep His covenant. Let your messianic light shine, for God has promised, and it will come to pass!

The light which comes upon Zion is the glory of Jehovah. That cannot be anything less than the Messiah. Christ was the effulgence of the glory of God and bore the very image of His substance (cf. Hebrews 1:3). Jesus was the Word become flesh and men beheld His glory, glory as the only begotten from the Father (cf. John 1:14). The Word was the life and the light of men (John 1:4). The Hebrew word kevod is translated glory. The fundamental root meaning is probably weight or heaviness, conveying the idea of some external, physical manifestation of dignity or preeminence of majesty. But the word as it is most widely used means, the exhibition of the excellence of the subject to which it is ascribed. In other words, character is the chief element of glory. Concerning God it is the display of His divine attributes and perfections of righteousness, power, truthfulness, faithfulness, mercifulness, justice, compassion, love, etc. Some of the glory of God may be seen in a limited way in nature (cf. Romans 1:18-23; Acts 14:15-18, etc.).

Zion is to have the excellence of the character of Jehovah rise upon her. The glory of God is to be imputed to Zion through the Servant and made available for appropriation through the New Covenant. Zion will not earn His glory. The Servant comes to earn God's glory for Zion. Zion simply receives it by exercising faith through covenant conditions.

She is to reflect His glory. Darkness covers the earth. All nations (including Israel) fall short of the glory of God (cf. Romans 3:9-26; esp. Romans 3:23). But the people who walk in darkness will see a great light (cf. our comments Isaiah 9:1-7). The Light of the World came to Zion and made her a kingdom of light (cf. John 8:12-20; John 12:46; Ephesians 5:8; Colossians 1:12-13; 1 Thessalonians 5:5; 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 2-3). The letters of the apostle Paul to churches predominantly Gentile confirm the prediction of Isaiah 60:3 that nations shall come to thy (Zion'S) light. Great and powerful rulers and men of renown were attracted to Zion's glory (see comments Isaiah 49:7).

The Hebrew word -amanah is translated carried but means more literally, a foster-father or foster-nurse who has a child in safe keeping. What it means in verse four is that the Gentiles shall bring children safely to Zion (cf. comments on Isaiah 49:22-23). Zion is exhorted to look even now in faith down through the centuries from Isaiah's day to the messianic glory and behold Gentiles coming to her from all directions of the earth. This vision compares to the one given the seven churches of Asia Minor by the apostle John when he recorded the spectacle of the redeemed which no man could number from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues standing before the throne (Revelation 7:9).

The Hebrew word nahare is translated radiant in verse five. It is from a root which means to flow, to run. Zion's reaction to the Gentiles coming to her for the glory of Jehovah which she has will be that of effervescent joy. She will radiate a bubbling excitement because she sees the promises of God being fulfilled that in her seed shall all the nations be blessed. The word phakhad means to tremble with joy and is thus translated thrill. The picture Isaiah paints of Zion is of the messianic age when she has realized she has become the instrument of God for the salvation of the world and is one of excitement. Zion's heart trembles, swells, pumps and jumps with excitement as she realizes she is engaged in divine, eternal, cosmic redemptive history as a colaborer of Almighty God (cf. Acts 11:18; Acts 15:3; Acts 19:10, etc.). Zion is caused to tremble with joy because she sees that there are Gentiles who are precious in character and that there are Gentiles worthy of becoming jewels in the crown of a Jewish apostle (cf. Philippians 4:1; 1 Thessalonians 2:19). The abundance of the sea is the wealth of the islands and coastlands (Gentile territories). What is the wealth of a nation? It is its people, especially regenerated, redeemed people. These are the people who produce goodness, truth and beauty in any nation or society. These are the people who serve humanity without selfish motives. Zion sees that she possesses that which is the wealth of the world after allpeople being conformed to the image of Christ.

Isaiah 60:6-7 LAUDATION: AS Keil and Delitzsch point out: The prophet, indeed cannot describe even what belongs to the New Testament in any other than Old Testament colors, because he is still within the Old Testament limits. In other words, Isaiah is depicting the spiritual prosperity of New Testament Zion (the church) in terminology of his own times. The picture Isaiah draws is that of multitudes of people from the fartherest reaches of civilization uniting in praise and honor to Jehovah. Midian was a son of Abraham from Keturah (Genesis 25:1-6) and Ephah was a son of Midian. Midian and his descendants claimed the land east of the Jordan river and the Dead Sea, southward through the Akabah and including the southern and eastern parts of the peninsula of Sinai. Sheba was the oldest son of Jokshan (Jokshan was also a son of Abraham by Keturah). His descendants probably became what is called the kingdom of Sheba or the Sabeans. The Queen of Sheba who visited Solomon was from this people. These far distant peoples shall contribute their wealth to Zion and they shall come to Zion and proclaim the praises of Jehovah. Kedar was the second son of Ishmael (a son of Abraham by Hagar, the handmaiden of Sarah), (cf. Genesis 25:13), whose descendants lived in the desert between Syria and Mesopotamia. Nebaioth is mentioned always in connection with Kedar or the descendants of Ishmael (Genesis 25:13; Genesis 28:9; 1 Chronicles 1:29) and is regarded by most as identical with the Nabataeans. It is interesting to note that all these are descendants of Abraham, but alien to the original covenant which was administered exclusively through the only son of Abraham by SarahIsaac. Yet, when the promise was given to Abraham, before Isaac's birth, it included blessedness to all nations through that singular seed (cf. Galatians 3:16). These Gentiles are going to be acceptable! Their offerings (worship) will be acceptable and their ministry will be acceptable. As Young says, The picture here given is that of Gentiles converted to Christ who bring all that they have and devote it to His service.

These desert nomads (Midian, Ephah, Sheba, Kedar, Nabataeans) were all enemies of the Jews for centuries. They are even today, racial, geographical and political enemies. The only way these people could ever become united in praising Jehovah and be accepted as worshippers and ministers of Jehovah is through the reconciliation that is in Christ Jesus (cf. Ephesians 2:11-22; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, etc.).

These verses indicate that Jehovah is going to send His Light (the Messiah) to glorify Zion and make available to her the wealth of the world. In other words God is going to demonstrate, once and for all, that His redemptive people (the church) are the focal point of the cosmos. Everything in His creation is to glorify Zion. Sooner or later, ultimately, inevitably God will use everything He has created to serve for the glorification of the redeemed. The apostle Paul said as much in 1 Corinthians 3:21-22: ... all things are yours. whether. the world or life or death or the present or the future. all are yours. Everything that is good and eternal and abiding of God's is the birthright of His Son, and Christians are joint heirs with Him. The house of God is going to be made more beautiful than it has ever been when He adorns it with the wealth of the nations (Gentiles beautiful in character) (see comments Isaiah 56:7).

QUIZ

1.

Can you trace the logical progression of Isaiah's book and include this section?

2.

Why does Isaiah see a necessity to exhort his people to Arise and shine?

3.

What is the light or glory that is to come upon Zion?

4.

What will be Zion's reaction to nations coming to her light?

5.

What is the wealth of the nations?

6.

What would be necessary for the nations listed in verse six-seven to unite with Zion in praising the Lord.