Isaiah 60:22

The *Lord made such a promise to Abraham many centuries earlier (see Genesis 18:18).

Jerusalem ~ at the time of David and Solomon, the capital of the country called Israel. During the time of Isaiah, Jerusalem was the capital of the country called Judah.
glory ~ the splendid beauty and wonderful light of God’s most holy character.
Lord ~ God’s name in the Bible. In the original language, God’s names mean ‘head over all’ and ‘God always’.
Temple ~ special building in Jerusalem where Jews praised God and offered him prayers and gifts.
Jerusalem ~ at the time of David and Solomon, the capital of the country called Israel. During the time of Isaiah, Jerusalem was the capital of the country called Judah.
Jew ~ a person who belongs to the 12 tribes of Israel.
tribe ~ group of the later family of one father.
exile ~ someone that an enemy takes away to a foreign country. Or, the place where such a person has to live.
camel ~ valuable animal that can carry heavy loads through the desert (see Genesis 37:25).
frankincense ~ substance to burn for its sweet smell to give honour to God (or, to a false god).
sacrifice ~ a gift of value to God (or, to a false god).
altar ~ special stone where priests burned animals as a gift to God (or, to a false god).'New Testament ~ the final part of the Bible. It contains 27 books from the time of the first Christians.
Messiah ~ Old Testament title for Christ.

Old Testament ~ the first part of the Bible. It contains 39 books, all from the time before Jesus was born.
Gentile ~ a person who is not a Jew.
Zion ~ the mountain in Jerusalem where God’s holy Temple was.
Jerusalem ~ at the time of David and Solomon, the capital of the country called Israel. During the time of Isaiah, Jerusalem was the capital of the country called Judah.
Temple ~ special building in Jerusalem where Jews praised God and offered him prayers and gifts.
Jew ~ a person who belongs to the 12 tribes of Israel.
tribe ~ group of the later family of one father.

1. Isaiah: New *Heavens and a New Earth

God’s *Messiah Beats God’s Enemies

Isaiah Chapter s 56 to 66

Gordon Churchyard

The words in square brackets, […], are not in the *Hebrew Bible. They make the book easier to understand in English. Isaiah wrote his book in the *Hebrew language. The words in round brackets (…) are explanations.

Chapter 60

1. The first song of the *Messiah

v1 Rise up and shine! [Do that] because your light has come! And the *glory of the *LORD has risen over you.

v2 Look, because darkness covers the earth. And deep darkness is over the people. But the *LORD will rise up above you and [the world will] see his *glory over you.

v3 Then, people that are not *Jews will come to your light. Also, kings will come to the bright light that begins to shine over you.

v4 Open your eyes and look all round you. Everybody is gathering and [everybody] is coming to you. Your sons will come from far away and [you will] carry your daughters in your arms.

v5 Then you will look and you will shine! And your heart will beat and it will become larger [inside you]. [This will happen] because they will bring the wealth from over the seas to you. The rich [things] from the nations will come to you.

v6 Groups of camels will cover your [land]. Young camels [will come from] Midian and Ephah. And everybody from Sheba will come. They will carry gold and *incense. Also, they will talk about how great the *LORD is.

v7 [People] will gather all the farm animals from Kedar [and they will bring them] to you. They will offer the male sheep from Nebaioth to you. I will accept them when people offer them [to me] on my *altar. So, I will make my wonderful *temple beautiful.

v8 These are the people that [seem to] fly along like clouds. They come like birds to their nests.

v9 [They do this] because the [people on the] islands are expecting me. The ships from Tarshish are at the front of [the people that are coming]. They bring your sons from far away. And they bring silver and gold. They will come to the name of the *LORD your God. [He is] the *Holy [God] of Israel. [They do this] because he has made you beautiful.

v10 And the sons of strangers will rebuild your walls. Also, their kings will serve you. I struck you when I was angry. But I will be kind to you now that I am favourable [to you].

v11 Your gates will always be open. [People] will never close them, during the day or during the night. Then, people can bring in [to you] the wealth of the nations. Their kings will come with them.

v12 Because the nation or the *kingdom that will not serve you, [somebody will] destroy it]. [That nation] will ruin itself completely.

v13 The *glory of Lebanon will come to you. [Its *glory is] pine trees, fir trees and cypress trees. They will make my *temple beautiful. And I will put my *glory where my feet touch the earth.

v14 The people that have been cruel to you will come. They will bend down in front of you. And everybody that hated you will come. And they will bend down on their knees at your feet. And they will call you, ‘The City of the *LORD. [You are] *Zion, [you] belong to the *Holy [God] of Israel.’

v15 People have avoided you and they have hated you. Now, everybody will always be proud of you. Although nobody travelled through you, everybody will [always] be happy because of you.

v16 And you will drink the milk of nations and royal breasts will *nurse you. Then you will know that I, the *LORD, am your Saviour (Rescuer) and your *Redeemer. I am the very strong [God] of Jacob.

v17 I will bring you gold instead of *bronze (hard yellowish-brown metal). And [I will bring you] silver instead of iron. And instead of wood [I will bring you] *bronze. And [I will bring you] iron instead of stones. And I will make peace your ruler and very great goodness will govern you.

v18 You will not hear in your country [the noise that] fierce people make. Nobody will ruin or destroy anything inside your borders. And you will call your walls Safety and your gates *Praise.

v19 The sun will not give you light in the day again, neither will the moon shine brightly on you. And the *LORD will always be your light and your God will be your *glory.

v20 Your sun will never set again and your moon will never disappear. [That is] because the *LORD will always be your light. And your unhappy days will end.

v21 Then all your people will be very good and they will always possess the land. They will be the shoot [small new branch] that I have planted. [They will be] the work that my hands have made to display my beauty.

v22 The least [person] among you will become a thousand and the smallest [person] will become a strong nation. I am the *LORD. When it happens, I will do it quickly.

2. Notes

3. The 1^st Song of the *Messiah

Verse 1 This verse follows God’s promises in Isaiah 59:15b-20. Isaiah tells the *Jews, ‘Rise up and shine!’ This is because God has come to them. The light is another name for God or his *Messiah. The ‘*Messiah’ is a special leader that God promised to send to his people. For Christians, it means Jesus. ‘*Glory’ is what makes God great. It means that God shines brighter than the sun! This verse tells us that we must be like God! In other words, because God is good, we also must be good. ‘Shine’ does not mean here that God shines on us. Instead, we shine because God is inside us! Read number 2 in the section ‘Something to do’. ‘*LORD’ is a special name for God.

Verse 2 Darkness here means places where people do not obey God’s laws. It means people in Judah and people in the rest of the world. What God does for his people Israel, he will do for everybody!

Verse 3 ‘Kings’ means rulers. ‘People’ means the people that they rule. It means everybody. The ‘bright light’ is the place where God himself is.

Verse 4 People will come to the *LORD from every part of the world. They will include *Jews that do not live in Judah. They also include people that are not *Jews. Some people will come from beyond the seas, read verse 9. Some will be weak, so they will need nurses to carry them. Neither distance nor weakness will prevent them. Everybody can come to where the *LORD is!

Verse 5 ‘Your heart will beat and it will become larger’ means that you will feel very, very proud. The wealth and the rich things will come to *Zion when the *LORD returns to the earth. *Zion is another name for Jerusalem. Here it means the New Jerusalem that we read about in Revelation 21:2. For Christians, the New Jerusalem is Heaven.

Verses 6-7 These verses tell us that people will come to the *LORD from many directions.

Midian and Sheba are in the south.

Ephah, Kedar and Nebaioth are in the north and east.

Tarshish (verse 9) is in the west.

Isaiah is telling us that people are coming from many places to *Zion, the New Jerusalem. These people will come to serve God. They will say that he is great. They will offer their animals on God’s *altar. This is a place where they burnt animals to obey God. Christians think that this is only a word-picture. In ancient Judah, people gave animals in this manner in order to praise God. In the New Jerusalem, there will be other ways to do this. They also burned *incense, which made a special smell. The important thing to notice is this. Everybody will praise God, not only the *Jews! The *temple was God’s house in Jerusalem. It was on a hill called *Zion.

Verse 8 The birds are the ones called doves. They make a noise like someone that is crying quietly.

Verse 9 Only God can give to people what they want, or expect. So, they come to him when they get the opportunity. ‘Me’ in this verse is God, who is speaking. The islands are countries outside Judah. ‘Come to the name’ probably means ‘give honour to the name’.

Verse 10 The ‘sons of strangers’ means ‘foreigners’. But they are not foreigners now! The New Jerusalem is their city, as well as the city of the *Jews! ‘Walls’ probably means ‘everything that makes the city safe and strong’. The *Hebrew word for ‘serve’ here means what the *Levites (special servants of God) did for the *Jews. They told the *Jews about God.

Verse 11 The gates are always open, because no enemy will ever attack them. There will be complete security for the people in the city. Also, people that bring gifts will always be able to enter through the gates. Bible students are not sure about the correct meaning of the phrase ‘their kings will come with them’. It may mean:

• the kings will come in as prisoners; or

• the kings will come in as leaders to give the wealth to *Zion.

Verse 12 A *kingdom is a country that a king rules. This verse, which is at the centre of this chapter, is very important for the meaning of the whole chapter. *Kingdoms that will not serve ‘you’ will not continue. ‘You’ means *Zion and its God. The country that opposes *Zion and its God will ruin itself. That country will destroy itself. This is because it will not serve God. Only in *Zion will such a *kingdom find the love of a God who forgives people.

Verse 13 In verse 1, ‘*glory’ was what made God great. Here, it is what makes Lebanon great. The verse tells us what it is. It is their wonderful trees. The three trees called pine, fir and cypress are beautiful trees with leaves that are always green. ‘My *temple’ is God’s house in Jerusalem. This verse would remind the *Jews that King Solomon used wood from Lebanon. He used it to build the *temple on the hill called *Zion in Jerusalem. Look at number 3 in the section ‘Something to do’.

Verse 14 These people were Judah’s enemies. But now, they want to love and to serve God in *Zion. Notice that they want to serve God, not the *Jews!

Verse 15 The important word in this verse is ‘always’. There is a great change. This is because people come to God, not just to Israel. Remember, this Jerusalem (*Zion) is the one in Revelation 21:2.

Verse 16 Only God can make this happen! The relationship between *Zion and the world is the same as that between mother and baby! It is a very close relationship.

Verse 17 ‘*Bronze’ is a metal. It is a mixture of two metals called copper and tin. It is not as valuable as gold. In each example, something better replaces something that is less good. Only God can give real peace (‘no war’) and very great goodness. So, this verse tells us this: when God rules, everything will become better!

Verse 18 There will be no crime in the country. It will be a safe place. ‘*Praise’ here means the words that we use to praise somebody. Some Bibles translate ‘safety’ as ‘salvation’. Salvation also means safety, but especially after we die. Therefore many Christians think that this chapter is about the New Jerusalem. The walls and gates belong to the new city. Look at number 5 in the section ‘Something to do’.

Verses 19-20 Notice this. These verses do not say that God is the sun. He is greater than the sun, which only shines in the day. He is greater than the moon, which only shines at night. God never stops shining, in the day or in the night.

Verse 21 Only God is really very, very good, but he calls his servants very good also. That is how they display God’s beauty. God’s light does not only shine on them (verse 19), it also shines from them (verse 1)! Notice the word ‘shoot’. It means a small new branch from a plant. The shoot grows into a bigger plant. Isaiah uses the word 3 times: 11:1, 14:19 and here. In 11:1, it is a name for the *Messiah, the leader that God will send. As God’s people will be like him, so they too will be his ‘shoots’, like the *Messiah! They will grow to be like him.

Verse 22 Here is God’s promise to Abraham: ‘I will make you the father of many nations’, Genesis 17:5. It is possible to translate ‘I will do it quickly’ as ‘I will enjoy it’. God wants to enjoy heaven as much as we do!

4. Something to do

1. Compare Isaiah 60:1 with Matthew 5:16.

2. Read 1 Samuel 14:27-29, where Jonathan’s eyes ‘shone’.

3. Read about Solomon and Lebanon in 1 Kings 5:1-12.

4. Study the use of the words ‘*glory’ and ‘beautiful’ in this chapter. Decide where they mean:

• the light from God himself;

• the beauty that God has given to something else.

5. Compare Isaiah 60:17-21 with Hebrews 12:18-24 and Revelation 21:10-22.

10. Chapter s 61 and 62

    1. The 2^nd and 3^rd Songs of the *Messiah

11. heavens ~ another word for ‘skies’. It can also mean the place where God lives and the skies above us.
    messiah ~ a leader such as a king. With a capital M (that is, ‘Messiah’), it means Jesus for Christians.
    Hebrew ~ the language that Isaiah spoke.
    glory ~ something that shines and is wonderful. Especially, it is God’s splendid beauty.
    LORD ~ LORD is a special name of God. In the Hebrew language, it is YHWH. It may mean ‘always alive’. So LORD is a sign that the Hebrew word is YHWH.
    lord ~ master. When it has a capital L (that is, ‘Lord’), it is a name for God.
    Hebrew ~ the language that Isaiah spoke.
    Jews ~ the people that lived in Judah (which sounds like ‘Jew-dah’) and Israel.
    incense ~ a substance that makes a sweet smell when people burn it.
    altar ~ a special metal table where people burnt animals and corn to please God.
    temple ~ God’s house in Jerusalem. False gods also had temples.
    holy ~ very, very good. Only God is really holy. He is so holy that he is separate from everybody else.
    kingdom ~ a country that a king rules.
    Zion ~ a name for Jerusalem.
    nurse ~ to give milk; as a mother does to the baby at her breasts.
    bronze ~ a hard yellowish brown metal. It is a mixture of two metals called copper and tin.
    praise ~ worship of God; the words that we use when we praise God.
    worship ~ to tell God (or a false god) that he is wonderful; and also, to tell him that you love him.
    glory ~ something that shines and is wonderful. Especially, it is God’s splendid beauty.
    Levites ~ the special servants of God who helped the priests in the temple. They belonged to the family of Levi, who was one of Jacob’s sons.
    temple ~ God’s house in Jerusalem. False gods also had temples.
    kingdom ~ a country that a king rules.
    bronze ~ a hard yellowish brown metal. It is a mixture of two metals called copper and tin.