Isaiah 60
Notes
Transcript
The Future Glory of Israel
The Future Glory of Israel
We are moving toward the end of this study and it has been a fascinating one as he saw God deal with sin, His people and the other kingdoms of the world.
Some people say that God doesn’t work in our world today, They think He created all things, set the world in order and then took his help away allowing it to go it’s own course.
But I think you look at the testimony of Scripture, you see that is the farthest thing from the truth. God was at work in the lives of His people and He is in our world as well.
God has been talking about His people’s return to the city, but also their return in faithfulness by following Him and his ways. God desires that they be faithful covenant person, allowing them to be His people and He to be their God.
So lets begin today as we open the 60th chapter of the Book of Isaiah.
1 Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
When we speak about the glory of God we are speaking about the majestic, physical presentation of His holiness that is visible to human sight.
One good place to see this in the New Testament is the Mount of Transfiguration, where Peter, James and John saw the glory of Jesus up on the mountain.
Moses saw this when he saw the father at the burning bush, or the cloud and fire at Mt Sinai. These all reflect and show the glory and majesty of our God.
God here is calling for Zion, literally his people to arise, get ready and new day is about to begin, but this isn’t like waking up to a new day, it is a new time, a new era, and new thing the Lords is doing..
For them, they no longer walk in darkness, having to fell their way around, Isaiah says they have light now. The glory of God has risen over you like the sun of a new day.
Now lets look at verse 2 Isa 60:2
2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples;
but the Lord will arise upon you,
and his glory will be seen upon you.
Another reason to have a shinning light is that the world is covered in darkness.
At the time of the God’s appearing the world will be in deep darkness.
Now you think for a minute, is our world covered in darkness today? Yes, the world calls wrong right and right wrong. It truly doesn’t know its right hand from the left. We saw this with the President calling for a Transgender day of visibility at Easter… Craziest thing I have ever seen or heard. The word is dark.
Man we need two things.. We need Christians all over this world wot take a stand for Jesus, to be both salt and light in this world.
And Secondly.. we need the Lord to return.. and we pray for this… even so come quickly Lord Jesus.
And when the Lord comes, thinking of his established Kingdom the world would see him.
verse 3 Isa 60:3
3 And nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your rising.
The nations and kings of the world who are in darkness will see the light and come to it. This is the light reflected by the people of Zion.
This is the light of God’s glory.
This is the way it was supposed to always be, they were to be a light to the nations…
Verses 4-5 Isa 60:4-5
4 Lift up your eyes all around, and see;
they all gather together, they come to you;
your sons shall come from afar,
and your daughters shall be carried on the hip.
5 Then you shall see and be radiant;
your heart shall thrill and exult,
because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you,
the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
So the prophet calls for them to lift up their eyes and see. Zion is to look all around in order to observe how people are coming to them ( Zion ) from every direction
They will bring their sons and daughters, their lives to this nation. This is not the return to Jerusalem after the exile, this is speaks about the time of the eternal kingdom, where the nations come to Zion, Jerusalem to worship.
Sons and daughters coming to Zion tells us that God will ensure than no one will be left behind. So with God’s presence and these children we know that there will be radiant joy, excitement
at the end of verse 5 we see that they will bring wealth, gifts unto the Lord their God. wealth from the sea, riches that have come from afar.
Verses 6-7 Isa 60:6-7
6 A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense,
and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord.
7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you;
the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you;
they shall come up with acceptance on my altar,
and I will beautify my beautiful house.
A vast number of camels laden with gold and incense will cover the land, they will come from Midan and Sheba and those around Israel.
The are bringing gold and frankincense and good news.. Gold and Frankincense, makes you think of the gift brought to the baby Jesus by the wise men from the areas to the east.
These people who were nomads and traveled all the around the the wilderness areas will gather their animals and come and meet the needs of the people of Zion. Some of the animals will be offered up to the altar, these are the clean animals as according to Levitical law.
All of these things, the gifts, the activities, they bring glory to God and will make His temple a beautiful place.
Verses 8-9 Isa 60:8-9
8 Who are these that fly like a cloud,
and like doves to their windows?
9 For the coastlands shall hope for me,
the ships of Tarshish first,
to bring your children from afar,
their silver and gold with them,
for the name of the Lord your God,
and for the Holy One of Israel,
because he has made you beautiful.
The thought continues here, the nations coming to Zion, new groups of people from the west are observed as approaching, but there is a unique thought here who are they that fly like a cloud…
what is meant here… I don’t think the Lord is telling us about air planes … it may just be that coming from the west would include the Mediterranean Sea, and thus the white, billowing sail of the ships come into the harbors.. In fact verse 9 tells us that ships coming in from Tarshish arrive first…
The come with their silver and gold, with their people and they are coming to the city of God. They will know the glory of God as he reveals himself to the world
When God established his kingdom, he will draw all mankind to worship and glorify his His name
Verses 10-11 Isa 60:10-11
10 Foreigners shall build up your walls,
and their kings shall minister to you;
for in my wrath I struck you,
but in my favor I have had mercy on you.
11 Your gates shall be open continually;
day and night they shall not be shut,
that people may bring to you the wealth of the nations,
with their kings led in procession.
In the past God used the foreign nations as instruments of wrath to discipline his people in their times of rebellion and sin. But in the future, it will be different, God will transform the hearts of his people and those of the people in the foreign nations so that they will want to honor praise and glorify God. God will send them healing and light and they will repent of this sins (59.20). God will give them a new covenant and in righteousness will bring salvation to the ends of the earth.
After his glory appears in Zion, His people and that of the nations will will see his glory and come to worship hiim bringing God silver and gold.
These foreigners will no longer want to hurt or take away from God’s people. Instead they will want to bless and help God’s people Israel.
In this in day, the gates to that city will be open day and night to welcome people to the city of God.
God wants people to come to him and worship, to know and honor him, so that they will be his people and he their God.
Verse 12 Isa 60:12
12 For the nation and kingdom
that will not serve you shall perish;
those nations shall be utterly laid waste.
The nation with the rebellious attitude will not live, it will perish under God’s judgement All people in all nations must bow and worship God or they will lie in ruins.
Verses 13-14 Isa 60:13-14
13 The glory of Lebanon shall come to you,
the cypress, the plane, and the pine,
to beautify the place of my sanctuary,
and I will make the place of my feet glorious.
14 The sons of those who afflicted you
shall come bending low to you,
and all who despised you
shall bow down at your feet;
they shall call you the City of the Lord,
the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
There will be no opposition to God’s plan, instead the glorious things found in Lebanon will come to Zion to beautify it.
Eaerlier the glory referred to the glory of God and here it is the glorious trees, the pine, fur and cypress trees that grow to such heights and whose wood was used to make elaborate dwellings and other important as the temple.
Interesting is that currently, Lebanon is against Israel, but later it will not be and its own resources will bless the God of Israel.
His sanctuary, his Holy Place will God dwells will have this wonderful items to bring glory to Him.
Those who were once against you O God and your people are now the ones who bow low in respect.
Every person of the earth will appear before the Lord. Pride and self worth have no place in front of the creator, our stance must be humble, that appilies to all people.
This radical transformation will turn former enemies into fellow worshippers; angry despisers of God will turn into those who honor God and his people. At this time Zion will be holy—its people will be holy and its visitors will be holy; therefore, it will be honored as a holy city of God and Zion will exist as the city of the great King
Verses 15-16 Isa 60:15-16
15 Whereas you have been forsaken and hated,
with no one passing through,
I will make you majestic forever,
a joy from age to age.
16 You shall suck the milk of nations;
you shall nurse at the breast of kings;
and you shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
This radical transformation will impact Zion and the Hebrews living there as well. In the past the sinful city was in the state of being hated and forsaken as when God brought punishment to this people.
People and nations have always hated Israel. The Egyptians, Philistines, Edomites, Syrians, Ammonites and Moabites, Assyrians and Babylonians all hated Israel
This passage decalres that in the future these emotions will never take place again. Instead God says I iwll make you and transform you into somehting opposoite. Israel will no longer be a hated nation or people in that day.
Could you imagine today if Israel was as loved as other nations today, were treated the same… This is part of the way God will change them (his city and people) into a holy city.
Verse 16 speaks to the change involving God gracious car of Zion.
Zion here is compared to a child being nursed in the royal household or to a child drinking the milk of the nations. So what does this mean...
Nursing is a symbol of someone providing physical and emotional care so the promise of being nursed by the king implies that the child will have absolutely the very best care and all their needs will be met
Zion here will have all she needs and will not be taken advantage of or cause to loose their wealth.
When they see what God is doing they will accept and understand that God is truly their God, their helper and Savior
The creator of the heavens and the earth, the Holy One of Israel, and the Almighty God of Jacob will have once again demonstrated that he is their Redeemer.
Verse 17-18 Isa 60:17-18
17 Instead of bronze I will bring gold,
and instead of iron I will bring silver;
instead of wood, bronze,
instead of stones, iron.
I will make your overseers peace
and your taskmasters righteousness.
18 Violence shall no more be heard in your land,
devastation or destruction within your borders;
you shall call your walls Salvation,
and your gates Praise.
The Temple that Solomon built was overlaid with a lot of God, especially the eastern side as the suun rise in the mornings, the reflecting of sunlight was mean to share the idea of the glory of God.
But as foreign kings attacked over the years they demanded tribute and as they nation fell into poor conditions, gold and other precious metals were actually pulled off the temple and replaced with bronze. I know it is sad, if they had walked with God it would not have happened.
But here God says he will replace them with the best and richest of materials to glorify every part of the city of Jerusalem and God’s temple
But this might also be a look forward to the new Jerusalem in that new Kingdom that revelaiton speaks of about the richness of the city, streets of gold and such..
But Isaiah is also speaking the the spiritual state of the nation. In the past they had experienced some good and godly leaders, but they had many wicked leaders as well.
In the future, the principal of peace will be a factor about the city and how it is governed. Peace will guard and direct the relationships of the city and its people. But not only peace, righteousness will be a factor that governors the city and guides its function.
Evil things like pride, selfishness, deceit, etc… will no longer be a part of the ruling nature of the city. God will transform the peoples hearts so that they will have new desires, godly values and new motivations for their thoughts and actions.
The last change here is the political and social life in Zion. The past was marked with violence and destructions as a people, tribes, etc…Since peace and righteousness will guide their behavior, God’s salvation will be all around them and praise in coming and entering the city.
Verse 19-20 Isa 60:19-20
19 The sun shall be no more
your light by day,
nor for brightness shall the moon
give you light;
but the Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your glory.
20 Your sun shall no more go down,
nor your moon withdraw itself;
for the Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your days of mourning shall be ended.
The most glorious thing about our future state is that we will be forever removed from darkness, instead we will be in the light.
No more in that time of his new city, the New Jerusalem the sun and moon are not needed, for He, the glory of God is our light.
But also His light and glory removes the blindness with the darkness of sin, HIs salvation bring the one who is the light of the world into us and darkness is removed.
we at that time, will never be apart from Him. We will forever with the Lord.
Verses 21-22 Isa 60:21-22
21 Your people shall all be righteous;
they shall possess the land forever,
the branch of my planting, the work of my hands,
that I might be glorified.
22 The least one shall become a clan,
and the smallest one a mighty nation;
I am the Lord;
in its time I will hasten it.
The transformed people of Zion will live in that city, the new Zion or Jeruslaem, and with no more sinfullness in that day, the people from all the world, saved by his salvation will be righteous, for he is rightoues… we are made like him.
we are his children, if even by adoption, the very work of his hands.
It is here that the promise to Abraham is fulfilled complete, his descendants will possess the land, The chidlrem of God who are literally the descendants of Abraham if even by adoption will be his people who are living in His land and his city
It closes with the word, I am the Lord, at the right time it will be so...
It is not my promise, it is God’s promist..
How wonderful.. what he has promised He says I willl do, just wait and see...
Until then like Paul in I Then 4, encourage each other with these words.
