ISAIAH 60-62
PART 20
Tonight we are jumping back into our study on Isaiah and we will be examining Chapters 60-62. The chapters describe the future glory of Zion. Some believe these chapters only describe the future glory of physical Jereruselm when the captive children of Israel would return and rebuild. While there are some things we could apply to them, there are other things mentioned in these chapters that could only apply to the church that Jesus built. Also, Jesus applied Isaiah 61:1-2 to Himself in Luke 4:16-21.
In order to present these three chapters in a timely manner, I am going to have to leave out a lot details that could be made. So, let’s begin.
Isaiah 60:1 Arise,
shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the
LORD is risen upon you. 2 For behold, the darkness shall
cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the
LORD will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you.
Jesus is the true light
that came into a dark world. Thanks to Him, His disciples could arise and shine
and show Christ working through them just as we are to do today. I have no
doubt in mind that these verses ultimately point to the spiritual Zion that was
established by Jesus and proclaimed by His disciples. Next, we are going to see
the results of this new spiritual Zion and how it would affect the whole world.
Isaiah 60:3 The
Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the
brightness of your rising. 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 nursed at your side.
5 Then you shall see and become radiant, And
your heart shall swell with joy; Because the abundance of the sea shall be
turned to you, The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you. 6 The multitude of camels shall
cover your land, The dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; All those from
Sheba shall come; They shall bring gold and incense, And they shall proclaim
the praises of the LORD. 7
All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together to
you, The rams of Nebaioth
shall minister to you; They shall ascend with acceptance on My altar, And I
will glorify the house of My glory. 8 "Who are these who fly like a
cloud, And like doves to their roosts?
9 Surely the coastlands shall wait for Me; And the ships of Tarshish will come first, To bring your sons from
afar, Their silver and their gold with them, To the name of the LORD your God,
And to the Holy One of Israel, Because He has glorified you. 10 " The sons of 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 Therefore your
gates shall be open continually; They shall not be shut day or night, That men
may bring to you the wealth of the Gentiles, And their kings in procession.
I do not believe this
section of Scripture is talking about physical Israel and the rebuilding of its
walls, but speaks of how the Gentiles and foreign nations would contribute and
be added to the new spiritual Jerusalem of the N.T. Isaiah gives us an image of
the spiritual Jerusalem being like a mother that is well pleased that her
children are coming to her. While some might apply these sons and daughters to
the Jews only, we are about to see that this has a bigger picture than that and
includes adopted sons and daughters, which are the Gentiles.
All one has to do is read
through the N.T. and you can see how the Gentiles were eager to become part of the new
spiritual Israel. As our text describes, Gentiles have come far and wide to be
part of God’s kingdom, and they have contributed their wealth for its sake
because they have seen the importance of the light that Jesus has brought to
this dark world.
From verse 10-11, we can
know that Isaiah did not intended a literal interpretation that applied to
physical Israel once they returned and rebuilt the walls and the temple of God
because just the opposite happened them. The children of Israel had great
opposition as they tried to rebuild.
Also, they closed their gates every night, while all this opposition was
happening according to:
Nehemiah 7:3 And I
said to them, "Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun
is hot; and while they stand guard, let them shut and bar the doors; and
appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, one at his watch
station and another in front of his own house."
While our text from
Isaiah does not fit physical Israel, it does fit spiritual Israel because sons
of foreigners and kings have all contributed to the growth of the church. Its
doors are always open. Think about this. Why would one build a physical wall,
yet never close the physical gate? The physical wall would serve little purpose
if the gate was never closed. I believe this shows how these verses are indeed
pointing to spiritual Jererusalem and not physical
Jerusalem.
Isaiah 60:12 For the nation and kingdom which will not serve you shall
perish, And those nations shall be utterly ruined. 13 "The glory of Lebanon
shall come to you, The cypress, the pine, and the box
tree together, To beautify the place of My sanctuary; And I will make the place
of My feet glorious. 14 Also
the sons of those who afflicted you Shall come bowing
to you, And all those who despised you shall fall prostrate at the soles of
your feet; And they shall call you The City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One
of Israel. 15 " Whereas
you have been forsaken and hated, So that no one went through you, I
will make you an eternal excellence, A joy of many generations. 16 You shall drink the milk of the
Gentiles, And milk the breast of kings; You shall know
that I, the LORD, am your Savior And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of
Jacob. 17 " Instead of
bronze I will bring gold, Instead of iron I will bring silver, Instead of wood,
bronze, And instead of stones, iron. I will also make your officers peace, And your magistrates righteousness. 18 Violence shall no longer be
heard in your land, Neither wasting nor destruction
within your borders; But you shall call your walls Salvation, And your gates
Praise.
One thing I want to
remind you of is that when Isaiah was speaking the Word of God and prophesying
about future events, a lot of what he was speaking was a mystery to him, but we
are fortunate because we get to see the big picture and see how these things he
was saying can be applied to the spiritual kingdom of God.
Isaiah talks about those
kingdoms that would oppose Him will perish. This has been a common occurrence
throughout history. If a nation opposes God’s people and His will, and they promote
the evil way, they usually fall. Even if they thrive for a long time they will
not escape the day of Judgment, when every knee will
bow before the Lord. He also describes
this idea of how beautiful spiritual Jerusalem will be by describing it with
physical things so that we can comprehend its beauty with our limited human
imaginations.
God has forsaken His
people in that that He allowed them to be destroyed and taken into captivity.
Even after they returned and rebuilt physical Israel, they found themselves in
ruins once again because they became corrupt and God forsook them once again as
Jesus points out in Mt. 23:38, and their precious
physical Jerusalem was destroyed again in a.d. 70.
However, the Scriptures do not ever say that God will forsake His spiritual
kingdom because it will never be destroyed.
Under the spiritual
kingdom, we are not to be violent, but we are to strive to be at peace with those
around us. We are to focus on salvation and praise.
Isaiah 60:19 "
The sun shall no longer be your light by day, Nor for brightness shall the moon
give light to you; But the LORD will be to you an everlasting light, And your
God your glory. 20 Your sun
shall no longer go down, Nor shall your moon withdraw
itself; For the LORD will be your everlasting light, And the days of your
mourning shall be ended. 21
Also your people shall all be righteous; They shall inherit the
land forever, 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 its time."
I love this description of those who are part of the spiritual kingdom and how God is our everlasting light. Not only does this paint a beautiful picture of the future spiritual kingdom, it ultimately describes our final home when we will be in the kingdom of heaven.
John uses similar language to describe the church and it untimate home in heaven.
Revelation 22:5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light
of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and
ever.
Revelation 21:4 "And God will wipe away every tear from
their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall
be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
Thanks to Jesus, we have
been made righteous through Him (Rom. 5:19). When Jesus presents the church to
the Father in heaven only the righteous will be allowed in heaven. The land in
our verses does not refer to an inheritance on this earth because our land, “if
you will” will be in heaven (1 Pet. 1:4).
Verse 22 talks about how
a little one will become a 1000. Well, think about how the kingdom of God
started out with just 12 apostles and 120 followers. From that point forward,
the kingdom grew and grew. God’s kingdom has never ceased to exist and will
continue to thrive because God’s Word will remain intact until Jesus comes
again.
What we can learn from
this chapter is that God loves His people and He has always taken care of them.
Yes, He allowed them to suffer at the hands of their enemies when they turned
their back on them, but He never did allow them to become completely destroyed.
As Christians, we are part of the new spiritual kingdom. We can be thankful for
what God has made possible for us through His Son, and we can continue to have
hope as we look forward to when all the faithful are in heaven with God.
Isaiah 61:1
"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has
anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the
brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the
prison to those who are bound; 2
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our
God; To comfort all who mourn, 3
To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of
joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they
may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be
glorified."
One of the challenges of
Isaiah’s prophecies is the fact that part of them can have fulfillment in the
near future and offer hope for the Jews that would go into captivity, while at
the same time pointing to the time of Christ where the prophecy is ultimately
fulfilled. As we read through this chapter, I think you will see exactly what I
am talking about. While some of the prophecies we have studied, one could effectively
argue that they were too vague to say for sure they pointed to Jesus or to the
church. However, that is not the case with the first two verses of this chapter
because Jesus Himself applies this prophecy to the first century.
Luke 4:16 So He
came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went
into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of
the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where
it was written: 18 "The
Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the
gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To
proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the
acceptable year of the LORD." 20
Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down.
And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them,
"Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
The Spirit of the Lord
being upon Him is a clear reference to the Holy Spirit descending on Him when
He was baptized. No one can deny that Jesus was a proclaimer of God’s truth.
His message would be for all. It is a message of hope that can free everyone
from the shackles of sin. God was certainly glorified by Jesus in all that He
did, and we are to follow in His footsteps.
Isaiah 61:4 And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up
the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, The
desolations of many generations. 5
Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, And the
sons of the foreigner Shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
Verses like these can
bring your mind back to physical Israel. However, this can easily be seen in
the spiritual sense of how the Jews would take part in rebuilding themselves
under the new system of faith that came through Jesus. Some take the idea from
verse 5 that the Jews are to be the prominent ones in the church while the
Gentiles to the menial work. However, we must not take something describing
something spiritual to far as this could be just saying that the Gentiles are
going to be laboring in the kingdom of God with the Jews. Besides, God does not
show partiality.
Galatians 3:28 There is
neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male
nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Isaiah 61:6 But you
shall be named the priests of the LORD, They shall call you the servants of our
God. You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, And in
their glory you shall boast.
I believe this verse also point to the time of the church because the only time that we find God’s people all being called priest is under the new covenant (1 Pet. 2:5,9; Rev. 5:10).
Isaiah 61:7 Instead
of your shame you shall have double honor, And instead of confusion
they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess
double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs.
8 "For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery for
burnt offering; I will direct their work in truth, And
will make with them an everlasting covenant.
9 Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles, And their offspring among the people. All who see them shall
acknowledge them, That they are the posterity whom
the LORD has blessed."
This section is a bit
vague in my opinion, but keeping with the thought of this
describing spiritual things under the N.T. I see this saying that under
the N.T. system, we will have no reason to be ashamed and we will be satisfied
with where we are. As Christian, we have been blessed by God. This text also
points out how God hates sin, but loves justice and the righteous way.
Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul
shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of
salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom
decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with
her jewels. 11 For as the
earth brings forth its bud, As the garden causes the things that are sown in it
to spring forth, So the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring
forth before all the nations.
I think these words are beautiful and fit perfectly with what we have through Christ. Yes, we should rejoice in the Lord and be thankful that we have been clothed in Christ, by putting Him on in baptism:
Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on
Christ.
Also, we know that the
birth of the church and the spreading of the good news throughout the world
caused righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
Isaiah 62:1 For
Zion's sake I will not hold My peace, And for
Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, Until her righteousness goes forth as
brightness, And her salvation as a lamp that burns. 2 The Gentiles shall see your
righteousness, And all kings your glory. You shall be
called by a new name, Which the mouth of the LORD will
name.
This prophecy goes hand
and hand with what Isaiah said earlier in:
Isaiah 56:5 Even to them I will give in My house And
within My walls a place and a name Better than that of sons and daughters; I
will give them an everlasting name That shall not be cut off.
This new name being
spoken about is Christian. Note the following points that prove it.
1. This would be a name
given by God.
ESV 1 Peter 4:16 Yet if
anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God
in that name.
The name Christian is this new name that God’s people are to be known by
and when wear it, it glorifies God.
2. This new name would be given within God’s wall, which is a reference to
His church. Also, I believe this prophecy limits this new name to the time when
the Gentiles will get to become part of God’s people as can be seen further in Isaiah
56. So, I do not believe it was an accident, but perfect timing when we see
God’s people being called Christian at the first Gentile church in Antioch in:
Acts 11:26 And when
he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year
they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the
disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.
3. This new name would be better than that of sons and daughters and it
would be an everlasting name that will not be cut off. Again, what name could
be more appropriate to honor Christ and the salvation He brought to us than
Christian? So, the name Christian is certainly better than any name a son or
daughter may have, and it is a
everlasting name. I am fully convinced that there is no other name this could
be talking about except Christian.
Isaiah 62:3 You shall
also be a crown of glory In the hand of the LORD, And a royal diadem In the
hand of your God. 4 You shall
no longer be termed Forsaken, Nor shall your land any
more be termed Desolate; But you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land
Beulah; For the LORD delights in you, And your land shall be married. 5 For as a young man
marries a virgin, So shall your sons
marry you; And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, So shall
your God rejoice over you.
Isaiah speaks in metaphors about the future church. The church Jesus would establish would be an honorable beautiful thing. It would be a crown of glory in the protection of God’s hand. God’s people would no longer be called forsaken or desolate as they had in the O.T. times, instead they would be the delight of the Lord as Hephzibah means. They would also be known as the bride of Christ as indicated by the name Beulah. These two names were used to show God’s relationship with His people under the new covenant are not the new name He would call them by because these are not new names, but Christian sure was. Isaiah teaches us the idea of how God will take care of His people and rejoice over them just a man would with the woman he marries. When you really think about what Isaiah is saying here, it should cause you to feel great to be a Christian.
Isaiah 62:6 I have set watchmen on your walls, O
Jerusalem; They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention
of the LORD, do not keep silent, 7 And give Him no rest till
He establishes And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. 8 The LORD has sworn by His right
hand And by the arm of His strength: "Surely I
will no longer give your grain As food for your enemies; And the sons of
the foreigner shall not drink your new wine, For which you have labored. 9 But those who have gathered it
shall eat it, And praise the LORD; Those who have
brought it together shall drink it in My holy courts."
While your mind might
want to go back to physical Israel, keeping with the theme of this chapter, I
believe this is referring to the time of the church and God’s protection of it.
These watchmen on the walls are not referring to O.T. prophets or angels.
Instead, I believe it is referring to the Apostles, elders, evangelist, and
teachers of the N.T. times. They certainly did not hold their tongues, and they
relentlessly spread the good news of Jesus Christ throughout the known world of
their time - something, we are to continue to do today. We should continue to
praise God for the protection and security of His kingdom.
Isaiah 62:10 Go
through, Go through the gates! Prepare the way for the people; Build up, Build
up the highway! Take out the stones, Lift up a banner for the peoples! 11 Indeed the LORD has proclaimed To the end of the world: "Say to the daughter of Zion,
'Surely your salvation is coming; Behold, His reward is with Him, And
His work before Him.' "
12 And they shall call them The Holy People, The
Redeemed of the LORD; And you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.
If there was not so much
in this chapter that pointed to the church, we could read these last verses as talking
about the glorious triumph of God’s people returning from their Babylonian
captivity and how God allowed them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild. However,
based on all we have seen in the chapter, I see this talking metaphorically about
the church when Jesus came and broke down all walls between Jews and Gentile,
so that all could be saved. Thanks to Christ, there is no
longer any obstacles in the way for people to be saved. Salvation is
available for all who will accept it.
Certainly those that are
Christians are to be called Holy people:
1 Peter 1:15 but as He
who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, "Be
holy, for I am holy."
We have certainly been
redeemed by the Lord:
1 Peter 1:18 knowing
that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold,
from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of
Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
Christianity is certainly
sought out, and we are not forsaken:
2 Corinthians 4:8 We
are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed,
but not in despair; 9
persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed –
Hebrews 13:5 Let your
conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things
as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake
you."
In conclusion, I want you to consider the words of
Paul:
Romans 15:4 For whatever things were written before were written
for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures
might have hope.
I don’t know about you, but these three chapters in Isaiah have boosted my hope and my comfort in God, and I hope they have done the same for you. Let’s us never stop learning from God’s Word.