Deeper Commentary
Isaiah 60:1 Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of Yahweh is risen upon you- Even before the exile, Israel and Judah had been invited to perceive that light, hence Is. 9:2 LXX "O people walking in darkness, behold a great light". But they didn't. And so the returned exiles, "Zion", are asked at a later stage to arise and shine because their light had come (Is. 60:1). But again they didn't, and so these prophecies of a light coming are reapplied to the Lord Jesus, who was perceived by a new Zion as the light of the world. I explained on Is. 30:26 how the coming of Zion's supernaturally bright light is to come therefore when Babylon falls; and this has therefore been deferred to the latter day fall of Babylon.
"Arise" is the word used often of the 'rising up' of the exiles to rebuild Jerusalem (Ezra 1:5; 3:2; 9:5; Neh. 2:18; 3:1). This was a fulfilment of the command to "Arise... Jerusalem!" (Is. 51:17; 52:2; 61:4). But this 'arising' was to be associated with the dawning of Zion's light in the form of Yahweh's glory literally dwelling over Zion (Is. 60:1). This didn't happen at the time, because the appearance of 'arising' by the exiles was only external and wasn't matched by a spiritual revival.
Let’s remember that the exiles were symbols of us. We in this life are
passing through “the time of our exile” (1 Pet. 1:17 RSV). The restoration
command to the exiles in Babylon to arise and shine, as their light had
come (Is. 60:1) went unheeded by them; they preferred to stay in Babylon.
And so this is reapplied to us as the new Israel in Eph. 5:14.
The LXX suggests that the coming of this light of Zion depended upon their
being willing to accept it: "Be enlightened, be enlightened, O Jerusalem,
for thy light is come".
Isaiah 60:2 For behold, darkness shall cover the land, and gross darkness
the peoples; but Yahweh will arise on you, and His glory shall be seen on
you- The darkness contrasts with the light which dawns mentally,
internally, in minds which have desired to be enlightened (:1 LXX).
Darkness covering the earth is the language of Gen. 1; we as the readers /
audience are left in
expectation of a new creation being spoken about. But we are also given
the impression that Israel was being treated as Egypt whom they trusted
in, suffering the plague of darkness. But 'covering with darkness' is a
phrase only used elsewhere of death (Job 23:17; Ecc. 6:4). It was through
death and judgment that the new life and creation could come forth. The
land, of Israel, and "the peoples" (Gentiles) are paralleled here; for it
was the Divine intention that the judgments upon the surrounding world
would also be those upon Israel, and yet out of that was to emerge a
repentant remnant of Jews and Gentiles who would merge into a new
multiethnic people of God in the day when Yahweh would arise in glory. In
a literal sense there was to be the light of God's glory in Zion when He
personally dwelt there.
Isaiah 60:3 Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness
of your rising-
Isaiah 60:1-3 reasons that Zion's light was soon to come, but Judah were
to reflect that light as if it had already come; in the same way as God's
light was to rise, so Judah were to arise as if they were that light. The
message is that they were to believe that the Messianic light of the world
was to arise soon, and were to act as if that time had already come; they
were called to live the Kingdom now life, to showcase God's Kingdom to the
world. In this sense, Zion's sons are described as coming from all parts
of their dispersion and being about to come to Zion; and yet they are
described as having already "come" (Is. 60:4). The mixing of the tenses,
present and future, is to suggest that they were to believe that this
would happen
and to act now as if it was already happening. "You shall see and be
lightened" (Is. 60:5 RV)- and yet they were to act as if their light had
in fact already come (Is. 60:1). Yet Judah sadly didn't believe that the
restoration prophecies would come to pass, and so they didn't act as if
they would come true. Instead of being a light to the world, they accepted
the Gentile darkness instead of God's light. Mazdak, the Persian god of
light, effectively became their god, instead of Yahweh.
Isaiah 60:4 Lift up your eyes all around, and see: they all gather
themselves together, they come to you- The 'coming / assembling' and
'drawing near / gathering' of the exiles (s.w. Is. 43:5) would have been
primarily fulfilled at the restoration (same words in Neh. 1:9). But most
of the exiles remained in the lands of their captivity, just as people
resist the Gospel's call today. They had to themselves bring and gather
themselves (Is. 45:20; 49:18; 60:4), so that God would confirm this by
bringing and gathering them (Is. 43:5; Jer. 31:8; Ez. 34:13; 36:24; 37:21;
Zech. 10:10). See on Is. 56:8. And so today with all who wish to be in God's Kingdom; our
desire to be there and first moves towards it will be confirmed many times
over by God's work through His Spirit.
Your sons shall come from far, and
your daughters shall be carried in the arms- See on :3. The LXX
suggests it would be as a result of the children born in exile returning
along with the repentant Gentiles of the lands of their captivities: "lift
up thine eyes round about, and behold thy children gathered: all thy sons
have come from far, and thy daughters shall be borne on men's shoulders".
This is a commonly expressed prophetic vision. It didn't however come
about, and the essence of it has therefore been delayed and reapplied.
The later
feeding miracle occurred on the other side of Galilee to Magdala (Mt.
15:39), suggesting the miracle occurred in Gentile territory, with people
present from "far off" (Mk. 8:3; hence the guests "glorified the God
of Israel", Mt. 15:31). Surely there were Gentiles present at that
meal, and the LXX uses this phrase to speak of how Gentiles from "far off"
would come and sit down at the Messianic banquet of the last days (Is.
60:4; Jer. 26:27; 38:10; 46:27).
Isaiah 60:5 Then you shall see and be radiant, and your heart shall thrill
and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you,
the wealth of the nations shall come to you-
"You shall see and be lightened" (Is. 60:5 RV). See on :3. "Turned"
is AV "converted", suggesting there would be repentance amongst the
nations of their captivity; see on :4. The nations around Israel were to
repent and bring their presents to them. This began to happen after the
destruction of the Assyrians in Hezekiah's time, but he entered into
covenant with the Gentiles rather than bringing them to the God of Israel,
the light of Zion.
Perhaps Nehemiah was some kind of potential Messiah- for in Neh. 5:17 the
surrounding Gentiles ‘came up’ to him and shared in the luxurious temple
meals (a common Kingdom prophecy- the same Hebrew words are used for the
Gentiles ‘coming up’ to the temple in Is. 60:5,11; Jer. 16:19; Hag. 2:7;
Zech. 8:22). Those meals could have been the Messianic banquets. But
finally at the last day, all these prophecies shall be fulfilled in the
coming of the Lord Jesus, despite all the previous failures in fulfilment.
Isaiah 60:6 The multitude of camels shall cover you, the dromedaries of
Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and
frankincense, and shall proclaim the praises of Yahweh- The gold and
frankincense brought from the east recalls the gifts of the wise men to
the infant Jesus. The conversion of the Gentiles [proclaiming the praise
of Yahweh] which was possible at the
restoration didn't happen, and so it was reapplied and reinterpreted. They
would proclaim Yahweh's praise just as the Israelites themselves would
(Is. 63:7) because the Gentiles would now identify themselves with the
Israelites in forming the new multiethnic people of God which was to be
formed on the basis of repentance and acceptance of the new covenant.
Isaiah 60:7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together to you, the
rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you- Kedar and Nebaioth were sons
of Ishmael. The idea may be that finally the Jew - Arab conflict within
the family of Abraham is resolved, and they too come to offer sacrifice to
Israel's God.
They shall come up with acceptance
on My altar; and I will glorify the house of My glory- Is. 60:7
prophesied that God would “glorify the house of my
glory”, LXX "my house of prayer shall be glorified". But this was in fact a conditional prophecy, capable of fulfilment
through the freewill efforts of the returning exiles. For they were
empowered by Artaxerxes “to beautify [s.w. “glorify”] the house
of the Lord” (Ezra 7:27). All their efforts to glorify / beautify the
house, therefore, would have had God’s special and powerful blessing
behind them. But was the house ultimately glorified? No- for Israel would
not. They got sidetracked by beautifying their own homes, building “cieled
houses” for themselves (Hag. 1:4). The word for “cieled” occurs in 1 Kings
6:9; 7:3,7 to describe the roofing of the first temple- which they were to
be rebuilding, rather than building their own houses. The glory would have
entered the house of God’s glory as it did at the inauguration of the
first temple (2 Chron. 7:1-3). Ezekiel prophesied that ultimately the
glory would fill the temple as it had done then (Ez. 43:4,5). But God’s
prophesy of this in Is. 60:7, that He would glorify His house, meant that
He was prepared to work through men to glorify it. The fulfilment of
Ezekiel’s vision of the cloud of glory entering the temple again could
have been fulfilled if the exiles had done what Artaxerxes empowered them
to do- to glorify the house of glory. And so the fulfilment was delayed.
The glory of the temple the exiles built was tragically less than the
glory of the first temple; and so it would only be in the last day of
Messiah’s second coming that the house shall truly be filled with glory
(Hag. 2:3,7,9). And the lesson ought to be clear for us, in the various
projects and callings of our lives: it becomes crucial for us to discern
God’s specific purposes for us, and insofar as we follow His leading, we
will feel a blessing and power which is clearly Divine.
Isaiah 60:8 Who are these who fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their
windows?- The reference is to the exiles returning to Judah along with
the repentant Gentiles. LXX "Who are these that fly as clouds, and as
doves with young ones to me?"; GNB "What are these ships that skim along
like clouds, Like doves returning home?". Perhaps in view is the dove
returning to Noah's window once the flood of Divine judgment receded.
Isaiah 60:9 Surely the islands shall wait for Me, and the ships of
Tarshish first, to bring your sons from far- No specific location may
be in view, as "ships of Tarshish" was a phrase used like "an Indiaman"
was once used to refer to a long distance trading vessel. Thus GNB "They
are ships coming from distant lands, bringing God's people home". The text
can also read "the ships of Tarshish as at the first", referring
to how they brought gold and silver in the days of Solomon and the earlier
kingdom of God which was now to be restored. There is another such
allusion to Solomon's times in :13.
Their silver and their gold with them, for the name of Yahweh your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because He has glorified you- The Gentiles will be converted because of how God had saved and glorified His sinful people; for these Gentiles had been host nations for the Jewish exiles and were well aware of their sins. It is God's grace to sinners which is observed by others and causes them to turn to Him- and this is always the most powerful tool in the work of conversion, rather than advertising theological, abstract truths and expecting the general public to fall down in amazement before them.
Isaiah 60:10 Foreigners shall build up your walls, and their kings shall
minister to you-
It
could be that their refusal of Gentile help to build the temple, insisting
that
only Jews work in it (Ezra 4:3 cp.
Neh. 2:20), was actually going too far; by being so exclusive, they were
disallowing the fulfilment of the prophecies both in Zech. 6 and in
Isaiah, that Gentiles would help in the final rebuilding of Zion. As with
some of us, their quite correct refusal to allow “the adversaries of
Judah” (Ezra 4:1) to fellowship with us in the work can lead us to an
exclusive approach to fellowship, that actually disallows the essentially
outgoing and inclusive spirit of the God we serve. The Jews returned from
Babylonian having swung to the opposite extreme from their earlier
worldliness; they returned proud and refusing contact with the Gentile
world, considering themselves saved by their own strength. And this is
perhaps reflected in the way they refused on principle to allow any
Gentiles to help them in the building work. Is. 60:10,11 had foretold:
“And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall
minister unto thee [as in the decree of Cyrus]...Therefore thy gates shall
be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night”; and them as
Ez. 43 had also described, “I will glorify the house of my glory” (Is.
60:7).
The reality was that the walls were built from a motive not of glorifying Zion in fulfilment of prophecy, but for defence against the Gentiles. But the gates had to be shut to keep the Gentiles out (Neh. 13:19), lest they yet further corrupted the Jews who were eager to trade with them on the Sabbath rather than convert them to the God of Israel. Instead of bringing their goods through the gates to lay before Yahweh, they brought in their goods to sell to His people in trade. But returned Judah didn’t act as a nation of priests, the food the Gentiles brought in to Zion was to be sold for profit to the Jews. They failed to be a missionary nation, and rather were mere trading / economic partners on an equal footing [cp. the church today?]. The prophecy that the gates would be always open will now only come true in the future Kingdom of God on earth (Rev. 21:25,26).
For in My wrath I struck you, but in My grace have I had mercy on you- As explained on :9, the Gentiles will be converted because ["for in My wrath..."] of how God had saved and glorified His sinful, condemned people by grace; for these Gentiles had been host nations for the Jewish exiles and were well aware of their sins. It is God's grace to sinners which is observed by others and causes them to turn to Him- and this is always the most powerful tool in the work of conversion, rather than advertising theological, abstract truths and expecting the general public to fall down in amazement before them.
Isaiah 60:11 Your gates also shall be open continually; they shall not be
shut day nor night; that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations,
and their kings led captive-
AV
"Therefore your gates...". The “therefore” connects with the preceding
verse, as if the gates would always be open in order to constantly welcome
repentant Gentiles. When the city and temple was rebuilt, Gentiles would
come and feed Israel’s flocks and name them all “the priests of the Lord”
and bring them food to eat in tribute (Is. 61:4-6). And yet Nehemiah had
to close the gates of Jerusalem to stop Sabbath trading, thereby
precluding the fulfilment of this prophecy at the time. The prophecy will
therefore come to final fulfilment in the new Jerusalem to be established
at the Lord's return (Rev. 21:25). Although clearly the fulfilment may not
be strictly literal, but will be a reinterpretation and reapplication of
these words which initially could have had a literal fulfilment at the
restoration.
Isaiah 60:12 For that nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall
perish; yes, those nations shall be utterly wasted- Connecting with
:11 ["for..."], the nations of the land would either perish, or enter into
the open gates of Zion in covenant relationship with Yahweh. Thus a
situation would come about whereby the earth was only populated by those
in covenant relationship with God.
Isaiah 60:13 The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the fir tree, the
pine, and the box tree together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary;
and I will make the place of My feet glorious-
But
Haggai lamented that instead, Judah dwelt in “cieled houses”, they used
the exotic trees of the land for their own homes, whilst the house of
Yahweh lay desolate. Thereby the prophecy of Ez. 43:7 was precluded from
fulfilment: "the place of His throne, the place of the soles of His feet,
where He will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever". The
intention was that the ark would no longer be His footstool (Jer. 3:16;
Ps. 99:5; 132:7; 1 Chron. 28:2), but He Himself would be dwelling in the
temple. The idea was that as cedars had been sent from Lebanon for the
building of the first temple, so they would again; the impression is of a
restored Kingdom of God in Israel as it previously was, but to an even
greater extent. See on :9.
Isaiah 60:14 The sons of those who afflicted you shall come bending to
you; and all those who despised you shall bow themselves down at the soles
of your feet; and they shall call you The city of Yahweh, The Zion of the
Holy One of Israel-
This prophecy started to come true after Haman’s demise: “the sons 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”. But
Judah didn’t do their part in fulfilling the rest of the prophecy, which
speaks of a rebuilt Zion. The promise that Judah's persecutors would bow
before them was only partially fulfilled in Haman's destruction; the main
fulfilment now awaits the Kingdom, although in a reinterpreted form (Rev. 3:9).
The renaming of the city is like that of Ez. 48:35 "Yahweh is there",
because the idea was that He would literally come and dwell in Zion; the
kingdom of heaven was to be transferred to earth. This wonderful
possibility didn't come about at the restoration because the returned
exiles didn't rebuild the temple and operate it according to the
commandments of Ez. 40-48.
Isaiah 60:15 Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, so that no man
passed through you, I will make you an eternal excellency, a joy of many
generations-
The
hatred was by God as well as man: “I hated them” (Hos. 9:15). This was the
wrath of love unrequited and spurned. God is emotional and speaks in
anger, and truly had these feelings; but the pole of His love is greater
than that of His judgment. We note how God as it were takes the blame for
Israel being "forsaken"; they had forsaken Him (s.w. Is. 1:28), but He
expresses it in terms of Him having forsaken them.
Isaiah 60:16 You shall also drink the milk of the nations, and shall nurse
from royal breasts- This continues the figure of
Is. 49:21: "Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has conceived these for
me, since I have been bereaved of my children, and am solitary, an exile,
and wandering back and forth? Who has brought up these? Behold, I was left
alone; these, where were they?’". Children born through another were still
reckoned as the wife's children (Gen. 16:1; 30:1). The children of Zion
were therefore suckled by the Gentiles (Is. 60:16).
And you shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Saviour and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob- As Hosea ‘redeemed’ Gomer in His attempt to force through His fantasy for her (Hos. 3:1), so Yahweh is repeatedly described in Isaiah as Israel’s go’el , redeemer (Is. 41:14; Is. 43:14; Is. 44:6,24; Is. 47:4; Is. 48:17; Is. 49:7,26; Is. 54:5,8). The redeemer could redeem a close relative from slavery or repurchase property lost during hard times (Lev. 25:25,26, 47-55; Ruth 2:20; Ruth 3:9,12). The redeemer was also the avenger of blood (Num. 35:9-28; Josh. 20:3,9). All these ideas were relevant to Yahweh’s relationship to Judah in captivity. But the promised freedom didn’t come- even under Nehemiah, Judah was still a province within the Persian empire. And those who returned complained: “We are slaves this day in the land you gave…” (Neh. 9:36). The wonderful prophecies of freedom and redemption from slavery weren’t realized in practice, because of the selfishness of the more wealthy Jews. And how often is it that the freedom potentially enabled for those redeemed in Christ is in practice denied them by their autocratic and abusive brethren.
Isaiah 60:17 For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring
silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron-
The
language of Israel’s return from captivity as found in Isaiah and Ezekiel
all has evident reference to the second coming and the final establishment
of the Kingdom. It isn’t just that Israel’s return under Ezra and
Zerubbabel was a type of that final homecoming. It could have been the
Kingdom- had they obeyed the prophecies. It was all about a potential
Kingdom of God. But they were too caught up with their own self-interest,
with building their own houses rather than God’s; and so it was all
deferred. Using the prophetic perfect, God had prophesied that at the time
of the restoration, He would come and dwell in rebuilt Zion (Zech. 8:3)-
just as Ezekiel’s prophecy had concluded: “The name of the city from that
day shall be, The LORD is there” (Ez. 48:35). Clearly, Ezekiel’s
prophecies could have been fulfilled at the restoration; God was willing
that they should be. But human apathy and self-interest stopped it from
happening as it could have done. When the foundation stone of the temple
was laid, there should have been excited acclamation: “Grace, grace unto
it” (Zech. 4:7). But instead the old men wept when the foundation was
laid, knowing that the temple was nothing compared to what it ought to be
(Ezra 3:12). The glory of the restored temple was prophesied as being far
greater than that of the former (Hag. 2:9); Is. 60:17 alluded to this in
prophesying that “For brass [in Solomon’s temple] I will bring gold, and
for iron [that was in Solomon’s fixtures] I will bring silver, and for
wood brass, and for stones iron”. But it simply didn’t happen, because
God’s people were satisfied with a small, inglorious temple so that they
could get on with building their own “cieled houses” (the same word is
used in describing how the temple of Solomon was “covered”, or cieled,
with cedar). And the old men wept at the fact that the glory of the new
house was
less than
that of the earlier one.
I will also make your officers peace, and righteousness your ruler- "Officers" is the word commonly used for "visitation", in the sense of the enemies of Judah judging and dominating her in the day of her visitation. "Ruler" or AV "exactor" is the word for "taskmaster" and has been used by Isaiah of Judah's dominators and abusers (Is. 9:4; 14:2,4); the reference is to the repentance of Israel's historical abusers and their being given peace with God and imputed righteousness, so that they might also enter covenant with Yahweh along with a repentant Judah. All this was due to the way the Lord Jesus was "oppressed" as Israel's representative (Is. 53:7) and thus became the basis for righteousness to be imputed to all who had been oppressed and had oppressed others.
Isaiah 60:18 Violence shall no more be heard in your land, desolation nor
destruction within your borders; but you shall call your walls Salvation,
and your gates Praise- "Salvation" is literally "Jesus". But Nehemiah
records how the walls and gates were given very mundane names, connected
to what merchandise was traded there [e.g. fish]. And so they chose not to
make 'Jesus' their wall- and so His coming was deferred or re-interpreted.
Isaiah 60:19 The sun shall be no more your light by day; neither for
brightness shall the moon give light to you: but Yahweh will be to you an
everlasting light, and your God your glory- It seems that Yahweh
Himself would have dwelt in Zion, the "brightness" of the cherubim would
have returned there (s.w. Ez. 1:4,13) resulting in a visible light which
would have eclipsed the need for light from the sun and moon (Is. 4:5,6,
"shining" is s.w. "brightness"). Such great potentials were wasted. But
these things will come true in the last days and are alluded to in Rev.
21:4 as having literal truth when the Lord Jesus returns. This would be
the fulfilment of the promise to David, that his glorified kingdom would
be as the "brightness" after the rain of judgment (2 Sam. 23:4 s.w.). But
until then these things are reapplied in a spiritual sense to the way the
Lord Jesus, who is the light of God's glory, is to be the light of our
world in which we live, move and understand life. He who has no light can
find "brightness" in Him (s.w. Is. 50:10). This was hinted at even in
Prov. 4:18, where the path of the just is as the "brightness" (s.w.)
shining more and more unto the perfect day.
Isaiah 60:20 Your sun shall no more go down, neither shall your moon
withdraw itself; for Yahweh will be your everlasting light, and the days
of your mourning shall be ended- See on :19. Sun and moon were not to
be destroyed, but to be replaced in function by the light of Yahweh. Hence
LXX "nor shall the moon be eclipsed". The sun and moon, as in Joseph's
dreams, may refer to the leadership of Israel. They would no longer be
eclipsed by captivity and exile, although they would be replaced in
function.
"Withdraw" is the word for "gather", used of the gathering of Judah into
captivity (Is. 16:10; 17:5; 24:22; 33:4).
These words are quoted as being true of God's future Kingdom on earth
(Rev. 21:4); they were reapplied to a later fulfilment rather than coming
true at the restoration. The days of mourning refer to the days of exile,
as demonstrated by the mourning of the book of Lamentations and Ps. 137:1.
But the exiles preferred to stay in exile; and thus precluded the
possibility of these words having any primary fulfilment. "Days of
mourning" is a phrase used several times for funeral mourning. There would
be final comfort over the loss brought about by death- ultimately, through
the resurrection of the dead.
Isaiah 60:21 Your people also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit
the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I
may be glorified- Their salvation would be on account of their
identity with the Messianic "branch", the Lord Jesus; they would be "in
Christ" and thereby saved. Inheritance of the land forever is the language
of the Abrahamic covenant; this would come true because of righteousness
being imputed to them. And the end result of that system of salvation, as
Paul brings out in Romans, would be glory to God.
Isaiah 60:22 The little one shall become a thousand, and the small one a
strong nation; I, Yahweh, will hasten it in its time- Despite LXX "I
the Lord will gather them in due time", this connects
back to
Is. 5:19, where we read that the Jews mocked Isaiah and his God, saying "Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, that we
may see it". There was clearly opposition to Isaiah's prophecies. The idea
of judgment coming would have been mocked in these kinds of words. But we
wonder whether this is really a verbatim quotation from these people; or
whether God read their thoughts as effectively saying this, and as being
the real implication of their positions. For there is no evidence that
Judah abandoned Yahweh; rather did they claim obedience and loyalty to
Him, although they claimed the same about their idols whom they worshipped
in His Name. But God was not deaf to their words, or the implications of
their thoughts and actions. He in fact heard their mocking 'prayer',
because He here says that He will "hasten His work" (s.w.).
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