ISAIAH 60:1-3
THE MESSIAH’S MISSION
[Matthew. 5:14-17]
Here it is predicted that the people of YAHWEH will be empowered by the Spirit of God to bring the good news of salvation to mankind. Because of the Messiah’s redeeming work (59:19a, 20-21), light (blessing) will fill His people, who in turn are to shine forth, as a spiritual light to the nations, revealing God’s Word and glory to them. In that way, the church will be instrumental in defeating the spiritual darkness that pervades the world (29:18; John 12:35; Acts 26:18; Rom. 2:19; Col. 1:13; 1 Peter 2:9). [Walvoord, John; Zuck, Roy; The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1983-1985, S. 1115]
The features of the extended context of our passage conveys the glory that God has in store for His people. With the eye of faith the prophet Isaiah sees the glory of the LORD as though it had already happened. He saw what others could not see. He understood what others could not understand. He was laying hold of the future with such a faith that he lived his present life in the light, strength, and joy of that future.
We too need to let the certainty of our eternal future cause us to presently reflect the light of God’s glory to a world in darkness. The light you shine forth may be the only hope they have of knowing that there is a light that can reach them and dispel the deep darkness in which they are living.
As we read these prophecies we long for their fulfillment. Verse one calls the redeemed of the Lord, including us here tonight to Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
For too long the night had brooded on Mount Zion, but at last the watchers see the sky brightening into the splendor of dawn, and the cry goes forth that the day is at hand. Zion, the people of God, are called upon to arise from their lazy, lounging, sleeping state and embrace the glory that is theirs in the Messiah. For the Messiah is the light of the world who shines into the darkness of the human soul and situation. This arising is not deliverance from the captivity of Babylon or from the guilt of sin. This radiance is that deliverance from inaction that comes by the empowering of God’s Spirit (59:21). It is the light of God being reflected by the people of God. Like a city gleaming in the light of a newly risen sun, they that arise in the name of Jesus will shine with a beauty that is not their own.
We too, as far as we have the knowledge of God in us, and the grace of God towards us, we are His light. We too are to rise from our lazy, lounging, sleeping state and embrace the glory that is ours in Christ Jesus.
Whenever the glory of the Lord rises upon you, be sure to reflect it. Arise, shine! Arise, to catch as much of it as possible. Shine, that others may catch as much as possible also. Take hold of the glory of the Lord, in long and loving fellowship, till you reflect it in its fulness. For as you reflect it you will be changed into the same image from glory to glory, by the Lord the Spirit. Arise to the highest pinnacle of the mountain to catch the dawn, and then begin to shine with a glory that does not shine from natural light.
Sometimes Christians seek release from their positions in business or social life, on the plea that they are so uncongenial and ungodly. Yet these are the very circumstances under which the church is called to arise and shine. The darker the staircase, the greater the need of the light.
[There’s a story of an ECCENTRIC OLD MAN who carried an oil can with him everywhere he went. If he passed through a squeaky door or a stiff gate, he applied oil to the hinges. His practice of lubricating made life easier for those who followed after him.
Nearly every day we encounter people whose lives grate and grind harshly with problems. In such situations we face two choices-either to aggravate their problems with a spirit of criticism or to lubricate their lives in the Spirit of Christ.
Some people we meet carry unbearable burdens and long for the oil of a sympathetic word. Others are defeated and feel like giving up. Just one drop of encouragement could restore their hope. Still others are mean and sin-hardened. Such people can be drawn to the saving grace of Christ through regular applications of the oil of kindness.
When we receive Christ as our Savior and Lord, the Holy Spirit indwells us and equips us to bless others. If we’re prepared to pour out God’s oil of helpfulness every day and everywhere, beginning at home, we’ll minister Christ’s beauty and the oil of joy to many hurting people and shine the light of truth that shows the way to life eternal.
Shine His light. Lend a listening ear. Pause to pray specifically. Speak a word of encouragement. The human spirit can gain new hope from an encouraging word. Share the Good News of Jesus Christ in the power of His Spirit.]
We must arise and shine, for verse 2 proclaims the condition of the earth and its peoples. For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples; But the Lord will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you.
The people of God, shining the light of God are the only hope for the world. For a darkness that is distressing covers the earth. The utter hopelessness of those without Christ who are trapped in a darkness so deep that they do not even realize their predicament. The eternal lostness of those who have not heard or heeded the gospel is understood here. Their darkness is so deep and grave that they do not comprehend that a destiny that is disastrous awaits them. Their time is short. Their eternity is long. The opportunity to reach them is limited. Not many have the light to share and many with the light hide their light (Mt. 5:14-17). A disobedience to share the light is dangerous and has far too many Christians in its grip. Our refusal to act diminishes the meaning of lostness. It demeans our responsibility to win them. It denies the command of our Lord to go to them with the gospel.
The conclusion is inescapable. We are the world’s only hope. The world is in spiritual darkness but upon you, the people of God, the Lord rises. The whole world and all its peoples are enveloped in a thick haze of ignorance and sin. Moreover the dawning of light upon the people of God makes the darkness of the rest of the world that much more apparent.
What is this light and from where does it springs? As Isaiah proclaims, The Lord shall arise upon thee, the glory of the Lord shall be seen upon thee. God is the Creator and Sustainer of the light, and it is in His light that we see the true light.
Because darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the people, there is the more need for God’s people to beam with His light. The Lord has turn to us the light of His countenance that we may display it to others. In loneliness and solitude let us still shine for Jesus, like the stone-white steeple of a church, smitten by a searchlight in the night.
[When the Lord returns to live among His people the nations will be attracted to the light of His glory (vv.19-20) and will flock to Israel for the light (the blessings of salvation from spiritual darkness). This will occur in the Millennium. Though everyone entering the Millennium will be saved, people will be born during that 1,000-year period of time. Many of them will come to salvation because of God’s work on Israel’s behalf. [Walvoord, John; Zuck, Roy; The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1983-1985, S. 1115]
Verse 3 indicates what shall invite such multitudes to the church. And nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.
The nations will naturally gravitate from the darkness of their own experience to the light that is rising - dawning in the people of God. The brightness of the presence of God in His people will be irresistible. However far God’s people may fall short of all that God is, if they will only reflect the light of Christ in some part of its power, even kings will come and fall at Jesus’ blessed feet.
What multitudes shall come to the church. Great numbers shall come. Nations (or Gentiles) will be saved ( Rev. 21:24). 1st the nations will come because of the light that shines through us. The light of the glorious gospel, which the churches shine forth as the lampstands, that the light of Christ courses through to the peoples of the world. This light reflects, reveals much of God and His good will to man. It brings true life and immortality are to light. It invites-beckons all the seriously searching for love, for truth, for hope, for significance to come and join themselves to the church that they may have the benefit of this light to inform them concerning truth and duty.
2nd the peoples will come because of type of light with which Christians shine. The purity and love of Christians, their heavenly-mindedness, uncorrupted by the world, and patient sufferings, are the brightness of individual Christians and the church’s rising, will draw many to Christ and into the church. The beauty of holiness in an evil world is the powerful attraction by which Christ will bring people to Himself in the day of His power (Ps. 110:3).
[In the United States, businesses use millions of WOOD PALLETS each year to haul products. After a pallet has borne heavy, sometimes crushing weights and taken abuse from truck travel and forklifts, eventually it can no longer be used. Now cracked
and smashed, or loose and floppy, pallets are something businesses must pay other companies up to five dollars per pallet to dispose of. Disposal companies burn the pallets, chew them into wood chips, or dump them in landfills.
One nonprofit company in New York had a better idea, writes Andrew Revkin in the New York Times. Big City Forest in South Bronx takes other companies’ junk and turns it into treasure. The raw material of pallets is valuable hardwoods like rose
wood, cherry, oak, mahogany, and maple. Big City Forest workers dismantle the pallets, salvage the usable wood, and recycle it into furniture and flooring. Recycled wood chips are worth only $30 a ton. But when used as flooring the value of the recycled wood is $1,200 a ton, and as furniture $6,000 a ton.
If that is what can be done with lifeless wood, how much more can people be restored to lives of value. Like Big City Forest, God is in the business of restoration. He takes people that seem worthless, people broken by the weight of sin, and transforms them into works of beauty and usefulness ( 2 Cor. 5:17).]
CONCLUSION
This prophecy was addressed to the faithful of God both at the time of Messiah’s first coming and at the time of His second coming. The coming of the light described here was ignited in the first coming of Christ and will be realized in its brilliance when He comes again to establish His reign on earth. His coming will be like the dawning of a new day to bring the healing, peace and righteousness that mankind cannot find in themselves.
Today people and nations wait in darkness. Today our great God waits for us to respond to the Spirit of Christ in us and ask for the nations. Will you ask — and keep on asking? Will you share and keep on sharing? God will answer and shine forth the light of His glorious gospel both through you and through the church.
PRAYER: Almighty God, You make Your people shine with the holy brightness of true light. Oh God of creation and recreation, we seek upon our everyday labor as Christians, as a church, and as a nation, Your glorious blessings. May the light and hope in our hearts fashion the deepest prayers for the peoples in darkness. May we pursue the right without self-righteousness. May we know unity without conformity. May we grow in strength without pride in self. May we, in our dealings with all people of the earth, ever speak truth and serve justice. Let the light of Your gospel shine ever brighter and brighter.
Grant that here on earth we may walk in the light of Jesus’ presence and in our last day awaken to the brightness of Your glory because of Your only Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.
