“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. For behold, darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness is over the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you, and His glory will appear over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Lift up your eyes and look around: They all gather and come to you; your sons will come from afar, and your daughters will be carried on the arm. Then you will look and be radiant, and your heart will tremble and swell with joy, because the riches of the sea will be brought to you, and the wealth of the nations will come to you. Caravans of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah, and all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and frankincense and proclaiming the praises of the LORD. All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered to you; the rams of Nebaioth will serve you and go up on My altar with acceptance; I will adorn My glorious house.
Who are these who fly like clouds, like doves to their shelters? Surely the islands will wait for Me, with the ships of Tarshish in the lead, to bring your children from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified you. Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you.
Although I struck you in anger, yet in favor I will show you mercy. Your gates will always stand open; they will never be shut, day or night, so that the wealth of the nations may be brought into you, with their kings being led in procession. For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly destroyed. The glory of Lebanon will come to you—its pine, fir, and cypress together—to adorn the place of My sanctuary, and I will glorify the place of My feet.
The sons of your oppressors will come and bow down to you; all who reviled you will fall facedown at your feet and call you the City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas you have been forsaken and despised, with no one passing through, I will make you an everlasting pride, a joy from age to age. You will drink the milk of nations and nurse at the breasts of royalty; you will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
Instead of bronze I will bring you gold; I will bring silver in place of iron, bronze instead of wood, and iron instead of stones. I will appoint peace as your governor and righteousness as your ruler. No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders. But you will name your walls Salvation and your gates Praise.
No longer will the sun be your light by day, nor the brightness of the moon shine on your night; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your splendor. Your sun will no longer set, and your moon will not wane; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and the days of your sorrow will cease. Then all your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever; they are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, so that I may be glorified. The least of you will become a thousand, and the smallest a mighty nation. I am the LORD; in its time I will accomplish it quickly.”
The Book of Isaiah is an amazing book. After all the stern rebukes in Chapter 59, now Chapter 60 comes in with a glorious message of hope.
God is promising that there will come a day when His light and His glory will come to the nation of Israel. God’s light and glory will be so amazing that people will come from all nations and world leaders will flock there. Jews will come from all the corners of the world, and nations will bring their wealth of all kinds. There will be so many caravans bringing precious things that the camels will cover the land. Not only will the flocks of Kedar come, but they will practically hop up on the altar begging to be sacrificed. “Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you.”
“For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly destroyed.” Hmm. Obviously, this prophecy has yet to be fulfilled, for Israel’s neighbors are still bombarding her with missiles. What God will do with those nations is yet to be revealed.The temple will be rebuilt and all the most precious wood of Lebanon will be brought to adorn it.
“The sons of your oppressors will come and bow down to you; all who reviled you will fall facedown at your feet and call you the City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas you have been forsaken and despised, with no one passing through, I will make you an everlasting pride, a joy from age to age. You will drink the milk of nations and nurse at the breasts of royalty; you will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.” What does it mean to nurse at the breasts of royalty? Generally, queens gave their infants to wet nurses to nurse; they didn’t put their infants to their own breasts. Now God is promising that leaders will humble themselves to such an extent that they would be willing to allow the Israelites to suck their breasts. This implies a level of intimacy and vulnerability previously unknown.
“Instead of bronze I will bring you gold; I will bring silver in place of iron, bronze instead of wood, and iron instead of stones. I will appoint peace as your governor and righteousness as your ruler. No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders. But you will name your walls Salvation and your gates Praise.” God is going to completely transform Israel. What could be better?
“No longer will the sun be your light by day, nor the brightness of the moon shine on your night; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your splendor.” God’s presence will fill Israel, causing it to be a glowing light to the nations.
“Then all your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever; they are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, so that I may be glorified. The least of you will become a thousand, and the smallest a mighty nation. I am the LORD; in its time I will accomplish it quickly.” God’s timing and ours are very different. We live in the NOW and we want everything to happen instantly. But God knows human hearts and only God knows when the time will be right for the fulfillment of this prophecy.
APPLICATION: Forty-five years ago, I was in a very sad state spiritually. I had suffered a number of losses and that particular Saturday, friends who had promised to do something fun with me suddenly backed out without any notice. But I had that Saturday off from my surgery residency, so I went to a local Christian bookstore, seeking for something encouraging to read. That day, the Holy Spirit must have been nudging my elbows as I reached for books; every book I picked concerned someone who had taken a leap of faith that God had honored.
The last book I read was Prison to Praise by Reverend Merlin Carothers. Mr. Carothers was an Army chaplain who was ready to quit the ministry because he wasn’t seeing the power of God moving at all. Then kind friends sponsored him to a meeting where he received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Although skeptical, Carothers was willing to try almost anything, so when his friends told him to pray and then see if there were syllables forming themselves in his mind, he did so. Carothers began speaking those syllables and found he was speaking in tongues. The rest of the book described the incredible transformation of his ministry.
Carothers assured readers that they could pray for this wonderful blessing by themselves. My prayer that night was, “God if You are really there, if this guy is not lying, please do it!” Of course, my lips were clamped shut and nothing happened. But I re-read the advice given to Carothers, that he should begin speaking any syllables that were forming themselves in his mind. My actual thoughts were NOT really reverent! I thought, “Well, here I am after four years of medical school and two years of surgery residency. But if I make a damned fool of myself, nobody else will ever know.” So I prayed that prayer again, “God, if You really do this, if this guy is not lying, please do it.” I could feel syllables forming in my mind. When I began to speak, I found I was suddenly speaking in a beautiful flowing language. I could have stopped at any time, but I didn’t want to because I could feel God turning me inside out, scrubbing off all the crud, and then turning me right side out again and filling me with love and joy and peace. That night, I came back to the Lord and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit simultaneously. Nothing has ever been the same since.
I want to emphasize that I came out of a totally non-charismatic background. I had never heard anyone speak in tongues before. And I was so innocent that I just assumed that I would receive all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and so I did. God had to do this work in me in this way because had I learned about how one was “supposed” to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, I would probably still be waiting for it. That night, it’s possible that had anybody been standing outside my apartment, they might have seen God’s glory glowing through the windows. Certainly, for me, my Light came that night.
I told my story to emphasize this fact: God is not a respecter of persons, nor does He play favorites. The promises of Isaiah 60 are for all those who will believe. If you feel as if you are in a deep dark hole, why not ask God to shine His light and glory on you? What do you have to lose? As I told myself that night, if you pray and nothing happens, nobody will ever know. But if you pray in faith, I guarantee that something wonderful will happen. Perhaps it won’t happen instantly, and perhaps it will happen gradually. But God is a good Father who does not play charades with His children. God WILL answer!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, You don’t play favorites. If anybody prays asking for Your glory to manifest itself, will You please answer them as only You can? In the mighty and matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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