Instead of thy being forsaken and hated, so that no one went through [thee], I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy from generation to generation.
Isaiah 60 has been describing a city filled with light and honour. Now God names what that city had been — forsaken, hated, walked around — and promises to make her the opposite forever, which raises the question of who this promise is really for.
The promise is not that Jerusalem gets patched up to what she once was. Commentators read the reversal as an advance far beyond her best days.
Jerusalem will recover its former glory. No — its future will surpass its past as far as the glory of Christ as King will outshine that of David and Solomon… And it is only fitting that the capital city of Messiah's kingdom should match the worthiness, dignity, and glory of the King!
Nothing here says Zion earned this. Her ruin was chastening for the sins of her children. Then God simply announces what He will do — a pattern that runs right through the prophets.
One striking thing about it is that these promises of future blessing often come in suddenly, right after the account of the chastisement God had to bring on them for their sins. They often start with the words "I WILL do such and such." This shows us that the blessing of the people rests on pure grace and sovereign mercy. It is also a moving proof of God's willingness to forgive — yes, His delight to bless — wherever there is real repentance and self-judgment.
The Hebrew word behind "majestic forever" is olam. Older translations render the phrase "an eternal excellency." The same word describes God Himself and His mercy that never ends.
olam, meaning 'everlasting', 'never ending'. It is often translated 'for ever': "His mercy endures for ever," 1 Chr. 16:41; and 'everlasting': "the everlasting God." Gen. 21:33; Ps. 90:2; Ps. 93:2; Ps. 103:17. "I will make you an eternal excellency." Isa. 60:15.
So the promise lasts as long as the God who makes it.
Much depends on who "you" is here. One writer traces the common mistake: putting the church into Israel's place.
The main source of mistaken interpretation among otherwise sound Christians is the blotting out of Israel, so that the church takes their place of promised earthly glory. That is why people with any spiritual sense recoiled from these visions of worldly honour, material prosperity, long life, and the like, and tried to make them pictures of higher things. But the Christian and the church have their spiritual blessings in heavenly places, as the New Testament plainly sets out. The Old Testament, meanwhile, predicts these wonderful changes in the land and on the earth for Israel and the nations, when God sets up the kingdom in visible power and glory.
The reason the promise settles on this one city is that God's affection has always rested there.
There is no spot in all the earth like the land of Canaan in God's estimation. There the Lord set up His throne and His sanctuary… there the Blessed One was born of a woman… there He worked and died. From there He ascended in triumph to the right hand of God… In a word, His eyes and His heart are there always. Its dust is precious in His sight. It is the centre of all His thoughts and dealings on this earth. And it is His purpose to make it an eternal excellency, the joy of many generations.
The joy does not stop at the city walls. Zion becomes the centre from which God rules the whole earth.
Zion will be lifted to its rightful place as the chosen resting place of the Lord, the city of the great King. …From there the whole earth will be governed, and from it the law and the word of the Lord will go out. The Gentiles have long trampled Jerusalem underfoot because of the sins of her children, but God will yet favour her dust and take pleasure in her palaces.
- Forsaken. God names the worst first: a city hated and bypassed. He builds His promise on that ruin, not on a better past.
- Favoured. The turn comes by "I will," not by merit. Blessing after chastisement rests on pure grace and sovereign mercy. It shows God's delight to bless where there is real repentance.
- Forever. Olam means never-ending. It is the word for God Himself and for His mercy that endures. What He restores, He never withdraws.
- Fixed. God ties the promise to a real place He loves, whose dust is precious to Him. Turning that place into a symbol strips Israel and the nations of the earthly glory He predicted.
- Far-reaching. The end is not one happy city. From Zion the law of the Lord goes out to the whole earth — a joy that outlasts generations, because the great King reigns there.
And thou shalt suck the milk of the nations, and shalt suck the breast of kings; and thou shalt know that I, Jehovah, [am] thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
This verse promises a reversal. The nations once trampled this people; now they will feed it, and their kings will supply what they once seized. Two questions sit at the centre: who the verse speaks to, and why the blessing ends in knowing God by four names, not in wealth.
The verse borrows the language of a nursing child. Milk stands for food a person cannot live without, and here for a coming time of plenty:
Milk is such a necessary food that it is paired with wine. Together they picture what grace now supplies, without money and without price, and what God will supply to Israel in a future day (Isaiah 55:1).
Some read the "you" of Isaiah 60 as Christ. One writer traces the flow of the chapter and answers that it is Zion:
Look at the context. It is Israel's light. Christ is the Light of Israel. So in the first verse she is told to arise and shine, because her Light has come… It is not Christ's walls but Zion's that the sons of strangers are to build up (v. 10). It is not Christ's gates but Zion's that are to be open continually… Not Christ, but Zion is to suck the milk of the nations (v. 16).
Today, in Christ, no people ranks above another. The prophecy describes a different arrangement:
In the kingdom of Christ, the Gentiles are to be subject to Israel; they are to hold a lower or secondary place. This is important. Under the present arrangement the great truth is that "in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, barbarian nor Scythian, slave nor free." For proof that it will not be so in the kingdom of Christ, see among others these Old Testament passages: Isaiah 11:10; 49:22-26; 60:3-16; Micah 5:7-8.
This fits a wider change in world government. Other rulers keep their thrones, but not their independence:
All the nations will come under His reign, though indirectly, because there will be one King over all the earth. This does not set the other kings aside, as we know, but one supreme central government will then be maintained. Other kings will have to submit to the rule of the Lord (compare Isaiah 49:23; 60:3, 10, 16). That rule will continue through the whole unbroken period of the thousand years.
The title at the end — the Mighty One of Jacob — recalls the man who got ahead by trickery:
All will see that it is not something produced by Israel but rather by the One who is their Saviour and Redeemer. Jacob, the schemer, and his descendants have nothing to boast in. The Mighty One of Jacob alone has done it on the basis of redemption.
The gifts are not the point; they are the road to the Giver:
The titles of verse 16 deserve special attention. They carry no ordinary meaning! First of all, blessings rightly valued lead to the Blesser, so the people of God find their highest joy in what He is in Himself. Lord is Jehovah in covenant-keeping relationship. Saviour is the most far-reaching in its meaning. Redeemer is what He has done. Mighty One of Jacob tells us that He knew the kind of people He was transforming.
That last title is rare, and where else it appears shapes how we read it:
There was no man to lift them up. They had sinned, they had fallen, and to all appearance beyond recovery. But the Lord their God came to where they were… and He says, "all flesh shall know that I the LORD am your Saviour and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob" (Isaiah 49:26). This last divine title occurs only three times in the Old Testament, and all three times in Isaiah (Isaiah 1:24; 49:26; and 60:16). Before Israel can be exalted they must give up seeking righteousness by their own works; this they will do, and find it in Christ, where alone it is to be found.
The knowledge promised for that day steadies believers now. One writer applies the verse to a culture chasing possessions:
Men are busy turning "the truth of God into a lie." The principle of worshipping and serving "the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever" shows itself in the materialistic cult that is gaining such headway even in this highly favoured land. In such circumstances we treasure the words of Isaiah, "You shall know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."
- Milk — the picture is a nursing child. Milk means food you cannot live without, and here the plenty God will supply Israel in a future day.
- Nations — the supply comes through the nations and their kings. That reverses today's order, where no people ranks above another.
- Kings — rulers keep their thrones but bow to one supreme King. Their wealth arrives as tribute, not as plunder.
- Redeemer — Israel supplies none of this; the Mighty One of Jacob does it all, and on the basis of redemption.
- Know — the gift points to the Giver: covenant Lord, Saviour, Redeemer, and the One who knew what kind of people He was transforming.
For bronze I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood bronze, and for stones iron; and I will make thine officers peace, and thy rulers righteousness.
Isaiah 60 pictures Jerusalem in the day when God's glory has risen on her, and verse 17 turns from her wealth to her quality. Better materials, rulers renamed peace and righteousness — but who makes the exchange, and when?
Each metal moves up the scale: bronze becomes gold, iron becomes silver. History usually runs the other way. One writer sets the promise beside Solomon's temple, robbed of its gold in the days of his son:
How short-lived is the glory that depends on the faithfulness of man! The temple that Solomon built is spoiled and robbed in the days of his son. For gold there is bronze. When He comes and brings back glory to Israel, He will reverse this: "Instead of bronze I will bring gold" (Isa. 60:17). God takes pleasure in undoing the work of sin. The prophet says it in symbols, though it is no doubt true in a literal sense too, for the gold and the silver are His.
The second half of the verse is stranger than upgraded metal. It names the people in office after the qualities they will carry. One commentator asks which city this is, and whether the day has come:
The chapter as a whole assumes the day of glory has come for Jerusalem on earth. It is the city of Jehovah, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. In that day the afflicted but spared people will become a strong nation and, better still, will all be righteous. It is a picture quite different from the glorified church, the holy Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from God. The force of verse 17 is that in the day of restored Israel Jehovah will make their rulers peace, and their officers righteousness. Neither war nor exaction will be any more. Is this fulfilled as yet?
Notice who acts. God says, "I will make." The new names come from Him.
Why Jerusalem, and why righteousness? Because righteousness was the city's purpose from the start:
Jerusalem was meant to have been the place of righteousness, and so when iniquity was found in it, it was cast off. In Isaiah 60, describing the state they had been in, the Lord says to them, "I will make your overseers peace and your taskmasters righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders." There was power, maintaining the seat of righteousness in Jerusalem.
Verse 17 speaks of officers inside one city. But the good of their rule does not stop at the wall. The King's character shows in His officials, and it travels outward:
The subjects of this kingdom are not only blessed but have embraced the principles laid down by the King in Matthew 7 — that is, they reflect His character. "Your people shall all be righteous" and "violence shall no more be heard in your land" (v. 21). Blessed indeed are the peacemakers! Their office-bearers too are messengers of peace and righteousness, and the good results of Christ's reign reach far beyond Israel's shores. It was doubtless reports of this kind which set the Queen of Sheba on her worthwhile journey to Jerusalem centuries before.
People have long used this verse for something it does not say. Clement, an early writer, quoted it to argue that church offices were foretold in the Old Testament — and changed the words to do it:
When he speaks of bishops and deacons, he quotes the Old Testament like this: "For the Scripture says in a certain place, 'I will appoint their bishops [or, overseers] in righteousness, and their deacons [or, servants] in faith.'" This comes from Isaiah 60:17, but Clement altered it. In the Septuagint it reads, "I will give your rulers in peace, and your overseers in righteousness"; and it refers to Jerusalem, and not to the church.
- Exchange. God trades every substance upward — gold for bronze, silver for iron. He takes pleasure in undoing the work of sin, and the gold and the silver are His to give.
- Officers. The same exchange reaches the men in charge. God makes rulers peace and officers righteousness, so neither war nor exaction remains.
- Reach. Officials who carry the King's character become messengers of peace. The good of His reign travels far past Israel's borders.
- Address. God speaks this promise to Jerusalem, not to church officials. Has any of it happened yet?
Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.
Isaiah describes a Jerusalem that no longer has to defend itself. Its walls and gates, once its whole safety, now carry the names Salvation and Praise — but when does such a city exist?
Commentators place this promise in the future reign of Christ, when the city belongs to the King.
In her coming days of strength and beauty she will be the city of the Kingdom, the chief city of the world, the sanctuary and the palace of the great divine King of Israel and of the earth. Then "salvation" shall be her wall. God will then appoint salvation for her walls and defences. The Lord Himself, like her mountains, shall stand around her.
Name a wall Salvation, and the word must mean more than an escape from danger.
This goes beyond being simply saved from something. We read the same way of His priests, who are "clothed with salvation" (2 Chronicles 6:41), and of the walls of the Lord's city, which are called "Salvation" (Isaiah 60:18). As he thinks about the mercy and goodness of God, Isaiah joyfully breaks out into singing… All is found in a glorious Person — in God, everlasting and sublime, "who is and who was and who is to come!"
The same promise appears elsewhere, with God Himself as the wall:
But a day will come in which the Lord will appear in Israel as the true King. Then Jerusalem will call its walls Salvation, and its gates Praise (Isaiah 60:18), or, as it is put here, "I, says Jehovah, I will be to her a wall of fire all around, and will be the glory in the midst of her" (v. 5).
The name on the gates is also the last word of the whole story.
We have only partial thoughts of all the wide action of these coming days. But this we know: praise shall close the history and fill the scene… Man's city will have become a ruin then; the feet of the poor will have trodden it down. God's city then shines; its walls are salvation and its gates praise; and the righteous nation enter.
Violence ends inside the borders because of what the people themselves have become, and what their leaders are.
The subjects of this kingdom are not only blessed but have embraced the principles laid down by the King in Matthew 7 — that is, they reflect His character. "Your people shall all be righteous" and "violence shall no more be heard in your land" (v. 21). Blessed indeed are the peacemakers! Their officials too are messengers of peace and righteousness, and Christ's reign carries its good results far beyond Israel's shores.
Set beside this promise, a wall built for defence looks small.
Violence shall no more be heard in the land, no wasting or destruction within the borders. Jerusalem shall call its walls Salvation and its gates Praise. It will no longer be called Forsaken or Desolate, but Beulah and Hephzibah; for Jehovah delights in it, and its land shall be married. What a change from the day when a godly son of David counted the houses, and pulled them down to fortify the wall! Immanuel there in glorious power makes the difference, for He will tread down the enemy and give effect to all fitting blessing.
The same words later measured how far the city had fallen. A report about Jerusalem reached Nehemiah:
What sadness of heart the report caused him: "great affliction and reproach; the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and its gates are burned with fire." What a reproach that was, because we read "You shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise" (Isaiah 60:18).
One writer applies the same picture to believers now:
Faced with the world's assault, under the leadership of Satan, to stop helpless believers from standing firm for Christ, we must rebuild the wall which preserves them. This wall is Christ; it is God, it is His Word, the Word of salvation and praise.
- Salvation first. Stone does not save. The wall carries the name Salvation because God Himself stands around the city as a wall of fire.
- Salvation worn, not just received. Salvation is more than rescue from danger. Priests wear it, walls carry its name, and all of it is found in a Person.
- Salvation reaching outward. The wall is Salvation and the gates are Praise. Christ's reign carries its good results far beyond Israel.
- Salvation ending violence. Violence stops because the people and their rulers reflect the King's own character.
- Salvation as the last word. Man's fortified city becomes a ruin. God's city shines, and praise closes the history.