Isaiah 60:3–5

Take Isaiah 60:3 as an example. "And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising." "But surely," says one of my readers, "isn't that Christ's light?" Not at all. Look at the context. It is Israel's light. Christ is the Light of Israel. So the first verse calls her to arise and shine, because her Light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon her.

At His first coming Jesus came as the dawning of a new day, bringing light to those sitting in darkness, as we see in Luke 1:78-79. But the Jew rejected the light. As far as they were concerned, they put it out… His second coming will be in the day of His power, when His people will be willing, as Psalm 110 says. Then at last they will come into the full blaze of that light and reflect it, as the moon reflects the light of the sun.

Here is another point to notice. Just before that time arrives, darkness will cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples. So it is clearly a false reading of prophecy to say that light will spread everywhere at that point. That is the time when earthly glory for Israel, and the heavenly glory of the church, dawns on the world. God visits Zion in mercy while the Gentile lands lie in the deepest ignorance of God.

The nations are waiting and longing for this time without knowing it (see Haggai 2:7). They do not know that their blessing depends on the restoration of the despised race of Israel. Yet it is so. As soon as the Lord has returned to Zion, judged His enemies and founded His kingdom, the nations will be drawn to the scene of His power and glory. They will count it their highest honour to be enrolled among His people.

All this is said of Zion as she enjoys and reflects the light of Christ's presence, and as the centre of His rule. The Gentile is shown coming to her light to be blessed, and finding his blessing in serving her. Israel is to inherit the Gentiles (Isaiah 54:3); but the Gentile is not to inherit Israel (Isaiah 61:5).

We read in Isaiah: "They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praises of the Lord." We notice at once that Isaiah says nothing at all about myrrh. Why is there no myrrh in Isaiah, and why does Matthew mention myrrh? Isaiah is describing the coming of the Gentiles at a later time. By then the rejected King has come again in power and glory, and is King of kings. So there is no need of myrrh… In this chapter we find crowds coming. They do not seek a small humble house as the wise men did; they seek the house of glory.

When the light shines — through Jerusalem, or through the believer, as it also shone through our blessed Lord and Saviour — it is a testimony. It is a powerful testimony to Him who has kindled it, yes, to Him whose glory is the light… While thinking about this blessed scene, it is worth reminding ourselves of something. God, in His grace, has set believers as lights in the middle of the darkness, in anticipation of that day.

Christ is the Light of Israel. So in the first verse she is told to arise and shine, because her Light has come and the glory of Jehovah has risen upon her... In verse 4 it is not Christ but Zion who is invited to lift up the eyes and see. All are gathered to her, the abundance of the sea is turned to her, and the wealth of the Gentiles comes to her.

There is no thought here of God's glory revealed in the face of Christ on high and made known by the Spirit to the heart (2 Cor. 4:6); the earth itself is the stage for this divine display. Notice another point. Just before that time arrives, darkness will cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples. So it is a false reading of prophecy to say that light will spread everywhere when that day dawns on the world — the day of earthly glory for Israel and of heavenly glory for the church.

Those who can be called "your sons" will come to Zion from afar, and "your daughters shall be carried on the hip." This will be a re-gathering of the true Israel in the land of God's choice. It will completely eclipse the migration of Jews to Palestine that we still see going on today. God will be behind the movement. His glory revealed in the once-rejected Servant, now the mighty delivering Arm, will be what draws them.

Besides all this, it seems messengers will go out from the place where the Lord has appeared in glory and destroyed the enemies of His people. They will bring back any Israelites who may still be found among the nations. "And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses and in chariots and in litters ... to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord." (Isaiah 66:20.) It appears to be to this part of the subject that Isaiah 60:4-9, Isaiah 52:10-12, and Isaiah 49:22-23 refer.

The Old Testament is full of promises for the Gentile nations. These promises speak of righteousness and peace, which the nations of the earth are to enjoy. But they all belong to the age which is yet to come. That age begins when the Lord appears visibly. At that time the people Israel will receive the place of headship among the nations. The Gentiles will join themselves to Israel, and Israel has the promise that the nations will seek the light and glory revealed among them.

In principle this applies to us who are of the church while we wait for Him... those brought in from among the Gentiles were told, "at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord." Then came the added word, "walk as children of light." That is, their light was to shine out as a testimony to all around. Spiritual light is to shine from the saints of today, who form the church, while we wait for the shining out of the glory in a way that all can see.

It is not Christ, but Zion who is invited, in verse 4, to lift up her eyes and see all gathered to her, the abundance of the sea turned to her, and the forces or wealth of the Gentiles coming to her. It is not Christ's, but Zion's walls that the sons of strangers are to build up.

The thing will be obvious to every eye, and the result will be threefold. They will "flow together"; so the drift will be in the direction of unity, and the old divisions that have marred the nation will disappear. Then they will fear, and experience how true it is that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 9:10). As a result of this they will "be enlarged."

We venture to think that this enlargement will take place not only in material things but also in mind and heart. It will take place in a material way, as the rest of verse 5 shows, but the verse plainly says the enlargement is of the heart. The verse mentions the "abundance of the sea," and that figure often stands for the masses of mankind. The statement does not mean that Israel will be well supplied with fish. Evil men, far away from God, are like the troubled sea that cannot rest. But in the coming age the spared nations will be like a calm sea, yielding its abundant treasures and turning them especially toward Israel.

The world's wealth and possessions are seen here brought into subjection to the Lord of Glory. It will be a wonderful turning to God from idols.

When Christ was born into the world, wise men from the east came and laid their costly gifts at His feet. In the same way, the Gentiles in a future day will come and offer their treasures to the Lord in His temple at Jerusalem. Christ, the desire of all nations, will be the object of their homage. They will delight to present their desirable things for the adornment and service of His house, as well as for the glory of His name. By doing so they will confess that the silver and the gold are His.

When the New Testament prophet sees the new heavens and earth, we are told the old have passed away, and the sea no longer exists. Not so in Isaiah's prophecy... In the Revelation "there was no more sea." In the Old Testament, on the contrary, we read, "the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you... Surely the coastlands shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first." (Isaiah 60.) There can be no real doubt that this chapter speaks of the same time as Isaiah 65.

So it will be when the abundance of the sea is turned to Zion. Think what the effect will be when all Israel is saved! "If their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!... What will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?" (Rom. 11:12, 15.) ...Israel will be not only the instrument of divine vengeance on their enemies, but of God's mercy and blessing to all the families of the earth.