Isaiah 60:5–6

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.

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 of this divine display. Another point to notice is that just before that time comes, darkness will cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples. So it is a false reading of prophecy to say that light will spread over the whole world when the time of earthly glory for Israel, and the heavenly glory of the church, dawns on the world. God will visit Zion in His mercy while the Gentile lands are wrapped in the deepest ignorance of God.

Ephah was the son of Midian, who was the son of Abraham and Keturah. Isaiah refers to him as the head of a tribe. Gen. 25:4; 1 Chr. 1:33; Isa. 60:6.

For instance, in Isaiah 60 we have Nebaioth and Kedar mentioned (verse 7). The number twelve, twelve princes, links Ishmael closely with Israel. When Israel is blessed in the future and receives the promised Land as his glorious possession, the descendants of Ishmael will not be forgotten.

Isaiah 60 gives in much detail, from verse 6 on, the abundance of earthly blessings that will be poured into Israel. That verse mentions Sheba, the land the Queen came from who visited Solomon with much gold and spices. When she arrived, as 1 Kings 10 tells us, she declared the praises of Solomon. In the day this chapter looks at, they "shall bring good news, the praises of the LORD."

But the Lord Jesus has this unique source and supply of grace in Himself, and His kingdom will be marked by it. So He will not burden Israel or drain the world of its wealth to support Himself. The Lord Jesus Christ will still hold the place of the blessed and only Ruler, even when the earth owns Him as King. It will be a day when all burdens are taken away and the earth yields her increase. No doubt man's heart will be opened.

The nations of the earth will also pay tribute to the Lord, coming up to Jerusalem, God's earthly centre of worship and government, just as it is written: "the flocks of Kedar … the rams of Nebaioth will minister to you: they will come up with acceptance on My altar" (Isa. 60:1-7).

The blessing to the Gentiles in the coming day of Christ's glory is set out in this same symbolic language (Isa. 60:6). The visit of the wise men to the holy child at Bethlehem was a foreshadowing of this blessed time. It is telling that their gifts included the gold of His divine glory, the frankincense of His excellence, and the myrrh, which foretold His death (Matt. 2:11).

We are often told that this was a fulfilment of Isaiah 60:6. But when we look at that passage, we find that the wise men could not be spoken of there. Isaiah says nothing at all about myrrh. Why is there no myrrh in Isaiah, and why does Matthew mention it? The passage in Isaiah refers to the coming of the Gentiles at the time when the rejected King has come again in power and glory, and is King of kings. So there is no need of myrrh… They do not seek a small, humble house as the wise men did. They seek the house of glory, and there they meet the King of Glory in His beauty.