Wherefore he says, Wake up, [thou] that sleepest, and arise up from among the dead, and the Christ shall shine upon thee.
Light shows things for what they are, and Paul now breaks into a wake-up call. Two questions follow: is he waking a dead sinner or a sleeping Christian, and where do the words come from, since no Old Testament verse matches them?
Where the words come from
Paul introduces the line as if citing Scripture, yet no such sentence exists in the Old Testament. One writer compares two other New Testament quotations that also depart from the exact Old Testament words:
In both of these Scriptures the spirit, not the letter, is what applies to the point in hand. Used this way, it carried divine authority. So in the passage from Ephesians there can be little doubt that Isaiah 60:1 was in Paul's mind. There we read, "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you."
Commentators differ on the background. Some point to Isaiah 60, others add Isaiah 52. All agree the words are an adaptation, not an exact quotation.
A sleeper, not a corpse
The person addressed is already alive. He lies among the dead, but he is not one of them:
In verse 14, a sleeping man is called to "awake," not a dead man: he is a believer, but sadly, in what a state. A man asleep is no better than a dog asleep. Neither one notices anything around them.
What Christ promises him says the same thing. He does not need life. He needs light:
The Scriptures alluded to seem to be Isaiah 52 and 60. But the application here is clearly to believers, sleeping among dead men or dead things. They are called to arise, so that Christ may give them light — not life, which would be their first need as unbelievers.
What sleep costs
Sleep does not end the believer's life. It ends his usefulness:
Sorrowful condition for a saint to slip into! What use is a sleeper as a witness to God and the truth? Thanks be to God, such are not dead. The spark of divine life is there, and nothing can put it out. But they have sunk into a state of spiritual numbness. They have lost their enjoyment of heavenly grace and their usefulness in testimony.
Christ Himself is the light
The promise here is not a thing but a Person:
The unbeliever is dead to God. The true believer, if he does not pay attention to these exhortations, may fall into a condition of sleep. In that sleep he is like a dead man. In such a condition he will not profit from the light of Christ. … It has been well said, "It is Christ Himself who is the source, the expression, and the measure of light for the soul that is awake."
Older translations read "Christ shall give thee light." That is the wording these writers quote. The ESV has Christ shining on the sleeper. Either way, the light comes from outside him, and only then is there something to reflect.
How the awakening works in practice
One writer paints it as a picture. The sleeper does not make the light; he lets it in:
Awake, rise and open the shutters of your dark chamber of deathlike sleep. Then the sun can shine in, and Christ can give you light. And if there is in your heart some secret idol-chamber — love of money, or worldliness, or something else that has slipped in between Christ and you and taken His place in your heart — open the door. Let the light of Christ and His word shine in and expose the idol in all its ugliness.
Who is most at risk
The danger is greatest where the truth is best known:
It is a solemn thing that this call goes to the company who know more than many, as at Ephesus. They had the highest truth, and were in danger of going to sleep over it.
Summary
- Sleep. The one called is a believer, not a corpse. He lies among the dead and looks just like them.
- Call. The words echo Isaiah 60:1. They carry its sense, not its exact letter.
- Rise. Christ gives him light, not life; he has life already. This is a call to recovery, not conversion.
- Shine. He gets Christ Himself — the source, the expression and the measure of all the light an awake soul enjoys.
- Reflect. A sleeping saint has no testimony. Only a soul Christ shines on can show anything of God to a hostile world. Those who know the most truth are in the most danger of dozing over it.