Exposition by Max A Forsythe
One of my evangelical commentaries by Dr Youngblood compares our chapter today with chapter twenty-four of Matthew in the sense of the interwoven predictions for the near future with those of the far distant future. He notes that it is not always easy to tell when Matthew is referring to the near future and when he is talking about the remote future. The same is true of our chapter sixty in Isaiah today. In some verses, like four, the description fits the return of Jerusalem’s sons and daughters from captivity. In other verses, like one through three, a much more distant heavenly city is more in mind. It is for this reason that I have always been specially careful with eschatological themes. I know some of you are disappointed with my unwillingness to go all the way to the pre or post-millennial interpretations. I freely admit that my amillennial position is very pragmatic because I am not comfortable with the evidence from the same Scriptures for either of the other two positions.
Of course, I can inadvertently be as dogmatic as the rest. I said something within the last two weeks about Satan being on a short chain when he was thrown into the pit to await the end times. Let me apologize for that dogmatic slip of the tongue. I looked back at my notes from January 9th, a year ago, when I addressed that subject more fully, and I relearned the text from Luke 10: 17-24. Especially verse twenty, where Jesus sets the proper perspective: “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” The message of chapter sixty, as Dr Youngblood understands it, is “that Zion’s future in history and beyond history will be more glorious than its past.” It is my hope that we can all learn to be content with that minimal expectation. Let us turn to the chapter before us.
Doctor Young divides this chapter into two portions, each with a specific literary arrangement. Verses one to twelve he describes as proceeding from internal to external exaltation and the other half moving from external to internal exaltation. Okay, let’s try to understand the implication of that analysis. To make it simple let us compare an explosion with an implosion. In an explosion you have all manner of debris thrown far and wide. An implosion is exactly the opposite; everything bursts inward. Now we haven’t seen too many implosions so let us think of it this way. Some people, when they get irritated, explode and everyone within hearing distance knows of their anger. Very many more people go silent, grit their teeth and hold their anger within. The focus of our passage, however, is not on anger but exaltation. Look at verse one to see our calling. “Arise, give light”, is the imperative. Zion here is addressed, and in that symbolic name we well know that it is more than just the physical city involved. When Jesus commanded the leper to “be clean” he had no power within himself to accomplish that. Neither does Zion, nor any sinner for that matter, have the power to “Arise [and] give light.” No indeed, the commanded word spoken by the Lord God empowers by its very utterance. Like a blazing sun, so has the glory of the Lord risen upon Jerusalem. And like the early morning light glinting from walls and blazing from windows, so too is the glory of the Lord reflected from His beloved bride; Zion, His own Church. Have you ever looked at the warm glow, especially of the bride, in wedding pictures? This is the image to be kept in mind here. “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.” Ah yes, we may still be in the world as the returning exiles would be, and even at the end, He will come suddenly and find us in the midst of the world, even as Christ found His disciples. And even as they had it not in them to become apostles, so are we dependent upon the greater glory of our Lord flooding into our own lives.
See, there in verse two where Zion is? “Darkness covers the earth” but when His glory appears it is reflected through His own people. This is how the nations are attracted to the Church. Even Zion’s own sons and daughters are brought back from afar. Zion’s throng will be radiant and their hearts will swell with joy at the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Jerusalem the golden will be crowded. It will be the camel lot of all Camelots; the wise men of all the earth will come from far and wide with their gold and incense to praise the Lord above. The gentiles of Abraham’s extended families will bring their own gifts willingly from the desert districts of what we now call Saudi Arabia. These gifts will be accepted as offerings. Others come like clouds or doves with the power of the winds behind them. From the western islands more sons will come from afar. All that they have is brought for the honor of the Lord God. All of these sons from both east and west will rebuild Zion, and kings from afar will serve the Lord of heaven willingly.
Israel is promised in the second strophe of verse ten that even though their exile is well deserved, and their punishment severe, yet in favor God would show them compassion. And what a wonderful compassion! Zion will be a city of peace. No need to lock the doors, the city will be an open city. Perhaps some of you can remember back to the forties and even the late sixties, when lock and key were not so well used as today. When my grandparents retired from the farm and bought a town house, the locks had been so little used that no one knew where the keys might be. Even cars were left on the streets of most towns with the keys still in them. I would be willing to bet that some vehicles never had the key taken out of the ignition from the time they were bought until they were sold. It took a long time to retrain my father to the new realities of the last three decades. Once upon a time, when there was such peace and security, the rulers would be presented the keys of the city, which were no longer needed. And look at the purpose in verse eleven, so that men and kings might walk in during the middle of the night to bring their wealth and gifts. So we see here in the first half, that the light of salvation which is the mirror surface for the reflected glory of the Lord, is the means of change in the land. What God does in the inner person who is commanded to rise, shine and give God the glory, is to bring a little bit of heaven into our present. Wales, during its great revival, was transformed completely. Bars and gaming houses closed far and wide because not only their clients, but also their owners had had a complete change of heart.
We now come to the second half of our text to see how that external glory of God’s reflected light may ultimately cause internal reflection and exaltation. The glorious new house of Zion will be built of materials as fine as those that went into the first temple. Who has not marveled at the splendor of some beautiful chapel or cathedral? The glories of the Temple when Jesus came were well recorded, and it was difficult for the people of His time to appreciate worship outside of the sacred precincts. And yet the glories of Zion are here associated with the people who have become the City of God. To that Church will former enemies and sons of the ungodly come to worship in their midst.
Note carefully from the last phrase of verse fourteen that this Zion is of the Holy One. It is His Church and we must be very careful never to forget that fact. Even though the people to whom Isaiah was speaking were being forsaken, there still is a greater hope for the future. The mother church, endowed with the wealth of nations, will pass on the essential teachings that He is indeed the Lord, our Savior, the Redeemer and the Mighty One of Jacob. Of course, we well know that the knowledgeable wealth of the Church has been devalued. Yet, even so, the decorative and impressive bronze may be exchanged for royal gold. Lesser metals and substances will be improved at the Lord’s command. Peace and righteousness will be abundant. Violence will subside, ruins will be rebuilt under the rule of our Lord. Salvation and praise will be on the lips of God’s saints. And why is that? No longer will the Shekinah of the Temple be necessary for His people to know His presence. Instead, the material forms of brightness, both sun and moon, retire into the background when the Lord becomes our everlasting personal light.
“Your sun will never set again,” the Lord promises when the He becomes our everlasting light. This light of salvation will end our days of sorrow. And through salvation we may put on the righteousness of the Lord, and finally at the end of the age enter into the land of rest forever. These elect of the Lord in Isaiah’s time are the shoots that He has planted, the very work of His hands. Their purpose is to display the Lord’s splendor. And within the providence of the Lord, each shoot will become a thousand, even the smallest a mighty nation. So will the Lord’s kingdom increase over time. For every person to whom we have witnessed by word and deed that comes into the kingdom, our impact can be measured by every person each of them also witnesses to as well. From the smallest little light of salvation which we think we can generate, the Lord may accomplish a mighty increase. Your work, while little understood by yourself, does indeed serve a higher purpose within the will of our God in heaven. Your personal reflection of the glory placed within you is always greater than you think. So therefore, let us obey the injunction of Isaiah at the beginning of our passage: “Rise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.” May we share that glorious light even as we are able.
Resources Used:
Young, Edward J.
The Book of Isaiah.
Youngblood, Ronald F. The Book of Isaiah: An
Introductory Commentary.
The Holy Bible.
New International Version (1984 Edition)
NOTE: I am not able to automatically
recommend any future editions.
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22 January 1995
Permission granted to redistribute unedited versions with this notice.