THREE REASONS WHY YOU CAN LIVE IN HOPE
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60 Arise, shine, for your light has dawned; indeed, the glory of Jehovah has risen upon
you. 2Look, darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness is over the people; but
Jehovah rises upon you, and his glory appears over you. 3Nations will come to your
light, and kings will come to the brightness of your dawn. 4Lift up your eyes and look
around: they all assemble themselves, they come to you—your sons shall come from a
distance and your daughters shall be carried in the arms. 5Then you will see this and
be radiant [with joy], your heart will throb and swell [with happiness]; because the
riches [of the earth] will be brought to you over the sea, the wealth of the nations will
come to you. 6Herds of camels will cover your land, the young camels of Midian and
Ephah. All the men of Sheba shall come to you, bringing gold and frankincense, and
they shall proclaim the praises of Jehovah. 7All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered for
you, the rams of Nebaioth will be at your service; they will be accepted as offerings on
my altar, and I will glorify my temple with my glory. 8Who are these that fly along like
a cloud [in the sky], who fly like doves to their nests? 9Surely the islands will be at my
service; in the lead are the [merchant] ships of Tarshish, bringing your sons from a
distant land with their silver and gold; on account of the name of Jehovah your God,
the Holy One of Israel, because he has honored you. 10Foreigners will rebuild your
walls, and their kings will serve you; for, although I struck you in my wrath, [now] with
my favor I will have mercy on you. 11Your gates will continually stand open, they will
not be shut day or night, so that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations—and
their kings presented [to you] as captives. 12The nation or kingdom that refuses to
serve you will perish; indeed, those nations shall be utterly destroyed. 13The glory of
Lebanon will be given to you—the pine, the fir, the cypress, all of them—to beautify
the area around my sanctuary; I will glorify the place where my feet rest. 14The sons of
your oppressors will come bowing before you; all those who despised you will bow
down at the soles of your feet. They will call you, The City of Jehovah, Zion of the Holy
One of Israel.
15Whereas [formerly] you had been forsaken and hated, so that no one traveled
through your land, I will make you become an eternal splendor, a [sight that inspires]
rapture in all generations. 16You will suck the milk of the nations, you will nurse upon
the breasts of kings. Then you will know that I, Jehovah, am your Savior, your
Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. 17Instead of brass I will bring gold, and instead of
iron I will bring silver, and instead of wood [I will bring] brass, and instead of stones [I
will bring] iron. Furthermore, I will make peace [to be] your governor and
righteousness to be your ruler. 18Violence will no longer be heard of in your land, nor
[will there be any reports of] ruin or destruction within your borders. On the contrary,
you will name your walls Salvation and your gates [you will call] Praise. 19The sun
shall no longer be your light by day, neither shall the brightness of the moon be your
source of light [in the night]; Jehovah will be your everlasting light, and your God shall
be your brightness. 20Your sun will never set again, and your moon will no longer
wane; for Jehovah will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end.
21Your people will be completely righteous, they will inherit the land as an everlasting
possession. [They are] the shoot I have planted, the work produced by my hand, so that
I may be glorified. 22The least [of you] will become a thousand, and the smallest [of you
will become] a mighty nation. At the [appointed] time, I, Jehovah, will cause it to
happen suddenly. (Isa. 60:1‐22)
Introduction
A woman who did a lot of research work at home began to have difficulty with her
vision, so she went to see an eye doctor. After a thorough exam, he said, “Your eyes
are extremely tired. They need a rest.”
“But that is impossible,” replied the woman. “My work requires me to do very much
reading.”
After thinking for a moment, the doctor asked, “Do you have any wide views of the
countryside from your home?”
“Yes,” answered the woman. “From my front porch I can see the peaks of the Blue
Ridge Mountains.”
“The next time your eyes get tired,” instructed the physician, “gaze steadily at the
mountains for ten to twenty minutes. The far look will rest your eyes.”
What is true in the physical realm is also true in the spiritual—the eyes of your soul
grow tired from focusing on your problems and the sinfulness of this present world.
But if you turn your attention to the far horizon of the fulfillment of God’s promises,
you gain a new and refreshing perspective. (Our Daily Bread, 11/24/92) Because of
the great and sure promises of the LORD, we as Christians can live our lives in hope.
As we study Isaiah 60, let us consider Three Reasons Why We Can Live in Hope.
I. Live in Hope, Because You Shall Inherit the Blessings of God (Isa. 60:49,16)
Verse 4 is describing a great re‐gathering of God’s people, a great “homecoming,”
a joyful “family reunion.” Jerusalem (as a personification of the nation) is
commanded to lift up her eyes, look around, and see what the LORD is doing, “Lift
up your eyes and look around: they all assemble themselves, they come to you—
your sons shall come from a distance and your daughters shall be carried in the
arms.” As Jerusalem responds to God’s command, she sees a great re‐gathering of
her exiled sons and daughters as they are brought back home to their city and
their land. Just as surely as the LORD brought His people out of the Babylonian
captivity and back home to Israel, so He will bring all His redeemed into His
heavenly home and eternal kingdom:
Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep [in
death], or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14We believe that
Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those
who have fallen asleep in him. 15According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you
that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly
not precede those who have fallen asleep—16for the Lord himself will come
down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and
with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that,
we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
18Therefore encourage each other with these words. (1 Thess. 4:13‐18)
According to verse 5, Jerusalem shall “be radiant [with joy], her heart will throb
and swell [with happiness]—i.e.; Jerusalem shall beam with delight when she
beholds the wealth of the world being brought to her. The merchant vessels are
portrayed as sailing to Judah's ports on the Mediterranean, filled with their cargo
(vs. 5b.) As she looks to the east, Jerusalem sees the caravans crossing the desert
to bring her their treasures; the camels are loaded down with gold and
frankincense (vs. 6a.) All the flocks of Kedar and the rams of Nebaioth are
gathered to Jerusalem, where they are offered up as a great and acceptable
sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to the LORD (vs. 7a.) As she looks west, out
across the Mediterranean Sea, Jerusalem sees the merchant ships of the nations
with their white sails—compared to swift moving clouds and white doves flying
to their nests—coming to deliver their cargoes to her. The great ships of Tarshish,
that traveled the world, are now bringing their silver and gold to Jerusalem (vs.
8.) The LORD has caused all these great merchant ships and caravans to do His
bidding (like servants waiting upon their master;) they act “on account of the
name of Jehovah your God, the Holy One of Israel, because he has honored you” (vs.
9.) That is to say, their action is compelled by the LORD and by the fact that He has
chosen to make His people the object of His favor and glory, bestowing upon
them the wealth of the world.
What this passage is poetically portraying, using terms familiar to God’s Old
Testament people Israel, is the abundance of wealth and blessing that the LORD
will finally bestow upon His people at the end of this present age; as well as their
expression of praise and thanksgiving to the LORD their God, and the acceptance
of their person and worship by the LORD, as they finally dwell with Him when
heaven and earth are united in the renewed creation. It is the teaching and the
promise of Scripture that the LORD shall finally “repossess” the wealth of the
world and shall bestow it all upon His people in blessing forever:
… a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous. (Prov. 13:22b)
Here is the fate God allots to the wicked: … Though he heaps up silver like dust
and clothes like piles of clay, 17what he lays up the righteous will wear, and the
innocent will divide his silver. (Job 27:13,16‐17)
To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but
to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it
over to the one who pleases God. (Eccl. 2:26)
When Jerusalem shall be “nourished” with the wealth of the nations, she shall
know that the LORD is her Savior and that her Redeemer is the Mighty One of
Jacob. The LORD’s people shall finally come to inherit and enjoy a prosperity that
is abundant and of the finest quality (vs. 17a,) the peace and tranquility that is the
fruit of righteousness (vs.17b), and the security that is provided by the LORD
Himself (vs. 18.)
As a Christian, here is the first reason why you can live in hope, namely, the fact
that we shall inherit the blessings of God.
II. Live in Hope, Because You Shall Share in the Honor of Christ (Isa. 60:1015)
Verse 10 contains the promise, “foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings
will serve you.” Here is a complete reversal of the time when foreigners
destroyed the city:
Your foes roared in the place where you met with us; they set up their
standards as signs. 5They behaved like men wielding axes to cut through a
thicket of trees. 6They smashed all the carved paneling with their axes and
hatchets. 7They burned your sanctuary to the ground; they defiled the dwelling
place of your Name. (Psl. 74:4‐7a)
Historically, verse 10 of Isaiah 60 is a reference to Cyrus the Persian king
sponsoring the re‐building of the temple and the city of Jerusalem:
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of Jehovah
spoken by Jeremiah, Jehovah moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a
proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing: 2This is what Cyrus
king of Persia says, Jehovah, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms
of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in
Judah. 3Anyone of his people among you—may his God be with him, and let him
go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of Jehovah, the God of Israel,
the God who is in Jerusalem. 4And the people of any place where survivors may
now be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock,
and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem. (Ezra 1:1‐4)
The final and complete fulfillment of this prophecy will be revealed with the final
submission of the nations before the LORD God and His people—acknowledging
the LORD to be the true and only God. Note Revelation 2:26‐27, to the one who
remains faithful to Him the Lord Jesus makes the promise: “to him will I give
authority over the nations: 27and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the
vessels of the potter are broken to pieces; as I also have received [authority] from
my Father.” As verse 10b indicates, this is all due to the LORD’s mercy to His
people, it is not due to our own power or goodness: “for … [now] with my favor I
will have mercy on you.”
Verse 11 continues the promise that there shall be brought into Jerusalem “the
wealth of the nations—and their kings presented to you as captives.” Here is a
complete reversal of the time when the nations plundered Jerusalem and foreign
kings led away the people into captivity:
The Babylonians set fire to the royal palace and the houses of the people and
broke down the walls of Jerusalem. 9Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial
guard carried into exile to Babylon the people who remained in the city, along
with those who had gone over to him, and the rest of the people. (Jer. 39:8‐9)
Nebuchadnezzar also took to Babylon articles from the temple of Jehovah and
put them in his temple there. (2 Chron. 36:7)
Verse 12 proclaims that the “nation or kingdom that refuses to serve you will
perish.” Here is a prophecy of the Scriptural promise that the nations of the
world shall finally bow before the LORD in subservience to Him, as was
previously announced by the prophet Isaiah, “The arrogance of man shall be
brought low, and the pride of man shall be humbled; and Jehovah alone shall be
exalted on that day” (Isa. 2:17.) Furthermore, as those who are the people of
God, united by faith to Jesus the Messiah, the redeemed shall share in the
dominion of their Lord and Savior. As the Apostle Paul declares, “Here is a
trustworthy saying: If we die with him, we will also live with him; 12if we endure,
we will also reign with him” (2 Tim. 2:11‐12.)
Verse 14 prophesies, “all those who despised you will bow down at the soles of
your feet.” The Messiah, on behalf of His people, was “despised and rejected by
men” (Isa. 53:3.) His Old Testament people shared in His suffering and
humiliation, being treated in the same way by the world: “[formerly] you had
been forsaken and hated, so that no one traveled through your land” (Isa. 60:15.)
Likewise, the New Testament believer shares in “the fellowship of [Christ’s]
sufferings” (Phil. 3:10.) The Lord Jesus informs us as His disciples,
If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before you. 19If you belonged
to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to
the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (Jn.
15:18‐19)
But now Isaiah 60:14 informs us that God’s people, all who have been redeemed
by Jesus the Messiah and belong to Him, shall share in the honor and glory and
dominion of the LORD. Note the testimony of the Apostle Paul, “Now if we are
children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and coheirs
with Christ, if indeed we
share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory” (Rom. 8:17.)
As a Christian, here is the second reason why you can live in hope; namely, the
fact that we shall share in the honor of Christ:
To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as
I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. (Rev. 3:21)
III. Live in Hope, Because You Shall See the Glory of the LORD
(Isa. 60:13,1920)
Looking forward to the conclusion of the long seventy year “night” of the
Babylonian captivity—and all the way forward to the end of this present age of
spiritual darkness—the LORD commands Jerusalem, “Arise, shine” (vs. 1.) The city
of God, again, as a personification of the people of God, is commanded to become
like the morning sun: to arise and shine with a brightness that is seen
throughout the world. The city of God is enabled to heed the LORD’s command
because “your light has dawned; indeed, the glory of Jehovah has risen upon you”
(vs. 1b.) Like the morning sun dispelling the darkness of the night, so the LORD
Himself shines forth in His glory; He shines upon His people, awakening us by
that glory and causing us to participate in it.
Verse 2 describes the state of the world as being comparable to the night—all is
enveloped in moral and spiritual darkness. But the LORD shines upon His people
like the morning sun, and that divine glory shines forth like a beacon to the dark
world. Verse 3 relates the results of the LORD’s shining upon His people. “Nations
will come to your light”—Gentile peoples are converted to God through the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ; note Isaiah 42:6‐7, and 1 Thessalonians 1:9‐10,
I, Jehovah, have called you by my righteousness, and I will hold your hand. I will
watch over you and appoint you to be the covenant [representative] for the
people [of Israel] and a light for the Gentiles. 7[I have appointed you] to open
the eyes of the blind, to free the captives from prison, and to release from the
dungeon those who sit in darkness. (Isa. 42:6‐7;) this is the LORD’s commission
to Jesus the Messiah
… you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10and to wait
for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us
from the coming wrath. (1 Thess. 1:9‐10;) here is the Apostle Paul’s reminder
to the Thessalonians as to what they experienced when they put their faith in
Jesus the Messiah
Isaiah 60:3 goes on to say, “kings will come to the brightness of your dawn.”
Ultimately, here is a reference to the powers and the rulers of the world
submitting to the Lord and His Christ—and to His people as they are united to
their Savior and share in His glory.
What is the overall meaning and significance of this prophecy of Isaiah 60:1‐3?
The passage’s first level of fulfillment is seen in the LORD’s coming to redeem His
people from the “night” of their Babylonian captivity. But it looks beyond that act
of Old Testament redemption to His coming in the incarnation to redeem His
people from the bondage of our sins, and it then looks all the way forward to our
LORD’s final coming in glory to accomplish the full redemption of His people.
The passage explains to us the results of the LORD’s coming. At the time when He
will reveal a full manifestation of Himself, His glory is revealed. With regard to
His coming at the time of His incarnation, the apostle John writes of our Lord
Jesus Christ, “The Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us. We [those to
whom the Father revealed His true identify] saw his glory, his glory as the one
and only Son who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:14.) But
with regard to His final coming at the end of the age, our Lord Jesus Himself
testifies, “then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all
the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming on the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matt. 24:30.)
Furthermore, on the day when He will reveal a full manifestation of Himself, His
people shall be caught up into His glory, participating in it and radiating it from
our lives. That process (known as sanctification) is even now, although
sometimes almost imperceptibly, being carried out by the Holy Spirit as He
works in the lives of the redeemed: “we … beholding … the glory of the Lord, are
being transformed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18.) When
that process is brought to its completion with the day of our Lord’s final
appearing in glory, we shall be completely transformed and perfectly radiate His
divine glory: “Beloved, now we are children of God, but it is not yet revealed what
we shall be. We know that, if he shall be revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall
see him even as he is” (1 Jn. 3:2.)
Finally, on the day when He will reveal a full manifestation of Himself, the
nations shall be confronted with the divine glory of the LORD and will be
compelled to respond to it. They are made to acknowledge that the LORD is God,
that He reigns, and that men must submit to Him—willingly by conversion in
this present time, or unwillingly by conquest on the day of His final appearing.
Verses 19‐20 go on to promise that the light of the sun and the moon will be
replaced by the glory of the LORD:
The sun shall no longer be your light by day, neither shall the brightness of the
moon be your source of light [in the night]; Jehovah will be your everlasting
light, and your God shall be your brightness. 20Your sun will never set again,
and your moon will no longer wane; for Jehovah will be your everlasting light,
and your days of sorrow will end. (Isa. 60:19‐20)
The presence of the LORD and His glory will illuminate the heavenly city, and that
glory shall everlastingly shine upon His people in blessing. The desire of God’s
people shall finally be realized: we shall see the King in His glory. Moses
expressed the desire within the hearts of all of God’s people when he requested
of the LORD, “Show me your glory” (Ex. 33:18.) The people of God living in the new
Jerusalem of the kingdom of God, shall experience the joy and blessing of living
in the fullness of God’s light and truth, note Revelation 21:23, a passage that
pictorially gives a further glimpse in the eschatological manifestation of the
kingdom of God: “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the
glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.”
As a Christian, here is the third reason why you can live in hope; namely, the fact
that we shall see and experience in blessing the glory of the LORD:
Father, I desire that those whom you have given me may also be with me where I
am, so that they may see my glory—[the glory] that you have given me because you
loved me before the creation of the world. (Jn. 17:24)
Conclusion
The passage closes with these words: “At the [appointed] time, I, Jehovah, will cause it
to happen suddenly.” The point being made is that there is an appointed day for the
fulfillment of all these things, and the LORD will see to it that nothing prevents the
coming of that day. When that appointed day has come, the LORD will act swiftly,
without any further delay, to bring to fulfillment the promises He has made to His
people.
This passage has presented to us, as Christians, three great reasons as to why we
can and should live in hope: 1) because we shall receive the blessings of God; 2)
because we shall share in the honor of Jesus the Messiah; and 3) because we shall
see the glory of the LORD.
Indeed, added to those reasons there is this further reason: the fact that the LORD is
guiding history to the appointed day of the fulfillment of these promises—and He
guarantees that nothing can prevent the coming of that great day.
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