Isaiah 60:1 - Meaning and Application

The gospel temple is here promised to be very bright and very large.

It will be very bright: “Your light has come.” When the Jews returned from captivity, they had light, gladness, joy, and honor. They came to know the Lord and to rejoice in his great goodness, and in both ways their light came. When the Redeemer came to Zion, he brought light with him, for he himself came to be the light.

We should notice what this light is and where it comes from. “The Lord will rise upon you” (Isaiah 60:2), and “the glory of the Lord” (Isaiah 60:1) will be seen on you. God is the Father and source of all light, and we see light only in his light. As far as we know God and enjoy his favor, our light has come. When God appears to us and gives us the comfort of his favor, his glory rises on us like morning light. When he appears for us and gives us some sign of good, his glory is seen on us, as it was on Israel in the pillar of cloud and fire.

When Christ rose as the sun of righteousness, and when the day-spring from on high visited us in him, then the glory of the Lord was seen on us, the glory as of the Father’s firstborn. There is also a dark background to this light. “Darkness shall cover the earth,” but even if it is thick darkness, like the kind that could be felt in Egypt, the church will have light at the same time, like Goshen. When the nations without the gospel are in a very sad condition, with dark places full of cruelty to poor souls, the church’s condition will still be very pleasant.

This light also calls for a duty: “Arise, shine.” Do not only receive this light, or be enlightened by it, but reflect it. Rise and shine with light borrowed from it. Children of light should shine as lights in the world. If God’s glory is seen on us to our honor, we should return the praise to him, not only with our lips, but in our lives (Matthew 5:16; Philippians 2:15).

It will also be very large. When the Jews were settled again in their own land after captivity, many people from the land joined them. But this was not enough to fulfill the fullness of this prophecy. So this points further ahead, to the bringing of the Gentiles, that is, the nations, into the gospel church. They are not flocking to one special place, though that image is used here, but coming by faith, hope, and holy love into the society formed by Christ’s gospel, where he alone is the center, the family named from him (Ephesians 3:15).

The gospel church is openly called Zion and Jerusalem, and all believers are said to come to it, as in Hebrews 12:22, “You have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.” That helps explain this prophecy (Ephesians 2:19). What will draw such large crowds to the church? “They shall come to your light and to the brightness of your rising” (Isaiah 60:3). They will be drawn in two ways.

First, they will be drawn by the light shining on the church, the light of the glorious gospel that the churches hold out. Because of that, they are called golden lampstands. This light shows so much of God and his good will toward people, and it brings life and immortality to light. For that reason, it will invite all serious and sincere people to join the church, so they can learn truth and duty from it. Second, they will be drawn by the light with which the church herself shines. The purity, love, heavenly spirit, contempt for the world, and patient suffering of the first Christians were the brightness of the church’s rising, and many were drawn into it. The beauty of holiness was the strong attraction by which Christ brought willing people to himself in the day of his power (Psalm 110:3).

Great numbers will come to the church. Gentiles, or nations, will come in, as in Revelation 21:24, and nations will be made disciples (Matthew 28:19). Even kings, people of rank, power, and influence, will be added to the church. They will come from all directions: “Lift up your eyes around you and see them coming” (Isaiah 60:4). They will be like devout people from every nation under heaven (Acts 2:5). The fields are already white for harvest (John 4:35). They will come together like one people, with one mind, to strengthen and encourage one another, saying, “Come, let us go” (Isaiah 2:3).

They will come from far away. They will come to you from distant places, having heard of you, like the queen of Sheba, or having seen your star in the east, like the wise men. The long journey will not keep them back. Some will come from both sexes, sons and daughters, in a dutiful way, as your sons and your daughters, ready to belong to your family, obey its laws, and place themselves under its care. They will come to be nursed at your side, to be educated from their earliest days. The church’s children should be nursed at her side, not sent away to strangers. There, and there alone, the pure milk of the word is found, and there newborn believers must be nourished so they may grow (1 Peter 2:1-2). Those who want the honors and privileges of Christ’s family must also accept its discipline.

They will also bring their wealth with them, and the church will benefit from their coming. Those brought into the church by God’s grace will surely bring all they have with them and devote it to God’s honor and service, using it for good where they are. The merchants will write “holiness to the Lord” on their goods and on the profit from them, as in Isaiah 23:18. The abundance of the sea, whether the wealth taken from the sea or brought by sea, will be turned to the church’s use. The riches of wealthy merchants will be spent on works of piety and charity.

The mighty men of the nations will use their strength in the service of the church. The forces of the Gentiles will come to you to guard your borders, strengthen your cause, and, if needed, fight your battles. The nations’ armies had often been against the church, but then they will be for it. God can, when he pleases, and will, when we please him, even turn our enemies into friends (Proverbs 16:7). When Christ overcomes the armed strong man, he takes his spoils and turns what was used against him into service for his own work (Luke 11:22).

Wealth brought by land, as well as by sea, will also be used in God’s service and for the good of the church. The camels and dromedaries that bring gold and incense, the people of Midian and Sheba, will bring the richest goods of their land, not to trade for gain, but to honor God, and not in small amounts, but in camel-loads. This was partly fulfilled when the wise men from the east, perhaps from some of these very countries, were led by the star’s brightness to Christ and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matthew 2:11).

Great numbers of sacrifices will be brought to God’s altar, acceptable sacrifices, and even though they are brought by Gentiles, they will be received with favor (Isaiah 60:7). Kedar was known for its flocks, and Nebaioth likely had the fattest rams. These will come up acceptably on God’s altar. We must serve and honor God with what we have, in keeping with how he has blessed us, and with the best we have. This was partly fulfilled when, by Darius’s decree, the governors beyond the river, perhaps from some of these regions, were ordered to provide the temple in Jerusalem with bullocks, rams, and lambs for the burnt offering to the God of heaven (Ezra 6:9).

It also points forward to the bringing in of the full number of the Gentiles into the church, which is called the offering up of the Gentiles to God (Romans 15:16). The flocks and rams are really precious souls. They minister to the church and come up as living sacrifices, giving themselves to God in a reasonable service on his altar (Romans 12:1).

God will be honored by the growth of the church and by the great number of people joining it. They will aim at the honor of God’s name in all this. When they bring their gold and incense, it will not be to display the riches of their own country, or to win praise for their own devotion, but to proclaim the praises of the Lord (Isaiah 60:6). Our greatest gifts and services to the church are acceptable only when we aim at God’s glory in them. This must also be our concern in public worship, to give the Lord the glory due to his name. That is why we, like these converts, are called out of darkness into light, so that we may show forth the praises of him who called us (1 Peter 2:9).

God will also increase the honor of his own name by this. He has said, “I will glorify the house of my glory” (Isaiah 60:7). The church is the house of God’s glory, where he shows his glory to his people and receives the honor they owe him. It is for the glory of this house, and of the one who dwells there, that the Gentiles will bring their gifts to it and find acceptance there.

The church herself will be deeply affected by this increase in her members (Isaiah 60:5). First, she will be filled with joy. She will see it and be moved with gladness, as though in a sweet and lively stir of heart, amazed by it yet overjoyed. Second, there will be some fear mixed with that joy. Her heart will fear, wondering whether it is right to go in to uncircumcised people and eat with them. Peter felt this fear so strongly that he needed a vision and a voice from heaven to overcome it (Acts 10:28). But when that fear is overcome, her heart will be enlarged in holy love, large enough to hold all the Gentile believers. She will no longer have such a narrow spirit or such limited affections within the Jewish circle. When God plans the beauty and prosperity of his church, he gives this broadness of heart and a wide charity.

These converts flocking to the church will be greatly admired (Isaiah 60:8). “Who are these that fly as a cloud?” Their conversion is described as flying to Christ and to his church, because that is where we are directed. It is like a cloud in that, though they come in great numbers and cover the sky, they are united as one. They come quickly, like a cloud driven by the wind, and they come openly, in full view of all, even with their enemies watching, yet unable to stop them (Revelation 11:12). They also fly like doves to their windows, many together, using the harmless wings of the dove, which points to their innocence and humility. They fly to Christ, to the church, to the word, and to the ordinances, just as doves, by instinct, return to their own windows and home. When pursued by birds of prey, they fly there for refuge and shelter, and when they have wandered and grown weary, they fly there for rest, like Noah’s dove to the ark.

This conversion of souls is admired with wonder and joy. “Who are these?” We have reason to marvel that so many come flocking to Christ, and when we see them together, we will wonder where they all came from. We also have reason to admire them with pleasure and affection. “Who are these?” How excellent they are, how lovely they are! What a pleasant sight it is to see poor souls hurrying to Christ, fully resolved to remain with him!