Isaiah 60:9 - Meaning and Application

The promises given to the church in the verses before this are repeated here, confirmed, and expanded. They were meant to comfort and encourage the Jews after their return from exile, but they also point ahead to the growth of the gospel church and the rich spiritual blessings that will fill it.

God will be very kind and favorable to his people. We must begin there, because all the other promises come from that. A ruined sanctuary begins to be restored when God causes his face to shine on it (Daniel 9:17). All the favor God’s people receive from others comes from the light of his countenance and his kindness toward them (Isaiah 60:10). He is saying, in effect, “People will now seek your good, because in my anger I struck you during your captivity. The sufferings of the church, especially those caused by its corruptions, decline, and divisions, are painful signs of God’s displeasure. But now, in my favor, I have shown you mercy, and therefore I have mercy still in store for you.”

Many people will be brought into the church, even from far-off lands (Isaiah 60:9). “The islands” means distant nations, and they will wait for God, welcome the gospel, and gladly honor him and submit to him. The ships of Tarshish, which were large trading ships, will be ready to bring believers from faraway regions to the church, or, which means much the same thing, to carry the church’s ministers to remote places to preach the gospel and bring souls to the Lord. These are thy sons, those who are meant to become God’s children, the scattered children of God (John 11:52). Because they live so far away, they cannot bring flocks or rams with them, but they will bring their silver and gold. When we give ourselves to God, we must also give him all that we have. If we honor him with our spirits, we should also honor him with our wealth.

Those who come into the church will dedicate themselves and everything they have to the name of the Lord your God, to God as Lord of all, and as the church’s God and King, even to the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you. The honor God gives his church should not only lead us to honor his people, but also draw us to join ourselves to them. We will go with you, for God is with you (Zechariah 8:23).

Those who come into the church will be welcomed. The holy city is so spacious that, even though it is already filled as God has commanded, there is still room. “Your gates will always be open” (Isaiah 60:11), not only because there is no need to fear enemies, but because friends are expected. We often leave the door open, or keep someone ready to open it, when we expect a child or guest to arrive late. Christ is always ready to receive those who come to him. He is never absent, and no one ever comes at an inconvenient time. The gate of mercy is always open, day and night, or will soon be opened to those who knock. Ministers, as the doorkeepers, must always be ready to admit all who give themselves to the Lord.

All who are around the church will somehow become useful to it. Dominion is not founded on human favor, but on God’s favor. The God who made lower creatures useful to people will make the nations useful to the church. “The earth helped the woman.” All things are for your sake. So here (Isaiah 60:10), even the sons of foreigners, people who do not know you and have no special love for you, people who have always been outside the commonwealth of Israel, will build up your walls, and their kings will serve you in that and other ways without thinking it beneath them. This was fulfilled when the king of Persia, and the governors of the provinces under his order, helped Nehemiah build Jerusalem’s wall. Rather than let Jerusalem’s walls stay in ruins, the sons of strangers will be raised up to build them. Even those who do not belong to the church may still protect it. And the greatest people should not think it too lowly to serve the church, but should rejoice that they are able and willing to do it.

It is also the duty of everyone to do what they can, in their own place, to advance God’s kingdom among people. If they do not, they do so at their peril. “The nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish” (Isaiah 60:12). This does not mean they must perish by the sword, or by human curses, or that this gives support to forcing people into the church with penalties and punishments. Not at all. It means that those who will not, by faith, submit to Jesus Christ, the King of the church, and serve him, will perish forever (Psalm 2:12). Those who will not come under Christ’s golden scepter, the rule of his word and Spirit, and who will not be brought under, or kept in, by the discipline of his family, will be broken by his iron rod. “Bring them here and kill them in front of me” (Luke 19:27). Such nations will be utterly and forever ruined when Christ comes to punish those who do not obey his gospel (2 Thessalonians 1:8).

There will also be great beauty added to the ordinances of worship (Isaiah 60:13). The glory of Lebanon, its strong and stately cedars, will come to you, as they once came to Solomon when he built the temple (2 Chronicles 2:16). Other timber will come too, fit for the carved work of the sanctuary that the enemy had broken down (Psalm 74:5, 6). The temple, God’s sanctuary, will not only be rebuilt, but made beautiful. It is the place where he puts his feet, where he rests and dwells (Ezekiel 43:7). The ark is called his footstool, because it stood beneath the mercy seat (Psalm 132:7). He will make this place glorious in the eyes of his people and of all their neighbors. The glory of the later house, which this points to, was in some ways lower than the first, but in the truest sense it was greater, because Christ came to that temple (Malachi 3:1).

The church was also adorned with fine stones and gifts (Luke 21:5). That may point in part to this promise, but Christ spoke of those gifts so lightly there that we must look beyond them. Their full meaning is found in the beauty of holiness, and in the gifts and comforts of the Spirit, with which the ordinances of the gospel are adorned and made rich.

The church will also appear truly great and honorable. The Jews, after they returned from captivity, slowly became more important and made a better showing than anyone would have expected after such a deep fall. They became more respected than many other nations that had also been humbled by the Babylonians. It is likely that many who had once oppressed them in Babylon later sought favor from the Jews when the Persians drove them out, and wanted to attach themselves to them for shelter and help.

This prophecy is also fulfilled when people who have been enemies of the church are changed by God’s grace, see their mistake, and come to join themselves to it. The children of those who afflicted you, if not the persecutors themselves, will bow before you, ask pardon for their folly, and seek a place in your favor and family (1 Samuel 2:36). A promise like this is also given to the church in Philadelphia (Revelation 3:9).

This is meant, first, to humble the proud oppressors of the church, who have afflicted her, despised her, and even taken pleasure in doing so. They will be brought low, their pride will be broken, and their situation will become so poor and miserable that they will be glad to depend on those they worked hardest to offend. Sooner or later, God will put shame on those who have put shame on his people.

It is also meant to honor the poor and oppressed members of the church. They will have the honor of doing good to those who once did evil to them, and of keeping alive those who had afflicted and despised them. A good person takes pleasure in this and counts it an honor to show mercy to people who showed no mercy to him.

But that is not all. They will not only come as supplicants seeking their own advantage, but they will also honor you. They will call you the city of the Lord, because they will finally be convinced that you are favored by heaven and under God’s special care. That city is truly great and honorable, for it is strong, rich, safe, beautiful, and the most desirable place to live. It is the city of the Lord, the city he owns, the city where he lives, and the place where religion has first place. Zion is such a city. It is the place God has chosen for his name, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore we can be sure it is a holy city, because the Holy One of Israel would never be known as its patron if it were not.