Isaiah 60:12-22
Isa 60:12
For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall
perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.
Then the pronouncement is that those who do not serve or
come to the New Jerusalem, will perish on the last day plus those physical
nations which persecute the Lord’s people will always come to ruin.
Keep in mind that in 70 A.D. the nation of Israel will be obliterated and
therefore it is not speaking of coming to physical Israel but spiritual Israel.
And it shall be,
that whoso will not come up of
all the families of the earth
unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be
no rain. (Zechariah 14:17)
What is in view in this verse is not the physical
rain because the Lord stated that the Father makes it rain on the just and
unjust, that is, those who are believers and those who are unbelievers. That
ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun
to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the
unjust. (Matthew 5:45) The rain which is in view is the rain of the
gospel. Those who will not come to Jerusalem, to wit, the New Jerusalem where
the LORD is worshipped in spirit and in truth are the non-elect and will not
have the rain of the gospel. Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in
mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he
come and rain righteousness upon you. (Hosea 10:12) The rain of
righteousness was promised to the true church in Judah as well as to every
believer throughout history and in the future. Those who are outside the church
will have no gospel. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers,
and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a
lie. (Revelation 22:15)
Isa 60:13
The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree,
the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and
I will make the place of my feet glorious.
Then the LORD states that when they return to the land
after seventy years, they will rebuild the temple which was destroyed by the
Babylonians but not only will it be rebuilt, it will be beautified by the glory
of Lebanon which are the trees that grow there.
There will be the pine tree, the fir tree, and the box which is the cedar
tree. Then this verse also
prophesies the fact that the LORD is going to come physically to the temple as
we read in Malachi 3:1.
Behold, I will send my messenger, and he
shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come
to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold,
he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. (Malachi 3:1)
The temple was also referred to as the footstool of the LORD.
Exalt ye the LORD our God, and
worship at his footstool; for
he is holy. (Psalm 99:5)
The place they worshipped was at the temple.
Isa 60:14
The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come
bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at
the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion
of the Holy One of Israel.
Then when the true gospel goes forth, the sons of those
who persecuted the LORD when he was here on earth and those who persecuted his
children will have a different attitude toward the things of the LORD.
They will come to the body of Christ in humility and in a reverent state
to seek the things of the Lord in salvation.
Then they shall refer to the body of believers as the city of the LORD.
And he carried me away in the
spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy
Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, (Revelation 21:10)
Then they shall also be referred to as the Zion of the Holy One of Israel
which is the true body of believers.
But ye are come unto mount Sion,
and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an
innumerable company of angels, (Hebrews 12:22)
Isa 60:15
Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man
went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many
generations.
It had seemed in times past those in Israel who were the
true believers appeared to be forsaken by the LORD and were hated by the people
they dwelt among. Nobody had
inquired of the true gospel of the LORD from them as they were outcasts.
The LORD promises that he is going to make them of external excellency
especially the time the true church receives their glorified bodies and they
shall be a joy of many generations who will come to know the true gospel.
Beautiful for situation, the joy
of the whole earth, is mount
Zion, on the sides of the
north, the city of the great King. (Psalm 48:2)
This may also be speaking of the time when the earth and universe will be
created anew.
Isa 60:16
Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt
suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy
Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.
Then the promise is made to the true believers that they
will suck the milk of the Gentiles which carries with it the meaning of drawing
their sustenance from Gentile nations which is where the body of Christ will be
after it goes out to the world.
Sucking the breast of kings means that there will be leaders who will help
nurture the church as it grows.
Then the true children of God will see and experience these things and will come
to know that the LORD is their Savior and Redeemer who is the mighty one of
Jacob.
And so all Israel shall be saved: as it
is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away
ungodliness from Jacob: (Romans 11:26)
As the church dwells in the world until the last day, we draw the needed
materials from the world to do the work of evangelism.
We have Bibles and tracts printed on paper which come from trees.
We work a job to support ministries.
We build places of worship out of wood and steel, both comes from what
the earth can supply.
Isa 60:17
For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring
silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers
peace, and thine exactors righteousness.
Here is the fulfillment of the promise from the previous
verse. When brass is needed, the
LORD will bring gold, when iron was needed he would bring silver, and instead of
wood there would be brass. What we
see here is that God is making an upgrade to the body of believers as they will
reap the harvest of the secular kings of the earth.
It goes from a position of poverty to a position of affluence by the Lord
himself.
The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich,
and he addeth no sorrow with it. (Proverbs 10:22)
Then the officers who are those who dispense law and justice will be
those who will be fair and equitable and give true justice for all regardless of
social position. This is also how
it should be in the church when church officers are elected as they must be born
again so they can be ruled by the Spirit of God.
Then the exactors who lived in Judah will only take in taxes what is
required and no more just as the Lord paid the tax by telling Peter to go to the
fish and take the money out of its mouth and pay the tax.
The church would also have certain fiscal responsibilities to the place
where they live whether it is the corporate assemblies or the individual
Christian but they would not be subject to more tax than others.
Isa 60:18
Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor
destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy
gates Praise.
Then unlike the world, within the body of Christ or the
New Jerusalem there will no longer be any type of violence as there was in the
old Jerusalem. Wasting which
carries with it the meaning of “oppression or desolation” and destruction will
not be heard within the New Jerusalem.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be
full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:9)
The walls shall be called “Salvation” in which the Hebrew word behind
salvation is “Yeshua” which we know is the Hebrew name of Jesus.
Then the gates which give entry to the New Jerusalem shall be called
Praise as salvation causes people to praise the LORD.
The LORD loveth the gates of Zion
more than all the dwellings of Jacob. (Psalm 87:2)
The gates of Zion are the entrance to eternal salvation in the Lord.
Isa 60:19
The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for
brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee
an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.
And the city had
no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God
did lighten it, and the Lamb is
the light thereof. (Revelation 21:23) Then
we have a glimpse into the living conditions in the New Heaven and the New
Earth. The sun shall have no more
place in the new heavens and as a result there will be no moon which is a
reflection of the sun. The LORD
himself is going to be the light which will fill all Heaven.
And there shall be no night there;
and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them
light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 22:5)
Then at that time we receive our glorified bodies and the glory we
receive will be given to us from the LORD himself.
This is why no human could ever look upon God in his glory or they would
be consumed. We must be qualified
by God himself to see and receive his glory.
Isa 60:20
Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon
withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of
thy mourning shall be ended.
And the city had
no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God
did lighten it, and the Lamb is
the light thereof. (Revelation 21:23)
Let me repost Revelation 21:23 because it is apropos for this verse also
as God emphasizes the fact that the future for the true believer is going to be
glorious. Never again will the body
of Christ ever face anything which shall cause them mourning or any sorrow
because those are things of the old life.
And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying,
neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
(Revelation 21:4)
Isa 60:21
Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall
inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that
I may be glorified.
Then we are told that all those who have become born
again in Christ will be made righteous as we receive the righteousness of
Christ. The land which we inherit
is the new Heavens and the New Earth which goes on forever.
It has nothing to do with modern Israel and the strip of land they are
on.
7 And I will establish my
covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an
everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. 8
And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art
a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be
their God. (Genesis 17:7-8) God
promised Abraham that they would possess the land of Canaan for an everlasting
possession. Now we know that before
eternity commences, the old earth will be burned with fire and destroyed and
then God is going to remake it. It
is the New Heavens and the New Earth that would continue into eternity and
nothing of the present earth will continue.
Then we are the branch of his planting.
A branch when normally broken off of a tree is a dead piece of wood but
here the LORD promises that those are spiritually dead as the tree branch will
be planted and that planting will be in the true gospel where the branch will
grow into a new tree that will exude the truth of the gospel.
Then we speak of being a branch, we look at the BRANCH of the LORD.
And speak unto him, saying, Thus
speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name
is The BRANCH; and he shall
grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD: (Zechariah
6:12) Christ was dead in the
tomb but was resurrected and now lives as a living branch from which the tree of
salvation has grown worldwide.
Salvation was totally the work of the LORD’s hands as no human could ever get to
Heaven by going around the salvation plan of God.
No one can get to Heaven unless they come by the Lord Jesus Christ.
The body of Christ grows up and God gets the glory because it was his
salvation plan that allowed millions to escape the fires of hell and live
eternally in glory.
Isa 60:22
A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a
strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in his time.