There are some beautiful reminders in this text of the nature of worship, and they are ones we often forget or leave to one side.  Firstly, every part of the world order, from trade and commerce to the traditional herding of cattle and sheep may become a proper sacrifice of praise to God (60:6,7), indeed the more we give to the Lord from all that we do and do so in a manner that reflects all of our lives, the more we please Him.  Doing this means that we are truly seeing the connections between God and every part of our lives.

Secondly, worship involves making things beautiful for God.  In some parts of the world, one can visit churches of extraordinary ornate magnificence, and some will quickly say that such expense is simply unnecessary.  I recently visited a newly built church on the island of Gozo (near Malta), and it was built with extraordinary vision out of solid stone to last thousands of years.  Yet as I walked around the building with its undoubtedly highly expensive stone and architecture, there was the clear evidence of the local community of people at work and worship, supporting missionaries and doing things to give glory to God in their own community.  I am almost certain that the money to raise this Cathedral like edifice was raised locally.  How churlish it would be to criticise people for wanting their church to say something beautiful about God, in a world where most churches (including those in England or the USA) have a life of less than a century.  The fact is that the architectural parameters used in such countries are the same as those for schools and halls.  Scripture suggests we aim higher.

The end will come and what we make now will be consumed in God’s final destruction and re-creation.  In the mean time, our worship must surely offer the best to God, not relative to everyone else in the world, but the best that we can do relative to the gift He has given to us.  Then, when we bow down before the Lord together, the country chapel and the Cathedral offers what is beautiful and best because the people who are there are giving their all to God.  What glorious worship!

©  Paul H Ashby  2008

 

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Please go on to the DISCIPLESHIP PAGE where you will find some suggestions about the discipleship issues relating to the text, some questions for use in group study and also a final prayer

Yesterday we began to read this great chapter of Isaiah (60) in which he wrote about a vision of the coming of God’s glory in splendour, and spoke about it in terms of light, and also the in-gathering of the nations to God’s dwelling place of Zion.  The first few verses of this chapter make wonderful reading for us today because of the exciting prophecies of the coming of the Lord and the image of light, which is easily understood by us even now.  We also caught a glimpse of the way that Isaiah’s words and pictures tumble over each other in the spiritual exuberance of the vision, so that the connections between each phrase are sometimes unclear, but it all makes sense poetically, in the fashion of the greatest of expressive literature.

Today’s passage continues in the same way, but because the images and pictures used by Isaiah are not one we are familiar with, we do not respond to it with the same zeal and enthusiasm!  The themes are largely to do with gathering God’s people, and most of the names of nations mentioned in verses 6 and 7, (Midian, Ephah, Kedar and Nebaioth) are mentioned in Genesis as sons of Abraham either through Ishmael or through his later wife Keturah.  Obviously, these names do not arouse in us the deep feelings that they must once have done!  The theme of the gathering of the nations continues with foreigners brought in from the boundaries of the earth, bringing their wealth with them (9,10), and the gates of Zion remain open all day and all night to allow everyone in (60:11)!

As the passage continues, those who know the Old Testament well may begin to recognise that the theme of in-gathering increasingly becomes intertwined with another powerful theme, that of the Temple in Jerusalem.  Words such as this; ‘the glory of Lebanon will come to you, the cypress, the plane ...’ remind us of the great trade with Tyre instigated by David but pursued by Solomon which paid for the materials and crafting of the Temple (see 1 Kings 5:8, 2 Chron 2:1f. etc.).  Then the prophecy gradually picks up the appropriate themes of worship; ‘the sons ... will come bending low ... they will bow down at your feet, city of the Lord.’ (60:14), and lastly, Zion is described like a suckling child feeding from the good things of life from the ‘breasts of kings’.  All the riches of the world will be available for the benefit of God’s people!

Whilst the building of the Temple and the image of nursing from the breast may not help us or inspire our thoughts about the glories of our God and King, they certainly inspired people of other times and cultures! However, if we read through the passage we will find occasional lines and phrases which help guide us through what the prophecy: ‘I will bring glory to my glorious house’ (60:7), ‘for the name of the Lord your God, and for the Holy one of Israel, for He has made you beautiful!’ (60:9) ‘in my wrath I struck you down but in my favour I have shown you mercy.’ (60:10), I will ‘beatify the place of my sanctuary ...’ (60:13) ‘Zion, of the Holy one of the Lord ... I will make you majestic for ever, a joy from age to age!’ (60:14,15). If you want to try and extract a message from this prophecy, then these words do just this. 

Of course today, the Zion we speak about is the place of God’s dwelling which is the church, insofar as it is the Body of Christ awaiting as a bride the return of its Lord and the marriage feast at the end of time.  We are all a part of this Zion, even though it is not yet complete, and the glory we see today is only a fraction of the glory yet to come. Nevertheless, the glory we see even now is a fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy, so that we may have confidence that it is a true vision from the Lord.  Even though there are parts which are somewhat mysterious to us, we are truly grateful for all it means.

Going Deeper

In studying the passage further, we will take some of the themes mentioned above and see what they have to say to us; the ingathering of the nations of Abraham (60:6,7), the ingathering of the farthest foreigners (60:8-10); the open Temple (60:11-15; and the satisfied child (60:16).

Review

Going Deeper

Application

The nations of Abraham (60:6,7)

Even as we begin to read this passage, the description of camels makes us think of deserts and nomads, making their way through the deserts of east.  The ancient trade routes of the Middle East all ran through the land we know as the Biblical ‘Promised Land’, and throughout the turbulent history recorded by the Bible, camel trains continued passing through the land, whoever was in power and whatever the state of the nation of Israel.  This continued from before the time of Abraham to the time of Jesus and to not far short of the resent day.  To many people, the ancient trades in gold and frankincense and other food stuffs, perfumes and spices was as ancient as history itself, alongside the traditional nomadic herdsmen of the region with their sheep and goats.

In this great vision, Isaiah say these ways of the world turned from their ancient and traditional commercial ways to the single purpose of serving the  Lord.  Gold and frankincense is brought to ‘praise the Lord’ (60:6), and the nomadic herdsmen bring ‘flocks’ and ‘rams’ to present to God on His altar (60:7).  We have already seen that the names mentioned in these texts are children of Abraham representing the nations and peoples of the Middle East, but there is another hint here that is even more startling.  If we look to the time of Jesus which is part of the fulfilment of this prophecy (see yesterday’s study), is it not remarkable that the two offerings to God mentioned here describe quite well the two different visitations of Jesus as a child recorded in Matthew’s Gospel (ch2) and in Luke’s Gospel (ch2)?

There is so much in Isaiah which is fulfilled in the life and death of Jesus, and Isaiah also prophecies the birth of ‘Immanuel’ as a child (7:14), does he hint in this passage about the manner in which the Redeemer will be greeted?  It does seem to be very suggestive of what happened with the wise men and the shepherds.  I would go as far as to suggest that if you wish to gain some understanding of the significance of these two visitations, even though they are in different Gospels, it is certainly worth coming back to Isaiah 60!  Here, all the goods of the ancient Eastern world are offered appropriately to worship the living God who has become real, and gloriously ‘incarnate’ within His world.

The farthest nations, foreigners (60:8-10)

The vision now goes out farther than the eastern world, dominated by peoples who were believed to have been descendants of Abraham.  Isaiah was able to understand that the world was far bigger, and he mentions ‘ships from Tarshish’ (60:9).  The word ‘Tarshish’ is something of an enigma because it is strongly related to an ancient Semitic word for ‘ruin’, and this word play is used heavily in the prophetic story of Jonah (who fled from the Lord to go to ‘Tarshish’).  Some believe that there was a port in Spain called Tarshish at the far end of the Mediterranean Sea, but this location can only be verified from just before the time of Christ.  Others believe that it refers to a now unknown port on the North African coast.  However, the best thing we can do is to accept that this name is enigmatically used in the Old Testament for the farthest place known to have been visited by people!

Isaiah’s vision declares that even people from as far away as this are included in the call to gather in Zion, and God’s children are to be found as far away as this!  This message was a powerful one for the people of ancient times who tended to think of the Lord God as far more of a regional God, whose claims for ownership of the rest of the world were far beyond their thinking.  How amazing therefore it was for Isaiah to declare that such foreigners were responsible for bringing beauty to Zion in gold and silver, and for ‘building up walls (60:10).  Indeed, the Lord God was known far more widely across the world than His people had ever perceived.  After the terrible consequences of Israel’s sin and the sacking of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, Isaiah saw an incredible redemption of a Zion made rich again by the gifts and effort of people throughout the world. Incidentally, we know that this prophecy cannot possibly be regarded as having been fulfilled after the Exile at the time of Nehemiah and Ezra.  Those two books of the Bible are two of the most exclusive in the Bible, rejecting any non-Israelite participation in the rebuilding of Jerusalem.  No, this prophecy points further forward to today, and beyond.

The open Temple (60:11-15)

This part of Isaiah’s vision of God’s glory begins with the marvellous acclamation ‘Your gates will always stand open!’ (60:11)  What an amazing picture!  There is so much traffic bringing good thing to Zion, both in order to make her beautiful and also to give glory to God in worship, the gates ‘will not be shut, day or night’ (60:11).  The fact that Zion is the spiritual centre of the world is emphasised by the comment by Isaiah that ‘the nation and kingdom that will not serve you will perish.’ (60:12).  It is a brief but pertinent reminder that the price of glory is God’s judgement, and it is all too easy to become enwrapped in the wonders of God’s work and forget the price paid.  Just as Christians today can forget the price of the death of Christ, and a nation today can too quickly forget that its peace was won at the price of people’s lives in war, so we can forget that the glory of God is a consequence of His eternal judgement.  No one gloats over the nations ‘ruined’ (60:12), but if we try to hide our faces from reality, we will find that we also lose our focus on the things of God!

The Temple in this glorious vision of Isaiah is open in order to be built up and so that worship may continue.  In the vision, Isaiah saw the same materials used for the building of the first Temple being transported into the city; ‘the cypress, the plane and the pine ...’ (60:13), principally to make the place beautiful and to ‘give glory to where my feet stand’.  This is a strange expression, but it encapsulates the essential dilemma of our understanding of God within the world.  Our God is omnipotent and all powerful, and also present throughout His world, and yet in order for us to appreciate Him and worship Him, we need specific ‘places’ that God Himself has made holy so that we focus our prayers and our worship.  There is no doubt that Isaiah’s vision anticipates that such places are beautiful, and made beautiful by our craftsmanship in every way.  Such is the duty and delight of God’s people for their Lord.

Even today, when we see churches and chapels abandoned at the side of the road in many countries and many a magnificent place of worship falling into disrepair, it may be right to picture their rebuilding and beautification.  The spiritual truth behind the message is clear, the things of God are beautiful beyond compare, but the representation of that on earth by God’s people is something we should not dismiss as insignificant.

The satisfied child (60:16)

The image of Zion receiving love in the form of breast milk from the nations of this world is extraordinary.  At first, it would not be surprising if it seemed odd.  However, throughout Isaiah we have seen the frequent use of other nations by God to discipline His people and make them do His bidding.  In this capacity Assyria invaded Israel and dispersed her tribes; and in this capacity, Babylon invaded Jerusalem and Judah to take her king and people into exile.  These, of course, are terrifying pictures of real war, death, pain and anguish and they deeply affected all who were involved.  Now, if such terrors at the hands of the nations of the world is something God can use to do His judgement, how much more can the Lord God use the best things available to the nations to give suckle to His own people!  This picture is nothing less than a complete reversal of what Isaiah prophesied and did indeed take place (some in his lifetime, and some after his lifetime).

Some Christian sects have arisen over the centuries which emphasise the complete division of church and state, to the point of communities being established virtually outside of the rule of law in some countries.  Most of these communities (with a few notable exceptions) have been complete failures, and this is because the Bible indicates that God’s people and His city of Zion are not extracted from the world until the final end, when the world comes to an end in spiritual rebirth (Rev 21).  IN the mean time, it is God’s intention that His people enjoy the best of what the world has to offer!

 Translation Notes