Your Light Has Come: Isaiah 60(7)

Pray Psalm 48.1-3.
Great isthe LORD, and greatly to be praised
In the city of our God,
In His holy mountain.
Beautiful in elevation,
The joy of the whole earth,
Is Mount Zion on the sides of the north,
The city of the great King.
God is in her palaces;
He is known as her refuge.

Review Isaiah chapter 60.

Reflect.
1. The city of Jerusalem was soon to be destroyed, but God was promising a greater City to come. Why was this an important prophesy for the people of Judah and Jerusalem? 

2. How would you describe the City God promised to build for His people?

Meditate.
Soon Jerusalem would be in ruins. The temple would be destroyed. The people would be captive to the Gentile nation of Babylonia. All of this makes Isaiah 60 very important, for here God promises to restore a temple and City to His people, and to make the Gentiles their servants and co-inhabitants. Without this vision to cling to, the people heading off to Babylon would have had little hope for the future. God was chastening them in the present, and Isaiah had gone to great lengths to explain why this was necessary, and why God was just in doing so. But God is above all gracious and loving toward His people, and Isaiah did not want them to forget that.

The temple and City God promised in this chapter are far greater, more expansive, and more majestic than Jerusalem ever was. Isaiah is looking all the way through the long corridor of history into a time beyond time when the Light of God will be all His people need, and no nation or enemy will threaten or oppose them.

Part of the vision of this chapter applies to the Church in our time; part of it applies to the Church in the new heavens and new earth. The promise of a new and glorious City offered hope to Israel in Isaiah’s day, and it should provide hope for us in ours. A day is coming when we and all the people of God will rejoice in His Light and glory, living in a City of salvation, praise, and glory, with nothing to threaten or obstruct our joy.

We need to nurture this vision and cling to it always, and Isaiah is about to give us more fuel to heat the fire of this vision in our hearts.

Prepare.
1. How does vision work in the life of faith? Where should we look to gain a vision of hope? How should that vision guide our daily lives?

2. This chapter opens and closes with a focus on light. Why? How does light function in this chapter? In what sense has our light come? In what sense is it yet to come? What does this mean for us?

3. What’s your primary takeaway from Isaiah 60?

Shine, shine, O new Jerusalem, for the glory of the Lord has shone on you. Rejoice and be glad, O Zion! …Christ is risen, and he has crushed death and raised the dead: rejoice, therefore, O nations of the earth! Shine, shine, O new Jerusalem, for the glory of the Lord has risen over you. John of Damascus (650-750 AD), The Canon of Pascha, Ninth Ode

Light my path today, O Lord, so that I might live for Your glory as I…

Pray Psalm 48.
Pray for your church, and for a clear vision of how you can help it realize its full potential and place in the City of the Lord.

Sing to the Lord.
Psalm 48 (Cwm Rhondda: Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah)
Great is God, now greatly praise Him in the city of the Lord. 
Holy she, His lovely mountain, great and glorious by His Word! 
God her King is great within her, He, her Stronghold ever sure! 
He, her Stronghold ever sure! 

Earthly kings, amazed and wond’ring, look upon the Church with fear. 
See them flee in dread and anguish, knowing that the Lord is near. 
For the city of the Savior God will keep forevermore! 
God will keep forevermore! 

For Your grace and lovingkindness we proclaim Your matchless worth! 
As Your Name is, great and boundless, let Your praise fill all the earth. 
Let Your people sing rejoicing for the judgment of Your truth; 
for the judgment of Your truth. 

Walk about the blessèd city, see her beauty, see her power. 
Count her ramparts, filled with glory, look on ev’ry mighty tower. 
Tell her glory to the nations: God will guide her evermore; 
God will guide her evermore!

T. M. Moore

Where do the prophets fit with the rest of Scripture? How can I be a better student of God’s Word? Our course, Introduction to Biblical Theology, can help you gain a better approach to and understanding of the Scriptures. Watch this brief preview video, then register at The Ailbe Seminary and enroll in this free online course.

Each week’s lesson in our study of Isaiah is available as a free PDF download at the end of the week (click here). Get a copy for yourself and send the link for the download to your friends. Plan to meet weekly to study Isaiah’s important message.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006).All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).