Isaiah 60:15-22 - The Coming Change

A Translation and Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church, 19 May

Introduction

Judging from the presumptive candidates of the major parties for U.S. President, it appears that the Republicans are not interested in change and the Democrats are. “If you're tired of the same old politics and want something new… it’s time for a Change in Washington” – these are catchwords in Obama’s campaign. Will he be able to deliver transformation to our country? I’ve heard quips that the change they are after is really the change that is still rattling around in our pockets! George Otis’ “Transformation” videos make a strong case that significant change comes through prayer and spiritual awakening, not politics, and, while Isaiah and George Otis may not necessarily be on the same page when it comes to the Charismatic movement, this second half of Isaiah chapter 60 focuses on a transformation that will be brought about by God’s hand.

 

During Isaiah’s time, there was a felt need for things to change for the better. They had been under the thumb of Syria and then Assyria and were about to come under the control of Babylon. They were worshipping false gods and God was angry at them for it. They knew no peace because they were not upholding truth, righteousness, and justice in their own land. Things were bad. They needed a change, but only God could give them that change. Listen to the 4 fabulous transformations God promises to His people:

 Translation

15. Instead of your being forsaken and being hated and no one passing through,

now I will position you for majesty forever, a joy of generation and generation!

16. And you will suck the milk of nations; the breast of kings you will suck!

And you will know that I, Jehovah, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

 

17. Instead of the bronze I will bring gold, and instead of the iron, I will bring silver,

and instead of the wood, bronze, and instead of the stones, iron!

And I will place peace for your police and righteousness for your tax-collectors.

 

18. Never again will there be heard violence in your land, devastation, or destruction in your borders,

but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise.

 

19. Never again will the sun be for you for daily light, and the brightness of the moon will not shine for you,

but Jehovah will become for you everlasting light, and your God your glory!

20. Never again will your sun go, and your moon will not withdraw itself,

for it will be Jehovah who becomes for you everlasting light,

and the days of your mourning will be completed.

 

21. And your people – all of them – will be righteous;

forever they will take over the land as the branch of His planting, the work of His hands,

for beautification.

22. The little one will become a thousand, and the insignificant one a vast nation.

I am Jehovah; in its time I will implement it rapidly.

Change #1 – Shunning to Desirability & Intimacy (v.15-16)

s         “Forsaken” relates to exile

o   27:8. By her measure, by exiling her, You will contend with her; He removed them with His hard wind in a day of the east wind… 10. For the fortified city is isolated, a home exiled and forsaken, like the wilderness.

s         “Hated”

o       by God in 1:14. Your new moons and your meetings my soul hates...

o       54:8 also refers to God’s “flood of wrath” upon Judah

o       It is right for God to hate sin. 61:8  For I the LORD love justice; I hate robbery and wrong; I will faithfully give them their recompense… Zec 8:17  do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the LORD."

§         If you have ever done what the Bible says is wrong,

§         robbed/taken anything that was not yours,

§         told a false oath/a lie,

§         or even thought something bad towards someone else, devising evil in your heart against them,

§         you have sinned, and God’s hatred is directed toward you.

§         There is nothing you can do to make God like you again.

§         The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23).

s         No one “passing over” was prophesied in 33:8 Highways were desolated; passing over the way has ceased. He has broken covenant; he has despised cities..

s         But God promises a reversal of all of this:

o       Whereas no one was passing through, the first half of this chapter has pictured people streaming in to be with God’s people from all over the world 62:10Pass through, pass through the gates, Clear the way for the people; Build up, build up the highway… lift up a standard over the peoples.

o       Whereas Joy was taken away

§         24:8 The mirth of the tambourines is stilled, the noise of the jubilant has ceased, the mirth of the harp is stilled… (10) The chaotic city is shattered; every house is shut up so that none can enter… all happiness has grown dark; the gladness of the earth is removed. 12 Desolation is left in the city; gates battered, and ruin.

§         there will be a transformation that will bring “joy” to children and grandchildren for “generations,”

§         Isa 62:5  … as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, So your God will rejoice over you. Isa 65:18  "But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing And her people for gladness. (cf 66:10)

o       Whereas they were hated:

§         they will become “majestic” - the “pride” (NAS) & “excellence” (KJV) of the world,

§         v.16 they will be embraced. “Nursing” at breast as picture of intimacy. They are now loved and nurtured by kings - the greatest people in the world! (49:21ff, 66:11)

§         and they will “know” God no longer as the one who hates them but as the one who loves them!

§          How does this change come about in God’s attitude? We saw in the last chapter already that since no man could save and satisfy God’s wrath against sin, God brought “His own righteousness” out to deal with the problem of sin; Isa 59:16  And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: there­fore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him. In other words, God brought out His own son, Jesus to suffer death – the punishment for sin – on our behalf, so that we could know God – not as the one who “hates” us because of our sin but – as our “Savior, our Redeemer, and our Mighty One.”

A)    Savior: Isa 45:17  Israel [Not speaking of the physical Jewish nation but of all the people of God in all nations] will be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: you will not be ashamed or confounded world without end… [so]  22  Look unto me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

B)    Redeemer: refers to what Jesus would do to purchase a people for God

1.      Isa 59:20  And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.

2.      Isa 62:12  And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.

3.      “From heaven He came and sought her to be His holy bride; with His own blood he bought her and for her life he died” (From Samuel J. Stone’s hymn “The Church’s One Foundation”)

C)    Mighty One

1.      First used by Jacob when blessing his son Joseph: Gen 49:24  arms of his hands were made strong by the hands,  of the mighty God of Jacob

2.      Also used in the introduction to Isaiah’s prophecy 1:24 and 49:26b  all flesh shall know that I the LORD am your Savior and your Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

 

What a fantastic change from desolation and shunning to experiencing intimacy and majesty! And this change is accomplished by Jesus for His church.

Change #2 – Poverty to Prosperity (v.17-18)

s         What is all this about building materials in v.17?

o       There were many bronze fixtures in the O.T. temple. Iron was in general use for tools/nails with sharp edges. Wood and stone were used to build houses and protective walls.

o       Vs. 6&9 have already mentioned gold being brought in as tribute from the nations to God

o       Replacing bronze fixtures for gold and replacing the iron with silver, etc is a picture of opulence! Instead of middle-class, these people will be upper-crust! It presents a stunning picture to the imagination, a picture which resembles (by an analogy of precious stones to the precious metals) the new Jerusalem which God is preparing for His people to live in eternally in heaven.

o       Now, imagine the security of a city whose walls were made entirely out of metal. In Isaiah’s day, such a city would have been indestructible!

s         I will set peace as your officers/overseers /governor/administrators

o       This is the authority who “visits” you, reminds you of the law, and enforces the law, which is why I translated it “police”

o       Instead of God “visiting” them with punishment (cf Isa 10:3; 13:11; 26:21; 29:6; 57:21; 59:8), God’s people could expect peace.

o       “Peace” is not an adjective describing the officers (as in “your officers will be peaceful”) but rather the object which is placed by God to be the officers. In other words, God’s personified “peace” and “righteousness” will take over the government and take over the role of the police. No longer will human rulers be needed.

o       This reminds me of Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming rule of Jesus in 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father,1 The Prince of Peace. 7  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end,

o       We do not even have to wait until heaven to experience this reign of peace; Isaiah has already spoken this truth in a prayer to God: 26:3a  A steadfast mind you will guard in perfect peace, for it trusts in You… (cf Isa 57:19 & 66:12).

 

s         And Righteousness will be your tax collectors/taskmasters/ruler/magistrates/overseers

o       Isaiah says in v. 17 that those people who lit. “squeeze you / press you” to pay taxes will no longer be the ruthless Assyrians from the outside or the landlords of your own people who “drive their employees too hard” (same root word in Isa 58:3 as “press/tax/rule” here) and drove righteousness away by their own sins. Now, as 58:16-17 says, God would bring to bear His own righteousness... (Isa 61:10-11)

o       In I Samuel 8, Samuel tried to keep the Jews from instating a king by shocking them with a prophecy that a king would take a whole 10% of their income. Nowadays we spend half of our income on taxes. There’s been a lot of talk in the Republican Party primaries about reducing our taxes and even abolishing the IRS. How wonderful it would be if righteousness were consistently applied to our tax system!

s         Whereas the Israel of Isaiah’s day was full of the poverty of “Violence, Devastation/ruin/ wasting, and destruction” (Isa 59:6b  Their works are works of iniquity, And an act of violence is in their hands. 7  Their feet run to evil, And they hasten to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, Devastation and destruction are in their highways.)

s         And whereas God would bring continued violence, devastation, and destruction upon the nation during the exile (51:19; 1:28; 30:13),

s         A change to a secure, prosperous state is promised for the future:

o       Isa 30:26  The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day the LORD binds up the destruction of His people and heals the bruise He has inflicted.

o       This was fulfilled in part by righteous leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah after the exile (who did away with charging interest on loans in Neh. 5), but theirs was not a complete fulfillment. They could hardly be called peaceful times, and the language here in Isaiah speaks of blessings beyond this physical world:

s         “You will call your walls Salvation” – Walls are what protect us from our enemies. Salvation is what protects us from our enemies. To live within the walls of this changed community is to be saved.

o       The enemies are not the nations outside because Isaiah has already said that the nations would build up the walls of Zion (v.10) and find a place within those walls (56:5), our enemies are Satan and sin and death.

o       Means of change: It took a man who had “done no violence”  (as Isa 53:9 and I Peter 2:22 describe Jesus) to take the punishment for our sin and thus save us from the wrath of God.

o       I already mentioned in my sermon on Isaiah 26 that this wall of salvation is Jesus. “We have a wall…”
Throughout Isaiah, Salvation is personified as God, such as in Isa 12:2  “Behold, God is my salvation” This is Old Testament language for “Jesus saves”

§         Mat 1:21  "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."

§         1Th 5:9  For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

§         Act 15:11  " we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus..."

§         Act 16:31  "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you & your household."

§         (cf. Luk 19:9 2Ti 1:9 2Ti 2:10 2Ti 3:15 Rom 10:9 1Ti 1:15)

o        “Glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion, city of our God! He whose words cannot be broken formed thee for His own abode. On the Rock of Ages founded, what can shake thy sure repose? With salvations walls surrounded, thou mayest smile at all thy foes!” (John Newton)

o       God will be praised by those within the gates (45:25), and people from all over the world will speak the praises of God’s people and God’s salvation because of their beauty and majesty (26:2, 54:12, 42:8-12, 60:11, 62:7)

 

Change #3 – Sunlight for Everlasting Light (v.19-20)

Verse 19 begins the same way the first commandment does “There shall not be for you another God before me” perhaps a reminder not to worship the sun or moon, but there is more. This promises that we will have no more sun or moon. Is that supposed to be a blessing? Only if we get some better source of light in exchange!

 

1. One day the Sun and Moon will one day be done away with:

s         Isa 13:10  For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark when He goes forth, and the moon will not shine its light. (11)  And I will visit evil upon the world, and iniquity upon the wicked, I will finish off the arrogant proud, and humiliate the pompous pride of the ruthless. (cf. Ps. 72:7)

s         Joel 2:31 The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. 32 and it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; (quoted by all four Gospel writers in reference to Jesus: Mt. 24:29, Mk. 13:24, Acts 2:20, Rev. 6:12)

2. Instead, God will be your light:

s         This began to be fulfilled in the first coming of Christ:

§         Isaiah has already spoken of the coming of Jesus to earth as a baby as the coming of the light of God to the earth and to the nations in 9:2 (cf Mt. 4:16), 42:6, and 49:6

§         In the New Testament John also described Jesus as the light of God. He quotes Jesus saying, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." (John 9:5)

s         By believing in Jesus that light illumines us in a spiritual sense

§         John 8:12  Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

§         Isa 50:10  Who is among you that fears the LORD, That obeys the voice of His servant, That walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD...

s         The Bible speaks of another time in the future when God will replace the light of sun and moon:

o       Isa 4:5  then the LORD will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy.

o       Rev 21:23-27  the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb [the symbol for Jesus in John’s revelation].  24  By her light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into her,  25  and her gates will never be shut by day--and there will be no night there.  26  They will bring into her the glory and the honor of the nations.  27  But nothing unclean will ever enter her, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

3. God will be your Beauty/Glory

s         Instead of looking for beauty in their “anklets, headbands, crescent ornaments, etc.” (Isa 3:18)

s         they will glory in their redeemer, Jesus,

o       the Branch of the Lord who would become their glory in (Isa 4:2),

o       the One who would become their beautiful crown (Isa 28:5),

o       the Salvation that was coming near (Isa 46:13)

 4. “Your mourning/sorrow will end/be completed”

s         The beginning of this fulfillment would be in the rebuilding of Jerusalem in 539 BC:
Isa 57:18
I have seen his [Israel’s] ways, yet I will heal him, and I will lead him, and I will complete comforting for him and for his mourners

s         The next level of fulfillment would be when Jesus came in the first century AD:
Isa 61:3
  To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified. Jesus claims that His pres­ence in Palestine fulfilled this (Lk 4:18 - we’ll look at this more in depth next week, Lord willing).

s         In the new heavens and new earth, we will also have the presence of Jesus to wipe away our tears and bring and end to all sorrow:
Rev 7:17  for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes. (cf. Rev. 21:4)

Change #4 – Weakness to Power (vs. 21-22)

1.     Spiritually in terms of sin (spiritual weakness) changed into righteousness “all of them will be righteous”

a.     This righteousness of the inhabitants of the city of God has already been mentioned in:

                                                              i.      4:3 And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy

                                                            ii.      26.2 Open, gates, and the righteous nation will go, keeping faith.

                                                          iii.      35.8 And there will be a highway and the road, and it will be called “The Way of the Holy.” An unclean man will not pass over it...(cf Rev. 21:27)

b.     How did they get righteous?

                                                              i.      53:11 told us: my righteous Servant [Jesus] will make righteous the many, and their iniquities He Himself will bear [which He did on the cross]

                                                            ii.      How did they grab onto that righteousness? By believing in Jesus: Paul explains in Gal 3:6-14  Even so Abraham BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.  7  Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.  8  The Scripture, foreseeing that God would make the Gentiles righteous by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU."  9  So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer…  13  Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us--for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE"--  14  in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

                                                          iii.     The righteous are called “the branch of my/his [God’s] planting” and “the work of my/His hand” to underscore that our life in the city of God as people who believe in Jesus and are made righteous did not come of ourselves, we were made by God, our righteousness came from Him, and we didn’t do anything to deserve or earn it.
This phrase “plant” is applied to God’s people throughout the Scriptures (e.g. Ex. 15:17, Ps. 44:2, Ps. 80:8, Isa 5:2, Isa 40:24, Isa 61:3, Jer 2:21, Jer 11:17, Jer 24:6, Jer 31:28, Jer 32:41, Jer 42:10, Amos 9:15), and in Mt. 15:13, Jesus applies this planting process spiritually to God planting faith in a person.

2.     Physically illustrated in v. 21 in terms of “taking over the land”

a.     The phrase “take over/inherit/possess the land” comes from God’s covenant with Abraham: Gen 15:6 And he believed in the LORD; and He [the Lord] counted it to him [Abraham] for righteousness. 7  And He said unto him, “I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.

b.     David picked up on this promise and passed it on to Solomon: 1Ch 28:8b …keep and seek for all the commandments of the LORD your God: that ye may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you forever.

c.      However, Israel did not walk in this righteousness, so they did not get this promise: Isa 14:21 Prepare slaughter for his sons in the iniquity of their fathers; they must not rise and take over the earth, and fill the face of the world with cities. Rather, wildlife got it! Isa 34:11 Pelican and porcupine will possess her, and owl and raven will sit in her. And He will stretch over her a line of desolation and stones of chaos.

d.     But a new seed of people made righteous by faith will gain the promise: Isa 57:13b But the one who takes refuge in me will possess the land, and he will take over my holy mountain!

e.      Just as Jesus said in Mat 5:5  Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

f.       Not literal Palestine but spiritual: Rom 4:13-24 For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith… so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all… 21  [Abraham was] fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.  22  Therefore IT WAS ALSO CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.  23  Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him,  24  but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, (cf 1Co 6:9-10, Heb 6:12)

g.     Jesus called this inheritance “eternal life” in Mat 19:29, and while it is now only a spiritual reality, it will become a concrete reality in the world to come, as he promised to John in the Revelation (21:7) “He that overcomes [by continuing to trust Jesus - I John 5:4] shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.”

3.     This change is also illustrated in terms of a “small,” weak, “insignificant” number of people becoming a “thousand,” a “vast/numerous/mighty nation”

a.     Again, Abraham is alluded to as one man who had very few children, yet became the father of all the Arab nations physically. Spiritually, he is also the father of all who believe God in truth. (Gen 18:18 …Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him – applied to those of his faith, not of his blood in Gal 3:8)

b.     The concept of the “remnant” from Isaiah 10-46 is also in view. God starts with a few faithful people and grows from there
Mic 4:7 I will make the lame a remnant And the outcasts a strong nation, And the L
ORD will reign over them in Mount Zion From now on and forever.

c.      So it is with the kingdom of God, as Jesus explained in His parables, it starts as small as a mustard seed, but will grow into the largest tree (Mt. 13:31), it starts like a pinch of yeast and influences the whole loaf (Mt. 13:33), it is like a seed that is sown in the ground and grows into a stalk of grain that produces a hundred seeds. Little flock, you look small, but God will use you to develop a vast and mighty people of faith in Jesus in every nation on earth. Do not be discouraged!

4.     This change is under God’s control and will happen at the right “Time”

a.     Throughout Isaiah, the word “time” seems to refer to a visitation of God’s punishment or of God’s blessing:

                                                              i.      earlier “times” of “anguish” in Isa 9:1,

                                                            ii.      a present “time” of “distress” in 33:2-6,

                                                          iii.      a future “time” when Jesus will “come” in 48:16 (cf. 49:8),

                                                          iv.      The appointed time is a key concept in the New Testament coming of Jesus

1.      Gal 4:4 when the appointed time had come, God sent forth His only begotten son

2.      Mk. 1:15 the time is fulfilled (John the Baptizer)

3.      Matt 26:18 My time is at hand (Passover)

                                                            v.      and also a future “time” when the nations will worship God in Isa 18:7 in the heavenly kingdom.

b.     How does God “hasten” it?

                                                              i.      The commentators I read (E.J. Young & Franz Delitzsch) suggest that this does not have to do with moving the event forward in time so much as it has to do with rapidly fulfilling the promise – acting suddenly – when the time does come.

                                                            ii.      I’m sure you’ve all had that roller-coaster experience of waiting forever for God to put all the pieces together on something that you want to happen, and then when the time comes, Whoosh, it all comes together quickly and things really take off!

                                                          iii.      The point is that God is in control and He will be timely. But did you know God tells us the WE can also hasten the day?

                                                          iv.      2 Pet. 3:10-15  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.  11  Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,  12  waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!  13  But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.  14  Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.  15  And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him,

Application

s         Do you need transformation in your life? It will not come through political candidates or through doing more activities or through diets or plans from books (although these are all fine things we may invest in); the real transformation will come through trusting Jesus to take away our sin and following Him.

s         Have you been following Jesus but your beginnings feel small? Be patient and persevere in trusting Jesus; don’t be discouraged, your “change will come.” (Job 14:14)

s         v.21 says that the purpose of all these blessings is so that God will be glorified. Are you doing anything to stand in the way of God being praised and admired? Stop trying to get people to admire you and instead turn and admire your Savior and Redeemer, your Mighty One!

s         Have you forgotten the hope of heaven? The age to come when you will be majestic,
when your tears will be all wiped away,
where the streets are paved with gold,
where righteousness and peace will reign forever,
where the Lord will be your everlasting light,
where you will be important?
Keep looking forward to that hope! Luke 18:7-8 will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?  8  I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?

s         All the fun and glamour of the world portrayed in the media is nothing compared to eternal life in Jesus! This is where the joy and security and beauty is! Do you believe that?

s         Isa 2:5 Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.

 

Nate Wilson’s website – Isaiah Sermon Expositions

 

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