(Part 2 of a 2 part study which seeks to refute the notion that the glories spoken of in this chapter refer to the ‘church’ and not to those clearly identified by the Lord in the chapter as the nation of Israel)
“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee,” Isaiah 60:1.
I recently read with joy Isaiah chapter 60 as part of my daily Bible reading, though I confess that the notes at the beginning of the chapter in my Bible added by men, I found disconcerting and vexing to say the least. These notes are very common in most copies of the Authorised Translation of the Holy Scriptures.
The notes summarise the contents of Isaiah chapter 60 in the following fashion:
1. The glorious access of the Gentiles into the church. 15 The blessings of the church after affliction.
I wish to show in this study that this summary is very wrong. I continue with more reasons why it is wrong to see the ‘church’ rather than ‘Israel’ as the recipient of the glories spoken of in this chapter.
1. Furthermore, There Are References To Past Troubles And Tribulations In This Chapter Which Can Refer Only To Israel
“And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee,” Isaiah 60:10.
“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. 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,” Isaiah 60:14-15.
“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,” Isaiah 60:18.
The authors of the notes at the beginning of the chapter would have us believe that from verse 15 to the end of the chapter the Lord is speaking of “The blessings of the church after affliction”.
Now the Lord does chasten His church, of that we have no doubt. Paul says in his epistle to the Hebrews, 12:5-11. “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”
But Isaiah is speaking of more than a Father’s chastisement! It is said that the Lord said, “for in my wrath I smote thee”. verse 10. Verse 15 speaks of the Lord ‘forsaking’ those to whom He is referring. Now remember, the Lord promises His church that “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee,” Hebrews 13:5. The Hebrew word translated ‘forsaken’ in Isaiah 60:14 is elsewhere translated ‘destitute’, Genesis 24:17. It is very clearly seen what the Lord is referring to when speaking of forsaking in Deuteronomy 28:20. “The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.” Deuteronomy 28:20. Here is the bitter ‘forsaking’ by God Israel would experience in consequence of their forsaking of Him!
God’s ‘forsaking’ of Israel is not an eternal casting away though it has lasted some 2000 years and has been most severe in its consequences upon that ancient people as a result. But, “God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew,” Romans 11:2. Paul goes on: “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 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 11:25-26.
No, the prophet Isaiah is not referring to the blessings of the church after affliction but rather the blessings that will come upon Israel when His forsaking of them for their great sin of rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ comes to an end.
The Lord Jesus spoke of this time referred to by Isaiah. “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. . . . . Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other,” Matthew 24:21-22, 29-31.
No, the writers of the notes at the head of many chapters in the Bible which contain prophecies related to Christ’s return, erroneously apply the wonderful promises given to Israel by the Lord to the ‘church’, simply because their system of prophetic understanding is based upon a notion born of man and which has no basis whatever in the Word of God.
2. It Is Further Evidenced That It Is Israel That Is Spoken Of Here Because The Gentile Nations Which Persecuted Israel During The Time Of Her Being Punished By The Lord, Are Used By Him To Aid The Recovery Of The Scattered People Of Israel
The matter is plain.
“Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory,” Isaiah 60:4-7.
The recovery of the scattered people will, under God’s sovereign supervision by largely carried out by the very nations that were chief amongst their persecutors!
The prophet goes on: “Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee. And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee. Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. 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. 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,” Isaiah 60:9-14.
The Gentile nations are but God’s instruments in the bequeathing of the blessings that He has for redeemed Israel.
Isaiah was inspired to enlarge upon this great work by the Gentiles, nations which are left after the Saviour’s judgment upon Antichrist and his armies are His return in chapter 66.
“And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD. And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the LORD. For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD,” verses 19-23.
It is not Gentiles who are being thus blessed but rather the Jewish people to whom the Lord has turned in mercy. Gentile labours and wealth and aid are poured upon Israel to assist her in her recovery and re-establishment.
3. Isaiah Indicates That There Is A Most Glorious Elevating And Advancement Awaiting The Remnant Of Israel At The Saviour’s Return
Note again these verses.
“For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted,” Isaiah 60:12.
“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. 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. 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,” Isaiah 60:14-16.
We must never forget that though the Jewish people sinned most terribly and wickedly when they rejected and crucified the Son of God their Messiah and in so doing cut themselves off from God’s mercy for a very long time, the Bible makes clear that they are HIS people still and one day He will redeem them from their sins.
Let me repeat the words of Paul found in Romans chapter 11. “God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.” All Israel (alive in the world at Christ’s return) shall be saved.” “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.”
Our Saviour was a son of Abraham, a Jew. That alone gives us a reason to love that people and to ‘pray for the peace of Jerusalem’. Yes they have been a hated people, a people of reproach even as the Lord said would be the case in consequence of their turning away from Him, but we should LOVE them for we see in prophecy what God has planned for them and that shows He has a deep eternal love for them and so should we.
Seeing what God has revealed in prophecy as the future blessings upon Israel causes me to see the pernicious finger of the devil in those misleading ‘notes’ inserted by men at the start of so many chapters in the Bible. As he had his ‘representative’ in the synagogue, crying out against Christ (Mark 1:23) even so within the pages of that most sacred of books, the Bible, we may hear the voice of error and the lie, seeking to mislead and deceive the unwary.
To a large degree we should set aside any notes that may be found at the head of the chapters in the Bible and rather read, study and meditate upon the record of His mind and will that God has wondrously preserved for us in the Authorised Version of the Holy Scriptures.
Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)