The video
version of this teaching is at: https://youtu.be/fWsTUhkQT30
The
scripture reading is Isaiah 60:1-22
In this
Haftarah it is apparent that Isaiah is looking far into the future of the
people of Israel. Nowhere in the history of the nation do we find a fulfillment
of the prophies of Isaiah contained in this Haftarah. Almost all of Isaiah, as
well as the other prophets, contain a mixture of rebuke and comfort. This chapter of Isaiah is quite different and
opens with a great promise.
Isaiah 60:1 NKJV 1 Arise, shine; For your light
has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you.
All through
this chapter, Isaiah points to the excitement and anticipation of the glorious
things to come for the people of Israel.
As Isaiah looks to a far distant future, the prophet speaks in a perfect
tense, as if these events have already happened or are happening as he is
speaking.
In light of
our recent studies in the book of Isaiah, and the “Song of the Servant” in
particular, contained in chapters forty-two through fifty three, how should we
view Isaiah’s words in this chapter?
What or who is this light that has come upon the land, the city and the
people of Israel?
None of the
blessings and other predictions described by Isaiah in this Haftarah can be
applied to any time in Israel’s history.
It is clear that Isaiah is speaking of the return of Messiah and His
reign on the throne of David in Jerusalem. In other words, the millennial reign
of Messiah Yeshua. The opening verses set the stage. Continuing with verses two
and three.
Isaiah 60:2-3 NKJV 2 For behold, the darkness
shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the LORD will arise
over you, And His glory will be seen upon you. 3 The Gentiles shall come to
your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.
We can break
down this Haftarah into four basic areas or topics covered by Isaiah. The
prophet speaks of a kind of radiance, different than one might expect. He also
speaks of restoration, redemption, and righteousness.
Isaiah
opens with the theme of radiance. Verse one is reminiscent of the first two
verses of chapter nine.
Isaiah 9:1-2 NKJV 1 Nevertheless the gloom will
not be upon her who is distressed, As when at first He lightly esteemed The
land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, And afterward more heavily oppressed
her, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, In Galilee of the Gentiles. 2
The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in
the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.
And a few
verses later Isaiah tells us where that light will come from.
Isaiah 9:6-7 NKJV 6 For unto us a Child is
born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And
His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no
end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish
it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of
the LORD of hosts will perform this.
In this
Haftarah, Isaiah is still speaking of that same light. He is speaking of the
work which the “servant” will accomplish in the nation of Israel and among the
Gentiles!
The great
need for this light is spoken by Isaiah in verse two where we are told that a
great darkness will cover the earth. Isaiah certainly experienced a great
spiritual darkness in his day and so did Yeshua and the disciples in their day.
John 3:19-20 NKJV 19 "And this is the
condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness
rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 "For everyone
practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds
should be exposed.
But this coming
darkness that Isaiah speaks of is on an unprecedented scale.
The word
translated as cover in Isaiah sixty verse two is “kaw-saw’”, number 3680 in the
Strong’s Concordance meaning to fill up the hollows and conceal to the point of
overwhelming everything. It is as if the whole earth is enveloped in this
covering of darkness.
But Isaiah
also says that there will be a great light that will rest upon Jerusalem and
the people. In the wilderness the Children of Israel experienced the “light”
going before them and being their rear guard. Here in these opening verses,
Isaiah seems to speak of a light that will draw the nations of the world to
Jerusalem and to the people of God.
Beginning
with verse four, we see this different kind of radiance.
Isaiah 60:4-7 NKJV 4 "Lift up your eyes
all around, and see: They all gather together, they come to you; Your sons
shall come from afar, And your daughters shall be nursed at your side. 5 Then
you shall see and become radiant, And your heart shall swell with joy; Because
the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, The wealth of the Gentiles
shall come to you. 6 The multitude of camels shall cover your land, The
dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; All those from Sheba shall come; They shall
bring gold and incense, And they shall proclaim the praises of the LORD. 7 All
the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together to you, The rams of Nebaioth
shall minister to you; They shall ascend with acceptance on My altar, And I
will glorify the house of My glory.
In the
first three verses, we saw how the light of Messiah would shine among the
people, now we see something different, we see the people themselves shine with
a kind of radiance, perhaps not unlike the radiance of Moses after he came down
from the mountain.
We can
contrast this lifting up of their eyes with the instruction God gave to Abraham
to lift His eyes and see.
Genesis 13:14-15 NKJV 14 And the LORD said to
Abram, after Lot had separated from him: "Lift your eyes now and look from
the place where you are-northward, southward, eastward, and westward; 15 "for
all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.
Instead of
lifting their eyes to observe the land, Isaiah describes a time when they will
lift up their eyes and see the great return of the exiles presumably drawn by
the light of Messiah!
Isaiah
observes a scene of tremendous joy as not only the Children return to the land,
but the wealth of the Gentile nations shall be carried with them. The word
translated as “swell” in verse five is “paw-kad’”, number 6342 in the Strong’s
Concordance meaning to stand in awe. It
will be a time when Jerusalem will stand in awestruck joy!
Isaiah
tells us that there will be a time of great restoration. Not only will the
Children of Israel be restored to the land but the Gentile nations will also
come to worship the God of Israel at Jerusalem. Isaiah mentions specific
peoples and places where these Gentiles will come from. Verse six speaks of the
dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; Ephah is a tribe of the Midianites. The people
of Sheba are from what is today Yeman and southern Saudi Arabia. The people of
Kedar are mentioned in Genesis 25:13 and are descendants of Ishmael.
Isn’t this
interesting. Isaiah specifically mentions the Arab people who are, in this day,
bitter enemies of the people and nation of Israel. Yet at some point in the
future which Isaiah saw, they will be reconciled with the people of Israel and
come together to worship one God at Jerusalem!
Isaiah
speaks of a tremendous wealth being brought to the land along with the
returning exiles and the Gentiles.
Isaiah 60:9-11 NKJV 9 Surely the coastlands
shall wait for Me; And the ships of Tarshish will come first, To bring your
sons from afar, Their silver and their gold with them, To the name of the LORD
your God, And to the Holy One of Israel, Because He has glorified you. 10
"The sons of foreigners shall build up your walls, And their kings shall
minister to you; For in My wrath I struck you, But in My favor I have had mercy
on you. 11 Therefore your gates shall be open continually; They shall not be
shut day or night, That men may bring to you the wealth of the Gentiles, And
their kings in procession.
Then
skipping to verse thirteen,
Isaiah 60:13 NKJV 13 "The glory of Lebanon
shall come to you, The cypress, the pine, and the box tree together, To
beautify the place of My sanctuary; And I will make the place of My feet
glorious.
The nations
and the people come bringing gold and silver, bronze and iron. They bring their
flocks and the majestic woods from Lebanon. It does appear that these are the
materials to be used to rebuild the Temple according to that described by the
prophet Ezekiel.
In this
section of our Haftarah, we see a vivid description of the restoration of
wealth that will flood into Jerusalem at the beginning of the millennial
kingdom. It will be a restoration of the kingdom like the time of David and
Solomon except this time it will be permanent with Messiah Himself on the
throne!
There will
be a redemption like no other described in verse sixteen.
Isaiah 60:16 NKJV 16 You shall drink the milk
of the Gentiles, And milk the breast of kings; You shall know that I, the LORD,
am your Savior And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
Evangelical
Christianity and Judaism understand redemption in different ways. The apostle
Paul often spoke of redemption from our slavery to sin.
Romans 6:16-17 NKJV 16 Do you not know that to
whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you
obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to
righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet
you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.
We are
redeemed from that slavery by the ransom paid by the blood of Messiah Yeshua.
In Judaism
however, redemption is seen as a deliverance from oppression and persecution.
While Christianity views redemption as a private, spiritual deliverance from
sin, Judaism, on the other hand, sees redemption as taking place on the world
stage for all to see, mankind being delivered from all oppressors.
Biblically,
both viewpoints are true but there is only one redeemer, Messiah Yeshua who
redeemed us from our personal slavery to sin and He will return to deliver the
remnant, both Jew and Gentile, from bondage and oppression by our physical
enemies.
Verses ten
and eleven give us a clue to the kind of redemption that is to come. Kingdoms,
who at one time came against the walls and gates of Jerusalem to destroy them
and enslave the people, will instead come to rebuild the gates and walls. But
the gates will remain open and through these gates will flow the wealth of the
nations. These Gentile nations will come to serve the people of Israel and to
serve and worship the God of Israel.
For many
centuries, since the destruction of the second Temple in seventy AD and the
near total exile of the people in the early second century, the land and the
city of Jerusalem had remained desolate. Many pilgrims to the land wrote about
their experiences and impressions. One such pilgrim recounted his experience in
1267 AD.
“How shall I describe our country? It is
forsaken and desolate. The holier the place, the greater its state of neglect.
Jerusalem is the most desolate locality.”[i]
More
recently, in 1867, the famous American author, Mark Twain visited the land and
reported:
“Palestine
sits in sackcloth and ashes… desolate and unlovely… it is a dreamland.”[ii]
There is a
sharp contrast between these observations and the prophecy of the future Israel
give by Isaiah in this Haftarah.
Isaiah 60:15 NKJV 15 "Whereas you have
been forsaken and hated, So that no one went through you, I will make you an
eternal excellence, A joy of many generations.
We are
seeing this future beginning to happen in our time. Since even before the rebirth of the nation
of Israel as an independent country in 1948, the deserts have been cultivated
and are blooming and the population is returning and growing daily. But imagine
what it will be like when everyone returns along with the Gentile believers!
In this
future redemption there will be no more war and terror attacks. The violence
will cease.
Isaiah 60:18 NKJV 18 Violence shall no longer
be heard in your land, Neither wasting nor destruction within your borders; But
you shall call your walls Salvation, And your gates Praise.
None of
this kind of redemption and peace can happen without the presence of the
Redeemer Himself. Messiah’s very presence in Jerusalem will be a great light to
the world. Isaiah give us a glimpse into what these times will look like.
Isaiah 60:19-20 NKJV 19 "The sun shall no
longer be your light by day, Nor for brightness shall the moon give light to
you; But the LORD will be to you an everlasting light, And your God your glory.
20 Your sun shall no longer go down, Nor shall your moon withdraw itself; For
the LORD will be your everlasting light, And the days of your mourning shall be
ended.
In these
two verses we see that Messiah will be Israel’s everlasting light and a beacon
to the world. Because of His presence
there will be no mourning; there will be no wars where parents mourn the loss
of their children.
What we
have looked at so far is that Israel and, in particular Jerusalem, will radiate
the glory of God for the world to see. There will be a great restoration of all
that has been lost through the centuries of persecution and judgment. And we
see in this Haftarah that redemption is assured for the people of Israel and
the Gentile believers. But one other thing that Isaiah speaks of at the end of
this chapter is righteousness. This
millennial kingdom of Israel, with Messiah Yeshua present on the throne of
David, will be characterized by righteousness!
It is
righteousness, or the lack of it, that is the major reason for the trouble
God’s people have faced over the centuries. It was certainly troubling for the
faithful remnant of Isaiah’s day and that of the entire history of the nation
of Israel to see their glorious kingdom fall into desolation and exile because
of the unrighteousness of a few people and its rulers.
This
passage of Isaiah offers a striking contrast to the opening chapters of his
book where we find king Ahaz ignoring God’s word and making unholy alliances
with ungodly nations in exchange for protection and a few moments of peace.
The words
of Isaiah in this Haftarah must have been a great comfort to the people of his
day and beyond. To know that all is not lost, that there is a hope for a better
future and a greater kingdom to come.
Isaiah ends
this chapter with an amazing prophesy concerning the kind and extent of the
righteousness that will prevail during the millennial reign.
Isaiah 60:21-22 NKJV 21 Also your people shall
all be righteous; They shall inherit the land forever, The branch of My
planting, The work of My hands, That I may be glorified. 22 A little one shall
become a thousand, And a small one a strong nation. I, the LORD, will hasten it
in its time."
This speaks
volumes as to the nature of daily life in Jerusalem during the millennial
reign. Yeshua the Messiah will reign in
perfect righteousness. It will be a kingdom where every person will be a
righteous person and the LORD will bless His people with prosperity and large
numbers of offspring.
As we
approach the end of this Torah cycle and the year-ending feast days, we need to
come before the LORD with a repentant heart in order to be counted among the
remnant and to be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Let us comfort God’s
people as God commanded Isaiah. Let us reach out to each other and practice
righteousness in our daily lives preparing for the days when we too return to
the land. As Isaiah said “Speak comfort to Jerusalem and cry out to her. That
her warfare is ended. That her iniquity is pardoned.”
Study
Questions:
1. Discuss the connection of this teaching to the Torah Portion Ki Tavo, Deuteronomy 26:1-29:9.
2. In verse 13 of this week’s Haftarah, the LORD speaking through Isaiah says, “… To beautify the place of My sanctuary; And I will make the place of My feet glorious.” Compare this reference to “place of My feet” to other scripture references to the LORD’s “footstool” How does verse 13 compare to these?
3. Compare the darkness described by Isaiah in verse 2 with other references to spiritual darkness in the scripture. How is this darkness destroyed?
4. How do you think Isaiah’s words in this passage would have been received by those living in his day?
5. What will it mean for the Gentiles, specifically the Arab nations who, today want nothing but to destroy Israel and the Jewish people, to serve Israel in the millennium?
6. What new insight did you gain from this teaching? How do you respond to this new insight? How will you realign your life based on this new understanding?
Bonus Question: Why would the Gentile nations bring
so much wealth to Israel? What would this wealth be used for?
© 2019 Moed
Ministries International. All rights reserved
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