ARISE, SHINE, FOR THY LIGHT IS COME

"Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.  For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee.” (Isaiah 60:1, 2).

Surely, anyone observing current world events in general and American politics in particular must admit that a gross darkness has covered the people, and a dense fog has permeated their minds.  It truly is like the lunatics have taken over the asylum, and people have lost the ability to apply reason and good sense to the issues facing us every day.  Our government has chosen to ignore, and refused to acknowledge, that our country’s borders are virtually open to terrorists, drug lords, and foreign nations that seek to do us harm.  Recently, our airspace has proven to be porous to surveillance activities as well.  The authority of parents over their own children has been challenged by the school systems, and they have blatantly undermined the religious and political beliefs of families.  They have sought to rewrite history in an attempt to bring shame on the founders and promote their own biased narrative.

The Prophet Isaiah saw it all very clearly over 2900 years ago and his words are as true today as they were then.  Carefully read the following verses and compare each statement to what you see happening all around you currently.  Isaiah wrote, “…your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:2).  “Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths.  The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.  Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.  We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.” (Isaiah 59:7-10).  “And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.  Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no judgment.” (Isaiah 59:14, 15).  Read the whole chapter if you will.  It is sobering.  God says that our sins have caused Him to turn away from us and refuse to hear us.  Because of this, we have reaped all of the terrible world conditions that we see around us.  We have become blinded to the truth because we have refused God’s correction and rebelled against His council.  We grope around feeling for the wall as if we were blind, and, indeed we are!  We are spiritually blind, but our blindness is self-imposed.  What we need above all else is LIGHT, and LIGHT is just what God has prescribed, and just what He has provided!

Chapter 59 of Isaiah forms a backdrop for what God speaks to us in chapter 60: “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.”  Even though darkness has covered the earth, and gross darkness the people, the LORD has promised light that will penetrate the darkness, and illuminate our path.  He tells us that “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.  And the Redeemer shall come to Zion [the Church], and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.” (Isaiah 59:19, 20).  What is needed is earnest, gut-wrenching, soul-searching repentance.  God has always moved when His people humble themselves and pray.  We need to pray just as Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come.  Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  In heaven there is no questioning of God’s will.  They just do it!  We need to be equally as obedient and unquestioning in our responses to God’s correction and guidance.  Oh, to be so captivated by Jesus Christ and by His presence in our life that the things of earth would grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace!

When I read Isaiah’s words in the first two verses of chapter 60, my mind goes immediately to Genesis 1:1-3: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”  Again, God’s answer to darkness was LIGHT.  In order to replenish the earth that was without form and void, God caused His Spirit to move upon the surface of the dark, watery depths, and He spoke the word and created LIGHT.  Notice that God formed the LIGHT before He created the sun, the moon and the stars.  That is because God Himself is the source of that LIGHT and not some other created object.  This LIGHT is the LIFE of Jesus Christ.  “In Him [Jesus] was life; and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:4).

Once light is shed, then darkness must retreat; and all that was formerly hidden by the darkness is exposed.  This creates a very uncomfortable situation for those who would rather have their deeds remain hidden.  For this reason there are surprisingly few fans of the LIGHT.  Jesus is the TRUE LIGHT of the world.  He enlightens everyone who comes into the world, and yet the world didn’t recognize Him when He appeared the first time, and neither do they recognize Him today.  He came to His own (the Israelites, the people of God), and they didn’t receive Him because they couldn’t comprehend Who He was.  There are many religious folks today, also, who Christ is trying to reveal Himself to.  These will not be able to comprehend Who He is because they love the darkness more than they do the light.  For those who love the Light, however, God now has an opportunity to create something beautiful out of the chaos and confusion that formerly defined their lives.

God did not send His only begotten Son into the world with the intention of condemning the world; it was His purpose that the world be saved by the appearing of Jesus Christ.  Jesus told Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews, “…this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.  But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” (John 3:19-21).  Our challenge in this life is to learn to walk in the LIGHT where Jesus resides.  It’s not enough to merely “see the light;” we must continue in the Word of God if we wish to be Jesus’ disciples (See John 8:30-32).  If we do this, then we will know the truth, and the truth will make us free.  Jesus said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12). 

The LORD is speaking to us through His servant and prophet Isaiah.  He is telling us that it is high time for us to arise (awaken; come alive), and shine (with the brilliance of Jesus Christ the Light of the world), for our LIGHT is come!  The glory of the Lord is risen upon us just as surely as the sun rises in the eastern sky and chases away all remnants of darkness from the night before.  The LORD Himself will arise upon us, and His glory will be seen upon us.  Those who have received Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord reflect His glory to those around them.  Just as the moon reflects the light of the sun in the night sky, we reflect the light of Jesus to a world darkened by sin.  

“And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” (Isaiah 60:3).  The light of the Gospel message has shined out from Jerusalem, where the first Christian church was planted, to Judea, Samaria, and ultimately to the uttermost parts of the earth.  The Good News was spread far and wide to the Gentile nations by the preaching of the Apostle Paul and many of the twelve original Apostles of the Lord.  Through their efforts and ministry (and the work of many faithful servants of the Lord since), the LIGHT has shone on the unbelieving nations of the world, and they have come to the LIGHT and been converted.

The bulk of Isaiah chapter 60 is addressed to the Church, “the City of the Lord” and “The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.”  It describes things as they will be during the Millennial reign of Christ on earth.  Read what the Lord tells us about that period of time: “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.  The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.  Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended [blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted].  Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever [blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth], the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified.  A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in His time.” (Isaiah 60:18-22).  In St. John’s description of the heavenly Jerusalem in Revelations 22:5, He says, “And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.”

Isn’t it high time that God’s children arise and let their light shine?  The glory of God Almighty is risen upon us, and however dark things become in the world, His glory will be seen in you and me if we seek His face and surrender ourselves to His will!  “The Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob.” Our Redeemer has come, our Messiah has appeared!  But those who are unwilling to turn from their transgressions will be blinded to the truth and unable to recognize Him.  Like most of the religious leaders of Jesus day, people will reject Him today also and remain content to dwell in darkness rather than rise and shine with the brilliance of the glory of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the Light of the World.