“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and His glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”– Isaiah 60:1-3
What a store house of God’s wisdom and grace is the book of Isaiah for us today. Remember… yesterday’s command to ask for wisdom? I hope your prayers this morning are laced with this desire. But also, it was then and is now a call to action for God’s people. When you get to Isiah in your yearly readings slow down and meditate on the bigger picture.
Isaiah spends a lot of time explaining to his stubborn brethren why they have been under God’s judgment for so long but just like with all the prophets He knows that tucked into the majority of unbelieving Jews there is God’s remnant of true believers so he boldly by the power of the Spirit of God within him speaks to God’s true church…then… and God’s true church today.
If you just flip back one chapter in Isaiah you will see our culture today… injustice, prejudice, oppression, lack of truth, no regard for life or livelihood, destruction and so much more… is abounding around them as it is in these times…just like then God through Isaiah gives His call to us today, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and His glory will be seen upon you.” Doesn’t this bring to mind another text on this from Isaiah earlier in His ministry? “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone”- Isaiah 9:2.
This word “Arise” is a whole lot more than “get up” from your bed. It is that… but it is the same word used in the old Ancient Near East ceremonies when a military person is being commissioned for a particular battle. After the commissioning they are commanded to “arise” and go do that to which you have been appointed. Oh, and this is a perpetual commission/command. Written in a “perfect tense” this says, “Arise, go do and keep doing…no stopping till your service on this earth is through.” Knights and special soldiers to the king were usually under the kings charge all of their life or until released by the king or his successors. Service to the KING was not then and is not now…optional!
With that being true, how is the one being commissioned to serve…“SHINE, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.” We are called to shine forth the light of the glory of the LORD…we are to reflect His light brightly. That is our mission that we have been commissioned to do. People are to know that our LORD is real and that He exist because He is being reflected by us to them. The word “your” is plural here just like every use of the personal pronoun “you”…all plural. The Greek Septuagint, the Jewish Targum, and the Christian Arabic texts all substitute the word “your” with the same name “Jerusalem” – Arise, shine, O Jerusalem…which equals … “Arise, shine, O Church…”.
Just like similar commands in the New Testament this command was given to all God’s true Church…to arise now…the times are dark, they will be dark and they are going to get even darker, but as His commissioned ones commanded to bring Him glory we are to reflect His light into this darkness. Because of Him… we will be His agents of light. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”(Matt. 5:14-16)
While the Old Testament believers looked forward to this prophecy being true, today we know that the Light has come since Christ has come. Now the Son has fully arisen and He is fully shining in and through us so that we reflect His light to those around us…starting with our children, one another in the Body of Christ and then to those to whom He sends us…with our fellow workers, in our recreation, in our politics, and even towards acquaintances. We have been commissioned to Arise, Shineto be His witnesses (an OT and NT command) because the Lord has come. So we have been called to action, commissioned and also given us His light to share…that is, He has equipped us with all that we need to bring Him glory…to love Him and to love our neighbor.
And when we do the work that He has called, commissioned and equipped us to do look at what occurs. “And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” Jesus told His disciples, “Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.” (John 4:35) You gotta love the connection… Isaiah says, “Arise, shine…” Jesus says, “…lift up (or arise) your eyes and see the fields are white for harvest.”
In Isaiah’s prophecy, He tells us that those who are God’s people from every nation tongue and tribe will be drawn to the light that we reflect from Jesus…and Jesus tells His disciples “look up and see they are already here ready to be harvested…simply arise your eyes and see the reality before you and harvest what you did not sow. Go and do as I am commanding! Or maybe, “…let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”(Matt. 5:16).
We are His Church so He commands, commissions and equips us… Church Arise! Shine the Light of the LORD of Glory everywhere we go…from the nursery to the boardroom…ARISE and SHINE!
Oh and don’t forget as His servant …this service is NOT OPTIONAL!
God Bless y’all today!
In His Grip,
Pastor Mike
