“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.”Isaiah 60:1 ESV
Reflection: what do you know about “the new Jerusalem”?
As we have looked at before, it can be quite confusing to figure out how to apply certain names that have significant and multiple meanings in biblical context, such as Israel, Jerusalem and Zion. And, sadly, there seems to be at best ignorance from the pulpit, possibly even willful ignorance, mixing current day politics and events, with biblical writing and prophecy. We have to be very careful here, not to read something into prophecy that was never meant to be done. To fit some narrative that works for a political or some other agenda. And, with all the world events happening, many are doing exactly that.
We are approaching the end of this amazing book of Isaiah that has so many layers of complexity. And, chapter 60 provides once more a view into some future, perhaps even multiple time horizons, and we get to read and try to make some sense of it. There is an idea presented here by the Lord, through Isaiah, that takes some time to catch. I had to read the chapter several times, and after seeking the Lord in prayer, reading what old Bible commentators wrote about this chapter, a beautiful picture started emerging. A picture of “the new Jerusalem”. Now, ask yourself of what you think of when you hear that term, “the new Jerusalem”? For many, perhaps what we find in the book of Revelation. Let’s take a look.
“Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” Revelation 21:9-14 ESV
If you read on in this chapter, you see detailed descriptions of what John saw in his vision of the new Jerusalem. And, with our limited understanding, we often think of this city as a physical city, which we are used to thinking of, in this case a city of gold, and so on. We may even be tempted to think about a city in the Middle East with the same name. But, although the physical city in the Middle East has significance in biblical context, the reference in John’s vision is not that. It’s most likely not a physical city at all. Because, we often forget the first verse which actually tells us what the city, the new Jerusalem, is. We read “Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” Revelation 21:9 ESV. The city is the bride of Christ, the true believers and followers of Christ, the true church. That is what John saw, that is why the whole city was of pure gold, which is an indication of purity.
Ok, back to our focus chapter today, of Isaiah chapter 60. We have to jump ahead a bit, to v14, to understand what Isaiah saw. “they shall call you the City of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.”Isaiah 60:14b ESV. So here again, we see this connection, this metaphor of the city of the Lord, and God’s people. You might remember that we have looked at before that Zion and Jerusalem are used sometimes interchangeably, as they are here. So, the city of the Lord, the new Jerusalem, is the bride of Christ, the true church. And, when you read this chapter with that understanding, it takes on so much meaning, starting with our focus verse today. “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.”Isaiah 60:1 ESV.
What time horizon is this? Before or after Jesus has returned and established His kingdom? Let’s read a couple more verses. “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 60:2-3 ESV. Clearly, this is before the new Heaven and new Earth, because darkness still covers the earth and the peoples. So what it seems like here, is that the Lord is telling the church to “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.”Isaiah 60:1 ESV. The light has come, which was Jesus, the light of the world. And this is a call to the church, to all true believers and followers of Christ to stand up, to shine. And, we might be reminded here of Jesus commandment to rise and shine before men. ““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.”Matthew 5:14-16 ESV. So for those who are true followers of Jesus, He tells us to
Arise, and shine.
A brief final note. It is by no means a new idea, that Isaiah 60, connected to Revelation 21, is talking about the new Jerusalem as the true church. Reading old Bible commentators such as Alexander MacLaren, born 200 years ago, wrote clearly about and spoke of this as a matter of fact, equating the new Jerusalem with the true Christian church.
