City of the Living God
Opening Prayer
Lord, You are the source of all light, physical and spiritual.
Read ISAIAH 60:1–14
“Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
2 See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.
3 Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
4 “Lift up your eyes and look about you:
All assemble and come to you;
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters are carried on the hip.
5 Then you will look and be radiant,
your heart will throb and swell with joy;
the wealth on the seas will be brought to you,
to you the riches of the nations will come.
6 Herds of camels will cover your land,
young camels of Midian and Ephah.
And all from Sheba will come,
bearing gold and incense
and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.
7 All Kedar’s flocks will be gathered to you,
the rams of Nebaioth will serve you;
they will be accepted as offerings on my altar,
and I will adorn my glorious temple.
8 “Who are these that fly along like clouds,
like doves to their nests?
9 Surely the islands look to me;
in the lead are the ships of Tarshish,
bringing your children from afar,
with their silver and gold,
to the honor of the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel,
for he has endowed you with splendor.
10 “Foreigners will rebuild your walls,
and their kings will serve you.
Though in anger I struck you,
in favor I will show you compassion.
11 Your gates will always stand open,
they will never be shut, day or night,
so that people may bring you the wealth of the nations—
their kings led in triumphal procession.
12 For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish;
it will be utterly ruined.
13 “The glory of Lebanon will come to you,
the juniper, the fir and the cypress together,
to adorn my sanctuary;
and I will glorify the place for my feet.
14 The children of your oppressors will come bowing before you;
all who despise you will bow down at your feet
and will call you the City of the Lord,
Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Come before the holy God and join the psalmist in his cry: “All my longings lie open before you, Lord: my sighing is not hidden from you” (Psa. 38:9).
The rousing words “Arise, shine” address Jerusalem’s Mount Zion, the symbol of the people’s hope (1). When I visited the ancient Inca ceremonial site at Machu Picchu in Peru, I gained a deeper appreciation of the place Jerusalem occupies in the psyche of the Hebrews. The Incas worshipped the rising sun, allocating their best workers and materials to build temples to catch its rays as they implored it and mother earth to bless them. The exiles from Jerusalem likewise can remember its glorious buildings catching the first light of the sunrise over the Mount of Olives shining on the roofs. For not only did their capitol city reflect devotion to the supreme God worshipped in its temple, but the defenses of its citadel represented security and solidity, signifying something greater than an insignificant nation caught between other stronger powers.
The Hebrews, however, honor the Creator of the sun, not the sun itself, and are assured by their prophets of their special place in God's heart. In the future, rather than hide their city as the Incas did, they would not lock their gates but keep them open (11) to receive bounty from other nations. However, it was a devastated city that would shock those returning to Jerusalem from the Babylonian exile.
Christopher Columbus in the 15th century used Isaiah 60 in his address to the King and Queen of Spain to argue that his voyages of discovery to South America would bring the riches of the new world for Jerusalem’s restoration, because Isaiah had promised that the nations would come to its light (3). However, God’s new Jerusalem does not need treasure, nor even a sun or a moon to light it (Rev. 21:23). All nations will indeed be drawn to its light and find in the Lamb all glory and security and beauty.
Apply
“From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth” (Psa. 50:2). What are the reminders in your life of God’s glory?
Closing prayer
Lord, we thank You for our inclusion in Your forthcoming clean, safe, refurbished and eternal city—Jerusalem.
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