A reason to sparkle: Is 60:4-9

“Lift up your eyes round about and see; they all gather together, they come to you. Your sons will come from afar, and your daughters will be carried in the arms. Then you will see and be radiant, and your heart will thrill and rejoice; because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you, the wealth of the nations will come to you.” (Isaiah 60:4-5)

The Hebrew word used here for “radiant” can also be translated to “sparkle” or “shimmer.” The word picture is of the sun shinning off of a flowing stream. Most of us have seen the sun sparkling and shimmering off of a river or lake and, if the sun is just right, the shine can be so bright that you’re not able to look at it directly. The river reflects the sun’s light with such brilliance that it can almost be blinding. God speaks of a future time of restoration when the hearts of His people would rejoice with such glory that their lives will sparkle and shimmer with the light of the glory of God. God’s people were to pass through a time of great suffering, but on the other side there would be glory.

What is it that God promises that would cause His people to shine like the sun? It is the promise that “the abundance of the sea will be turned to you and the wealth of the nations will come to you.” God promises to enrich the people of God with a great ingathering of wealth from the nations. What is this great wealth? “Your sons will come from afar, and your daughters will be carried in their arms.” While this has a direct application to the gathering of Jews to Israel, it also has application for the church that Jesus came to establish. The wealth of the nations is not the money and riches, but it is the precious souls of their men and women. This great ingathering is not going to be of money but rather of those whom the Lord has saved. “I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory.” (Haggai 2:7)

God make it very clear who will be those whom He will draw into relationship with Himself and His kingdom. Midian, Ephah, and Sheba were descendents from Abraham’s second wife Keturah. Kedar and Nebaioth were descendents of Ishmael. Tarshish was a descendent of Noah, but not in the lineage of the sons of Israel. In other words, God is going to draw and add to the people of God from those who are currently outside the covenants of God. God’s call is not limited to those of the nation of Israel, but God is going to draw all men. “And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.” (Romans 9:23-24)

Why is God going to draw all mankind into His kingdom? “All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered together to you, the rams of Nebaioth will minister to you; they will go up with acceptance on My altar, and I shall glorify My glorious house.” (Isaiah 60:7) This verse can also be translated to “beautify My ornate house.” God wants to beautify His beautiful house by decorating it with the ornate jewels of the nations, and these jewels are the souls that His own blood has saved. The beauty of God’s house will be seen in the lives of those whom He has saved. God is going to beautify His house and, as part of that house, He is going to beautify us as well. “Surely the coastlands will wait for Me; and the ships of Tarshish will come first, to bring your sons from afar, their silver and their gold with them, for the name of the LORD your God, and for the Holy One of Israel because He has glorified you.” (Isaiah 60:9) Now this is reason to rejoice!

David Robison