Ju – The Glory of the LORD Rises Upon You 60: 1-3

The Glory of the LORD Rises Upon You
60: 1-3

The glory of the LORD rises upon you DIG: What does the glory of the LORD refer to? Do you know another place in the Bible where the glory of the LORD is mentioned? How many of the manifestations of God’s presence will be seen in the messianic Kingdom? When will all Isra’el be saved? What has to happen first?

REFLECT: Is the Sh’khinah glory a future hope, a present reality, or both? Why do you think so? What would it be like if Jesus returned today and set up His throne in Zion? What would life be like? Would you like to see Jesus in person? Why? Why not?

Any time you see the phrase, the glory of the LORD, the Bible is referring to what is known as the Sh’khinah glory, or the visible manifestation of God’s presence. The light, of which Malachi had spoken, will have come: But for you who revere My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings . . . (Malachi 4:2). The Lord Jesus Christ is the light of the world (John 8:12), that was one of His claims when He came as the Lamb of God (John 1:29); when He comes back to the earth as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5), He will be that Light. Chapters 60-62 form the centerpiece of Chapters 56-66. They show Isra’el’s final destiny as the restored people of the LORD in whom the reality of ADONAI’s salvation is displayed to all the earth. In the last chapter the Redeemer was coming; in this chapter He is here.

The Sh’khinah glory of the LORD is seen in both the TaNaKh and the B’rit Chadashah. His glory settled on Mount Sinai for six days before Moses entered the cloud as he went up the mountain and stayed for forty days and forty nights (Exodus 24:15-18). God’s glory was seen as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night when crossing the Rea Sea (Exodus 13:21-22). Because of the sin of the nation, the glory of the LORD is seen departing from the Temple in Ezeki’el Chapters 10 and 11. In the New Covenant the glory of the LORD was seen announcing the birth of Jesus to the shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night (Luke 2:8-10), and at the transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36). But most importantly for our study of Isaiah, earlier in 40:5 Isaiah prophesied that the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. When will all mankind be able to see His Sh’khinah glory simultaneously? It will be during the Messianic Kingdom.

The greatest manifestation of the Sh’khinah glory is to come in the Millennial Kingdom. There will be five visual manifestations of God’s presence. First, Ezeki’el tells us that the Sh’khinah glory will be in the Most Holy Place in the millennial Temple as it was in Solomon’s Temple (Ezeki’el 43:2-5). Secondly, the Sh’khinah glory will be a wall around Yerushalayim. Jerusalem will be a city without walls . . . and I Myself will be a wall of fire around it (Zechariah 2:4). A third manifestation is that it will be over the millennial Mount Zion (4:5-6). A fourth manifestation is that the Sh’khinah glory will be over all the land of Isra’el (60:1-3). And fifthly, because the Messiah Himself will be visible, He will be the visible manifestation of God’s presence as well. So the Sh’khinah glory will also be evident in the Messiah Himself (Isaiah 66:18-19; Ezeki’el 43:7). Even though these manifestations will center on the land of Isra’el, all mankind will see it, just as all mankind will see the Lord when He returns (Revelation 1:7).

ADONAI announces through His prophet: Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you (60:1). This announcement is in the prophetic perfect, meaning the prophecy being made is so assured, that it is viewed as already taken place. This is an answer to promises He made earlier. Then your light will break forth like dawn . . . and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard (Isaiah 58:8). The promise was that if Isra’el truly repented, the Sh’khinah glory would return. So in Chapter 58, Isra’el was told of the problem, in Chapter 59 they admitted the problem, their national confession and regeneration solved the problem, and here in 60:1-3 the promise is fulfilled with the return of the Sh’khinah glory. The light will come when darkness has reached its greatest point of blackness.

The coming of the light will be necessary because of the spiritual darkness that will cover the earth – and still covers the earth today (Isaiah 29:18; John 12:35; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:19; Colossians1:13; First Peter 2:9). In spite of the preaching of the Gospel, there is more darkness today than ever before in history. Things are not getting better and better as the covenant theologians would have us believe. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but ADONAI rises upon you and His glory appears to you (60:2). These are words used by prophets like in Matthew 24:29-31, and in Joel 2:10 and 31, to describe the Great Tribulation. At the time when this thick darkness covers the entire earth there will be a total of five blackouts during the end times (Joel 2:31, Revelation 6:12, 9:2, 16:10-11; Matthew 24:29-30). Yeshua Messiah will come back and His Sh’khinah glory will appear in such a way that the entire earth will see Him when He returns: Look, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him (Revelation 1:7). At that time Isra’el will become the center of Gentile attention.

The Gentile nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn (60:3). The greatest revival in the history of the world will take place during the millennial Kingdom. All the Jews entering the Messianic Kingdom will be saved; none of the Gentiles entering the Millennial Kingdom will be saved. However over the period of a thousand years (Revelation 20:1-6), millions and millions of Gentiles will be saved. I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery (Romans 16:25-26; Ephesians 3:5-7), brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Isra’el has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in (Romans 11:25).

The partial hardening of Isra’el will continue until the full number of the Gentiles have come to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior during the Great Tribulation (Revelation 6:9-11). The hardening began when Isra’el rejected Yeshua as her Messiah on the grounds of demon possession (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Ek – It is only by Beelzebub, the Prince of Demons, That This Fellow Drives Out Demons), and will end when the complete number of Gentiles have come in. When Christ returns as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, all Isra’el still alive at that time will be saved (Romans 11:26a). Then, His Sh’khinah glory will be seen by all mankind.