In my last post, we concluded our exploration of Sin, Confession & Redemption ~ Part 2 in Yesha’yahu 59:12-21. In this post, we begin to examine the Glory of Tziyon ~ Part 1 in Yesha’yahu 60:1-12.

Yesha’yahu 59 closed with the promise of a coming Redeemer. Chapter 60 begins with a presentation of the Redeemer. So confident was Yesha’yahu that Messiah would come, he writes in the present tense as if it had already happened.

¹ “Arise, shine [Yerushalayim], for your light has come, the glory of Adonai has risen over you.

Through Adonai’s redeeming power and His eternal covenant of blessing on Isra’el, the nation will experience everlasting joy and blessing as the world capital and centerpiece of Yeshua’s reign in His millennial kingdom. Isra’el will be a light to the nations because the glory of Adonai will shine both in her and from her to the corners of the earth.

² For although darkness covers the earth and thick darkness the peoples; on you, Adonai will rise; over you will be seen His glory.

In Yesha’yahu 59:9, the righteous among Adonai’s people expressed their desire for light, though they lived in darkness. Now Adonai announces the arrival of the light, whose source is the glory of Adonai. Darkness still covers the earth (a reference to pervasive sin), but Adonai’s hovering glory will illuminate the way for His people. How has light penetrated the darkness? Through the action of the divine warrior, Yeshua, we saw in my last post in this series.

³ Nations will go toward your light and kings toward your shining splendor.

Though the light comes to Adonai’s people, the nations will share in it by coming to light. In the millennium, entire nations and their kings will be drawn to Isra’el to learn the truth about Adonai and His salvation. The nations will respond favorably to Adonai is a fulfillment of the promise to Avraham that he would be a blessing to the nations (Genesis 12:3).

⁴ Raise your eyes and look around: they are all assembling and coming to you; your sons are coming from far off; your daughters being carried on their nurses’ hips.

Among the arriving nations will be the dispersed of Isra’el (your sons…your daughters), who will also return to Tziyon. This is a common theme in Yesha’yahu, which pictures Isra’el’s sons and daughters coming from far of (see also 49:22; 60:9). Although many Jews have returned to Isra’el from many countries in recent times, many do not yet believe in Yeshua as their Messiah.

⁵ Then you will see and be radiant; your heart will throb and swell with delight; for the riches of the seas will be brought to you, the wealth of nations will come to you.

This golden age will also be marked by the wealth of nations coming into Isra’el.

⁶ Caravans of camels will cover your land, young camels from Midyan and ‘Eifah, all of them coming from Sh’va, bringing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praises of Adonai.

Camels were freight carriers for merchants; thus, those who had many camels were considered wealthy. Midyan was a nomadic Arabian tribe that had had dealings with Isra’el from the time of Moshe. ‘Eifah is mentioned only two other times in Scripture (Gen 25:4; 1 Chron 1:33) and is associated with Midyan, possibly a clan of that tribe.

The kingdom of Sh’va was a great trading center in southwestern Arabia that exported precious stones, gold, and incense. It had a very advanced urban civilization in the first millennium BCE (see 2 Chronicles 9:1). [1]

Moreover, the people coming to Tziyon are proclaiming the praises of Adonai.

⁷ All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered for you, the rams of N’vayot will be at your service; they will come up and be received on My altar, as I glorify My glorious house.

Kedar was a nomadic Arabian tribe. The N’vayot were a nomadic tribe and may have been a precursor to the Nabataeans, an Arabian tribe known in Hellenistic and Roman times. [2]  N’vayot is elsewhere as the firstborn of Ishmael and brother of Kedar, showing a relationship between these two nomadic tribes (see Gen 25:13; 36:3; 1Ch 1:29).

⁸ “Who are these, flying along like clouds, like doves to their dovecotes? [3]

A cloud travels through the sky unobstructed by mountains or ravines. Doves fly above such obstacles to their homes. The implied answer to this rhetorical question is “Adonai’s people.” Many Bible teachers see in this verse how Isra’el will return home. The Jews going back to their land, gathered from all parts of the world, will fly like doves – perhaps a reference to the airplane.

⁹ The coastlands are putting their hope in Me, with the ‘Tarshish’ ships in the lead, to bring your children from far away, and with them their silver and gold, for the sake of Adonai your Adonai, the Holy One of Isra’el, who glorifies you.

The ships of Tarshish were large, heavy vessels built for long voyages with high tonnage. Tarshish was thought to have been a Phoenician colony in Spain. [4] In Exodus, when the Jews were freed from bondage in Egypt, the Egyptians gave the Jews valuable items (Exodus 12:36). So, when the Jews come back the second time, they’ll also bring silver and gold with them.

¹⁰ Foreigners will rebuild your walls; their kings will be at your service, for in My anger, I struck you, but in My mercy, I pity you.

In the past, foreign nations and their kings had exploited Isra’el, but the future will see them serve Adonai’s people. One thinks of Nehemiah, who received the permission of the Persian king Artaxerxes to rebuild the walls of Yerushalayim. This reversal of fortunes is due to Adonai, who had expressed His anger toward His people by allowing foreign nations to defeat and oppress them, but now in His favor and mercy, He will enable them to rebuild.

¹¹ Your gates will always be open; they will not be shut by day or by night, so that people can bring you the wealth of nations, with their kings led in procession.

Open gates indicated that a city felt secure. When an enemy threatened, all the people in the surrounding villages sought refuge behind the city walls, and the gates were locked down. But the gates will also be open because the wealth of the nations is flowing into Yerushalayim.

¹² For the nation or kingdom that won’t serve, you will perish; yes, those nations will be utterly destroyed. ~ Isaiah 60:1-12 (CJB)

We know from Revelation 20:7-9 that HaSatan will deceive and lead Gentile nations in a brief rebellion at the end of the millennial age, but this uprising will be immediately crushed, and the rebels utterly destroyed.

In my next post, we will begin to explore the Glory of Tziyon ~ Part 2 in Yesha’yahu 60:13-22.

Click here for the PDF version.

[1] Bible Background Commentary – Old Testament.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Dovecotes are structures built to house doves or pigeons according to Wikipedia.

[4] Op. cit.