10 “Foreigners will build up your walls,
And their kings will minister to you;
For in My wrath I struck you,
And in My favor I have had compassion on you.
11 “Your gates will be open continually;
They will not be closed day or night,
So that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations,
With their kings led in procession.
12 “For the nation and the kingdom which will not serve you will perish,
And the nations will be utterly ruined.
13 “The glory of Lebanon will come to you,
The juniper, the box tree and the cypress together,
To beautify the place of My sanctuary;
And I shall make the place of My feet glorious.
14 “The sons of those who afflicted you will come bowing to you,
And all those who despised you will bow themselves at the soles of your feet;
And they will call you the city of the Lord,
The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.15 “Whereas you have been forsaken and hated
With no one passing through,
I will make you an everlasting pride,
A joy from generation to generation.
16 “You will also suck the milk of nations
And suck the breast of kings;
Then you will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior
And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
17 “Instead of bronze I will bring gold,
And instead of iron I will bring silver,
And instead of wood, bronze,
And instead of stones, iron.
And I will make peace your administrators
And righteousness your overseers.
18 “Violence will not be heard again in your land,
Nor devastation or destruction within your borders;
But you will call your walls salvation, and your gates praise.
19 “No longer will you have the sun for light by day,
Nor for brightness will the moon give you light;
But you will have the Lord for an everlasting light,
And your God for your [g]glory.
20 “Your sun will no longer set,
Nor will your moon wane;
For you will have the Lord for an everlasting light,
And the days of your mourning will be over.
21 “Then all your people will be righteous;
They will possess the land forever,
The branch of [h]My planting,
The work of My hands,
That I may be glorified.
22 “The smallest one will become a [i]clan,
And the least one a mighty nation.
I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time.”
We see the same theme continued in this passage from earlier in the chapter. That is, as great as this will be for Israel, it isn’t about them. Or more accurately, it isn’t about how great they are. It is for God’s glory, and so that they will know God is their Redeemer and Savior (v. 16). In v. 13, God speaks of beautifying the place of His sanctuary, and making the place of His feet glorious.
But we already talked about that, is there nothing else we can learn, or does God really just want to hit this home. Well, maybe both, as I think we too easily slip into the trap of thinking so much of ourselves that we forget to give God glory. Or we get so busy that we don’t take the time to give Him thanks and praise for what He is doing in our lives–or could do if we weren’t so busy!
It’s also of note that v. 20 is very similar to God being the light of the city in Revelation 21:23, “And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.” And that leads us to something else, for in this passage, God dwells with His people in the city.
Yet already, God’s Spirit dwells within His people, those who are “called according to His name”. And as I mentioned yesterday, His glory should already be evident in our lives, drawing people to God through the way we live–the fruit/evidence of the Spirit at work within us. Admittedly, as Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, “now we see in a mirror dimly (literally ‘in a riddle’), but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.”
So do we sit on our hands and wait for this glorious day to come? Or go about our normal hum-drum business, just waiting for the day when things will be “more awesome”? God forbid! As Jesus told us, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.”
Stop waiting for something “magical” to happen, when the miraculous has already happened. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven.” There we come full circle once again, and it really is both. Don’t sit around waiting, but let His light shine through you–the light which is already within you–so people will take notice and see that there IS a God and He cares very much for you and them.