Arise, Shine, Your Glory has Come!

Isaiah 60  The Glory of Zion

 1 "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 arm.

 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 sons 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 men 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 pine, the fir and the cypress together,

       to adorn the place of my sanctuary;

       and I will glorify the place of my feet.

 14 The sons 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.

 15 "Although you have been forsaken and hated,

       with no one traveling through,

       I will make you the everlasting pride

       and the joy of all generations.

 16 You will drink the milk of nations

       and be nursed at royal breasts.

       Then you will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior,

       your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

 17 Instead of bronze I will bring you gold,

       and silver in place of iron.

       Instead of wood I will bring you bronze,

       and iron in place of stones.

       I will make peace your governor

       and righteousness your ruler.

 18 No longer will violence be heard in your land,

       nor ruin or destruction within your borders,

       but you will call your walls Salvation

       and your gates Praise.

 19 The sun will no more be your light by day,

       nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,

       for the LORD will be your everlasting light,

       and your God will be your glory.

 20 Your sun will never set again,

       and your moon will wane no more;

       the LORD will be your everlasting light,

       and your days of sorrow will end.

 21 Then will all your people be righteous

       and they will possess the land forever.

       They are the shoot I have planted,

       the work of my hands,

       for the display of my splendor.

 22 The least of you will become a thousand,

       the smallest a mighty nation.

       I am the LORD;

       in its time I will do this swiftly."

I intended to jot just a few of these verses down, but felt led to include the entire chapter.  If there was ever a time when we needed to look beyond the circumstances of this world and look higher above the swirling storms around us, it is this time.  And I was reminded that this is in the cadence of a song, it is a praise above an earthly dimension of seeing, it is a song of trust in what the Lord has spoken for us.  It is beyond our personal and corporate circumstance, it speaks about the Glory of the Lord, and for his Glory to be revealed, it has risen upon us.  In the backdrop of darkness and swirling clouds, the Glory is more pronounced and obviously revealed in its splendor and brightness.  It is for the purpose of drawing the people and those with no hope to the shining brightness within the Light of His Glory.

I believe this is not just a future existence, of when the Lord is ruling and reigning with us when "He makes all things new" again.  He is the God of Now, and I believe we can look through the eyes of faith and believe for this fulfillment in our world now.  We take Him at His Word, and we can take that to the Bank!!!  Notice how his Glory comes first, then the wealth of the Nations follow, verses 1-5 and 11. But it begins as a praise song unto the Lord.  We can praise Him even in the midst of the most tremendous turbulence we have ever encountered and still release a song of faith and praise and trust in the Heart of the Lord toward us.  And when we release that song, and His Glory is manifested in us, it's effect is to draw others out of the darkness and into the light of His Glory.

6 "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD Almighty. 8 'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the LORD Almighty.             Haggai 2:6-8

Notice in these verses, it says that God is shaking the nations that they will come and fill His House with Glory.  He also declares that the silver and the gold are his, and I believe He will make those Heavenly transfers of wealth into the hands of His Righteous ones, for the express purpose of revealing His Glory and drawing the peoples out of the darkness and into His Glorious Light.

9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.                                                                                                    Haggai 2:9

He declares that there is Glory in the latter house.  I believe this had a present fulfillment in the day it was spoken, but also a future expectation that is yet to be revealed.  But when we begin to see the shakings of God whether they be man made structures or physical storms of life, we can trust that the end result is to fill His House with Glory, if he has to tear down a few things to do that.  We can trust in the faithfulness of our God to accomplish His Word, even if it is a little uncomfortable in the immediate, it will yield a harvest of righteousness.  And what the Lord builds has lasting and eternal significance, and can support the weight of His Glory as well as the wealth of the nations, that will not defile us.

Psalm 127

A song of ascents. Of Solomon.

 1 Unless the LORD builds the house,

       its builders labor in vain.

       Unless the LORD watches over the city,

       the watchmen stand guard in vain.

Here is another song, this one sung by Solomon.  He knew a thing or two about house building, he watched the Lord build his house, and then fill it with His Glory in 2 Chronicles 7:1-3.

1 When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. 2 The priests could not enter the temple of the LORD because the glory of the LORD filled it. 3 When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the LORD above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying,

       "He is good;

       his love endures forever."

Later on in chapter 7, after God heard Solomon's prayer, listen to what he says in verses 13 and 14 (we know verse 14 by heart).

13 "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

                                                                                               2 Chronicles 7:13-14

God declares that he had something to do with the calamity which produced two results.  It brought his people to their knees to seek His face and to turn in repentance toward the Lord, and also it brought forgiveness and cleansing and healing to the land.  I believe this is a time when we need to be on our faces before the Lord, seek His face and turn from the sinful ways that are inconsistent with His will.  We are standing in the breech for the entire land, and for those who may even hate us, but do not know how to approach our God.

Two chapters later in 2 Chronicles 9, we find the Queen of Sheba visiting Solomon after hearing of his fame. She came to inquire of Solomon but also to see things for herself.  I believe she came into the Presence of the Glory that took up residence above the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies and that spilled out into the entire Kingdom.  With her, she brought many treasures and offerings of considerable wealth to lay at Solomon's feet.  This is truly the transfer of the wealth of the wicked into the hands of the Righteous.  Many of the foreign Kings would also come before Solomon but with treasures of wealth.  As I was watching the current events unfold on the television and all of the negative reports, I asked the Lord about what was going on.  He said, "First the Glory, then the Gold."  This reminds me of a familiar New Testament verse, Matthew 6:33.

33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.                                       Matthew 6:33

The Blessing of God is upon His people, when they take their proper stance with him, to pray and seek his face, and when they stand in their authority with Him, to repent and intercede both personally and on behalf of their land.  The recompense of the Lord will then be revealed in the forgiveness and healing and restoration of their land.  Then can His house be built in that time of peace and be filled with Glory, with the wealth of the nations being brought into the gates that are never shut.

I pray this is an encouraging word to you that will stir you up with hope, with an expectancy of God's provision and an assurance of God's Love and His Blessing upon his people that shall not be removed.  We are His best, great hope in the world, and he intends to demonstrate His glory through His people. Amen.

In Christ' Service,

Raelynn Parkin

Bride Song Ministries