Light Breaking on the Mountains
A. H. Bradford, D. D. Isaiah 60:1-12 Arise, shine; for your light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen on you.… Any one who has spent much time among mountains will appreciate the imagery. Around is absolute blackness; the valleys are in gloom; trees, rivers, towns have been obscured; nothing is visible but that dim shaft of granite rising into the silence of the sky. Suddenly we may imagine a spirit's voice crying, "The light has come." Instantly there is a glow on the mountain — trees, rivers, towns begin to take shape; the whole world has changed. The point to be observed here is that the light was from God. The city was exhorted to be in a condition in which the glory of God might be reflected from it. The chapter describes the degradation of the rest of the world, the effect of the light on other peoples, how they would be attracted toward it; and contains near the end this outburst of victorious joy: "The Lord shall be unto thee an ever. lasting light, and thy God thy glory. This prophecy, was never literally fulfilled, and yet hundreds of years later a light did pour itself upon Mount Zion; it shone on the thickest darkness of the nations, and unto it ever since the people have been attracted. That prophecy was fulfilled in Christ. He is the Light. (A. H. Bradford, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. WEB: "Arise, shine; for your light is come, and the glory of Yahweh is risen on you.