◄ Isaiah 60:22 ►
The least of you will become a thousand, and the smallest a mighty nation. I am the LORD; in its time I will accomplish it quickly.
Study Bible
The least of you will become a thousand,

Zion’s restored people will no longer be few, vulnerable, or despised among the nations. The Lord who multiplied Abraham’s descendants and preserved Israel through exile will abundantly increase the faithful remnant. What appears small in human strength is never beyond God’s power to enlarge and establish.

Deu 1:11 May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you…
Gen 22:17 I will surely bless you, and I will multiply…
Gen 15:5 And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look…

and the smallest a mighty nation.

Israel’s future restoration will display the Lord’s power before the world. Nations that once oppressed Jerusalem will see God fulfill His covenant promises and make His people a source of blessing and light. The kingdom of Christ also reveals God’s pattern of bringing great results from humble beginnings, as His gospel has gone forth from a small band of disciples to the nations.

Deu 26:5 My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down…
Gen 18:18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation…
Gen 17:6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful;…

I am the LORD;

The certainty of the promise rests upon the character of YHWH, the covenant God of Israel. He is faithful to His word, sovereign over nations, and unchanged by human weakness or historical opposition. His name guarantees that what He has spoken will be accomplished.

Exo 6:2 God also told Moses, “I am the LORD.
Isa 42:8 I am the LORD; that is My name! I will not yield My glory…
Isa 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God but Me…

in its time I will accomplish it quickly.

God has appointed a definite time for the full restoration and glory described in Isaiah 60. Delay does not mean failure; when His appointed hour arrives, He will bring His purpose to completion without hindrance. The Lord governs history according to His perfect wisdom and will fulfill every promise in His time.

Hab 2:3 For the vision awaits an appointed time;…
Ezk 12:25 I, the LORD, will speak whatever word I speak…
Rom 9:28 For the Lord will carry out His sentence on the earth…

Persons / Places / Events
1. Isaiah
A major prophet in the Old Testament, Isaiah's ministry spanned the reigns of several kings of Judah. He is known for his prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah and the future glory of Zion.

2. Zion/Jerusalem
Often used symbolically to represent the people of God, Zion is the focal point of many of Isaiah's prophecies, including the promise of restoration and blessing.

3. The LORD (Yahweh)
The covenant-keeping God of Israel, who promises to fulfill His word and bring about the transformation of His people.

4. The People of Israel
The original audience of Isaiah's prophecy, who were experiencing turmoil and looking forward to a future hope and restoration.

5. Future Fulfillment
The event of God’s promise being fulfilled, which includes both the immediate historical context and the eschatological (end times) implications.
Teaching Points
God's Sovereignty and Timing
Trust in God's perfect timing. He will accomplish His purposes swiftly when the time is right.

Transformation and Growth
God can transform the smallest and least significant into something mighty and impactful. This encourages believers to have faith in God's power to change lives and situations.

Covenant Faithfulness
God's promises are sure and steadfast. Just as He promised to make the least a thousand, He will fulfill His promises to us.

Hope and Encouragement
In times of discouragement, remember that God has a plan for growth and restoration. Our current state does not determine our future potential in God's hands.

Community and Mission
The growth from the least to a thousand emphasizes the importance of community and mission. We are called to be part of God's expanding kingdom.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding God's sovereignty and timing in Isaiah 60:22 help you trust Him in your current circumstances?

2. In what ways can you see God transforming "the least" in your life or community into something greater?

3. How does the promise of growth and transformation in Isaiah 60:22 encourage you in your personal walk with God?

4. What are some practical ways you can contribute to the growth of God's kingdom, reflecting the transformation described in this verse?

5. How do the connections between Isaiah 60:22 and other scriptures, like Genesis 12:2 and Matthew 13:31-32, deepen your understanding of God's promises and their fulfillment?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Genesis 12:2
God's promise to Abraham that he would become a great nation connects to the idea of the least becoming a thousand, showing the fulfillment of God's covenant promises.

Matthew 13:31-32
The parable of the mustard seed illustrates how something small can grow into something great, similar to the transformation described in Isaiah 60:22.

Revelation 21:1-4
The vision of the New Jerusalem reflects the ultimate fulfillment of God's promises to His people, as seen in Isaiah's prophecy.
Sermons
God's Purpose Sure a FulfilmentIsaiah 60:22
MultiplicationW.M. Statham Isaiah 60:22
Spiritual GrowthR. S. Storrs, D. D.Isaiah 60:22
The Amplitude of the ChurchT. Sims, M. A.Isaiah 60:22
The Law of Life and IncreaseR. S. Storrs, D. D.Isaiah 60:22
The Ministries of TimeA. L. Stone, D. D.Isaiah 60:22
The Miraculous Propagation of the GospelF. Atterbury, D. D.Isaiah 60:22
The Thousand and the OneG. Matheson, D. D.Isaiah 60:22
TimeA. L. Stone, D. D.Isaiah 60:22
Time a TestA. L. Stone, D. D.Isaiah 60:22
The Church TriumphantW. Clarkson Isaiah 60:1-22
The Favour of Jehovah to His PeopleE. Johnson Isaiah 60:15-22
People
Ephah, Isaiah, Jacob, Kedar, Nebaioth, Tarshish
Places
City of the Lord, Ephah, Kedar, Lebanon, Midian, Nebaioth, Sheba, Tarshish, Zion
Topics
Chief, Clan, Families, Hasten, Least, Mighty, Nation, Quickly, Smallest, Strong, Swiftly, Thousand
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Isaiah 60:15-22

     1235   God, the LORD

Isaiah 60:21-22

     7145   remnant

Library
October 16. "Whereas Thou Hast Been Forsaken and Hated, I Will Make Thee a Joy" (Isa. Lx. 15).
"Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, I will make thee a joy" (Isa. lx. 15). God loves to take the most lost of men, and make them the most magnificent memorials of His redeeming love and power. He loves to take the victims of Satan's hate, and the lives that have been the most fearful examples of his power to destroy, and to use them to illustrate and illuminate the possibilities of Divine mercy and the new creations of the Holy Spirit. He loves to take the things in our own lives that have …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Walls and Gates
'Thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise'--ISAIAH lx. 18. The prophet reaches the height of eloquence in his magnificent picture of the restored Jerusalem, 'the city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.' To him the city stands for the embodiment of the nation, and his vision of the future is moulded by his knowledge of the past. Israel and Jerusalem were to him the embodiments of the divine idea of God's dwelling with men, and of a society founded on the presence of …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Sunlit Church
'Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. 2. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. 3. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.'--ISAIAH lx. 1-3. The personation of Israel as a woman runs through the whole of this second portion of Isaiah's prophecy. We see her thrown on the earth a mourning mother, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Morning Light
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. O ne strong internal proof that the Bible is a divine revelation, may be drawn from the subject matter; and particularly that it is the book, and the only book, that teaches us to …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

Marvellous Increase of the Church
The church, when she uttered these words, appears to have been the subject of three kinds of feeling. First, wonder: secondly, pleasure: thirdly, anxiety. These three feelings you have felt; you are not strangers to them; and you will understand, while I speak to you as the children of God, how it is that we can feel at the same time, wonder, pleasure, and yet anxiety. I. First, the church of old, and our church now, appears to have been the subject of WONDER when she saw so many come to know the …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 2: 1856

22D DAY. An End of Weeping.
"He is Faithful that Promised." "The days of thy mourning shall be ended."--ISAIAH lx. 20. An End of Weeping. Christ's people are a weeping band, though there be much in this lovely world to make them joyous and happy. Yet when they think of sin--their own sin, and the unblushing sins of a world in which their God is dishonoured--need we wonder at their tears?--that they should be called "Mourners," and their pilgrimage-home a "Valley of Tears?" Bereavement, and sickness, and poverty, and death, …
John Ross Macduff—The Faithful Promiser

Second Sermon for Epiphany
Showeth on what wise a man shall arise from himself and from all creatures, to the end that God may find the ground of his soul prepared, and may begin and perfect his work therein. Isaiah lx. 1.--"Arise, O Jerusalem, and be enlightened." [45] IN all this world God covets and requires but one thing only, and that He desires so exceeding greatly that He gives His whole might and energy thereto. This one thing is, that He may find that good ground which He has laid in the noble mind of man made fit …
Susannah Winkworth—The History and Life of the Reverend Doctor John Tauler

Rev. Mr. Nichols's Address.
The Rev. W. F. Nichols, Rector of Christ Church, Hartford, and chaplain to Bishop Williams in his recent visit abroad, spoke of the first day of the commemoration at Aberdeen: He said it would be useless to deny that there was an individual pleasure in having this welcome to round out the happiness of getting back to one's home and one's work, as there was an individual pleasure at the honor the diocese had put upon those whom it had sent with the bishop to Aberdeen, and an individual appreciation …
Various—The Sermons And Addresses At The Seabury Centenary

The Birth of England's Foreign Missions
1785-1792 Moulton the Mission's birthplace--Carey's fever and poverty--His Moulton school--Fired with the missionary idea--His very large missionary map--Fuller's confession of the aged and respectable ministers' opposition--Old Mr. Ryland's rebuke--Driven to publish his Enquiry--Its literary character--Carey's survey of the world in 1788--His motives, difficulties, and plans--Projects the first Missionary Society--Contrasted with his predecessors from Erasmus--Prayer concert begun in Scotland in …
George Smith—The Life of William Carey

The Last Days of the Old Eastern World
The Median wars--The last native dynasties of Egypt--The Eastern world on the eve of the Macedonian conquest. [Drawn by Boudier, from one of the sarcophagi of Sidon, now in the Museum of St. Irene. The vignette, which is by Faucher-Gudin, represents the sitting cyno-cephalus of Nectanebo I., now in the Egyptian Museum at the Vatican.] Darius appears to have formed this project of conquest immediately after his first victories, when his initial attempts to institute satrapies had taught him not …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 9

No More
Gerhard Ter Steegen Is. lx. 20 O past and gone! How great is God! how small am I! A mote in the illimitable sky, Amidst the glory deep, and wide, and high Of Heaven's unclouded sun. There to forget myself for evermore; Lost, swallowed up in Love's immensity, The sea that knows no sounding and no shore, God only there, not I. More near than I unto myself can be, Art Thou to me; So have I lost myself in finding Thee, Have lost myself for ever, O my Sun! The boundless Heaven of Thine eternal love …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

Athanasius under Julian and his Successors; Fourth and Fifth Exiles. Feb. 21, 362, to Feb. 1, 366
(a) The Council of Alexandria in 362. The eight months of undisturbed residence enjoyed by Athanasius under Julian were well employed. One of his first acts was to convoke a Synod at Alexandria to deal with the questions which stood in the way of the peace of the Church. The Synod was one of saints and confessors,' including as it did many of the Egyptian bishops who had suffered under George (p. 483, note 3, again we miss the name of the trusted Serapion), Asterius of Petra and Eusebius of Vercellae, …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

That the Grace of Devotion is Acquired by Humility and Self-Denial
The Voice of the Beloved Thou oughtest to seek earnestly the grace of devotion, to ask it fervently, to wait for it patiently and faithfully, to receive it gratefully, to preserve it humbly, to work with it diligently, and to leave to God the time and manner of heavenly visitation until it come. Chiefly oughtest thou to humble thyself when thou feelest inwardly little or no devotion, yet not to be too much cast down, nor to grieve out of measure. God ofttimes giveth in one short moment what He …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

The Restoration of Israel is Only Made Possible by the Second Advent of Christ.
Under this head we shall seek to prove briefly three things--that Israel as a nation will be restored, that Israel's restoration occurs at the Return of Christ, that Israel's restoration will result in great blessing to the whole world. That Israel as a nation will be actually and literally restored is declared again and again in the Word of God. We quote now but two prophecies from among scores of similar ones:--"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, …
Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return

The General Spread of the Gospel
"The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters covers the sea." Isa. 11:9. 1. In what a condition is the world at present! How does darkness, intellectual darkness, ignorance, with vice and misery attendant upon it, cover the face of the earth! From the accurate inquiry made with indefatigable pains by our ingenious countryman, Mr. Brerewood; (who travelled himself over a great part of the known world, in order to form the more exact judgment;) supposing the world to be divided …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

Twentieth Day for God's Spirit on the Heathen
WHAT TO PRAY.--For God's Spirit on the Heathen "Behold, these shall come from far; and these from the land of Sinim."--ISA. xlix. 12. "Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall haste to stretch out her hands to God."--PS. lxviii. 31. "I the Lord will hasten it in His time."--ISA. lx. 22. Pray for the heathen, who are yet without the word. Think of China, with her three hundred millions--a million a month dying without Christ. Think of Dark Africa, with its two hundred millions. Think …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

The Temptation of Jesus
The proclamation and inauguration of the Kingdom of Heaven' at such a time, and under such circumstances, was one of the great antitheses of history. With reverence be it said, it is only God Who would thus begin His Kingdom. A similar, even greater antithesis, was the commencement of the Ministry of Christ. From the Jordan to the wilderness with its wild Beasts; from the devout acknowledgment of the Baptist, the consecration and filial prayer of Jesus, the descent of the Holy Spirit, and the heard …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Order of Thought which Surrounded the Development of Jesus.
As the cooled earth no longer permits us to understand the phenomena of primitive creation, because the fire which penetrated it is extinct, so deliberate explanations have always appeared somewhat insufficient when applying our timid methods of induction to the revolutions of the creative epochs which have decided the fate of humanity. Jesus lived at one of those times when the game of public life is freely played, and when the stake of human activity is increased a hundredfold. Every great part, …
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus

Brave Encouragements
'In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the Lord by the prophet Haggai, saying, 2. Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying, 3. Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? 4. Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord; and be strong, O Joshua, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Quotation in Matt. Ii. 6.
Several interpreters, Paulus especially, have asserted that the interpretation of Micah which is here given, was that of the Sanhedrim only, and not of the Evangelist, who merely recorded what happened and was said. But this assertion is at once refuted when we consider the object which Matthew has in view in his entire representation of the early life of Jesus. His object in recording the early life of Jesus is not like that of Luke, viz., to communicate historical information to his readers. …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

The Extent of Messiah's Spiritual Kingdom
The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever! T he Kingdom of our Lord in the heart, and in the world, is frequently compared to a building or house, of which He Himself is both the Foundation and the Architect (Isaiah 28:16 and 54:11, 12) . A building advances by degrees (I Corinthians 3:9; Ephesians 2:20-22) , and while it is in an unfinished state, a stranger cannot, by viewing its present appearance, form an accurate judgment …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

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