Daily Devotional | A Light to the Gentiles

At Christmas, twinkling lights add beauty to our evergreen trees and illuminate the outside of our homes. The tradition of lights seems the perfect way to celebrate the birth of our Savior. After all, Jesus described Himself as the “light of the world” (John 8:12).

In Isaiah 60, the prophet seems to speak of Jesus, when he says, “Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn” (Isa. 60:3). But in its original context, the prophet was describing Israel. Israel’s fortunes would eventually be restored through the Messiah’s reign. The prophet had foretold Jerusalem’s fall. He told Hezekiah, “The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon” (Isa. 39:6).

Isaiah points forward to when Jerusalem will be rebuilt and “the riches of the nations” brought into it (v. 5). A similar thought appears in Revelation 21:26, which says the “glory and honor of the nations will be brought into” the New Jerusalem after the New Heavens and Earth have been established. These blessings involve more than the restoration of Israel as a national entity and the repopulation of Jerusalem. They are features of the Messiah’s reign. This will be the time when God will fulfill His promise to bless all the nations through Abraham (Gen. 12:3; 18:18; 26:4).

The promise to elevate Jerusalem is not political favoritism. It reflects God’s interest in all people and His desire to bless every nation through Christ. The God of Israel is “the Lord of all the earth” (Zech. 4:14; Rev. 11:4). In the New Heavens and New Earth, Jerusalem will be a place where the blessings of God will flow to all people. Its gates will always stand open (v. 11).