20. 'Arise, Shine, For Thy Light Is Come'

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1 Handel's Messiah: The Person and Work of Christ 20. 'Arise, Shine, For Thy Light Is Come' By Dr. Paul M. Elliott From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase Part 20 of a series. Read part 19. Has light come to you? Have you come to the light? Leaving the proclamation of the glorious significance of the Messiah's dwelling place in Zion, the next section of Charles Jennens' Scripture-based libretto contrasts the light and glory of the Messiah with the darkness of those He came to deliver. Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold, 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. (Isaiah 60:1-3) The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; and they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. (Isaiah 9:2) This continues the theme, which we have already seen, that salvation is not only for a repentant remnant of Israel but also for a repentant remnant of all the Gentile nations. Israel Had Failed, But God's Plan Had Not The Lord is declaring this through His prophets: The idolatrous, spiritually adulterous nation of Israel has failed - to the point of imminent eviction from the Promised Land, after all of My centuries of longsuffering. But I, the Lord, have not failed. My redemptive plan and purposes embodied in the person and work of the Messiah have not been altered in the least. 1

2 The Gospel invitation is, and has always been, to "everyone who thirsts" (Isaiah 55:1). The invitation is not only to national Israel, but also to "the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him... Even them I will bring to My holy mountain...for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations" (56:6-7) God through His prophets declared that the idolatrous and rebellious majority in Israel were under His condemnation along with the unrepentant majorities of all of the Gentile nations. Peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near," says the Lord, "And I will heal him." But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. "There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked." (57:18-21) But as we have seen, God declared that He would implement a New Covenant with those who turn to the Messiah, His remnant from among all the nations: "As for Me," says the Lord, "this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants' descendants," says the Lord, "from this time and forevermore" (59:21). As is so often the case, the prophecies sung at this point in the Messiah speak of future events as though they had already taken place. Indeed, it is so in the immutable mind of God. His redemptive purposes are unlimited by constraints of time and space. "Thy Light Is Come" For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people... The people that walked in darkness... they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death... 2

3 "Gross darkness" in the original Hebrew speaks of a thick darkness of hopeless gloom. The world in the bondage of sin - both the creation and mankind within it - lives continually in the shadow of death. Because of the curse brought about by Adam's fall into sin, all of mankind experiences physical death. But for the unbeliever there is an even worse death - spiritual death, eternal separation from God in Hell. But God's relentless redemptive work through the Messiah means hope for a creation and humanity that are darkened by sin: Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee... 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. (Isaiah 60:1-3) The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; and they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. (Isaiah 9:2) "In Him Was Light" The coming of the Messiah is the fulfillment of these great prophecies. Truly, He is light, and in Him is no darkness at all: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was 3

4 not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-14) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. (John 3:16-21) Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." (John 8:12) How Is It With You? "Arise, shine, for thy light has come." Dear reader, among whom are you numbered? Has light come to you? And have you come to the light? Are you a believer in Jesus the Messiah? 4

5 Have you come to Him? Or do you hate the light of Christ? Do you wish to remain in the gloom of the present darkness - which will become the eternal darkness of Hell - because you practice evil and cannot bear for your deeds to be exposed by the light of God's truth? I urge you to come to the light - to fellowship with the Messiah and with His people, the Body of Christ in all ages. Hear the words of the Holy Spirit through the Apostle John: And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us. (1 John 1:4-9) Next: "His Glory Shall Be Seen Upon Thee" hm_20 Copyright TeachingtheWord Ministriesmmmmmwww.teachingtheword.org All rights reserved. This article may be reproduced in its entirety only, for non-commercial purposes, provided that this copyright notice is included. We also suggest that you include a direct hyperlink to this article for the convenience of your readers. 5