When the Sun Retires
5/27/26 Bible Thought (Isaiah 60-61)
Main Idea: The future is filled with hope for the redeemed.
A Look at the Text:
In light of God’s salvation (Isa. 59:16-20) there was a future hope for the people of God. Though the present was a tumultuous time, there was coming a day when the glory of the Lord would shine upon them (Isa. 60:1).
Though at present He had struck them in His wrath, there would be a time of great favor and mercy (Isa. 60:10). A day when God’s glory as Savior would be forever revealed:
“You shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob” (Isa. 60:16).
Even more, this reversal would have cosmic implications. No longer would there be a need for the sun, for the Lord Himself would be a light for them (Isa. 60:19-20).
Good news was on the horizon from a special God-sent herald (Isa. 61:1). There would be hope for the poor, liberty for the captives, an opening of prison for those who were bound (Isa. 61:1-2). Instead of ashes and mourning, there would be a beautiful headdress and oil of gladness (Isa. 61:3). Instead of a depressed spirit, there would be praise (Isa. 61:3).
While the present was filled with bad news, the future was fundamentally good.
Bringing it Home:
The New Testament reveals without even the slightest doubt that this future hope comes through Jesus Christ. In Luke 4, the Lord Jesus opened the scroll of Isaiah to the text from 61:1-3 and announced its fulfillment through Himself.
In Christ there was and is hope for the hopeless and broken. Being poor and destitute, blind, sorrowful, and faint needn’t be the end of the story. For Christ came to restore the broken. He came to heal the hurting. He came with an easy yoke for the One who would turn to Him (see Matt. 11:28-30).
This is the case because Christ is not only the herald of good news, but He is the very content of the good news. The gospel message of reconciliation with our Creator and the hope of a new creation hinges upon Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is both the herald and the content of the good news.
Just as Isaiah saw, there is yet coming a day when the sun will no longer give its light (Rev. 21:23). Yet this won’t result in perpetual darkness, but it will simply be because the glory of the sun will be forever outshone by another in the new Jerusalem:
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there(Rev. 21:23-25).
The Spirit through the Son testifies of this coming day of blessedness. In this, all the redeemed can hope, even if our present experience is utterly miserable.
Challenge:
Does present misfortune or bad news ever cause me to lose sight of the good news that will not change?