Isaiah 30:26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold… There is a glory above the brightness, of the midday sun; it is the more excellent glory of the "Sun of Righteousness." There is a beauty softer and more tender than the pale splendour of the queen of night; it is that of the Church, walking in the beauty and light of her Lord. Taking it all in all, the Church, even now, is the glory of humanity, and the light of the world. And better days are in store for her, when the clouds and shadows shall flee away, and a more glorious illumination shall break forth upon her and from her. This promise, in common with many other texts of Isaiah, shines out like a sun from an angry and troubled sky. But the gathering clouds only add to the intensity of the splendour. God's richest love ever shines on the blackest clouds of sorrow and sin. We have here — I. THE CHURCH'S UNHAPPY CONDITION. "The breach of His people, and the stroke of their wound," may represent more than internal division or disunion; but it may well stand for that, as being among the most grievous of the Church's wounds, and the invariable outcome and index of other maladies. 1. As a cause of pain. All the Christians of most Christlike spirit have mourned over these divisions, and have had great searchings of heart because of them. 2. There is also the disfigurement of a wound, in the marring of a most perfect and glorious creation by these internal divisions. 3. There is also fatal weakness for work and service from these wounds. II. GOD'S GRACIOUS VISITATION OF HIS CHURCH. "The Lord shall bind up the breach of His people, and heal the stroke of their wound." We know that the wounds of the body are healed, not by external applications, but by the vigour of the vital forces within itself pouring out their overflowing life, bringing the parts together, and making them whole; and the Church's wounds are to be healed by the Lord's infusion of a larger measure of spiritual and Divine life; of more piety, more power, more zeal, more affection. III. THE BLESSED CONSEQUENCES OF THE HEALING OF THESE WOUNDS. "The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun seven fold, as the light of seven days." 1. These images denote an immense increase of the Church's light, or future glory, as the consequence of the healing of the Church's wounds. Where there is more love there will be more light. 2. The healing of the breach would bring an immense increase of light to the Church within her actual boundaries. This light of the various portions of the Church when brought together, will be more intense — will shine with a mightier fulness, than when separated. 3. The healing of the Church's wounds would bring increase of light beyond the boundaries of the Church. The Church is destined to be the light of the world. "Seven fold!" There are days that have a seven-fold fulness of light in comparison of other days, when the summer sunshine has a splendour, and a glory, and a fulness, that are equal to the light of many cloudy and dark days. And what is it that makes the difference? It is the intervening atmosphere that is different; it is the thick and murky air that intercepts and weakens his light. Only let the Church be in a right condition, and the revealed Christ will shine forth in gladness, and the revelation will discover itself in all its fulness. There is no glory of the Church that is not made up of individual excellence, and the only way to promote its splendour and glory is to elevate individually the Christian spirit. (J. Riddell.) Parallel Verses KJV: Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound. |
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