Isaiah 60:9
Surely the islands will wait for Me, with the ships of Tarshish in the lead, to bring your children from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified you.
Surely the islands will wait for Me
The phrase "Surely the islands will wait for Me" speaks to the anticipation and hope of distant lands for the coming of the Lord. The Hebrew word for "islands" (אִיִּים, 'iyyim) can also be translated as "coastlands," indicating regions far from Israel. This suggests a universal reach of God's influence and the inclusion of Gentile nations in His redemptive plan. Historically, the islands and coastlands were seen as remote and often unreachable, yet here they are depicted as eagerly awaiting God's presence, symbolizing the global scope of His salvation.

and the ships of Tarshish will come first
"Ships of Tarshish" refers to large, sea-going vessels known for their long voyages and trade. Tarshish is often associated with wealth and distant lands, possibly located in what is now Spain. The mention of these ships highlights the wealth and resources that will be brought to honor God. In a broader sense, it signifies the submission of the world's riches to the service of the Lord, as even the most distant and prosperous nations will recognize His sovereignty.

to bring your children from afar
This phrase emphasizes the return of the exiles to their homeland, a recurring theme in Isaiah. The Hebrew word for "children" (בָּנִים, banim) can also mean "sons," indicating the descendants of Israel. The return from afar signifies not only a physical return but also a spiritual restoration. It reflects God's faithfulness in gathering His people from the ends of the earth, fulfilling His promises of restoration and unity.

with their silver and gold
The mention of "silver and gold" underscores the wealth and treasures that will accompany the returning exiles. These precious metals symbolize the honor and glory that will be brought to God. In a spiritual sense, it represents the offering of one's best to the Lord, acknowledging His worthiness and majesty. Historically, silver and gold were often used in temple worship, further emphasizing the idea of dedicating the finest resources to God's service.

to the honor of the LORD your God
This phrase highlights the ultimate purpose of the gathering and the offerings: to honor the LORD. The Hebrew word for "honor" (פְּאֵר, pe'er) conveys the idea of beauty, splendor, and glory. It is a reminder that all actions and offerings should be directed towards glorifying God. This aligns with the conservative Christian perspective that emphasizes living a life that reflects God's glory and majesty.

the Holy One of Israel
The title "the Holy One of Israel" is a frequent designation for God in Isaiah, emphasizing His uniqueness, purity, and covenant relationship with Israel. It underscores God's faithfulness and His role as the protector and redeemer of His people. This title reassures the Israelites of God's unchanging nature and His commitment to fulfill His promises.

because He has glorified you
The phrase "because He has glorified you" indicates that the honor and restoration of Israel are acts of God's grace and favor. The Hebrew root for "glorified" (כָּבֵד, kaved) means to make heavy or weighty, implying that God has bestowed significant honor and dignity upon His people. This reflects the conservative Christian belief in God's sovereignty and His ability to elevate and bless His chosen ones, not because of their merit, but because of His love and purpose.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Islands
Symbolic of distant lands and peoples who are waiting for the revelation of God's glory.

2. Ships of Tarshish
Represent the wealth and commerce of the nations, often associated with long-distance trade and prosperity.

3. Children from afar
Refers to the exiles of Israel returning to their homeland, symbolizing restoration and redemption.

4. Silver and Gold
Signify the wealth and honor that will be brought to God, representing the nations' acknowledgment of His sovereignty.

5. The LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel
Emphasizes God's unique relationship with Israel and His role as the one true God who glorifies His people.
Teaching Points
God's Sovereignty Over Nations
God orchestrates the events of history, including the movement of nations and their wealth, to fulfill His purposes.

Restoration and Redemption
The return of the exiles symbolizes God's power to restore and redeem His people, offering hope for personal and communal restoration today.

Universal Recognition of God's Glory
The prophecy points to a future where all nations recognize and honor God, encouraging believers to live as witnesses to His glory now.

The Role of Wealth in God's Kingdom
Material wealth is not an end in itself but a means to honor God, challenging believers to use their resources for His glory.

Hope in God's Promises
The fulfillment of God's promises to Israel assures us of His faithfulness, encouraging trust in His promises for our lives.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the imagery of "islands" and "ships of Tarshish" expand our understanding of God's reach and influence over the nations?

2. In what ways can we see the theme of restoration in our own lives, and how does this passage encourage us to trust in God's redemptive work?

3. How can we, as believers, participate in the universal recognition of God's glory in our daily lives?

4. What practical steps can we take to ensure that our use of wealth and resources honors God, as depicted in this passage?

5. How does the assurance of God's promises in Isaiah 60:9 inspire us to live with hope and confidence in His faithfulness today?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Isaiah 42:4
This verse speaks of the coastlands waiting for God's law, paralleling the idea of distant lands anticipating God's revelation.

Psalm 72:10
Mentions kings bringing gifts from distant lands, similar to the wealth being brought to honor God in Isaiah 60:9.

Revelation 21:24-26
Describes the nations bringing their glory and honor into the New Jerusalem, echoing the theme of nations acknowledging God's glory.

Zechariah 8:23
Talks about people from all nations seeking the favor of the Lord, reflecting the universal recognition of God's sovereignty.

Isaiah 49:22
God promises to lift up His hand to the nations, bringing Israel's children back, similar to the return of exiles in Isaiah 60:9.
Missionary ShipsIsaiah 60:9
The Enlargement of the ChurchIsaiah 60:9
The Ships of TarshishF. Delitzsch, D. . D.Isaiah 60:9
An Arousing CallIsaiah 60:1-12
An Imperial MinistryJ. H. Jowett, M. A.Isaiah 60:1-12
Arise, ShineC. G. Scott.Isaiah 60:1-12
Christ Our LightA. Maclaren, D. D.Isaiah 60:1-12
Christ the Light of the WorldJ. B. Sumner, M. A.Isaiah 60:1-12
Isaiah 60Prof. G. A. Smith, D. D.Isaiah 60:1-12
Light Breaking on the MountainsA. H. Bradford, D. D.Isaiah 60:1-12
Shining ChristiansIsaiah 60:1-12
Sunrise in the EastIbid.Isaiah 60:1-12
The Church: Her Functions and Her BlessednessA. Smellie, M. A.Isaiah 60:1-12
The Dawning of God's Light and its Awakening CallE. L. Hull, B. A.Isaiah 60:1-12
The Epiphany: Christ ManifestedG. Huntington, M. A.Isaiah 60:1-12
The Everlasting LightA. H. Bradford, D. D.Isaiah 60:1-12
The Glory of Spiritual IsraelJ. A. Alexander.Isaiah 60:1-12
The God-Lit ChurchA. Maclaren, D. D.Isaiah 60:1-12
The Gospel EraHomilistIsaiah 60:1-12
The Privilege and Prerogative of the Christian ChurchJ. S. Spilsbury.Isaiah 60:1-12
The Shining of the Common PlaceLife of FaithIsaiah 60:1-12
The True Light OfHomilistIsaiah 60:1-12
Thy Light is ComeProf. J. Skinner, D,D.Isaiah 60:1-12
The Rebuilding of the TempleE. Johnson Isaiah 60:1-14
The Church TriumphantW. Clarkson Isaiah 60:1-22
Commercial Nations and Nomad Tribes Aiding the ChurchF. Delitzsch, D. D.Isaiah 60:6-9
DromedariesProf. J. Skinner, D. D.Isaiah 60:6-9
People
Ephah, Isaiah, Jacob, Kedar, Nebaioth, Tarshish
Places
City of the Lord, Ephah, Kedar, Lebanon, Midian, Nebaioth, Sheba, Tarshish, Zion
Topics
Afar, Await, Beautified, Beautiful, Bring, Bringing, Coastlands, Endowed, Glorified, Gold, Holy, Honor, Islands, Isles, Lead, Sea-lands, Ships, Silver, Sons, Splendor, Surely, Tarshish, Vessels, Wait, Waiting
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Isaiah 60:9

     1205   God, titles of
     4248   islands
     5517   seafaring
     5878   honour
     8444   honouring God

Isaiah 60:9-20

     4212   astronomy

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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