Advent 2 - JOY Isaiah 60:1-3

4/12/22

Preach

Scripture

Isaiah 60:1-3

Questions

1 “Arise, shine! For your light has come, and the glory of YHWH has risen on you. 2 For look! darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples, but YHWH will rise on you, and his glory will appear over you. 3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the bright light of your sunrise.

1. Hebrew poetry uses parallelism that rhymes meaning not sounds. How many parallel pairs do our three verses above contain?

1 “Arise, shine! For your light has come, and the glory of YHWH has risen on you.

2. What does light symbolise? Remember parallelisms. How is Jesus the light of the world [John 8:12]? Harder! The “on you” is feminine. The “peoples” [v2] and the “nations” [v3] are both masculine. Who are the “you” [Isiah 59:20]?

2 For look! darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples,

3. Read [or skim] Romans 1:18-32. How extensive is this darkness?

4. Read how Paul tells Agrippa of his conversion and mission [Acts 26:12-18 cf Acts 13:11]. What could Paul’s temporary blindness symbolise? Who is the blinding light?

but YHWH will rise on you, and his glory will appear over you.

5. How does Paul’s conversion king of act this out for all that witnessed it? Can you see hyperlinks to other parts of Scripture?

3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the bright light of your sunrise.

6. Read Psalm 2. How do the nations and kings come to Jesus, the light of the world

7. These verses are often linked with joy. How would they have given joy to the Jews in exile? How do they give us joy?

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