The book of Isaiah includes writings from at least three different periods. The passage from third Isaiah which we read for the Feast of the Epiphany comes from an era when many exiles have returned to their homeland to rebuild—400s B.C. The prophet envisions Jerusalem and the people of Israel as a light to other nations.
The people, those who did not choose to stay in Babylon where many Jews had become comfortable and successful, came back to a land in ruins. The Babylonians so thoroughly destroyed the temple that Solomon built that not until Jesus’ time did a leader attempt to create a building of like beauty and majesty. Finding the temple in ruins, the remnant that returned after the Babylonian exile had to rethink what stood at the center of their lives.
With sacrificial temple worship no longer possible during the exile, teachers collected and wrote down Israel’s traditions. Synagogue services centered on these written traditions. Meditation or reflection on the law of God became the usual mode of worship.
These new habits of worshiping express Israel’s realization that God is bigger than they had previously recognized. Living with the Babylonians gave them the experience of discovering that other peoples seek God. Third Isaiah reflects Israel’s growing awareness that the teaching they received as God’s chosen people is for sharing with the whole world.
Jerusalem is a light to the nations.
Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem!
Your light has come,
God’s glory shines upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth;
thick clouds cover the people.
But upon you God shines;
over you appears God’s glory.
Nations shall walk by your light,
and kings by your shining radiance.
Raise your eyes and look about;
they all gather and come to you.
Your sons come from afar,
and your daughters in the arms of their nurses.
Then you shall be radiant
at what you see, your heart
will throb and overflow,
for the riches of the sea will be emptied out before you;
the wealth of nations
shall be brought to you.
Caravans of camels shall fill you, dromedaries from Midian and Ephah.
All from Sheba shall come
bearing gold and frankincense,
and proclaiming God’s praise.
Isaiah 60.1-6
- Whose search for God has surprised you?
- What have you learned about God from someone you may have thought was godless?
- What have you learned from the faith of Jewish people today? From people of other religions?