Isaiah 60:15-18 – The church a sure place of refuge

The Zion that would be restored would be prosperous, so said Isaiah. No longer would she be a forsaken and despised city but a transformed and glorious one. She would enjoy everlasting dignity and be known as a place of joy for many, from generation to generation.  She would be milking from the wealth of the nations and kings much like a nursing child sucking milk from a mother’s breast. She, who was once the scorn of nations, would now be one that they would sustain. Then her people would know with certainty that their Saviour and Redeemer was none other than Yahweh Himself.

Furthermore, verse 17 said that instead of bronze God would give her gold; and instead of iron, she would have silver. And instead of wood, she would be constructed with bronze and for stone, she would have iron. From a city constructed with far better material, Zion would become a city built with stronger materials, making her more precious and harder to destroy. Her experience would be an entirely different one from her past. Her violent experience would only be a memory of the past, never to be spoken of again in the land. No devastation or destruction would come within her border. Zion’s hallmarks would be peace, righteousness, salvation, and praise. These characteristics would be how she would be defined and identified.  

Like the renewed and gloriously physical Zion, so would the church of Jesus Christ be and much more. She would be a place of refuge from the harsh realities of life. The violence that was due to us was bored by our Saviour and Redeemer at Calvary. As a member of the church, His finished works at Calvary dealt with what should have been our end. So in place of judgment and punishment, Christ has secured our peace, righteousness, salvation, and praise. These tell us to anticipate what we should routinely experience when we walk with Him. Colossians 2:6-7 offer us great advice for our daily journey, saying, “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.” So we must walk with Christ, and as we do, we will be firmly rooted in Him, and our faith life will be built up and established in Him. Remember to live a life of praise and thanksgiving, being grateful to our faithful God!