‘And strangers (literally ‘the sons of the stranger') will build up your walls,
And their kings will serve you,
For in my wrath I smote you,
But in my favour I have had mercy on you.
Your gates will be open continually,
They will not be shut, day nor night,
That men may bring to you the wealth (or ‘army') of the nations,
And their kings led along.'
For that nation and kingdom that will not serve you will perish,
Yes, those nations will be utterly wasted.'
These words are addressed to Zion as the city of God where Yahweh dwells in His Temple on Mount Zion. They depict God's final victory. All eyes are on Him and His service. The aim is not the aggrandisement of the people but of Yahweh. The aim is the worldwide impact of His glory and His word. And that is what all will seek. All who respond to Him will partake of Hi future glory.
‘And strangers will build up your walls, and their kings will minister to you.' There is a contrast here with nations knocking down its walls. Instead of alien nations coming to batter down Zion's walls, they will come as its servants to build them because they will want to glorify Yahweh. For this building of the walls compare Psalms 51:18; Psalms 147:2, in both of which examples it is an example of care for their wellbeing. God's people will watch in wonder as (uncircumcised, contrast Isaiah 52:1) nations and kings come to serve Yahweh (compare Isaiah 56:6 where the same verb is used) and see to the welfare of Zion. Instead of war there will be peace, and all will seek to uphold that peace. This picture is on a par with Isaiah 19:23-25. Even today we are building up the walls of Zion as we win men and women to have their part in the new Jerusalem (Revelation 21-22).
Earlier Isaiah has stated that the stranger who has joined himself to Yahweh will have equal part in the worship of Yahweh (Isaiah 56:3-8). We are probably therefore justified in seeing these strangers as such worshippers, for the building of the walls is in order to ensure the peace and safety of the city, part of their service for Yahweh. Thus the thought is that ‘strangers' and their kings have been conjoined with Yahweh, and with the people of God in the city of God, and share with them the task of ensuring the safety of the city and of the service of Yahweh. Here we have God's universal people described. They have become one with Zion, and they are building up God's new city, God's people (compare Revelation 21:2).
In contrast in Ezekiel the cities are unwalled (Ezekiel 38:11), but that too is in order to depict that they are protected by God. There is only a contradiction here if we require slavish literalness. In neither case are the prophets interested in architecture. They are concerned with picturing a city of His people trusting in God and under full protection by God and the details are not important. (The walls and lack of walls are not literal in either case. Paradoxically in both cases they emphasise the security of the city but in different ways).
‘For in my wrath I smote you, but in my favour I have had mercy on you.' And this will be because Yahweh has revealed His favour towards His chosen place which reflects His elect people. Having first had to smite them in His wrath, as previously described by Isaiah, He is now revealing His mercy and grace, and multiplying them as He promised (Isaiah 54:2-5).
‘Your gates will be open continually, they will not be shut, day nor night, that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations, and their kings led along. For that nation and kingdom that will not serve you will perish. Yes, those nations will be utterly wasted.' Indeed the gates of Zion will be constantly open so that the wealth of the nations may pour in both day and night, and their kings will come in submission, whether gladly or otherwise. This also indicates the perfect safety of the city (compare Revelation 21:24-27). It has no need to close the gates for it is protected by Yahweh, and they need to be constantly open because of the fullness of God's provision. There will be a constant stream of traffic. Alternately it may signify the armies of the nations and their kings brought in as captives. For all nations will serve God and His true people on pain of perishing, under the threat of being totally wasted if they do not. This last punishment clearly results from the failure of their attitude towards God, and only secondarily of their attitude towards Israel, which latter is heinous because they are God's representatives.
The wealth of the nations is not, however, coming in order to make the people rich (that was the mistake made in some later interpretations). It is coming to the city of God in order to be offered to Him. All submission and homage will be to Him and to His anointed King. It is tribute to Him. It is His wealth. Yet that His people will enjoy the ‘benefits' is also apparent, although it will be all His true people, not just those ‘homeborn'.
‘Their kings led along.' This could be as captives, with the peoples ensuring the submission of their kings, or it could be because they are led along by their people in triumphant procession because they are welcome there. Either way the kings are seen as coming to Yahweh, bringing not danger, but submission and worship.
‘That nation and kingdom that will not serve you will perish. Yes, those nations will be utterly wasted.' The basic principle is that those nations and kingdoms who do not contribute to the welfare of God's Zion, and do not submit themselves to Him, will be destroyed. Again we are reminded that this Zion is the place where God is worshipped, and where He has gathered His people, and to which the nations have streamed in response to the word of God, and where His king rules (Isaiah 2:2-4). Here it is loyalty to Yahweh that is in question not the physical benefit of an earthly city. The only way the prophets had of depicting Heaven and the new Heaven and the new earth in meaningful terms was in terms of this ideal Jerusalem.
It should be apparent to the reader that we have depicted in all this, from Isaiah 60:5 onwards, a picture of the ideal world of the future as it would be seen by people in Isaiah's time. As they surveyed the past and how they had suffered, this was what they longed for life to be like. It is, of course, an ideal picture. It is therefore declaring that God will give to His people the ideal existence. It has finally in mind the heavenly everlasting kingdom.
We may see as a comparison how ‘the whole world' came to Solomon in Jerusalem (1 Kings 10:24) seeking his wisdom. That was a fore-glimpse of this picture. It was he who received the tribute, the people shared in his reflected glory. It was to him that every knee bowed. So here it is to Zion as the Servant that the peoples come in obeisance, bringing their wealth. They are coming in submission to Yahweh and His great representative.
That great blessing would come to the people of God as a result of all this is apparent. But the emphasis here is to be seen as on Zion as the city of God. Once Israel began to see it as referring to themselves as a nation the idea became dangerous. It was one thing to see themselves as enjoying, along with all His people, part of the benefit from what was brought to Yahweh, coming to them as part of His gracious blessing. It was another when they began to think of the Gentiles as submitting to them and making them rich. The tendency would then be for them to become overbearing, arrogant, unbearable, and tyrannical. The danger would be that what was intended to uplift their hearts, and make them grateful, and fill them with a worshipful spirit, could in the end, if wrongly interpreted, make them unbearable. Such hopes and aspirations would be the exact opposite of the teaching of Jesus and of the New Testament, and indeed of the Old Testament as well where the poor, and meek and contrite are praised. Thus literal fulfilment simply to Zion as a people amassing wealth for themselves and being treated as masters would go contrary to the whole moral basis of Scripture. But once seen as submission to God going along with spiritual blessings poured out on God's people, followed by fulfilment in the perfect state once man has been perfected at the resurrection, it ceases to do so and becomes reasonable, acceptable and desirable.