‘Lift up your eyes round about and see,
They all gather themselves together, they come to you,
Yours sons will come from far,
And your daughters will be nursed on the side,
Then you will see and be lightened,
And your heart will tremble and be enlarged,
Because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you,
The wealth of the nations will come to you.'
The true people of God will be able to watch in astonishment as the nations and their kings gather to Zion (Isaiah 2:2-3), that Zion which is now the home of Yahweh's Servant on earth, the true church of Jesus Christ. The world will respond to its light, the light of Yahweh.
‘Yours sons will come from far.' Zion's sons will come from far distances. This may refer to the return of His people from exile, or it may more probably have in mind His new children among the Gentiles. The coming of their ‘children' is described earlier in Isaiah 54:1-4 where the idea was of such an abundance that Israel could not believe it. For Israel will be expanded by the ingrafting of those of the nations who respond to the call of Yahweh (Romans 11:13-24). And they will come from far (Isaiah 49:12; Isaiah 49:18).
All through history Israel was expanded by men of the nations uniting with them in the covenant as they recognised the distinctiveness of Israel's message. Consider Eliezer the Damascene (Genesis 15:2) and Hagar the Egyptian (Genesis 16:1), two of many ‘foreigners' who had become part of Abraham's household; the ‘mixed multitude' (Exodus 12:38); those in Exodus 12:48 and Numbers 9:14; while just as Achan was ‘cut off' from Israel (Joshua 7), so Rahab and her household were grafted in (Joshua 6:25). Consider also the Kenites (Judges 1:16); Uriah the Hittite (2 Samuel 11:3) and all whose surnames indicate foreign designation; and there were many more. All became seen as true Israelites and children of Jacob. And so will it be here. They will come to the light of the true people of God who will be made glorious by His glory which has arisen on them as a result of the coming of God's great light (Isaiah 9:1-7). Compare 2 Corinthians 3:18; 2Co 4:4; 2 Corinthians 4:6.
‘And your daughters will be nursed on the side.' That is borne in cradles slung in such a way that as babes they are kept safe and provided for (see Isaiah 49:22). The emphasis is on God's care for His people's welfare.
‘Then you will see and be lightened, and your heart will tremble and be enlarged.' The result will be that Zion and God's people will become radiant as they see the multitude of those who come to them. They will be filled with excitement, and a deep sense of satisfaction, and will be given a welcoming heart so as to receive the abundance of those who will come. The growth of that welcoming heart especially comes out in Acts 1-11.
‘Because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you, the wealth of the nations will come to you.' The Gentiles will come bearing their riches. Zion will receive all that their hearts have looked for, the giving of tribute to Yahweh and to their King. Compare Revelation 21:26. The abundance of the seas may signify wealth such as that of the great maritime cities on the Phoenician coast, for example Tyre and Sidon, noted for scouring the seas and bringing back riches (see Isaiah 60:8), or it may be seeing the nations as ‘the sea of nations', a picture later regularly used to describe them. Either way it is depicting the glorious future for Zion, with its benefits rejoiced in by God's true people, firstly in terms of the riches that flowed into her from such as the kings of Persia (Ezra 1:4-11; Ezra 6:3-5; Ezra 6:8-9; Ezra 7:15-22; Ezra 8:25-30; Ezra 8:33-34), and through Herod as he built his Temple, and then to the true Israel, the church as it became that to which kings and nations gave their treasures, secondly in terms of spiritual provision now, and thirdly in terms of complete provision in ‘Heaven', all described in terms which would be meaningful to people in those days.
Like all people the children of Israel had to be spoken to in terms of what they could understand. Not for them was promised a Heaven above, a spiritual existence, for these would simply not have been understood (and would have been mixed up with ideas of the gods). But the glory that was to come was expressed in terms of a new Zion, a gathered people, the amassing of wealth, total security, an all-powerful world king with the nations at his feet, all that the heart dreamed of. But as we have seen these were regularly put in terms that transcended earthly possibility if applied literally (see Isaiah 60:19). It will be the place where all are holy, where there is everlasting rejoicing, where all peoples will gather, where Yahweh will reign and His glory be revealed, where there is no light of sun and moon (Isaiah 4:2-4; Isaiah 24:23; Isaiah 26:1-4; Isaiah 35:10; Isaiah 51:11; Isaiah 52:1; Isaiah 60:19-21; Isaiah 65:18-25; Isaiah 66:22-24; compare Joel 3:16-17; Psalms 50:2; Zechariah 14).
The idea was similar to that of the city of gold with gates of pearl founded on the Apostles (Revelation 21:10-27) and ‘the city that was to come' of Abraham, whose builder and maker was God (Hebrews 11:10), and the Jerusalem that is above, of Paul (Galatians 4:26; compare Hebrews 12:22). Consider also the temple of Yahweh raised above all mountains connected with Jerusalem although raised above it (Isaiah 2:2), the temple of Yahweh set on a very high mountain in a holy portion well away from Jerusalem (Ezekiel 40:2; Ezekiel 45:1-8), depicted in the New Testament as a heavenly Temple in Hebrews 9:11; Hebrews 9:24; Hebrews 10:19-22 and regularly in Revelation. The heavenly was being explained in terms of the earthly.