Isaiah 60:13

60:9-14 God will be very gracious. We must begin with his promise, thence all mercies take rise. Many shall be brought into the church, even from far countries. Christ is always ready to receive all who come to him; and the gate of mercy is always open, night and day. All that are about the church shall be made serviceable to it. But those who will not be subject to Christ's golden sceptre, to his word and Spirit, who will not be kept in by the laws and rules of his family, shall be broken in pieces by his iron rod. The peculiar advantages of every nation, and of every description of men, shall join to beautify the church of Christ. We must suppose this to be accomplished in the beauties of holiness, and the graces and comforts of the Spirit, with which gospel ordinances are adorned and enriched. Blessed be his name, the gates of Zion are ever open to returning sinners.

Now, as these were brought into Solomon's temple, and used in the building of that, 1 Kings 6:9 , so such shall come of themselves, willingly and cheerfully, being drawn with the cords of love, into the church of Christ, comparable to the tall and strong cedars of Lebanon, and other trees, being eminent for their gifts and graces, and strong in the exercise of them; the more feeble among them being as the house of David, and that as the Angel of the Lord; and being durable, constant, and immovable in the work of the Lord; pillars in his house that shall never go out; ever green and flourishing; never wither in their profession, and always fruitful in every good word and work; of a good smell in the exercise of grace; of savoury conversations, and of a good report in the world; see Psalm 107:12 , the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together; which may denote persons of different ranks and sizes, both as to worldly and spiritual affairs; and yet will all agree to come together to the church, and will unite in the service and worship of God in it, and be a real glory to it; see Isaiah 41:19, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; the church, so called in allusion to the tabernacle and temple; and thus the Targum here, "the place of the house of my sanctuary;'' where the holy God dwells; and which is sanctified by him, and where he is sanctified, and worshipped in a holy and spiritual manner; and which will be beautified in the latter day, when the saints that will come into

Isaiah 60:13 . The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee — As Lebanon furnished cedars, and other choice timber, for building and beautifying Solomon’s temple, so shall different nations contribute what is most excellent and suitable among them for supporting, establishing, enlarging, and adorning the church of Christ, here called the place of God’s sanctuary, with allusion to the temple, an eminent type of it. See note on Psalm 46:4-5 . And I will make the place of my feet glorious — The Christian Church, so called in allusion to the ark in the most holy place of the tabernacle and temple, where the divine glory, termed by the Jews the Shechinah, was wont to appear between the wings of the cherubim, over the mercy-seat, which was, as it were, the footstool of that glorious symbol of God’s presence.

The {n} glory of Lebanon shall come to thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my {o} feet glorious. (n) There is nothing so excellent which will not serve the needs of the Church. (o) Signifying that God's majesty is not included in the temple, which is but the place for his feet, that we may learn to rise to the heavens.

The glory of Lebanon; the box, the fir, the pine, and the cedar, on account whereof Lebanon grew so famous; a metonymy of the efficient: kings and great ones, the glory of the world, and also persons of a lower rank, the pines, firs, and box trees, as also the choicest persons, endued with the special gifts of the Holy Ghost, shall be the materials and members of Christ’s church, as those also of a lower size and measure. We find the godly called trees, Isaiah 61:3 . They shall have sweet communion together; the box shall not envy the pine , nor the pine despise the box , they shall worship the Lord together. To beautify: this is the reason and end why the glory of Lebanon is to be brought hither: by these trees understand the beauty and nobility of the church; trees being both for building and for beautifying. The place of my sanctuary; the temple, wherein was the sanctuary; this being a type of the church, both actively, as that which his presence sanctifieth; and passively, as that wherein he is worshipped and sanctified. The place of my feet, viz. the ark, 1 Chronicles 28:2 , described here by a periphrasis; so called, because, supposing God after the manner of man to sit as on a seat between the wings of the cherubims, his feet would rest upon the ark, and therefore called the mercy-seat, Exodus 25:17-20 . The temple and Zion is called his rest, Psalm 132:13,14 , and all this is made good in the gospel church, 2 Corinthians 6:16 .

13. glory—that is, the trees which adorned Lebanon; emblem of men eminent in natural gifts, devoting all that is in them to the God of Israel (Ho 14:5, 6). fir … pine … box—rather, "the cypress … ilex … cedar." place of my sanctuary—Jerusalem (Jer 3:17). place of my feet—no longer the ark (Jer 3:16), "the footstool" of Jehovah (Ps 99:5; 132:7; 1Ch 28:2); but "the place of His throne, the place of the soles of His feet, where He will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever," in the new temple (Eze 43:7).

13 . Forest trees from Lebanon shall be brought for the adornment of the Temple. It is difficult to say whether the reference be to building materials for the sacred edifice, or to ornamental trees planted in the Temple-courts. The former view, though less poetic, is more probable; and it is certainly unfair to cite the proverbial expressions of Isaiah 60:17 as an argument against it. the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together ] See ch. Isaiah 41:19 . the place of my sanctuary ] is the Temple ( Jeremiah 17:12 ), not the city of Jerusalem, as the place where the Temple is situated. the place of my feet ] Cf. Ezekiel 43:7 (“the place of the soles of my feet”).

Verse 13. - The glory of Lebanon shall come (comp. Isaiah 35:2 ; Isaiah 41:19 ). Considered as imagery, the representation is that the barren hills which stand about Jerusalem shall, in the new state of things, be decked with tall and beautiful forest trees, all the sylvan scenery of Lebanon being transported to Southern Palestine, so as to encompass the city of God with a garden as delightful as that of Eden. The spiritual meaning is that graces of all kinds shall abound in and around the holy city, and shall make it beautiful and glorious. The fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together (comp. Isaiah 41:19 , where the same words occur in the same order; and, for the trees intended, see the comment on that passage). To beautify the place of my sanctuary . Not with "avenues of cedars and plane trees leading up to it" (Delitzsch), which was a style of ornamentation quite unknown to the lie-brews; but with groves, and thickets, and sylvan glades, and wooded slopes all around it, as round the Syrian temples in the Lebanon. The place of my feet . The Jewish temple, as the special place of God's presence upon earth, was frequently termed "God's footstool" ( 1 Chronicles 28:2 ; Psalm 99:5 ; Psalm 132:7 ; Lamentations 2:1 ). He that towers above the heavens had there set his foot. The metaphor is transferred to the renovated Zion. Isaiah 60:13

(13) The glory of Lebanon . . . —The prophet sees in the new Jerusalem a revival of the glories of the days of Solomon. The cedars of Lebanon, and other trees of the forest, are to furnish timber for its buildings, or even to be planted in the courts of the Temple, or in its open places and streets ( Psalm 52:8 ; Psalm 92:12-13 ; Isaiah 35:2 ). The box is probably, as in Isaiah 41:19, a species of cedar. The place of my feet is clearly parallel with the “sanctuary” of the previous clause. So the word “footstool” is used of the Temple in Psalm 99:5; Psalm 132:7.

The glory of Lebanon - The 'glory of Lebanon,' here means the trees that grew on Lebanon (see the notes at Isaiah 35:2 ). Shall come unto thee - That is, thy beauty and glory will be as great as if those valuable trees were brought and planted around the temple. The fir-tree - (See the notes at Isaiah 41:19; Isaiah 55:13). The box - (See also the notes at Isaiah 41:19). To beautify the place of my sanctuary - The site of the temple, as if they were planted around it, and as if the magnificence of Lebanon was transferred there at once. The idea is, that the most valuable and glorious objects in distant nations would be consecrated to the service of the true God. And I will make the place of my feet glorious - Lowth renders this, 'I will glorify the place whereon I rest my feet;' and he supposes thai the ark is meant as the place on which God rested his feet as a footstool. In support of this, he appeals to Psalm 99:5, 'Worship at his footstool;' and 1 Chronicles 28:2. So Rosenmuller understands it, and appeals further to Psalm 132:7. Doubtless the main idea is, that the temple was regarded as the sacred dwelling-place of God - and that he means to say, that every place in his temple, even where, to keep up the figure, he rested his feet when he sat on the throne, would be filled with magnificence and glory.