Light seems to be a favorite theme in the writings of the Old Testament prophets. Living in dark days of judgment, destruction, devastation, and death, they longed for the day when the light of God’s own countenance would shine again upon His people. These prophets anticipated the day when the Light of the World, the promised Messiah, would dawn upon the horizon.
Here are a few significant references to God’s light in the writings of the prophets.
Isaiah’s Encouragement to Walk in the Light
“O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD” (Isaiah 2:5). In this passage, the prophet Isaiah anticipates the words of the Apostle Paul in the New Testament: “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8). Because we serve a God Who is light, we as His servants should be walking daily in the light of His presence.
Isaiah’s Anticipation of Light in Darkness
“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined” (Isaiah 9:2). This promise is given in the same context as the glorious Messianic prophecy that “unto us a child is born” (Isaiah 9:6). The child Jesus is the “great light.” This prophecy is quoted in Matthew 4:16 as fulfilled as Jesus began to teach and preach in the hills of Galilee.
Isaiah’s Announcement of Light to the Gentiles
“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising” (Isaiah 60:1–3). This is the promise that Simeon recalled when he announced to the wonderment of Mary and Joseph that the child Jesus would be “a light to lighten the Gentiles” (Luke 2:32).
Isaiah’s Prophecy That Jehovah Himself Is the Everlasting Light
“The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory” (Isaiah 60:19). According to the Book of Revelation, the future New Jerusalem will not be illuminated by any heavenly bodies but by the light of God Himself. Isaiah spoke in joyful anticipation of that day.
Micah’s Exultation Over the Enemy That Jehovah Is His Light
“Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me” (Micah 7:8). Micah gave this word of encouragement in a very dark day when the enemies of Israel, such as Assyria, Egypt, and Babylon, were rejoicing that they had turned out the lights in the Temple and depopulated the countryside. Micah reminded the world that even while sitting in darkness, the Lord is our light.
Zechariah’s Promise That Someday the Evening Will Be Light
“But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light” (Zechariah 14:7). The prophet Zechariah spoke here of the Messiah on that day when “his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east” (Zechariah 14:4). It is evident from the descriptions following that it is the second coming of Christ that is in view here, and not His first advent.
Some glorious day, when the world is reeling from the judgments of the Great Tribulation, the darkness will be turned to light in the full blaze of Christ’s resplendent glory. His feet will stand upon the Mount of Olives. Every valley shall be exalted. Every hill shall be made low. The rough places shall be made plain. Living waters will flow out of Jerusalem. “And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one” (Zechariah 14:9).
Until that day, may we as God’s people, walk in the light, testify of the Light, and proclaim to our friends and neighbors that the Lord God is our everlasting Light.
