And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.”
Arise can refer to awaking from the dead. Such as not being aware of what is going on around you. It can refer to not staying seated anymore. Being seated as opposed to doing your duty of following the commands of Jesus. Arise can refer to being in a position to go.
In this verse arise, shine shows we can't shine if we haven't arisen. So to arise is to let the light of Jesus shine through us to others. So to arise is to be a light to those around us and in the world. To stop vegetating, (attending and listening and learning and never coming to the knowledge of the truth.)
Isaiah 52:1,2 “Awake, awake,
Clothe yourself in your strength, O Zion;
Clothe yourself in your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city;
For the uncircumcised and the unclean
Will no longer come into you.
2 Shake yourself from the dust, rise up,
O captive Jerusalem;
Loose yourself from the chains around your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion.”
This verse presents the same idea of arising and amplifies this idea.
Awake and clothe yourself in your strength. This is the armor of God explained in Ephesians 6. And the beautiful garments represent the righteousness we have in salvation. We don't gain our righteousness by good works, but by God's free gift of salvation which we get by His grace.
With this preparation and shaking off the dust of being asleep. Being asleep could be our life for self indulgence self focus. The dust is what lingers on from that former life. Now we are to live a life energized by God
Luke 1:37,38 “For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. “
God was going to bring the Christ into he world through Mary having a virgin birth. Nothing is impossible with God. This was a blast of light from God to Mary. She responded by saying, Behold the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word. She accepted the light and was willing to live it out.
We should do well to live that way. There are 4 ways to deal with a revelation from God.
Different ways people respond to the Bible:
1 Be too busy to pay attention to the Bible and what it teaches. Note God usually speaks to us through the Bible.
2 Receive the teaching from the Bible but reject it when the going gets tough.
3 Receive the teachings of the Bible but the worries of the world and the deceitfulness of riches cause people to turn away from following the Bible.
4 Receive the word with joy and do what it says.
Now we should be like those who receive the word with joy and unite it with faith. Heb 4:2 Then the word which we hear will grow within us to produce fruit at maturity.
In John 11 Lazarus was oblivious to the world because he had died. There was nothing he could do. Jesus called to him in the grave commanding him to come forth. When Lazarus heard Jesus he responded with life.
Let us respond with life when we hear Jesus and shine for Him in what we do in life.
