ARISE and SHINE by Larry W Peebles August 16, 2019 19.27
My father would always wake me up with the words “Arise and shine!” We often planned early morning hunting and fishing trips. When the big day arrived, Dad would wake to the alarm clock, then come to my room to awaken me. His voice was full of eager anticipation for the trip, as he loved the outdoors. Deep in sleep, I did my best to respond as though I had been awake for hours. I truly loved that time with him in the outdoors, and was often the one who had made the initial suggestion to go. In my high school years, I worked for my Dad in the summer months, and each workday began the same way. He would come into my room, shake my foot or leg, and say “Arise and shine!” It was time to go to work. The sun was coming up, and the day was starting before us. We did not have a minute longer to delay. I never asked him how that started, but my guess would be from the wake-up call in the Army barracks during his time served in WW II.
One of my final memories of Dad occurred in the nursing home. Mom had passed away, and he was well into his nineties and battling Alzheimer’s. I was never sure when he might be able to recognize me on a visit, but this day I felt sure. I was rolling him down the halls of the nursing home in his wheelchair after breakfast. He said nothing until we approached an exit door, and suddenly he asked if I had the key. I asked him what he meant, thinking he meant the key to the door so he could go outside. He surprised me when he said the key to the gate (the ranch gate), so we could go hunting. Even in his nineties in a wheelchair, he was mentally ready to rise and shine to go hunting.
The prophet Isaiah gives a similar wake-up call in Isaiah 60:1-3- “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises over you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.” The prophecy speaks of the coming of Jesus, both His initial coming in the form of a human who would sacrifice Himself for our sins, and also of His glorious second coming. His magnificient glory will then be tangible, and present everywhere.
With regard to His initial coming, the Bible says it had been over four hundred years since there had been a word from the Lord. The Israelites had succumbed to the Babylon and Persian conquests. Jerusalem had been spared the Greek conquest of Alexander the Great because, according to the historian Josephus, the priests had explained to Alexander the writings of the prophet Daniel, and he respected the prophecy that he would head a great empire. Eventually the Roman Empire would rise and occupy Israel at the time Jesus was born. During those four hundred years, from the last of the Old Testament writings of Malachi until the New Testament writings concerning Jesus, the world had become a dark place spiritually. A rightful blood descendant king of the line of David was not on the throne of Israel; rather Herod the Great, a descendant of Esau, was the puppet king in cooperation with Roman occupation.
Galatians 4:4 then says-“But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.” One day, when the big day had come, everything changed. God said to His sons (children) it was time to rise and shine. Jesus came to lead the world back to Father God. A great company of angels appeared from heaven to announce the good news, and His glory shined round about. (Luke 2: 8-13). King Herod sought to kill him; kings from the east worshipped at His birth; nations would be impacted forever by His ministry, death and resurrection. Darkness would yield to light. Jesus said- “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Most living things require light. Without light, they die. David prophesied in Psalm 27:1- “The Lord is my light and my salvation-whom shall I fear?” Jesus is as essential to the life of all mankind as light is to any living thing. In fact, He is the light of life.
With regard to His second coming, the prophet Habakkuk wrote- “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” Shekinah is the word meaning “that which dwells”, and is often used in Hebrew writings in conjunction with God’s glory. Shekinah glory refers to God’s nearness either in person, object, or His glory. When His shekinah glory came at Jesus’ birth, and when it comes at His second coming, His presence will be near and undeniable. We know the day of His return has not yet come, because the earth is once again becoming spiritually dark. Man is consumed with his own flesh and preoccupied with things of this world. False religions are rampant. Morality is giving way to pornography, abortion, and sexual perversion.
But the day is coming when we shall once again rise and shine. The whole earth will know of the glory of the Lord, and every knee will bow to Him as King (Philippians 2:10-11). The Light will return and another great revival will sweep the earth in a last chance for those who will believe and come to Jesus. Many predict, based on the Biblical prophecies of what we now see in these times, that this is coming soon. This revival will precede His second coming.
His second coming is described in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18- “For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.” That day is sometimes referred to as the rapture. What a glorious day that will be.
However, God is not finished with the people of this earth. Rather than focus on the darkness, we need to pray for the light. We need to encourage one another that what we see today is not the way this will end. Until we see the end, we must not waste the day. Those who know Jesus must carry the light to those who do not. The light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ must be taken into dark places. There is work to be done. We are to be “children of light” (Ephesians 5:8), and “sons of light” (1 Thessalonians 5:5). Our generation is in this time and in this hour for an eternal purpose. 1 Peter 2:9- “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Matthew 5:16- “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven.” In our conversation and in our actions, no matter our age or position in life, we must rise and shine, for the light has come.
