Lift up your eyes and look around;
they all gather together, they come to you;
your sons shall come from far away,
and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms.
Then you shall see and be radiant;
your heart shall thrill and rejoice,
because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you,
the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense,
and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.
All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you,
the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you;
they shall be acceptable on my altar,
and I will glorify my glorious house.
Who are these that fly like a cloud,
and like doves to their windows?
For the coastlands shall wait for me,
the ships of Tarshish first,
to bring your children from far away,
their silver and gold with them,
for the name of the Lord your God,
and for the Holy One of Israel,
because he has glorified you. (Isaiah 60:4-9)

It is hard to see our lives from God’s point of view. Our memories are colored by our assumptions and incomplete information. We see tomorrow only in terms of what little we know today. Today seems long, while the past is fleeting and tomorrow never comes.

But God reassured his people in their captivity in Babylon, a captivity that was still a hundred years in the future when he was speaking through Isaiah, that God was going to restore their fortunes, that the future was bright and all would be well.

God promised them a restoration of normal commerce with their neighbors. Ephah was one of the five sons of Midian, a grandson of Abraham and his wife Keturah. Midian became a nation to the east of the Dead Sea, while Ephah was one of the cities in that nation. There were many places throughout the Mediterranean world called Tarshish where ore was refined into metal. The “ships of Tarshish” were refinery ships carrying the refined metals. Both Kedar and Nabaioth were sons of Ishmael, Isaac’s half brother. Keder referred to a confederation of Arab tribes in the northern part of the Arabian peninsula that traded mostly sheep. The same with Nabaioth.

We belong to God. He will take care of us and we will be with him forever. A human life time is a very tiny speck on the face of eternity. But it’s all we can see just now. We need to seek God’s perspective on it all.

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