People of God, this is the year of the Light! And Jesus is that Light (read John 1:1-18). John 1:4 says, 'In Him (Jesus Christ) is life, and this life is the light of men'. To be in Him is to be in the Light. In other words, when you have Him, you have the light (and of course, eternal life).
The word 'arise' here in Isaiah 60:1-2 is 'zarach' in Hebrew, which means 'to shoot forth beams of light, to appear on you like sunrise'. I can therefore paraphrase the verse this way: 'Even though darkness may cover the earth and its people, but as for you (the believers), the Lord will shoot beams of light on you and appear on you like the sunrise!'
With the Light comes authority. This Light brings with Him authority, i.e. the authority over darkness and all the power of darkness. Revelation 18:1-2a says, 'After these things, I (John) saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen..."
The word 'authority' here is 'exousia' in Greek, which can mean 'power, ability, privilege, force, freedom, competency, jurisdiction, superhuman'. You can find this same word 'exousia' in Luke 10:19: 'Behold, I (Jesus) give you the authority ('exousia') to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you'.
Note: 'Serpents and scorpions' here are pictures of 'the devil, or the work of darkness'.
'Babylon' comes from the word 'Babel', meaning 'confusion'. This speaks of 'the systems of the world, or the man-made structures/systems of this world'. The end-time is a time when God's way clashes with the worldly way, but in the end, God's way will triumph and exult over the 'Babylonian' way (see Revelation chapters 18 and 19).
With the Light also comes wisdom and revelation. The word 'illuminate' in the above verse is 'photizo' in Greek, which means 'to shed rays, to shine, to brighten up, to enlighten, to bring to light, made to see'. This word 'photizo' is derived from the word 'phos', which simply means 'light'. 'Light' is the source of 'enlightening'. I can therefore say 'with the light comes enlightening, but without the light, there's no enlightening'.
The word 'wisdom' here in Greek is 'sophia', from the word 'sophos' which means 'to be clear (and not blur), to have clarity in what one is to do'. When the eyes of your understanding is enlightened, you'll be so clear as to what to do and what not to do in your life and vocation (calling)!
Not only that, the thing that has been 'veiled' (i.e. 'in the dark') now becomes 'unveiled' when the light brings with it enlightening. The word 'revelation' here in Greek is 'apokalupsis', meaning 'unveiled, disclosed, uncovered, brought to light'.
As you can see, light will always triumph over darkness. When the light comes, darkness will have to flee (1 John 2:8). There's no other way around it.
So, if there's any one word you can remember throughout this year, it is the word 'Light'. Be conscious always of the Light who is in you. Know also that you are in the Light (no matter what happens around you), and you'll rise above every darkness that covers the earth and its people, be it in health, in finance, in economy, or in any other area of life. Amen.
