For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.
Passage: Isaiah 25:1-8a
1 Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
you have done wonderful things,
things planned long ago.
2 You have made the city a heap of rubble,
the fortified town a ruin,
the foreigners’ stronghold a city no more;
it will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore strong peoples will honour you;
cities of ruthless nations will revere you.
4 You have been a refuge for the poor,
a refuge for the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the storm
and a shade from the heat.
For the breath of the ruthless
is like a storm driving against a wall
5 and like the heat of the desert.
You silence the uproar of foreigners;
as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud,
so the song of the ruthless is stilled. 6 On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare
a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine –
the best of meats and the finest of wines.
7 On this mountain he will destroy
the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
8 he will swallow up death for ever.
A. Find Out
- Why was the prophet praising the Lord? v.1
- What had the Lord done with what effect? v.2,3
- Yet what also was the Lord? v.4a
- What had been their need and how had He met it? v.4b,5
- What will the Lord do ‘on this mountain’? v.6,7
- What will that entail? v.8a
B. Think:
- What was the purpose of the Lord’s destruction? v.2,3
- What seems to have been a part of that? v.4-5
- What is the Lord’s ‘end goal’?
C. Comment:
Moving from contemplation of the awfulness of the end devastation of the world, the prophet finds himself praising the Lord for His activities (v.1), things that weren’t random but which were spoken about long ago. He observes the state of enemy cities (that had once been a threat to Israel) but which the Lord had destroyed (v.2), so that even the strongest of nations will acknowledge that the Lord is greater (v.3). He observes that (in doing this) the Lord has become a refuge for the poor and needy (those so often caught up on the edge of wars), those who end up in distress because of them (4).
He ponders that the ruthless enemy comes like a storm driving against a wall, carrying everything before it and leaving it piled against the wall when it abates (v.4b,5a) in sultry stillness in the heat of the desert. It is a powerful picture of the effects of war on ‘bystanders’. But the Lord cares for them and He deals with the foreign enemies so that silence reigns instead of the sounds of war (v.5b).
References to “this mountain” tend to refer to Jerusalem and so he sees the Lord’s goal as producing a mighty time of celebration and rejoicing in Jerusalem (v.6). There in Jerusalem the Lord will do something amazing – He will do away with death (v.8a). That probably suggests that He will make it a place of peace and security and freedom from fear. Death had covered all peoples (v.7) but it will be gone!
D. Application:
- Don’t focus on destructive judgment, for that’s only a part.
- The Lord works to bring peace and relationship with Him.
Passage: Isaiah 25:8-12
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears
from all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgrace
from all the earth.
The Lord has spoken.
9 In that day they will say,
‘Surely this is our God;
we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the Lord, we trusted in him;
let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.’
10 The hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain;
but Moab will be trampled in their land
as straw is trampled down in the manure.
11 They will stretch out their hands in it,
as swimmers stretch out their hands to swim.
God will bring down their pride
despite the cleverness of their hands.
12 He will bring down your high fortified walls
and lay them low;
he will bring them down to the ground,
to the very dust.
A. Find Out
- What will the Lord do for His people? v.8
- How will His people feel? v.9
- How will the Lord deal with different people? v.10
- How will ‘Moab’ end up? v.10c-12
- What was it about ‘Moab’ that caused this? v.11b
B. Think:
- Who are the two groups contrasted here?
- What picture was given of God’s followers? v.6-9
- What picture is given of His enemies? v.10-12
C. Comment:
In verses 6 to 12 there are two contrasting pictures given. The first is of the faithful remnant that we saw back in 24:13-16 referred to as “his people” in 25:8 and this people are pictured at a celebratory feast (v.6) where peace and eternal life prevails (v.8). Also the shame and disgrace (v.8b) of the past is removed and forgotten in the wonder of the relationship they now have with the Lord where they feel utterly secure in the trust that has been formed and the salvation received (v.9). God’s hand rests on them (v.10a) and they are secure.
By contrast the prophet pictures ‘Moab’. Now whether that is literal Moab or an analogy for all unbelievers is unclear, but whereas the people of God are resting safe and secure in a celebratory banquet, this people are being trampled underfoot (v.10b) and, in the same way as straw is put down in a stable to cover the cattle droppings and is then trodden in, so will the unbeliever experience a time of wallowing in their sin. But they try to survive in it and so the picture is of them trying to swim in this muck (v.11a) trying to keep going despite it.
But this is a process or action brought about by the Lord to bring down their pride and their cleverness (v.11b). This presumably is what is behind this, their pride which has exalted them and made them reject God. We hear the same thing in the crusading atheists of the twenty-first century. They may have been great and strong but God will bring them down in His dealings with them (v.12).
D. Application:
- Pride deceives us into thinking we are greater than God. Sheer folly!
- The eternal options have been made very clear. Choose.