Isaiah 25:1-12
Isa 25:1
O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will
praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old
are faithfulness and truth.
Isaiah now extols the LORD in contrast to the fear he had
of him back in chapter 6. Isaiah
proclaims the truth that all Christians should realize that God is our God
because he has saved his people.
God is exalted because it was him who created the salvation plan whereby the
Elect of God has become saved. In
this time we praise the LORD for what he has done for us.
Saying, I will declare thy name
unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.
(Hebrews 2:12) Whenever we hand
out a tract, we are telling the world of the wonderful things God has done for
us. The counsels of God are filled
only with faithfulness and truth from old times and will be that way for
eternity because there is no darkness in him which means that his counsels will
stand in truth for all eternity.
This then is the message which we have
heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness
at all. (1 John 1:5)
Isa 25:2
For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a
defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be
built.
Those who oppose God will never win as is evidenced by
his dealings in the past with pagan cities such as Jericho, Nineveh, Babylon,
Rome. He has made all of those
cities a complete ruin in which they would never be rebuilt again to rule and
wreak havoc upon the world. The
palace of strangers are those who are of false religions which have met their
ruin when they oppose the works and people of God.
It did not matter whether the city was fortified or not, it would not
stand against the LORD. In fact,
the archaeologists that worked the city of Jericho found out that the walls fell
outward, not inward which means a power other than man had destroyed it and we
know full well who destroyed it.
Isa 25:3
Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city
of the terrible nations shall fear thee.
The strong people are those whom the LORD has
strengthened and does not necessarily mean those who are strong in body or
courage. The people whom the LORD
has strengthened, especially those who are not normally brave will praise the
LORD for the strength he has given them, especially spiritual strength for the
daily battles we fight. The cities
of the pagan nations will fear the LORD mainly when they hear what the LORD has
done to other pagan cities. When
Gibeah made a league with Joshua there were five kings who formed an alliance
with each other and the outcome was that Joshua hung the five kings.
Isa 25:4
For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to
the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when
the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
The Lord has been a strength to those who are poor in
both material substances and a strength to those needy in distress especially
those who have been persecuted by their own people such as the rulers or the
wealthy who desire to have it all.
For the oppression of the poor, for the
sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set
him in safety
from him that puffeth at him.
(Psalm 12:5) Let us not forget
the spiritual aspect of this poor and needy are those who are in need of
salvation and since man cannot achieve any form of salvation on his own, God is
the one who gives salvation to his Elect and that takes them from being poor and
needy to a child of the living God.
When the storms of life come upon a person, the LORD is their strength and
refuge.
The LORD also will be a refuge for the
oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. (Psalm 9:9)
The heat which comes upon all unsaved humans is the fire of judgment
which is stayed for those in Christ.
Then there is the blast of the terrible ones who are the unsaved people
who come against the LORD’s people and continually persecute them.
The LORD gives refuge and strength when the storms of life come against
the people of God and calms both the people and the storms down.
He maketh the storm a calm, so
that the waves thereof are still. (Psalm 107:29)
Isa 25:5
Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat
in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of
the terrible ones shall be brought low.
The noise of the strangers is the uproar or tumult they
made especially when they would approach the gates of the city and would make
that part of their psychological warfare.
Like the noise of chariots on the
tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that
devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. (Joel 2:5)
The strangers would be those who have set themselves up against the LORD.
These shall be brought to nothing like both Assyria and Babylon.
They will become as silent as heat in a dry place and just like when a
cloud appears it lessens the heat and the LORD will protect his people like that
cloud by lessening their plight of persecution.
The branch or strength of the terrible ones who are the enemies of God
will be brought down to nothing as the major empires have been.
Isa 25:6
And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto
all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things
full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
The mountain being spoken of here is Mount Zion which is
another term for the body of believers.
Notice it is unto all people and not just the Jews in Judah but to all
the nations of the world when the gospel goes forth throughout the world.
The fat things will be the tenets of the true gospel which will take a
lean person like Isaiah said he was and cause them to be filled with the things
of the LORD through the Lord Jesus Christ.
The wine on the lees is when the wine is still in containers and
continues to grow strong and when the wine is ready for usage, it is strained to
allow only the good wine to come through the filter.
The feast of fat things would refer to a banquet which has all the best
and finest foods available for the guests.
That table of the LORD can be eaten here in the world.
Thou preparest a table before me
in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth
over. (Psalm 23:5) We are given
the table of salvation in the presence of all the enemies of God that dwell in
this world.
Isa 25:7
And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the
covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.
The gospel which will go from Mount Zion will destroy the
coverings and vails which have long covered the truth of the gospel.
Just like today, the gospel is vailed or hidden from the people by means
of false teachings and false teachers who exalt themselves and hide the truth
from the people. Soon that will be
destroyed by the true gospel going forth.
The only ones who will hold on to the vail and coverings will be the
non-elect of this world.
14 But their minds were blinded: for until
this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old
testament; which vail is done away in Christ. 15 But even unto
this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. 16
Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. (2
Corinthians 3:14-16)
The people of Israel have placed their faith in the fact
they think that their attempted keeping of the law will buy them salvation but
it will not. Just like the people
of all nations which have their own religions in their countries think that
their religion along with all its rituals will save them but it will not.
Isa 25:8
He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD
will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he
take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.
So when this
corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is
swallowed up in victory. (1 Corinthians 15:54)
On that great day when mortality and
corruption will be no more, then we will understand more fully the fact that
death has been swallowed up in victory.
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is
death. (1 Corinthians 15:26) Death will be destroyed on the last day which
means no Christian will ever have to face that again and it will never again
hang over us as it does in this life.
Then along with death being destroyed, God himself will wipe all the
tears away from his people.
And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying,
neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
(Revelation 21:4) Then the rebuke of his people will be eliminated as the
unsaved in the world had come to believe that Christians were nothing more than
the dregs of society but now they have been separated from the unbelievers and
never have to face any rebuke again.
Being defamed, we intreat: we are
made as the filth of the world, and
are the offscouring of all things unto this day. (1 Corinthians 4:13)
The word “offscouring” means “scum” and that is how the unsaved world
views Christians.
Isa 25:9
And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our
God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we
have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
In that great day when all the Saints of God are
transported to Heaven they will acknowledge that he is our God and we have
waited for him to bring us to glory and away from all the sin and degradation of
this world. This verse also points
to the time when the Lord Jesus Christ came on the scene and the nation of
Israel was awaiting the arrival of their Messiah but when he came they rejected
him. The physical Jews rejected him
but not the spiritual Jews which was the Israel of God and his people.
The world awaited the Messiah and the time when the true gospel would go
forth throughout the world and the elect of God would come home into the
kingdom. It does not matter what
the world throws at us because no matter what comes upon us we can still rejoice
in our salvation. This is why the
martyrs could actually sing while they were being burned or ripped apart by
lions because they knew what was ahead for them when the physical body gave out.
Isa 25:10
For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and
Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the
dunghill.
The hand of the LORD will rest in the body of believers
which is Mount Zion. It can rest
because all the work of salvation has now been accomplished in Christ.
Moab here represents all of the people of the world who has opposed the
people of God and God himself. The
people of the world who walked so arrogantly against the people of God will be
brought down as straw in the dunghill.
The straw which was being trampled on by the animals in their stalls is
exactly what the arrogant people of the world will be brought down to, they will
be humbled and all their arguments against Christianity will be proven false and
will be as dunged straw in a stall.
Isa 25:11
And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them,
as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring
down their pride together with the spoils of their hands.
Then just as someone who is drowning and attempts to swim
to safety will find that as a futile thing as the nations of the world attempt
to save themselves by their own understandings.
It was their opposition to God which caused them to be judged and in the
predicament they are in. Do they
honestly think that more of their evil will save them?
They shall be brought down to the pit along with all the spoils of their
hands which they so coveted and killed for while on earth.
Their pride will cease when they are under damnation for eternity.
Isa 25:12
And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he
bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust.
Just as ancient cities relied upon high walls to protect
them against invaders, they would be brought down to the dust.
Just like the high opinions of people today who claim religion is just an
ancient superstition and bask in their high college degrees, their beliefs will
be brought down to dust when they too will be brought under judgment.
It does not matter whether you are surrounded by a physical wall or an
educational wall, if they oppose God and the gospel of Christ, it will be ground
to powder.
And whosoever shall fall on this stone
shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
(Matthew 21:44)