ISAIAH 25
OPENS WITH...The Song of Joy from the Midst of Tribulation & Praising God for what He has done.
Verse 1 GOD SHOWS ISAIAH ALL THE WONDERFUL THINGS HE WILL DO.
"O LORD, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth."
REMEMBER Isaiah 24 spoke of the judgment to come upon the world, especially in the Great Tribulation. During that time, those who have come to trust in the LORD will praise Him, even in the midst of His righteous judgment. They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing; for the majesty of the LORD they shall cry aloud from the sea (Isaiah 24:14). This song shows the kind of heart that praises God in the midst of tribulation, even in the midst of the Great Tribulation.
O LORD, You are my God...Knowing that the LORD -the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God revealed in and by Jesus Christ -is our God makes us want to praise Him. When someone or something other than the LORD is our God, we are guilty of idolatry.
I will exalt You, I will praise Your name...The worshiper here makes a decision to praise God (I will). Worship is never to be just a feeling, even if it is an intense feeling. We are to CHOOSE TO worship God with a decision.
SPURGEON SAYS IT WELL..."If I did not praise and bless Christ my Lord, I should deserve to have my tongue torn out by its roots from my mouth. If I did not bless and magnify his name, I should deserve that every stone I tread on in the streets should rise up to curse my ingratitude, for I am a drowned debtor to the mercy of God - over head and ears - to infinite love and boundless compassion I am a debtor. Are you not the same? Then I charge you by the love of Christ, awake, awake your hearts now to magnify his glorious name."
For You have done wonderful things...When we think about all the wonderful things the LORD has done, it is pretty easy to make the decision to CHOOSE TO worship the LORD. God wants our worship to be filled with thought and remembrance of God's great works, not only an emotional response.
Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth...When we remember the greatness and permanence of God's Word, it makes us WANT to praise Him.
What is more reliable, more everlasting, more enduring than the Word of God?
Verses 2-3 tells us Praising God for His righteous judgment.
"For You have made a city a ruin, a fortified city a ruin, a palace of foreigners to be a city no more; it will never be rebuilt. Therefore the strong people will glorify You; the city of the terrible nations will fear You."
For You have made a city a ruin...We can worship God for His judgment, because we have confidence in His fairness. As was the case with Sodom and Gomorrah, God will never make a city a ruin unless the judgment is deserved, and God has ALWAYS made provision for the righteous.
Which city is referred to?
NO SPECIFIC CITY, BECAUSE GOD IS SPEAKING TO ALLLLL AND EVERYYYYYYYY CITY IN THIS WORLD.
When God asserts his will in judgment he will bring an end to the existing human order, AMEN?
The righteous judgment of God has TWO effects upon mankind.
FIRST, the strong people will glorify You. The people of the LORD see His work and glorify Him.
SECOND, the city of the terrible nations will fear You. The unrighteous fear God when they see His righteous judgment.
Verses 4-5 tells us Praising God for His goodness to the weak.
"For You have been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat; for the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. You will reduce the noise of aliens, as heat in a dry place; as heat in the shadow of a cloud, the song of the terrible ones will be diminished."
God is worthy of our praise because He brings strength to the poor and needy!
We can praise God because He is a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat, and even the strangers (aliens) are blessed by His goodness. God will even quiet the song of the terrible ones!
Verse 6 tells us of Praising God for what He WILL do, BRING A GLORIOUS FEAST FOR HIS PEOPLE.
"And in this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all people a feast of choice pieces, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of well-refined wines on the lees."
In this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all people a feast...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
In several places, the Bible speaks of what is often called the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Revelation 19:9 says, Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb! According to Isaiah 25:6, we might say that this great feast takes place on earth, not in heaven.
And what a feast it will be! A feast of choice pieces, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of well-refined wines on the lees. For the God's people, this will be the "victory banquet" or the "awards banquet" when after THE FINAL BATTLE is over!
AND REMEMBER...Jesus is really looking forward to this banquet. He said to His disciples at the Last Supper, "I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom" told to us in Matthew 26:29.
In this, Jesus spoke of His LONGING & EXPECTATION for the day when He would take communion with His people at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
Jesus is excited about this event; are you?
Verses 7-8 tells us of the destruction of evil.
"And He will destroy on this mountain the surface of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; for the LORD has spoken."
What will the LORD destroy?
THE VEIL that is spread over all nations. The picture is that there is a veil that is spread over all nations that keeps them from seeing God, loving God, and obeying God. In this glorious day, the LORD will destroy that veil.
AND REMEMBER...In the New Testament, Paul speaks of Israel being BLINDED BY A VEIL: "But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart" told to us in 2 Corinthians 3:15.
AND AS GOD HAD TOLD HIM, AND ISAIAH SAW HIMSELF IN HIS DAY, it was more apparent that the NATIONS WERE VEILED.
WHEREAS, In Paul's day, it was more apparent that ISRAEL WAS VEILED.
BUT THE BIBLE TELLS US...for BOTH the nations and for Israel, the REMEDY is the same. "Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away," told to us in 2 Corinthians 3:16.
The LORD will also destroy death...He will swallow up death FOREVER. The day will come when death is powerless. Death was introduced by Adam's rebellion told to us in Genesis 2:16-17, and will one day be completely eliminated by God.
REMEMBER Paul knew this and looked forward to this day. He proclaimed in 1 Corinthians 15:54: "Death is swallowed up in victory."
This will be true for every believer when death is defeated by resurrection. A resurrected body is not a resuscitated corpse. It is a new order of life that will never die again.
Freud was wrong when he said: "And finally there is the painful riddle of death, for which no remedy at all has yet been found, nor probably ever will be." Compare that with Isaiah's triumphant declaration, "He will swallow death up forever!"
And the LORD God will wipe away tears from all faces...How much more glorious could the tender mercy of God be? It isn't just that He takes away the things that made us sad, or even that He gives us a handkerchief to dry our eyes and blow our nose. Instead, He gently and lovingly will wipe away tears from all faces.
HOW CAN WE EVER DOUBT THE LOVE, CARE, & TENDERNESS OUR GOD HAS FOR US?
The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth... Now, we need the rebuke of His people. If God did not rebuke and correct us, we could drift further and further from Him.
BUT GOD SHOWS ISAIAH HERE THE WONDROUS PROMISE AND HOPE...But there will come a day when we are no longer troubled by sin, no longer in a place to rebel. In that glorious day, the rebuke of His people He will take away. Thank God for that coming day! Thank God for His faithful rebuke until then!
Verse 9 tell us the testimony of God's people.
"And it will be said in that day: "Behold, 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."
Behold, this is our God...We will proclaim it then because we have proclaimed it now. We are those who were unafraid to confess Jesus before men on earth, and we will be blessed to hear Him confess us before our Father in heaven told to us in Luke 12:8.
We have waited for Him, and He will save us...How great it is to wait on the LORD, and to see Him bring His salvation! God often seems distant or cruel when He compels us to wait on Him, but His ways really are best, and will be shown to be the best, AMEN?
We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation...If it is our salvation -a salvation of our own making, of our own creation, then there is nothing to be glad and rejoice in. But since it is His salvation, there is everything to be glad and rejoice in!
And it will be said in that day...Each one of these things - confessing He is our God, the fulfillment of patient waiting, and rejoicing in His salvation - each of these will be ultimately fulfilled in that day. But they can be substantially fulfilled right now! We can praise God for these things right now! And as we do, we bring some of the glory of that day to pass in our lives right now.
SPURGEON SAYS IT WELL, "To be rapt in praise to God is the highest state of the soul. To receive the mercy for which we praise God for is something; but to be wholly clothed with praise to God for the mercy received is far more. Why, praise is heaven, and heaven is praise! To pray is heaven below, but praise is the essence of heaven above. When you bow in adoration, you are at your very highest."
Verses 10-12 tells us The LORD resolves all things.
"For on this mountain the hand of the LORD will rest, and Moab shall be trampled down under Him, as straw is trampled down for the refuse heap. And He will spread out His hands in their midst as a swimmer reaches out to swim, and He will bring down their pride together with the trickery of their hands. The fortress of the high fort of your walls He will bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, down to the dust."
For on this mountain the hand of the LORD WILL REST...The LORD will settle His hand of favor, power, and glory on Mount Zion. After the Great Tribulation, when Jesus Christ reigns from Jerusalem, the whole creation WILL KNOW WITHOUT DOUBT that the hand of the LORD does rest on this mountain.
And Moab will be trampled down...In that day, Jesus WILL RULE ALL the nations with all authority and righteousness (Psalm 2:8-12). God will reach out (As a swimmer reaches out to swim) and bring low every proud, rebelling heart. Those who oppose His rule He will bring to the ground, down to the dust.
THESE PROPHETIC WORDS, PROMISES, AND VISIONS GIVEN ISAIAH ASKS MANKIND SIMPLY...So, which do we want - the loving hand of God UPON US, or to be TRAMPLED TO DUST under His feet?
THE BIBLE ASKS THE SAME QUESTION OVER AND OVER...CHOOSE!
DEUTERONOMY 30:19, "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:"
JOSHUA 24:15, "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
I HAVE IMBUED YOU FROM BIRTH WITH FREEWILL CHOICE. IT IS A CHOICE I CAN NOT MAKE FOR YOU. YOU MUST CHOOSE WHILE THERE IS STILL BREATH IN YOUR LUNGS & YOUR HEART BEATS.
CHOOSE THE WORLD, MANKIND, AND SATAN AND SPEND ETERNITY IN THE LAKE OF FIRE.
CHOOSE MY SALVATION, MY SON, JESUS CHRIST, TO BE YOUR LORD, SAVIOR, AND FRIEND, AND SPEND ETERNITY WITH ME IN HEAVEN.
CHOOSE JESUS.