Introduction
‘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. 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. Therefore strong peoples will honour you; cities of ruthless nations will revere you. 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 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.’ Isaiah 25:1-5
Praise To The LORD
In this chapter, we read that Judah rejoices over her deliverance.
These verses are a hymn of thanksgiving for the deliverance spoken of. Because of who God is and the things He did in the past, God is exalted.
There is rejoicing over the fall of the city of the captors who brought them into captivity. This would possibly Nineveh, Babylon, Moab, or any other strong fortress erected by the enemies of God’s people would become ruins when God gave the word, 1 Corinthians 2:8. Even the strong oppressors of God’s people were forced to recognise His power and might.
God is a refuge and strength to the faithful, Psalm 46:1. Because God is a protecting shelter for His people, He brings to silence those who have dealt ruthlessly with His people with whom He has a covenant relationship. Assyria came in a boastful and arrogant manner but her song was short-lived.
‘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. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. 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.’ Isaiah 25:6-8
Here we read of the great rejoicing in Jerusalem.
God is looking for fellowship with those upon the mountain. Mount Zion is the spiritual refuge of God’s people. Having a banquet with God at the end of great turmoil is hope that is given to His people, Psalm 36:8 / Psalm 63:5 / Matthew 8:11 / Matthew 26:29 / Revelation 19:7-9.
Pledge, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This seems to be a vivid description of the deliverance of Jerusalem from the Assyrians when they laid siege to the city in the reign of Hezekiah. The death of 185,000 soldiers in one night was truly a ‘swallowing up of death’.’
Jerusalem was saved from extinction and the deliverance provided relief for the people during that particular period. God destroyed death by destroying the Assyrian army. It is a banquet celebrating deliverance from the fear of death, 1 Corinthians 15:54-55 / Hebrews 2:14-15.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following, concerning ‘the shroud’ or the ‘veil’ as the KJV renders it.
‘That veil of the temple was a symbol’.
1. Of Christ himself, Hebrews 10:19-22.
2. Of death, as indicated by its Location, symbolically, between the church, the sanctuary, and heaven, the Holy of Holies.
3. Of equality among God’s children, since it separated between the High Priest and the lesser priests.
4. Of the veil of darkness that prevents unbelievers from understanding the Old Testament.
5. Of the law of Moses, being actually the pivotal instrument in that whole system.
‘These are some of the symbolical connotations of the veil of the temple, the most significant fact about that veil being that it was ‘rent in twain’. It is in that second condition of the veil, that is, after it was rent, that it symbolized Christ’s entering in ‘through death’ into that which is beyond the veil, Hebrews 6:19, it symbolized the opening of a new and living way for all men to be saved, Hebrews 10:20, it symbolized the destruction of death as stated by Isaiah in this very chapter and it symbolized the opening up and clarification of countless passages in the Old Testament, which cannot ever be understood apart from their connection with Jesus Christ. Christ alone is indeed the ‘Key to the Scriptures’.’
‘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.” 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. 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. He will bring down your high fortified walls and lay them low; he will bring them down to the ground, to the very dust.’ Isaiah 25:9-12
Moab, the enemy of Israel, will be cast down. Judah rejoices because she trusted in God rather than men. The Lord delivered on His promises, and so, the delivered are overcome with a song of gratitude. God delivered Judah then, Christ, for whom we waited, delivers us from sin. Those who wait on God are never disappointed.
De Hoff, in his commentary, says the following.
‘There is a great gulf fixed between those who trust in the Lord and those who consider themselves self-sufficient without His word. The gulf may now be crossed in either direction but when we have gone into eternity the gulf is ‘fixed’, Luke 16:26.’
The hand of the Lord brings judgement as well as mercy. The haughty and arrogant will be punished and the righteous will be rewarded. Moab, the nation who seduced the people of God into committing fornication, is gone, Genesis 19:30-38 / Numbers 25:1.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘All of the figures that God uses in the Bible to describe the final punishment of the wicked are all repulsive’.
1. The lake of fire.
2. The perpetual silence.
3. The outer darkness.
4. Where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
5. Where the fire is not quenched and the worm dies not.
6. A pool of blood up to the horse’s bridles for 200 miles! etc. This description is the seventh.
7. A man trying to swim out of a watered dung hole! Rather than being offended by such descriptions, men should strive to avoid the place or condition described.