This is the Lord!
Notes
Transcript
1 O Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you; I will praise your name,
for you have done wonderful things,
plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
2 For you have made the city a heap,
the fortified city a ruin;
the foreigners’ palace is a city no more;
it will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
4 For you have been a stronghold to the poor,
a stronghold to the needy in his distress,
a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;
for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,
5 like heat in a dry place.
You subdue the noise of the foreigners;
as heat by the shade of a cloud,
so the song of the ruthless is put down.
6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
7 And he will swallow up on this mountain
the covering that is cast over all peoples,
the veil that is spread over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day,
“Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
10 For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain,
and Moab shall be trampled down in his place,
as straw is trampled down in a dunghill.
11 And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it
as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim,
but the Lord will lay low his pompous pride together with the skill of his hands.
12 And the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down,
lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.
Introduction
Introduction
Chapter 25 comes after a set of prophecies concerning the nations. Isaiah reminds the Covenant People that God is the only reliable solution on which they can depend. Other nations may appear like a good choice for reliance, however, they will eventually fail. And even though trusting in God seems like a futile option at the moment, God promises His future blessing. His promises are not empty because history reminds us that He is faithful. And this is the foundation of confidence for Isaiah’s words in this chapter.
This section sounds as if it should be a part of the book of Psalms. It is a song of praise that declares God's mighty acts of the past and His future acts as well. God’s plan is glorious. When we study this chapter, we will see that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophetic words.
You are My God
You are My God
Verse 1 sets the stage for this chapter with Isaiah declaring that God is his God. He invokes the sacred name of the LORD (YHWH) and pledges his utmost allegiance. For Isaiah, there could only be one God. The so called "gods" of the nations did not come close to who God is. For the covenant people, there was only one True God. And this is true for all who believe in Jesus Christ. We acknowledge that there is only One God, and only One God that we serve. And If we ever venture into other forms of spirituality or we are interested in validating other paths to God besides Christ, we are entering into the territory of idolatry and wavering allegiance to God.
Because God is God and He is "My God", the logical response is to exalt and praise Him. To exalt God is to raise Him to the highest level and position of our lives. And when we praise Him, we acknowledge His power and action in an attitude of thankfulness and adoration.
God has a faithful plan and this is the first reason Isaiah gives us for exalting and praising God. We often look in admiration toward those who have wise foresight for the future and make sound plans. And we esteem those who are successful at executing those plans. Isaiah declares that God has ancient and faithful plans. He is sovereign. He is in control of all things. And things will ultimately go according to His plan. When things may seem chaotic or off track so as to pose a threat to His plan, even then, His plan will not fail. Consider how sin disrupted God plan for the world in Genesis. When Adam and Eve sinned, God gave us the proto-evangelium, the first mention of the Gospel through Jesus in Genesis 3:15. We can be assured that nothing surprises God, nor is He caught off-guard because of our actions.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
Isaiah considers all the plans of God and concludes that God is faithful. Therefore, if God has a plan and can bring it to pass, we can place our full confidence in Him. How confident are you in God? How confident are you in His plans?
Secondly, Isaiah worships God because He brings justice and salvation to His people and the whole earth. When it comes to our notion of justice, we must admit that we are a terrible source for understanding what is just. We are sinners and have the continual yearning of our sinful desires towards perverting justice. Social Justice is a popular topic and Christians should be concerned about justice because our God is just. However, we must never assume that we can build a concept of justice without God as the foundation. When considering the current movements of social justice, we must be careful to evaluate their foundation and methods. Do they acknowledge God? Do they understand the effect of sin upon the human heart? Do they view repentance and submission to God as part of the solution? When we consider God's justice, we discover that God is the only one who will give proper justice. He will provide for those who entrust themselves to Him.
Three Future Acts of God
Three Future Acts of God
The writer continues in the second section to look to the future acts of God. God will do three things: provide a celebration meal, swallow up death, and wipe tears from the eyes of His people. When we look at the life and ministry of Jesus, we can confidently conclude that Jesus is the fulfillment of these three promised acts of God.
1. God Will Prepare a Feast
1. God Will Prepare a Feast
On Mount Zion, the symbolic location for God's presence and authority on earth, God will prepare a large celebration meal. Typically in the ancient east, this would be more like a multiple-day festival than a single meal. Isaiah envisions the best food and drink. At this table, God will reserve a seat for all those who place their trust in Him, whether they are Jewish or Gentile.
Today we resume observing the sacrament of Communion. We partake of communion because it a command of Christ for His community. All who sit at this table are invited by God's grace which we receive through faith. We do not approach this table on our own merit or ability. We do not deserve such a meal, but God's plan makes it possible. Jesus in the final meal with his disciples, took the simple elements of bread and wine and declared their symbolic meaning toward his death upon the cross. The bread and the wine point to the costly sacrifice of Jesus. God broke the bank when it came to our salvation. Christ fulfilled this promise of a feast from God.
And this meal has a future element for us today. Jesus promised in Luke 22:14-20 that He would not taste of it again until the coming kingdom. As we partake of the communion elements today, we are aware that we await a great everlasting celebration when we will eat this together with God face to face.
2. God Will Swallow Death
2. God Will Swallow Death
God will also swallow up the covering of death that is upon all humanity. Isaiah envisions the might power of God toward the enemy of Death. Death has no power over God. When we consider how God swallowed death, we must be mindful of two aspects of death, physical and spiritual. Sin brings death. We are spiritually dead until we come to Christ. And we will experience physical death one day. Both are connected but each has a different future depending upon our position in Christ.
When Christ encountered the enemy of death, He did not go around it but rather through it. He went through death upon the cross. He was buried. But through His resurrection, He lives forevermore proving that physical death is not our final destiny. He promises that those who entrust themselves to Him, He will raise up on the last day. His death and resurrection provide spiritual life for all who are spiritually dead yet believe. So in Christ, we do not need to fear death. Death is only a step that brings us closer to our Savior. Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. And we so we live our lives and await our hope in Christ.
55 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
3. God Will Wipe Away Tears
3. God Will Wipe Away Tears
Lastly, Isaiah mentions that God will wipe the tears from His people's eyes. Consider the source of our sorrow. We mourn over the loss of life and things. We cry over the suffering and the effects of sin and sinful choices. We weep because this life is bitter at times. We may often wonder if life will get any better. We can know that it will get better in God’s plan. We can see the bits and pieces of God's plan coming to pass in our lives in the salvation journey we travel. Our journey does not lead to any place or time on this earth. Our destiny is in Christ. This is how we face tomorrow and the unknown future. God promises that this journey that is often marked by tears, will end and He will personally wipe the tears of loss, suffering, and pain from the eyes of those who trust in Him.
4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.
This is the Lord
This is the Lord
Isaiah includes a section with a fantastic statement. He declares that God is present. Behold this is our God...This is our Lord! How difficult it can be to identify the presence of God in the midst of difficulty. But God is present. Isaiah reminds us that we must wait for Him. How difficult it can be to wait upon the Lord. This is the timeless temptation for God's people. We typically want an immediate solution, but God has a timeline to which we must adjust ourselves. Isaiah gave this prophecy as evidence that God would do so according to His faithful plan. Those who wait upon the Lord in faith will be able to say that they have experienced God's salvation.
God gives us the details of the One who would fulfill his plans. Isaiah's book is second to the Psalms as one of the most quoted books in the New Testament concerning Christ. They reveal to us that God has sent Jesus as the One who fulfills these words of Isaiah. We agree with the gospels' testimony that Jesus is the one whom humanity has waited for concerning God's salvation. We agree with Peter, who declared that Jesus was the Christ, the promised One of God. We agree with Thomas, the one who once doubted but turned in faith to acknowledge that Jesus is God. This is our confession of faith. And as believers, we stand in line with Isaiah's original audience and await a future in which we see the completion of God's plan in Jesus.
The Consequence of Pride
The Consequence of Pride
Isaiah finishes the verses with a sober reminder by contrasting those under the Lord's hand and those who are not. Those on the Mountain of the Lord, those in Zion, and those who trust in Christ are the united people of God's covenant salvation. They receive the blessing of the hand of the Lord. But those who are not, will follow the consequences of Moab. Moab is mentioned in
Isaiah 16:6-7
as a people so proud and unwilling to humble themselves to obey God. Instead of a seat at the table, they suffer like straw trampled into a dunghill. The symbolism is fairly grotesque. Moab's consequences comes from their the attitude of self-confidence and a stubborn rejection of God's rightful position as God.
God's word causes us to conclude that there are only two types of people in the world. There are those that say to God, "Your will be done," and there are those that say to God, "My will be done." What will you choose? On whom will you wait? In whom will you trust? On whom will you build your life?