October 2, Isaiah 25
O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will
praise your name, for you have done wonderful
things. - Isaiah 25:1
Chapter 25 is like a spirited fight song of a school, sung by loyal fans. They raise their voices to boast of great victories their team has won, and confidently predict their gridiron heroes will win the current contest and those to come. It’s like the politician’s speech during his reelection campaign. His impassioned words boast of what he has done, and make grand promises of what he’s going to do in the future. But this song is far more wonderful than a song about young athletes playing a game. This song has far more credibility and significance than the boastful claims and promises of a politician.
The song in Isaiah 25 celebrates God’s mighty deeds. It recounts what the Lord has done, and rehearses what the Lord is going to do. It’s about God’s power and God’s faithfulness. He has graciously blessed his people and he will continue to help them, protect them, enable them and reward those who are faithful to him.
Chapter 25 proclaims some of the greatest themes of the Bible. Isaiah foresaw the provision God would make in Christ, providing a rich feast of satisfying blessings in Christ’s sacrifice of himself on the cross. By Christ’s resurrection, he would destroy the great enemy, Death, in glorious triumph over the grave. God’s plans, laid from all eternity, would be completely realized. No enemy could prevail against him or prevent him from accomplishing his purpose. It is fitting that the setting for the great feast is Jerusalem. The “mountain” in this chapter is the same as in the last verse of the preceding chapter, “Mount Zion and in Jerusalem.” Jesus told his disciples and some others who were listening that those who partook of his flesh and blood would live. It was just outside the walls of Jerusalem that Jesus died on the cross, where he bore our sins in his body and redeemed us by his blood. And it was in a garden around Jerusalem where Jesus won a victory that spelled the end of death when he rose from the borrowed tomb. We could also read the setting for this feast and overthrow of death as the New Jerusalem to be revealed when Jesus comes again. In that heavenly Jerusalem, Christ and his redeemed ones will enjoy the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in a realm where the grim specter of death will never threaten again.
Isaiah said that the Lord would take away or swallow up the veil over us all. That’s a reference to death and its defeat. It might also point to the veil of the temple being torn from top to bottom when Jesus died on the cross. Jesus took the veil of separation between us and God away.
Isaiah saw that God would reward his faithful ones, and punish his enemies. He could say with full confidence and assurance that was so because God’s word is faithful and his plans are sure.
Today, you and I live on the other side of the cross and empty tomb. What Isaiah foresaw and confidently prophesied would happen, we have reliable testimony that it did in fact happen. If Isaiah could praise God and put his trust in him, we should be even more able to do so. Isaiah exalted God for what he was going to do. When we hear and believe the gospel and respond to it, we have even more reason to exalt the name of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He has done wonderful things for us, and the best is yet to come!
Copyright © 2023 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—October 2023
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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