Isa 25:1 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.
Isa 25:2 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.
Isa 25:3 Therefore the strong people will glorify You; The city of the terrible nations will fear You.
Isa 25:4 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.
Isa 25:5 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.
Isa 25:6 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.
Isa 25:7 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.
Isa 25:8 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.
Isa 25:9 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.”
Isa 25:10 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.
Isa 25:11 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.
Isa 25:12 The fortress of the high fort of your walls He will bring down, lay low, And bring to the ground, down to the dust.
1 The prophet praises God, for his judgments, 6 for his saving benefits, 9 and for his victorious salvation.
God Will Swallow Up Death Forever
Isa 25:1 LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise yourname, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago.
I will excelled you. This chapter, particularly vs. 1–5 is a song of praise. The prophet raises his voice in thanks to the Lord for bringing the reign of sin to an end and establishing His glorious kingdom, as announced in ch. 24:23.
Planned long ago. The plan for man’s salvation was not an afterthought. Long before the creation of this world God took counsel with Christ concerning the plan to be followed in case of the emergency of sin. Christ then offered Himself and became “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8).
Then began the “counsel of peace” (Zech. 6:13; see PP 63) between Christ and the Father on behalf of lost mankind. It was the eternal purpose of God that man should enjoy life, and to the carrying out of that purpose all the resources of heaven were devoted (see Isa. 46:10).
Isa 25:2 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.
A city. A reference to Babylon (see on chs. 14:4; 24:10), the symbolic center of the forces of evil in the days of Isaiah. Literal Babylon raised itself up against Jerusalem, and through that pagan center Satan put forth mighty efforts to control the world, but it was to be reduced to a heap of ruins. For the fulfillment of this prophecy in Isaiah’s day, see on chs. 13:19–22; 14:4. In the days immediately prior to the second coming of Christ mystical Babylon will be destroyed (Rev. 18:10, 21). The destruction of Babylon is typical of the destruction of the might and power of Satan (see on Isa. 14:4–23; Jer. 51:24–26, 41, 53, 55, 64).
Isa 25:3 Therefore strong peoples will honor you; cities of ruthless nations will revere you.
The strong people. The Hebrew has no article here before either “people” or “city,” and the application is therefore general rather than particular. When the Lord destroyed Babylon (see on v. 2), other nations would learn to recognize His might and power.
Compare Rev. 11:8, 13, where the judgment that fell upon the wicked “city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt,” resulted in the rest being “affrighted” and giving “glory to the God of heaven”; and Ps. 76:9, 10, where the Lord’s arising in judgment “to save all the meek of the earth” will result in man’s wrath bringing praise to God.
Isa 25:4 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
A refuge. Or, “stronghold.” The truth here stated applies to any and every deliverance the Lord brings to the poor and needy from their oppressors. In Isaiah’s day it applied to the destruction of Sennacherib’s armies that came against Judah. In Daniel’s day it applied to the downfall of Babylon (see on ch. 14:4–6), and at the second coming of Christ it applies to the destruction of all the powers of evil.
The storm. The fierceness of the forces of evil is compared to the blast of a terrible storm dashing against a wall.
Isa 25:5 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.
The thought of Isa. 25:4 continues with a change in the figures employed. Oppression by foreigners is here compared to the withering heat of a prolonged drought that sears the pastures and parches the land.
The shadow. The “heat” will be dispelled by a cooling “cloud” God brings to overshadow His people. When the Lord intervenes the song of these ruthless enemies of God’s people will be stilled.
Isa 25:6 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.
This mountain. That is, Mt. Zion (see on Ps. 48:2; cf. Isa. 24:23).
A feast. Christ’s coronation feast (see on Rev. 19:7–9). Isaiah envisages the time when mystic Babylon (see on v. 2) will be destroyed (Rev. 19:2) and when the New Jerusalem will be the capital of the re-created earth (Rev. 21:1–3). God calls men to accept His invitation to the feast (Matt. 22:2–4, 9, 10; cf. Luke 14:16, 17). For the twofold application of Isaiah’s prophecies, see on ch. 24:1 cf. pp. 34–36; see on Deut. 18:15.
Isa 25:6 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.
Isa 25:7 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.
In this world men walk, as it were, in the shadow of darkness, with a veil drawn over their eyes. This may be a veil of sorrow or mourning, or a veil of ignorance (Isa. 29:10; 1 Cor. 13:12; 2 Cor. 3:12–18; Eph. 4:18). Such a veil now covers the world, though it is lifted for individuals who accept Christ. But there will be no veil in that happy day when “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” and when “the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isa. 11:9; 6:3).
All nations. Literally, “peoples.” This promise includes God’s people of all ages and among all nations.
Isa 25:8 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.
Swallow up death. Isaiah presents a glorious picture of the resurrection, the deliverance from death that will be accomplished when Jesus returns to reign. This theme was re-echoed by the apostles Paul (1 Cor. 15:54, 55) and John (Rev. 7:17; 21:4).
For ever as the word is translated elsewhere (see Ps. 44:23; Isa. 34:10).
Wipe away tears. Compare Rev. 21:4.
Remove disgrace.
That is, the ignominy and reproach to which the righteous of all ages have submitted during their earthly sojourn. Now the taunt of the heathen, “Where is their God?” (Ps. 79:10), is forever stilled. No longer are they oppressed and afflicted, but stand as victors, crowned with righteousness and singing songs of everlasting joy.
Isa 25:9 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.”
This is our God. This joyous shout of triumph comes from the lips of the scattered saints as Christ appears in the clouds of heaven. Their earnest cries for deliverance are now changed to anthems of praise.
After the appearance of many false christs (see on Matt. 24:24) and after Satan’s masterpiece of deception, his impersonation of Christ (GC 624), the saints now joyfully acknowledge Him for whom they have waited patiently for so long. The wicked have acclaimed Satan as Christ and as the savior of the world, but the saints have denied Satan their allegiance and reserved it for Jesus.
Isa 25:10 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.
In this grand anthem of praise Moab stands for all the enemies of the people of God. For centuries the Moabites had been a sore thorn in the flesh of Israel, but now they, with all other enemies, are to be forever subdued. For other prophecies of judgment upon Moab see Isa. 15; 16; Jer. 48; Eze. 25:8–11.
As straw. Mixed with dung by the feet of cattle. Compare the picture of the Lord treading the wine press (Isa. 63:3; Rev. 14:20).
Isa 25:11 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.
As swimmers. These words are spoken of Moab, floundering, as it were, in the troubled waters of distress and struggling in vain to escape. Compare the psalmist’s prayer for deliverance from the sea of troubles in which he found himself (Ps. 69:1, 2, 14, 15).
Moab is here pictured as a high and strong fortress that will be overthrown by the Lord. The nation of Moab again stands in a general sense for all the enemies of the people of God (see on v. 6). Thus,
is predicted the casting down of every stronghold of the hosts of darkness and the destruction of every fortress of evil.
All the heathen will be brought down, and God’s people alone will be exalted in the great day of the wrath of God (see Dan. 7:27).