Day 147: Isaiah 25- After Darkness~light

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.
 
Meditation
The darkness of our days leaves us longing for light. The social unrest of our society has ignited a groaning for justice, equity, and unity. The promises of Isaiah 25 dissolve despair as darkness gives way to the light of the victory of God.
 
Dawn breaks forth in Isaiah’s prophecy through the celebration of the triumph of God pictured in a banquet.  God joins His people in a feast of food and fellowship (6-8) highlighted by personal (1-5) and corporate praise (9-12) that celebrates the character and work of our victorious King.
 
The nature of the King’s victory is marked with the defeat of death, the wiping away of tears, and the removal of reproach. These promises are echoed later in Isaiah (55:1ff), in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 15, esp 25-57), and are a present tense reality for King Jesus who is making all things new (Revelation 21:1-6).
 
This passage is pregnant with gospel hope and shapes all God’s people for all time. The darkness of Isaiah’s judgment oracles gives way to the dawn of the celebration of the victory of God. The celebration of this victory is available for Christians through the finished work of Christ.
 
The reformers used to hold high a Latin phrase: Post Tenebras Lux- After darkness, light.  Christians today must hold the hope of the victory of the Lord accomplished through Christ and the promise of feasting in fellowship in unity with God and one another. Light has dawned! We must live in hope.
 
Richly Dwelling
-Please take a moment to meditate on the promised victory of God through this fantastic song by Sandra McCracken: We WILL Feast in the House of Zion.
 
-Is your heart more consumed with the despair of the difficulty of the season or with the hope of the promised victory of the Lord? Why?
 
-Preach the gospel to yourself, now and every day. Remind your soul of the promised victory of God, re-orient the eyes of your heart to the hope of Heaven. Walk in faith seeking to bring what WILL BE to the HERE and NOW.
 
God’s Kingdom Come, in our hearts and homes as it is in Heaven. More mercy.
 
Key Verse
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.