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. – Isaiah 25:1-12 ESV
Chapter 25 points to a future day when the kingdom of God will be established on the earth. According to Revelation 20, Jesus Christ will return after a great period of tribulation on the earth. At that time, He will defeat the enemies of God, bind Satan, and set up His earthly kingdom in Jerusalem. In chapter 19 of Revelation, the apostle John describes His coming.
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. – Revelation 19:11-13 ESV
He will bring with Him the armies of heaven, which will include all those who belong to the church, the body of Christ, who will have been raptured before the beginning of the seven years of tribulation. And John describes a great battle and a decisive victory taking place, with Jesus conquering His enemies with the word of His mouth.
And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh. – Revelation 19:29-21 ESV
With the earthly allies of Satan defeated and Satan himself confined to the pit, Jesus will rule and reign from the throne of David in Jerusalem. And John describes this future scene.
Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. – Revelation 20:4 ESV
And it is this future period that Isaiah seems to be describing. Verses 1-5 features the many pilgrims, those who will come to faith during the days of the Tribulation, making their way to the city of Jerusalem. They are praising God for the unfolding of His plan, made long ago, but coming to fruition just as He had said it would. In the midst of all the persecution and moral decay of the Tribulation, God will prove Himself a stronghold to the poor and needy. And His Son will destroy the cities of the enemy, bringing to account the ruthless, godless and wicked who dwell on the earth.
In verses 6-12, Isaiah describes the “mountain,” the city of Jerusalem. This is the same imagery he used back in chapter two.
In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s house
will be the highest of all—
the most important place on earth.
It will be raised above the other hills,
and people from all over the world will stream there to worship.
People from many nations will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of Jacob’s God.
There he will teach us his ways,
and we will walk in his paths.”
For the Lord’s teaching will go out from Zion;
his word will go out from Jerusalem.
The Lord will mediate between nations
and will settle international disputes.
They will hammer their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will no longer fight against nation,
nor train for war anymore. – Isaiah 2:2-4 NLT
With Christ ruling on the throne of David in Jerusalem, things will be radically different on the earth. For the first time in human history, a truly righteous individual will rule over the nations of the world. During the thousand years of Christ’s earthly reign, there will be peace on the earth. While there will be believers and unbelievers living during those days, the presence of Christ on the throne of David will ensure that justice is meted out perfectly and sin is dealt with righteously and justly. People who choose to sin will suffer the consequences of their choice. But the prevailing atmosphere during those 1,000 years will be that of righteousness and justice. And many, seeing the righteous rule of Christ on display, will come to faith during those days.
But Isaiah goes on to describe what will happen when the thousand years is complete. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. John gives us a description of this amazing reality in Revelation.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” – Revelation 21:1-4 NLT
And Isaiah describes this as a time when death will be swallowed up, and God will wipe away all tears. Paul quotes from this very same passage in his first letter to the Corinthians.
Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. – 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 NLT
The threat of death will be eliminated once and for all. Those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ will enjoy unbroken fellowship with God and His Son for eternity, with no fear of ever having to experience death again. And Isaiah quotes those who survive the Tribulation and enter into eternity as they praise God for His salvation.
“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.” – Isaiah 25:9 ESV
God’s divine plan of redemption and restoration, made long before He created the world, will come about just as He said it would. And all of us who have placed our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior will be able to join with those who come out of the Tribulation, in saying, “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.”
Even during the dark days surrounding the people of Judah, God was allowing Isaiah to see into the future and glimpse the fulfillment of His plan. There was far more to the story than Isaiah could see with his eyes. Sometimes the current circumstances we face paint a bleak and foreboding picture that can cause us to doubt and question whether God is really in control. But through prophets like Isaiah, Zechariah, Daniel and Micah, and the vision given to John as recorded in the book of Revelation, God has provided us with the rest of the story. He has everything under control. He has plans, formed of old, that are faithful and true.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson