Year 2, Week 4, Day 4 Bible Reading Observations

Year 2, Week 4, Day 4

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Isaiah 23-25.

Today’s reading continues with Isaiah’s prophecy to Judah concerning prophecies against nations surrounding Judah. Isaiah 23 concludes the section pertaining to judgment upon the nations by issuing a prophecy against the nations of Tyre and Sidon: “The oracle concerning Tyre. Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor! From the land of Cyprus it is revealed to them. Be still, O inhabitants of the coast; the merchants of Sidon, who cross the sea, have filled you” (Isaiah 23:1-2). Perhaps fittingly, Isaiah 24 declares judgment on all the earth: “Behold, the LORD will empty the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants. The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered; for the LORD has spoken this word” (Isaiah 24:1,3). Sure and severe judgment awaits the inhabitants of the earth: "On that day the LORD will punish the host of heaven, in heaven, and the kings of the earth, on the earth. They will be gathered together as prisoners in a pit; they will be shut up in a prison, and after many days they will be punished” (Isaiah 24:22-23). Such judgment will be just: “The earth lies defiled under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant” (Isaiah 24:5). Isaiah 25 is Isaiah’s praise to the LORD for doing what He pledged He would do: “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” (Isaiah 25:1).

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading is the praise that will be offered up to the LORD in response to extensive devastation that He will bring upon the earth: “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” (Isaiah 25:9). This praise is connected to what the LORD would do as He judges the earth and its inhabitants: "The earth is utterly broken, the earth is split apart, the earth is violently shaken. The earth staggers like a drunken man; it sways like a hut; its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls, and will not rise again. On that day the LORD will punish the host of heaven, in heaven, and the kings of the earth, on the earth” (Isaiah 24:19-21). Because of mankind’s rebellion, the curse will finally reach its ultimate outcome: “Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left” (Isaiah 24:6).

But for those who are left, praise will mark their response: “They lift up their voices, they sing for joy; over the majesty of the LORD they shout from the west. Therefore in the east give glory to the LORD; in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise, of glory to the Righteous One” (Isaiah 24:14-16). This praise will be expressed not only for the people of Israel, but from a multinational choir: “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. Therefore strong peoples will glorify you; cities of ruthless nations will fear you” (Isaiah 25:2-3).

The final judgment will be a time of intense sorrow: “The wine mourns, the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted sigh. The mirth of the tambourines is stilled, the noise of the jubilant has ceased, the mirth of the lyre is stilled. No more do they drink wine with singing; strong drink is bitter to those who drink it” (Isaiah 24:7-9). There will no longer be any source of enjoyment. The days of merriment grounded in rebellion against the LORD will be over. But intriguingly, the final judgment will terminate not in gloom, but joy and rejoicing: “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” (Isaiah 25:6). A lavish feast from the most generous hand of God will replace the gluttonous, drunken perversion of God’s provision.

Before the final judgment, the LORD sustains His people: “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” (Isaiah 25:4). And for that sustaining grace alone the LORD is worthy of praise and thanks. But the LORD’s people will have even more reasons to praise God. The final judgment will mean ultimate victory over the enemies of the LORD and His people: “And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. 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” (Isaiah 25:7-8). Death and its kin, sorrow, will be removed. God will supply endless life and comfort. These realities have already been set in motion through the death and resurrection of Jesus: “through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery” (Hebrews 2:15b-16). But these realities find their final outcome as He returns: “Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:24-26). So, God’s people really are destined to praise the LORD for all the “wonderful things” He has and will do.

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe