DEATH WILL BE SWALLOWED UP FOREVER

Isaiah 25:1-12 / Keywords 25:7,8

On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; 8 he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken.

 

25:1 Lord, you are my God;

    I will exalt you and praise your name,

for in perfect faithfulness

    you have done wonderful things,

    things planned long ago.

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.

3 Therefore strong peoples will honor you;

    cities of ruthless nations will revere you.

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

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.

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.

7 On this mountain he will destroy

    the shroud that enfolds all peoples,

the sheet that covers all nations;

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.

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.”

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.

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[a] of their hands.

12 He will bring down your high fortified walls

    and lay them low;

he will bring them down to the ground,

    to the very dust.

Footnotes

a. Isaiah 25:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

1. Isaiah praises God for the wonderful things he planned and faithfully carried out. Isaiah sees the day when God will bring down the strongholds of ruthless nations. People from those places who repent will also honor God. Though God’s people suffer severe trials caused by ruthless people, God is a refuge and a shelter for his people. God will silence the enemies of his people.

 

2. Isaiah sees that one day, though needy and distressed in the present, all God’s people will be celebrating with the LORD Almighty at the heavenly banquet that the LORD himself is preparing. God will also destroy, not only earthly enemies, but also our last and greatest enemy—death. The shroud of death enfolds all peoples. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, sin and death have been destroyed. Death will be swallowed up forever when God gives us new, resurrection bodies (1 Co 15:54). Do not fear death. We have sure victory over death when we believe in Jesus!

 

3. In that day, God’s people will proclaim that they trusted in God and he saved them. God’s people will rejoice and be glad in his salvation. Let us trust in the LORD and hold onto his promise of salvation.

 

Prayer Father, thank you for your Son Jesus who conquered sin and death. Thank you for saving us. Help me not to fear death but to wholly trust you.

One Word God has already defeated death