07. Our Lord's return: Isaiah 25:1-12
Our Lord’s return
Most of the prophecies concerning our Lord Jesus, written by Isaiah, have to do with his coming to earth in the flesh to redeem his people. However, this chapter seems to fit his victorious and triumphant return and the glory which shall be ours eternally (John 14:1-3; Acts 1:9).
Isaiah 25:1. ‘O Lord, thou art my God.’ O, Jehovah (Saviour-God), thou art my God, not by creation only, but by covenant grace. Whatever others may say and do, I answer with Thomas, ‘My Lord and my God.’
‘I will exalt thee.’ How can such a worm exalt and glorify God? God is who he is and where he is, and he is glorified in himself. We can exalt God by (1) ascribing all glory and deity to him, (2) by attributing the whole of salvation to him, and (3) by believing his word and bowing before his Son, our Lord.
‘I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things.’ Read the final words of David’s prayer in Psalms 72:17-19. He has done wonderful things (1) in creation and the universe, (2) in providence and purpose, (3) in redemption and salvation, and (4) in things yet to behold (2 Peter 3:13-14).
‘Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.’ The covenant, counsel, and purpose of God in Christ Jesus are all done in truth and righteousness and will be faithfully performed (Acts 15:18; Isaiah 46:9-11; Psalms 85:10-11).
Isaiah 25:2-3. When our Lord returns, he will fulfill his promises and purpose concerning his people (John 6:37-49). But he will also destroy all who oppose him, no matter how many nor how strong (2 Peter 3:10; Revelation 19:11-16). There will be only two reactions to his glorious return.
1. The strong in faith—in Christ, in his power and grace, to whom the Lord is their strength—will welcome and glorify him (Hebrews 9:28).
2. The rest shall meet his return in fear and hopelessness (Revelation 6:15-17).
Isaiah 25:4. Is not this a fulfillment of Isaiah 61:1-2? God’s people are poor and needy lost and undone, children of wrath even as others, and without hope and without God until he comes in grace, strength, and power to redeem us. He is our refuge from the storm of God’s wrath and from the trials of life and evil forces. ‘A shadow (or shade) from the heat,’ from the cradle to the grave (Isaiah 32:1-3). ‘All our need he doth supply.’
Isaiah 25:5. But he will bring down the strangers! Those who by their evil works, will, and ways are strangers to God, to the gospel, and to godliness and grace, he will bring down, as the sun parches the dry earth, until not one blade is left standing. If we will not hide in him, we surely will not be able to hide from him. The scripture describes the Lord Jesus as ‘him with whom we have to do’ (Hebrews 4:13).
Isaiah 25:6-8. Here is the good news!
1. ‘In this mountain.’ This is Mt. Zion (the church) (Isaiah 2:2-3; Hebrews 12:22-23).
2. ‘Shall the Lord make a feast.’ (Revelation 19:6-9). ‘A feast of fat things,’ of abundant promises fulfilled, ‘of wines on the lees,’ the best wine kept on the lees a long time.
3. He will remove the covering of darkness and ignorance spread by the fall over all creation. He will take away the vail from Israel (2 Corinthians 3:13-16) and the vail of dimness over his people, and we shall ‘know as we are known’ (1 Corinthians 13:12).
4. ‘He will swallow up death in victory.’ Death is so cruel, so grievous, so final on earth; but our Lord will, at his coming, turn it into victory and a cause for rejoicing (1 Corinthians 15:55-58).
5. ‘He will wipe away all tears from their faces,’ like a mother soothes the hurt of a loving child (Revelation 21:3-5).
6. ‘The rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth.’ True believers are not loved nor appreciated by the people of this world. They are despised, ridiculed, and made fun of. The gospel is foolishness to natural men. Our dear Redeemer is rejected and despised. Our way of worship and our way of life are rejected and misrepresented. But one day the people of God will be vindicated. When the Lord returns, when the feast is served on Mt. Zion, when the vail of ignorance and darkness is removed, when death is swallowed up in life, when all tears are gone, then shall the Lord, his gospel, and his people be vindicated; and then shall it be said, ‘Lo, this is our God!’ (1 John 5:20).
1. ‘This is our God.’ Not the idols of men nor the lesser god of free-will, but the Lord Jesus Christ is our Lord and our God!
2. ‘We have waited for him’ (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10). Our confidence, trust, and faith have been in him, and our life lived waiting for his return.
3. ‘He will save us.’ He has and will save us (Php 1:6). ‘By grace have you been saved’ (Ephesians 2:8). ‘To us who are being saved, he is the power of God’ (1 Corinthians 1:18). Now is our salvation completed (Psalms 17:15).
4. ‘We will rejoice and be glad in his salvation’ (Revelation 5:9-10).
Isaiah 25:10-12. Then it shall be in that day that everything and everyone who has not glorified him shall be reduced to nothing (Revelation 21:27).