Lectionary Calendar

Thursday, November 21st, 2024
the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33

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Bible Commentaries
Isaiah 25

IsaiahIsa 24 IsaiahIsa IsaiahIsa 26

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Verses 1-12

THE GREAT LIBERATION! (25)
1. Eastern Mindset…not Western! (re: Victory!)
  1. Victory is often seen as the end of all that spoils on earth.
    1. Then comes the final celebration!
  2. Part of the biblical picture of triumph involves the downfall of all God’s enemies.
2. Ch.25 & most 26 are a song that the godly remnant sings who made it through the Tribulation & inherit the kingdom.
  1. So Isaiah shifts from addressing the people to addressing God.
    1. Who He is & what He’s done!
3. TRIUMPH OVER THE TERRIBLE! (1-5)
  1. (1) We ought to have a response of worship when we think on God’s greatness & faithfulness also!
  2. Note: “terrible” 3 x’s(or, “ruthless”)
    1. This sums up the world’s oppression in every age.
  3. (2) One day the ruthless enemy will fall.
    1. This “city” is Babylon, or any stronghold in opposition to God.
  4. (4) This is not a promise of immunity from trouble, but of ultimate safety, & this is promised for all.
    1. Tribulation is like a storm, but He is the Refuge!
    2. Tribulation is like a desert heat, but He is the cloud that blocks hot rays!(shade)
  5. (4b) A strength to the needy in distress - In their efforts to suppress circulation of Tyndale's first edition of an English New Testament, the English Catholic authorities wasted the equivalent of several thousand dollars trying to buy up and burn all the copies he had printed. They did this twice. The waste to them was that their funds, funneled secretly back to Tyndale, made it possible for him to print up even more copies of subsequent editions. (William Tyndale; Christian History, Issue 16.)
  6. (5) The enemy’s taunts will be silenced by God.
4. THE DANCE OVER DEATH! (6-8)
  1. Feasting together in peace & prosperity.
    1. Rev.19:9 “Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!”
  2. The Jews pictured the future kingdom as a great feast w/God the Most High.
    1. "I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven." Mt.8:11 NIV
    2. Ps.23:5 “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.”
  3. (7,8) Note the “all’s”!
    1. Reminds us of Rev.7:9 “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb,”
  4. (8a) The final victory of death itself is prefigured.
    1. 1 Cor.15:26 “The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.”
    2. 1 Cor.15:54,55 “So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."(Is.25:8) "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?"’(Hos.13:14)
    3. Death which swallowed up, will now be swallowed up!
  5. (8b) “the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces”
    1. Rev.7:17; 21:4
      1. No more Death but Life forevermore!
      2. No more Sorrow but Joy!
      3. No more Crying but Laughter!
      4. No more Pain but Pleasure!
    2. John Venn, a British social reformer, once lamented that a drawback of entering heaven might be the lost opportunities to do good: "There will be no sick to visit, no naked to clothe, no afflicted to relieve, no weak to succor, no faint to encourage, nor corrupt to rebuke or reckless to reclaim." (William Wilberforce, Christian History, no. 53.)
      1. Q: What do you think about that statement?
        Q: How does it make you want to respond?
    3. “The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.”
    4. Never forget that the gospel is about one’s eternal destiny.
      1. Temporal concerns make fine bridges for conversations, but they are not the end-all.
      2. (i.e.) God’s got a wonderful plan for your life; Your lifewill be better w/Jesus; You’ll be free from the weight of your sins; etc.
5. POUNCING PRIDE! (9-12)
  1. (9) This song anticipates the final victory of those who wait in positive expectation.
    1. It is song of hope, but in context of vs.10-12.
    2. Q: Can you join the Praise expressed here?
    3. Dietrich Bonhoeffer (writing from prison to his fiancee Maria von Wedemeyer) wrote: “A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes, does various unessential things, and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened "from the outside," is not a bad picture of Advent(2^nd coming).”
    4. (10) Moab – represents all who oppose God.
    5. (12) All the fortifications of the rebellious word will prove powerless against God. (Wycliffe Bible Commentary; pg.627)
6. End: During his 1960 presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy often closed his speeches with the story of Colonel Davenport, the Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives.One day in 1789, the sky of Hartford darkened ominously, and some of the representatives, glancing out the windows, feared the end was at hand. Quelling a clamor for immediate adjournment, Davenport rose and said, "The Day of Judgement is either approaching or it is not. If it is not , there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. Therefore, I wish that candles be brought." (Henry Heintz, Troy, New York. Leadership, Vol. 5, no. 2.)
  1. Rather than fearing what is to come, we are to be faithful doing our duty till Christ returns.
  2. Instead of fearing the dark, we're to be lights as we watch and wait.
7. Prayer: How will the things of earth will grow strangely dim?
  A: In the light of His Glory and Grace.
  1. [Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face]
  2. Lord, we seek your return because of our love not our escape!

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Verses 1-12

THE GREAT LIBERATION! (25)
1. Eastern Mindset…not Western! (re: Victory!)
  1. Victory is often seen as the end of all that spoils on earth.
    1. Then comes the final celebration!
  2. Part of the biblical picture of triumph involves the downfall of all God’s enemies.
2. Ch.25 & most 26 are a song that the godly remnant sings who made it through the Tribulation & inherit the kingdom.
  1. So Isaiah shifts from addressing the people to addressing God.
    1. Who He is & what He’s done!
3. TRIUMPH OVER THE TERRIBLE! (1-5)
  1. (1) We ought to have a response of worship when we think on God’s greatness & faithfulness also!
  2. Note: “terrible” 3 x’s(or, “ruthless”)
    1. This sums up the world’s oppression in every age.
  3. (2) One day the ruthless enemy will fall.
    1. This “city” is Babylon, or any stronghold in opposition to God.
  4. (4) This is not a promise of immunity from trouble, but of ultimate safety, & this is promised for all.
    1. Tribulation is like a storm, but He is the Refuge!
    2. Tribulation is like a desert heat, but He is the cloud that blocks hot rays!(shade)
  5. (4b) A strength to the needy in distress - In their efforts to suppress circulation of Tyndale's first edition of an English New Testament, the English Catholic authorities wasted the equivalent of several thousand dollars trying to buy up and burn all the copies he had printed. They did this twice. The waste to them was that their funds, funneled secretly back to Tyndale, made it possible for him to print up even more copies of subsequent editions. (William Tyndale; Christian History, Issue 16.)
  6. (5) The enemy’s taunts will be silenced by God.
4. THE DANCE OVER DEATH! (6-8)
  1. Feasting together in peace & prosperity.
    1. Rev.19:9 “Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!”
  2. The Jews pictured the future kingdom as a great feast w/God the Most High.
    1. "I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven." Mt.8:11 NIV
    2. Ps.23:5 “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.”
  3. (7,8) Note the “all’s”!
    1. Reminds us of Rev.7:9 “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb,”
  4. (8a) The final victory of death itself is prefigured.
    1. 1 Cor.15:26 “The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.”
    2. 1 Cor.15:54,55 “So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."(Is.25:8) "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?"’(Hos.13:14)
    3. Death which swallowed up, will now be swallowed up!
  5. (8b) “the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces”
    1. Rev.7:17; 21:4
      1. No more Death but Life forevermore!
      2. No more Sorrow but Joy!
      3. No more Crying but Laughter!
      4. No more Pain but Pleasure!
    2. John Venn, a British social reformer, once lamented that a drawback of entering heaven might be the lost opportunities to do good: "There will be no sick to visit, no naked to clothe, no afflicted to relieve, no weak to succor, no faint to encourage, nor corrupt to rebuke or reckless to reclaim." (William Wilberforce, Christian History, no. 53.)
      1. Q: What do you think about that statement?
        Q: How does it make you want to respond?
    3. “The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.”
    4. Never forget that the gospel is about one’s eternal destiny.
      1. Temporal concerns make fine bridges for conversations, but they are not the end-all.
      2. (i.e.) God’s got a wonderful plan for your life; Your lifewill be better w/Jesus; You’ll be free from the weight of your sins; etc.
5. POUNCING PRIDE! (9-12)
  1. (9) This song anticipates the final victory of those who wait in positive expectation.
    1. It is song of hope, but in context of vs.10-12.
    2. Q: Can you join the Praise expressed here?
    3. Dietrich Bonhoeffer (writing from prison to his fiancee Maria von Wedemeyer) wrote: “A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes, does various unessential things, and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened "from the outside," is not a bad picture of Advent(2^nd coming).”
    4. (10) Moab – represents all who oppose God.
    5. (12) All the fortifications of the rebellious word will prove powerless against God. (Wycliffe Bible Commentary; pg.627)
6. End: During his 1960 presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy often closed his speeches with the story of Colonel Davenport, the Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives.One day in 1789, the sky of Hartford darkened ominously, and some of the representatives, glancing out the windows, feared the end was at hand. Quelling a clamor for immediate adjournment, Davenport rose and said, "The Day of Judgement is either approaching or it is not. If it is not , there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. Therefore, I wish that candles be brought." (Henry Heintz, Troy, New York. Leadership, Vol. 5, no. 2.)
  1. Rather than fearing what is to come, we are to be faithful doing our duty till Christ returns.
  2. Instead of fearing the dark, we're to be lights as we watch and wait.
7. Prayer: How will the things of earth will grow strangely dim?
  A: In the light of His Glory and Grace.
  1. [Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face]
  2. Lord, we seek your return because of our love not our escape!

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IsaiahIsa 24 IsaiahIsa IsaiahIsa 26

Copyright Statement
These files are the property of Brian Bell.
Text Courtesy of Calvary Chapel of Murrieta. Used by Permission.

Bibliographical Information
Bell, Brian. "Commentary on Isaiah 25". "Bell's Commentary". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/cbb/isaiah-25.html. 2017.

Bible CommentariesIsaiah 25

Bell's Commentary on the BibleBell's Commentary

Verses 1-12

Verses 1-12

Bible Commentaries
Isaiah 25