First light on the Jerusalem ridge: a thick low mist lying over the valleys like a gray sheet and lifting away in the dawn, the hilltop city clear, far and small.

The whole earth

Isaiah 25

Everyone you love will one day cry. What would it mean for God Himself to wipe away the tears?

12 verses≈ 3 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

1–5Zion on trialJudah’s sin, the mountain raised, the vineyard’s song
6Holy, holy, holyIsaiah’s call, in the year King Uzziah died (about 740 BC)
7–12ImmanuelAhaz’s fear, the sign, the Child, the shoot of Jesse
13–23The nations judgedBabylon to Tyre: the LORD is Judge of all the earth
24–27The whole earthThe earth laid waste, and death swallowed upChapter 25
28–35Woe and a KingEgypt’s help or the LORD’s, and the King in His beauty
36–39Hezekiah’s crisisSennacherib, 701 BC: the prayer, the sickness, the envoys
40–48Comfort My peopleTo the exiles ahead: Cyrus, the idols, the Servant
49–55The Servant and ZionPierced for our transgressions; Zion restored
56–66New heavens and earthA house of prayer, the Anointed One, all things new

Praise to the Victorious God

Isaiah

O LORD, You are my God!

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Isaiah

I will exalt You;

I will praise Your name.

For You have worked wonders—

plans formed long ago—

in perfect faithfulness.

Isaiah

Isaiah

Indeed, You have made the city a heap of rubble,

the fortified town a ruin.

The fortress of strangers is a city no more;

it will never be rebuilt.

Isaiah

Therefore, a strong people will honor You.

The cities of ruthless nations will revere You.

Isaiah

Blazing noon in a stony wilderness: a great overhanging rock casting deep cool shade over a patch of sand where a water jar stands, a dark rain squall far off on the horizon.

For You have been a refuge for the poor,

a stronghold for the needy in distress,

a refuge from the storm,

a shade from the heat.

Isaiah

For the breath of the ruthless

is like rain against a wall,

like heat in a dry land.

You subdue the uproar of foreigners.

As the shade of a cloud cools the heat,

so the song of the ruthless is silenced.

Question

Quick question

The song turns from the fallen city to the people God protects. Think back over verses 4–5.

What does the LORD become for the poor and needy?

Isaiah

Morning on a broad mountaintop above Jerusalem: long low tables laid in the open with bread, roasted meat on platters, bowls of fruit and tall sealed jars, and people of many nations coming up the paths from every side, small and far.

On this mountain the LORD of Hosts

will prepare a lavish banquet for all the peoples,

a feast of aged wine, of choice meat,

of finely aged wine.

Isaiah

Early morning light in the mouth of a rock-cut tomb: a linen burial cloth folded and laid aside on the stone ledge, the doorway open to the dawn; no one there.

On this mountain He will swallow up

the shroud that enfolds all peoples,

the sheet that covers all nations;

Isaiah

He will swallow up death forever.

The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face

and remove the disgrace of His people

from the whole earth.

For the LORD has spoken.

Isaiah 25:8

Isaiah

Dawn on a hillside facing east: a great crowd of ordinary people of many nations seen from behind, standing and looking toward a brightening sky over Jerusalem’s ridge, some with hands lifted.

And in that day it will be said, “Surely this is our God;

we have waited for Him, and He has saved us.

This is the LORD for whom we have waited.

Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

Pray

O LORD, You are my God. You will swallow up death forever and wipe the tears from every face. I am waiting for You; let me rejoice and be glad in Your salvation. Amen.

Isaiah

For the hand of the LORD

will rest on this mountain.

But Moab will be trampled in his place

as straw is trodden into the dung pile.

Isaiah

He will spread out his hands within it,

as a swimmer spreads his arms to swim.

His pride will be brought low,

despite the skill of his hands.

Isaiah

Dusk on a Moabite height: a high-walled hill fortress thrown down to its lowest course, dust still settling over the stones, the tableland wide beyond.

The high-walled fortress will be brought down,

cast to the ground, into the dust.

0:06

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

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Isaiah 25

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A verse to carry with you

He will swallow up death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face and remove the disgrace of His people from the whole earth. For the LORD has spoken.

Isaiah 25:8

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