Praise to the LORD Isaiah 25:1 O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous 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 his 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 the disgrace of his people 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 under him as straw is trampled down in the manure. 11 They will spread out their hands in it, as a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim. God will bring down their pride despite the cleverness 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. (Commentary: CHAPTER 25 Isaiah 25:1-12 . CONTINUATION OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH CHAPTER. THANKSGIVING FOR THE OVERTHROW OF THE APOSTATE FACTION, AND THE SETTING UP OF JEHOVAHS THRONE ON ZION. The restoration from Babylon and re-establishment of the theocracy was a type and pledge of this. 1. wonderful--( Isaiah 9:6 ). counsels of old--( Isaiah 42:9 , 46:10 ). Purposes planned long ago; here, as to the deliverance of His people. truth--Hebrew, Amen; covenant-keeping, faithful to promises; the peculiar characteristic of Jesus ( Revelation 3:14 ). 2. a city . . . heap--Babylon, type of the seat of Antichrist, to be destroyed in the last days (compare Jeremiah 51:37 , with Revelation 18:1-24 , followed, as here, by the song of the saints thanksgiving in Revelation 19:1-21 ). Heaps is a graphic picture of Babylon and Nineveh as they now are. palace--Babylon regarded, on account of its splendor, as a vast palace. But MAURER translates, a citadel. of strangers--foreigners, whose capital pre-eminently Babylon was, the metropolis of the pagan world. Aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise ( Isaiah 29:5 , Ephesians 2:12 ; see in contrast, Joel 3:17 ). never be built--( Isaiah 13:19 Isaiah 13:20 , &c.). 3. strong people--This cannot apply to the Jews; but other nations on which Babylon had exercised its cruelty ( Isaiah 14:12 ) shall worship Jehovah, awed by the judgment inflicted on Babylon ( Isaiah 23:18 ). city--not Babylon, which shall then be destroyed, but collectively for the cities of the surrounding nations. 4. the poor . . . needy--the Jews, exiles from their country ( Isaiah 26:6 , 41:17 ). heat--calamity ( Isaiah 4:6 , 32:2 ). blast--that is, wrath. storm--a tempest of rain, a winter flood, rushing against and overthrowing the wall of a house. 5. Translate, As the heat in a dry land (is brought down by the shadow of a cloud, so) thou shalt bring down the tumult (the shout of triumph over their enemies) of strangers (foreigners); and as the heat by the shadow of the cloud (is brought low), so the branch (the offspring) of the terrible ones shall be brought low. PARKHURST translates the Hebrew for branch, the exulting song. JEROME translates the last clause, And as when the heat burns under a cloud, thou shalt make the branch of the terrible ones to wither; the branch withering even under the friendly shade of a cloud typifies the wicked brought to ruin, not for want of natural means of prosperity, but by the immediate act of God. 6. in this mountain--Zion: Messiahs kingdom was to begin, and is to have its central seat hereafter, at Jerusalem, as the common country of all nations ( Isaiah 2:2 , &c.). all people--( Isaiah 56:7 , Daniel 7:14 , Luke 2:10 ). feast--image of felicity ( Psalms 22:26 Psalms 22:27 , Matthew 8:11 , Luke 14:15 , Revelation 19:9 ; compare Psalms 36:8 , 87:1-7 ). fat things--delicacies; the rich mercies of God in Christ ( Isaiah 55:2 , Jeremiah 31:14 , Job 36:16 ). wines on the lees--wine which has been long kept on the lees; that is, the oldest and most generous wine ( Jeremiah 48:11 ). marrow--the choicest dainties ( Psalms 63:5 ). well refined--cleared of all dregs. 7. face of . . . covering--image from mourning, in which it was usual to cover the face with a veil ( 2 Samuel 15:30 ). Face of covering, that is, the covering itself; as in Job 41:13 , the face of his garment, the garment itself. The covering or veil is the mist of ignorance as to a future state, and the way to eternal life, which enveloped the nations ( Ephesians 4:18 ) and the unbelieving Jew ( 2 Corinthians 3:15 ). The Jew, however, is first to be converted before the conversion of all nations; for it is in this mountain, namely, Zion, that the latter are to have the veil taken off ( Psalms 102:13 Psalms 102:15 Psalms 102:16 Psalms 102:21 Psalms 102:22 , Romans 11:12 ). 8. Quoted in 1 Corinthians 15:54 , in support of the resurrection. swallow up . . . in victory--completely and permanently abolish ( 2 Timothy 1:10 , Revelation 20:14 , 21:4 ; compare Genesis 2:17 , 3:22 ). rebuke--(Compare 8:38 , Hebrews 11:26 ). 9. And it shall be said in that day, &c.--After death has been swallowed up for ever, the people of God, who had been delivered from the hand of death, shall say to the Lord, Lo, this is our God, whom unbelievers regarded as only a man [JEROME]. The words are so moulded as to point us specially to the person of the Son of God, who saves us; as He vouchsafed to Israel temporal saving, so to His elect He appears for the purpose of conferring eternal salvation [VITRINGA]. The Jews, however, have a special share in the words, This is we have waited--Waited is characteristic of Gods people in all ages ( Genesis 49:18 , Titus 2:13 ). we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation--compare Psalms 118:24 , which refers to the second coming of Jesus (compare Psalms 118:26 , with Luke 13:35 ). 10. rest--as its permanent protector; on hand in this sense; compare Ezra 7:6 Ezra 7:28 . Moab--while Israel is being protected, the foe is destroyed; Moab is the representative of all the foes of Gods people. under him--Rather, in his own place or country ( Exodus 10:23 , 16:29 ). for the dunghill--Rather, in the water of the dung heap, in which straw was trodden to make it manure ( Psalms 83:10 ). HORSLEY translates either, in the waters of Madmenah, namely, for the making of bricks; or as the Septuagint, as the threshing-floor is trampled by the corn-drag (see Margin; Micah 4:11-13 ). 11. he--Jehovah shall spread His hands to strike the foe on this side and on that, with as little effort as a Israels Song of Praise for Restoration swimmer spreads forth his arms to cleave a passage through the water [CALVIN]. ( Zechariah 5:3 ). LOWTH takes he as Moab, who, in danger of sinking, shall strain every nerve to save himself; but Jehovah (and he) shall cause him to sink (bring down the pride of Moab, Isaiah 16:6 ). with the spoils of . . . hands--literally, the craftily acquired spoils of his (Moabs) hands [BARNES]. Moabs pride, as well as the sudden gripe of his hands (namely, whereby he tries to save himself from drowning) [LOWTH]. Together with the joints of his hands, that is, though Moab struggle against Jehovah hand and foot [MAURER]. 12. fortress--the strongholds of Moab, the representative of the foes of Gods people [BARNES]. Babylon [MAURER]. The society of infidels represented as a city ( Revelation 11:8 ).
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 00:23:31 +0000
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