It is likely that if you are reading this lesson, you are a regular attender of church. It is also likely that you make Bible reading and study a regular habit in your life. You gather courage, strength, and inspiration through prayer. For all of those things, this writer is truly grateful, it is a privilege to be in fellowship and of service to the remnant of believers who take God at His word and desire His will to be done “here on earth, as it is in Heaven.”
However, there will come a day when the church building will no longer be needed. When we will live in the full, unfiltered presence of God, and we will “know as we are known” all the children of God. I love God’s word, reading it is precious to me, but one day we will be face to face with “The Word of God,” the author will be with us forever and ever in person to lead and to guide. God answers prayers, and we can talk to him any time about anything, but one day we’ll stop praying because God will speak to us directly as a father does with His children; faith will be transformed into sight.
The book of Isaiah foretells the destruction of Jerusalem by the nation of Babylon and the demolishing of the temple. Isaiah chapter 25 compares trust in a city or a house of worship, both of which are temporal, to trusting in God who cannot be changed or destroyed. One day the most precious elements of our faith will be replaced with much better things, all the separation between here and Heaven will be gone, won’t that be glorious?
25 O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
This thing called salvation is deeply personal. Corporately we gather on Sundays to garner strength from a community of like-minded believers, but attending church is no substitute for having the Holy Spirit living inside of us. Isaiah takes God seriously and personally. Because he and God know one another and because he is committed to loving and serving his God, Isaiah has an elevated perspective on what is happening in his nation. Isaiah praises God for His character, because what God has said, and He has done for many generations. The visions God has given to Isaiah are not pleasant, they describe a lot of heartache and pain ahead, but the fact that He has given a warning to His people that they might turn and repent shows His kindness and compassion. His words can be trusted because His character can be trusted.
2 For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.
3 Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.
Jerusalem, as was the custom in those days, was built with thick and high walls of stone surrounding it. Gates in the walls were well guarded. Isaiah illustrates that even the strongest walls can be knocked down, strong governments and militaries can and will be defeated. To put trust in man-made protections is short-sighted and dangerous. The Assyrian Empire was on the rise during this time, they destroyed fortified city after fortified city in their cruel acquisition of the nations around Judah. King Hezekiah was spared, not by the strength of his walls or his army, but by the hand of God.
We need to trust in what stands the test of time, God’s word and His character. If we are to be strong, we will gather our strength from our respect, reverence, and obedience to a God who is unchanging and faithful. God is our “high tower,” our “defense.” No one who trusts in Him will come to regret it.
4 For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
5 Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.
It isn’t the strong ones that survive, as the world always likes to tell us. The strong and the weak are both destroyed by the tribulation and evil of this world. It is our confessed weakness and our submission to God’s power and might that enable us to withstand troubles now and overcome them for eternity. “Strangers” is the word for foreign invaders, imagine an advancing army without number, clad in armor with terrifying weapons and confidence that comes from experience through winning battle after battle. That is the picture of the army of the Babylonians that would one day destroy Isaiah’s nation. However, just as verse five predicts, God brought an end to their world domination very quickly. Remember the story of Belshazzar? “This night shall the kingdom be torn from thee.” What we see as impossible and unstoppable, God but breathes upon it and it withers away.
6 And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
7 And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.
When Jesus returns and shows Himself to all as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, everything will be as it should be. God’s people will experience the goodness of God in its fullness. The enemies of God will be forever removed. Interestingly, the veil of separation that is the result of sin and division, will be gone. There'll be nothing between us and the Lord. Nothing between ourselves and our neighbors. Mankind will know what it was like to walk with the Lord, ‘in the cool of the evening,” like Adam did before sin entered the world. That seems like an impossible dream, but that is the spoken word of God, and it is more sure than the breath you just took.
8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.
9 And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
I said it before, let me repeat, you will never be sorry that you trusted in Jesus. We are mocked, hated, and persecuted now for believing what the Bible says about the future, but one day.
We’ll sing the song of triumph. We’ll praise God because He keeps His promises. Right now we wait for Him, and that seems hard to do at times, but one day those who have trusted the Lord will be very glad they did. Salvation is in the name of Jesus, it is the son of God who swallowed up death in victory when on the third day after his crucifixion he burst forth from the grave. “Because he lives…we can live also!”
10 For in this mountain shall the hand of the Lord rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill.
11 And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands.
12 And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust.
Again, the enemies of God have no protection from His judgment no matter how technologically advanced they become, and the children of God have nothing to fear from their enemies because Christ has conquered death and the grave. Catch the word picture, Jesus will move Hands like a swimmer in the water. In an effortless motion, He will separate His own from his enemies, right from wrong, and death from eternal life. In His presence, “no man can glory.” All pride will be gone, and we will be glad, because one day it will be clear that trusting God’s Character and his Word is the way to victory.
In Luke 14, Jesus says:
31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?
32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.
There is still time for you to make peace with God through His son Jesus, but there is no time to waste. His return is sure, and He’s proven that He keeps His word. Put your trust in the only permanent and reliable place. Give your heart to Christ today.
Thank you for studying with us! God bless!