David Bahn – Reflections

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These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Isaiah 25-27, Psalm 32.

Isaiah 25:6-12

On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples
    a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
    of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
⁷ And he will swallow up on this mountain
    the covering that is cast over all peoples,
    the veil that is spread over all nations.
⁸     He will swallow up death forever;
and the LORD God will wipe away tears from all faces,
    and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
    for the LORD has spoken.
⁹ It will be said on that day,
    “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
    This is the LORD; we have waited for him;
    let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

Isaiah 25–27 comes as an unexpected relief and a delightful respite from the previous chapters. Those expressed chapter after chapter of judgment against Judah, Israel, and the nations—and then after describing God’s judgment upon the whole earth—Isaiah suddenly points his people toward the future God has prepared for his people.

The devastation of sin and rebellion will not have the last word. Death will be swallowed up forever. Every enemy of God’s people will be defeated. Hopelessness will give way to joy. Exiles will be gathered home. A great feast of celebration will be prepared on God’s holy mountain.

These are breathtaking promises! They are not wishful thinking, but the sure and certain future God has prepared for all who trust in him.

Some think the answer to suffering is euthanasia. But that is not God’s answer. His answer is not to hasten death, but to destroy it. He promises to swallow up death forever. He will wipe away every tear and heal every wound. He will redeem, restore, and rescue his people from every enemy—physical, spiritual, emotional, and mental. His answer is to dwell with his people forever, surrounding them with the abundance of his grace, love, comfort, and salvation.

These are the promises fulfilled in Jesus.

I use these words often in Christian funeral services. I love the imagery of the feast of fine meats and choice wines. Death is painfully real, it is not the end of the story. Christ has conquered death, and the day is coming when it will be swallowed up forever. There is a feast of victory awaiting us. That’s the hope we proclaim at every Christian funeral.

I think of these promises in another setting as well. When I have the privilege of dismissing God’s people after the Lord’s Supper, I love to remind them, “The Lord is with you.” That’s more than a promise of his presence. It is a promise of his favor, protection, comfort, and love. Every celebration of the Lord’s Supper is a foretaste of the great feast Isaiah describes, where one day we shall be with the Lord forever.

Paul also echoes Isaiah’s words in 1 Corinthians 15, the great resurrection chapter, where he proclaims Christ’s victory over death. And on the Great Last Day, we will join Isaiah and all the redeemed in saying:

“Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
This is the LORD; we have waited for him;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” (Isaiah 25:9)