Isaiah · chapter 25 of 66
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Isaiah 25 is a song of praise to the Lord for his faithful plans and for being a refuge for the poor. The prophet announces that on this mountain the Lord will prepare a feast for all peoples, swallow up death forever and wipe away the tears from every face. The chapter ends with the confidence of those who waited for God and with judgment on Moab, a symbol of pride.
Isaiah 25 follows the universal judgment of chapter 24. After the devastation, the prophet responds with a song of thanksgiving and with one of the most beautiful promises of the Old Testament: a feast on God's mountain where death itself is defeated. It is one of the texts the New Testament quotes to speak about the resurrection and new life.
The chapter opens with the prophet speaking to God: you are my God, I will exalt you and praise your name, for you have done wonderful things and your plans of old are faithful and sure. The city of the mighty has been turned into a ruin, and the palace of the foreigners will never be a city again. So strong peoples will honor him and cities of ruthless nations will fear him, because the Lord was a stronghold for the poor and needy, a refuge from the storm and a shade from the heat.
Then comes the central promise. On this mountain the Lord of hosts will prepare for all peoples a feast of rich food and well-aged wine. On this mountain he will remove the veil that covers all peoples and the shroud that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever, the Lord will wipe away tears from all faces, and he will take away the reproach of his people from the whole earth.
In vv. 9-12 the people respond: this is our God, for whom we waited; let us rejoice in his salvation. The hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain, and Moab will be trampled down like straw in a dung heap. God will bring down his pride and lay the high walls of his fortresses low, down to the dust.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Isaiah declares that the Lord is his God and praises him because he has done wonderful things and his ancient plans are faithful and sure. Praise is born from remembering that God does what he has said.
The Lord has been a stronghold for the poor and needy in distress, a refuge from the storm and a shade from the heat. The image shows that his power stands on the side of the weak.
On the Lord's mountain there will be a feast for all peoples, the veil over the nations will be removed, death will be swallowed up and tears will be wiped away. The New Testament takes up this promise to speak of the final victory over death.
The people recognize that this is the God for whom they waited and they rejoice in his salvation. The hope that seemed slow turns into celebration when God acts.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Because he has done wonderful things and his ancient plans are faithful and sure. — Isaiah 25:1
Answer: A stronghold in distress, a refuge from the storm and a shade from the heat. — Isaiah 25:4
Answer: A feast of rich food and well-aged wine. — Isaiah 25:6
Answer: He will swallow it up forever. — Isaiah 25:8
Answer: He will wipe them from all faces and take away his people's reproach from the whole earth. — Isaiah 25:8
Answer: It will be trampled like straw in a dung heap and its pride brought down. — Isaiah 25:10-11
Isaiah 25 teaches us to praise God not only for what he gives but for who he is: faithful, a refuge for the weak, a keeper of his plans. A Sunday school class can list times when God was a stronghold in distress and turn the list into a song of thanks like the prophet's.
The promise of the feast and of death destroyed comforts those who grieve. It does not remove present pain, but it sets it inside a future God has already promised. In a small group you can pray with those who have lost someone, remembering that the Lord will wipe the tears from every face, and encourage one another to wait for him patiently.
Isaiah 25 shows the final destination of history: a feast, the end of death and the joy of the people who waited. Chapter 26 continues with another song, now in the land of Judah, about the perfect peace of those who trust in the Lord.
Yes. Paul quotes it in 1 Corinthians 15:54 when speaking about the resurrection, when death is swallowed up in victory. Revelation 21:4 uses the image of God wiping away every tear. The New Testament sees the final fulfillment of that promise in Christ.
The text says it is for all peoples. In Isaiah's context this announces that the Lord's salvation reaches beyond Israel and includes the nations, a theme that recurs elsewhere in the book.
Moab appears as an example of human pride before the Lord. Its fall contrasts with the humility of the poor who find refuge in God. Isaiah had already given Moab another oracle in chapters 15 and 16.