Lent 24 post 12

 Isaiah 25.1-9

Isn’t it a relief, after the gloomy readings of the last two days, to come to Isaiah 25.8 and join in the praise of verses 1 and 9? And it would be even more of a relief if you had just read Isaiah 24 (have a glance). For there, the prophet portrays God’s future judgment on the whole earth as like a single city suffering total destruction. But in the midst of God’s shattering cosmic judgment, he will protect and save his own people and his own city, symbolised as Mount Zion (24.23). That is what today’s reading celebrates in advance.

Salvation in the midst of judgment

There are two reasons for celebration, that God has defeated and destroyed his enemies (.2-3), and that God has been a refuge for the poor and needy among his own people (.4-5). Isaiah uses two vivid images of urgent danger drawn from his own world. A torrential thunderstorm and flash flood could sweep you and your house away (remember Jesus' story, Matthew 7.26-27?), and relentless desert sun could desiccate you to death. You need protection from both, and God provides it. The world will be judged, the Lord’s own people will be safe.

In Israel’s world, when a new king was crowned, or had won some notable victory, he would throw a great party for his people. He would provide food and drink in abundance, and the festivities would last a long time. Put yourself among Isaiah’s listeners, who could well remember such a royal party. And the food! A king could be generous. The Lord God will be no less so. Imagine the best feast of richest food and finest wine you could ever enjoy. What God has in store will go way beyond your imagination (.6).

A feast for all

But this divine banquet stretches our imagination even further. Can you see the paradox between it’s very particular location (‘on this mountain’), and the universal size of the invitation list (‘for all peoples')? Mount Zion was the heartbeat of Old Testament Israel. But the feast God would provide would be not for Israel alone, but for all peoples and all nations. Isn’t that what God promised Abraham (Genesis 12.3)? God’s blessing through Israel will extend to the ends of the earth. That is God’s mission, and God invites all nations to the party.

But, in another sense, it would be literally at Mount Zion, in Jerusalem (or rather just outside its walls), that God would accomplish the ultimate victory on the cross of Christ. For, as Paul famously said, ‘the last enemy to be destroyed is death' (q Corinthians 15.26). And that is the most wonderful of all the ‘wonderful things' that God ‘planned long ago' (.1). For, after all, what would be the point of enjoying a banquet even with God as chef and host if, as Ecclesiastes won’t let us forget, death will be the final course? The whole human race can swallow all the food and drink God provides, but in the end death swallows us, doesn’t it? That’s our universal destiny. But not for ever! says God.

The swallower swallowed 

In the world around Israel, some cultures were obsessed with death and what lay beyond it. In Egypt, pharaohs would spend their lives and treasure preparing for their afterlife in the world of the dead, an obsession that gave us the pyramids to wonder at. God gave Israel a far, far better revelation to wonder at. Israelites believed from an early stage that their God Yahweh had power over both life and death. Ask Hannah (1 Samuel 2.6). But they could not avoid Ecclesiastes dark realism that death eventually swallows everybody and everything. And they knew why, God’s universal curse and verdict since Genesis 3. Only occasionally did they catch a glimpse of a resurrection hope that lay ahead. (Isaiah 26.19, Daniel 12.2-3, 13.)

So Isaiah 25.8 is an astonishing outburst of assurance. It’s not just that God can deliver us from death. It’s not just that God can give us a future beyond death (not that Israel speculated much about that). No, God is going to destroy death itself. That monster that swallows everything? God himself will swallow it up for ever! And when death is no more, then God will set about wiping away all the sorrow it has ever caused. The cosmic Lord of heaven, the Judge of all the earth, stooping to dry the tears on all the cheeks of all the faces. What greatness!