isaiah 25-26

Read Isaiah 25-26 at Bible Gateway.

For the past 24 chapters of Isaiah, we have been reading about the sins of the nations, beginning with Israel and Judah, and the judgment which is coming upon them, and the whole earth (Isa 24), because men have transgressed the laws (torah), changed the ordinance, and broken the everlasting covenant (Isa 24:5).

The burden has been against the exalted: individuals, cities, and nations. The burden has been against the proud, wherever and whoever and whatever it is, that exalts itself above the throne of God. For when the LORD’s laws are disregarded and transgressed, then He has been brought low and something else raised above Him. When His throne is exalted over all, then is it not His Word and His commandment that is obeyed? A throne is a place of kingship, and men obey their king, whoever or whatever it may be.

The purpose of the judgment that is coming, is to restore justice — that which is right:

It shall come to pass in that day
That the LORD will punish on high the host of exalted ones,
And on the earth the kings of the earth. Isa 24:21

Then the moon will be disgraced
And the sun ashamed;
For the LORD of hosts will reign
On Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
And before His elders, gloriously. Isa 24:23

Even the sun and moon will be humbled before King Yeshua, whose throne will be exalted above all and who will reign from Mount Zion and from Jerusalem!

Therefore Isa 25 opens with a praise song to God: His people will exalt HIM. The rich, the proud, and the lifted up have unjustly oppressed the needy, but the LORD has laid them low in that day. That day of fierce judgment is a day to cast down the exalted. That day of fierce judgment will be a day of strength, refuge, and shade for the needy and the meek (Isa 25:4). On that day He will swallow up death forever, and Himself wipe away the tears from all faces (Isa 25:8).

Listen, we do not need to fear the time that is coming. Only the proud, the unjust, and the transgressor of His commandments should fear, but His people who are called by His name can rejoice, for “when Your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness,” (Isa 26:9). The injustice that is the norm today will not be the norm any longer!

In the midst of the judgment, for His people who are called by His name:

You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
Trust in the LORD forever,
For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength. Isa 26:3-4

So how do we survive until the judgment is past?

Come, my people, enter your chambers,
And shut your doors behind you;
Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment,
Until the indignation is past.
For behold, the LORD comes out of His place
To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
The earth will also disclose her blood,
And will no more cover her slain. Isa 26:20-21

We do not need to flee in terror as the proud of the earth will be fleeing in terror from the wrath of Him who is coming. It reminds me of the history that prophesies, of Israel inside their houses on the night of Passover, and Moses charged no one to go outside of his doors until morning. For that night the angel of death went through the land, but passed over the houses upon which the blood was applied. Amen.