6 And in this mountain will the Lord of armies make for all peoples a feast of good things, a feast of wines long stored, of good things sweet to the taste, of wines long kept and tested.
My soul will be comforted, as with good food; and my mouth will give you praise with songs of joy;
And I say to you that numbers will come from the east and the west, and will take their seats with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven:
And the Lord their God will be their saviour in that day, giving them food like the flock of his people: for they will be like the jewels of a crown shining over his land. For how good it is and how beautiful! grain will make the young men strong and new wine the virgins.
So they will come with songs on the high places, flowing together to the good things of the Lord, to the grain and the wine and the oil, to the young ones of the flock and of the herd: their souls will be like a watered garden, and they will have no more sorrow. Then the virgin will have joy in the dance, and the young men and the old will be glad: for I will have their weeping turned into joy, I will give them comfort and make them glad after their sorrow.
And it will come about in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord will be placed on the top of the mountains, and be lifted up over the hills; and all nations will come to it. And the peoples will say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob: and he will give us knowledge of his ways, and we will be guided by his word; for out of Zion the law will go out, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
Ho! everyone in need, come to the waters, and he who has no strength, let him get food: come, get bread without money; wine and milk without price. Why do you give your money for what is not bread, and the fruit of your work for what will not give you pleasure? Give ear to me, so that your food may be good, and you may have the best in full measure.
And he said to me, Put in the book, Happy are the guests at the bride-feast of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true words of God.
But you have come to the mountain of Zion, to the place of the living God, to the Jerusalem which is in heaven, and to an army of angels which may not be numbered,
And he said to them, A certain man gave a great feast, and sent word of it to a number of people. And when the time had come, he sent his servants to say to them, Come, for all things are now ready. And they all gave reasons why they were not able to come. The first said to him, I have got a new field, and it is necessary for me to go and see it: I am full of regret that I am unable to come. And another said, I have got some cattle, and I am going to make a test of them: I am full of regret that I am unable to come. And another said, I have been married, and so I am not able to come. And the servant came back and gave his master an account of these things. Then the master of the house was angry and said to the servant, Go out quickly into the streets of the town and get the poor, the blind, and those who are broken in body. And the servant said, Lord, your orders have been done, and still there is room. And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the roads and the fields, and make them come in, so that my house may be full.
And Jesus, talking to them again in stories, said: The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king, who made a feast when his son was married, And sent out his servants to get in the guests to the feast: and they would not come. Again he sent out other servants, with orders to say to the guests, See, I have made ready my feast: my oxen and my fat beasts have been put to death, and all things are ready: come to the feast. But they gave no attention, and went about their business, one to his farm, another to his trade: And the rest put violent hands on his servants, and did evil to them, and put them to death. But the king was angry; and he sent his armies, and those who had put his servants to death he gave to destruction, burning down their town with fire. Then he said to his servants, The feast is ready but the guests were not good enough. Go then to the cross-roads, and get all those whom you see to come to the bride-feast. And those servants went out into the streets, and got together all those whom they came across, bad and good: and the feast was full of guests.
But in the last days it will come about that the mountain of the Lord's house will be placed on the top of the mountains, and be lifted up over the hills; and peoples will be flowing to it. And a number of nations will go and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will give us knowledge of his ways and we will be guided by his word: for from Zion the law will go out, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
And to him was given authority and glory and a kingdom; and all peoples, nations, and languages were his servants: his authority is an eternal authority which will not come to an end, and his kingdom is one which will not come to destruction.
It is not enough for one who is my servant to put the tribes of Jacob again in their place, and to get back those of Israel who have been sent away: my purpose is to give you as a light to the nations, so that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth. The Lord who takes up Israel's cause, even his Holy One, says to him whom men make sport of, who is hated by the nations, a servant of rulers: Kings will see and get up from their places, and chiefs will give worship: because of the Lord who keeps faith; even the Holy One of Israel who has taken you for himself. This is the word of the Lord: I have given ear to you at a good time, and I have been your helper in a day of salvation: and I will keep you safe, and will make you a glory for the people, putting the land in order, and giving them the heritages which now are waste; Saying to those who are in chains, Go free; to those who are in the dark, Come out into the light. They will get food by the way wherever they go, and have grass-lands on all the dry mountain-tops. They will not be in need of food or drink, or be troubled by the heat or the sun: for he who has mercy on them will be their guide, taking them by the springs of water.
For in this mountain will the hand of the Lord come to rest, and Moab will be crushed down in his place, even as the dry stems of the grain are crushed under foot in the waste place.
If you will give ear to my word and do it, the good things of the land will be yours;
As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my loved one among the sons. I took my rest under his shade with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He took me to the house of wine, and his flag over me was love. Make me strong with wine-cakes, let me be comforted with apples; I am overcome with love.
Take me to you, and we will go after you: the king has taken me into his house. We will be glad and full of joy in you, we will give more thought to your love than to wine: rightly are they your lovers.
Wisdom has made her house, putting up her seven pillars. She has put her fat beasts to death; her wine is mixed, her table is ready. She has sent out her women-servants; her voice goes out to the highest places of the town, saying, Whoever is simple, let him come in here; and to him who has no sense, she says: Come, take of my bread, and of my wine which is mixed.
But he took the tribe of Judah for himself, and the mountain of Zion, in which he had pleasure.
He will keep their souls free from evil designs and violent attacks; and their blood will be of value in his eyes. May he have long life, and may gold from Sheba be given to him: may prayers be made for him at all times; may blessings be on him every day. May there be wide-stretching fields of grain in the land, shaking on the top of the mountains, full of fruit like Lebanon: may its stems be unnumbered like the grass of the earth.
From his earliest days, Moab has been living in comfort; like wine long stored he has not been drained from vessel to vessel, he has never gone away as a prisoner: so his taste is still in him, his smell is unchanged.
And no man, having had old wine, has any desire for new, for he says, The old is better.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Isaiah 25
Commentary on Isaiah 25 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 25
Isa 25:1-12. Continuation of the Twenty-fourth Chapter. Thanksgiving for the Overthrow of the Apostate Faction, and the Setting Up of Jehovah's Throne on Zion.
The restoration from Babylon and re-establishment of the theocracy was a type and pledge of this.
1. wonderful—(Isa 9:6).
counsels of old—(Isa 42:9; 46:10). Purposes planned long ago; here, as to the deliverance of His people.
truth—Hebrew, Amen; covenant-keeping, faithful to promises; the peculiar characteristic of Jesus (Re 3:14).
2. a city … heap—Babylon, type of the seat of Antichrist, to be destroyed in the last days (compare Jer 51:37, with Re 18:1-24, followed, as here, by the song of the saints' thanksgiving in Re 19:1-21). "Heaps" is a graphic picture of Babylon and Nineveh as they now are.
palace—Babylon regarded, on account of its splendor, as a vast palace. But Maurer translates, "a citadel."
of strangers—foreigners, whose capital pre-eminently Babylon was, the metropolis of the pagan world. "Aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise" (Isa 29:5; Eph 2:12; see in contrast, Joe 3:17).
never be built—(Isa 13:19, 20, &c.).
3. strong people—This cannot apply to the Jews; but other nations on which Babylon had exercised its cruelty (Isa 14:12) shall worship Jehovah, awed by the judgment inflicted on Babylon (Isa 23:18).
city—not Babylon, which shall then be destroyed, but collectively for the cities of the surrounding nations.
4. the poor … needy—the Jews, exiles from their country (Isa 26:6; 41:17).
heat—calamity (Isa 4:6; 32:2).
blast—that is, wrath.
storm—a tempest of rain, a winter flood, rushing against and overthrowing the wall of a house.
5. Translate, "As the heat in a dry land (is brought down by the shadow of a cloud, so) thou shalt bring down the tumult (the shout of triumph over their enemies) of strangers (foreigners); and as the heat by the shadow of the cloud (is brought low), so the branch (the offspring) of the terrible ones shall be brought low." Parkhurst translates the Hebrew for "branch," the exulting song. Jerome translates the last clause, "And as when the heat burns under a cloud, thou shalt make the branch of the terrible ones to wither"; the branch withering even under the friendly shade of a cloud typifies the wicked brought to ruin, not for want of natural means of prosperity, but by the immediate act of God.
6. in this mountain—Zion: Messiah's kingdom was to begin, and is to have its central seat hereafter, at Jerusalem, as the common country of "all nations" (Isa 2:2, &c.).
all people—(Isa 56:7; Da 7:14; Lu 2:10).
feast—image of felicity (Ps 22:26, 27; Mt 8:11; Lu 14:15; Re 19:9; compare Ps 36:8; 87:1-7).
fat things—delicacies; the rich mercies of God in Christ (Isa 55:2; Jer 31:14; Job 36:16).
wines on the lees—wine which has been long kept on the lees; that is, the oldest and most generous wine (Jer 48:11).
marrow—the choicest dainties (Ps 63:5).
well refined—cleared of all dregs.
7. face of … covering—image from mourning, in which it was usual to cover the face with a veil (2Sa 15:30). "Face of covering," that is, the covering itself; as in Job 41:13, "the face of his garment," the garment itself. The covering or veil is the mist of ignorance as to a future state, and the way to eternal life, which enveloped the nations (Eph 4:18) and the unbelieving Jew (2Co 3:15). The Jew, however, is first to be converted before the conversion of "all nations"; for it is "in this mountain," namely, Zion, that the latter are to have the veil taken off (Ps 102:13, 15, 16, 21, 22; Ro 11:12).
8. Quoted in 1Co 15:54, in support of the resurrection.
swallow up … in victory—completely and permanently "abolish" (2Ti 1:10; Re 20:14; 21:4; compare Ge 2:17; 3:22).
rebuke—(Compare Mr 8:38; Heb 11:26).
9. And it shall be said in that day, &c.—"After death has been swallowed up for ever, the people of God, who had been delivered from the hand of death, shall say to the Lord, Lo, this is our God, whom unbelievers regarded as only a man" [Jerome]. "The words are so moulded as to point us specially to the person of the Son of God, who 'saves' us; as He vouchsafed to Israel temporal saving, so to His elect He appears for the purpose of conferring eternal salvation" [Vitringa]. The Jews, however, have a special share in the words, This is our God (see on Isa 25:6).
we have waited—"Waited" is characteristic of God's people in all ages (Ge 49:18; Tit 2:13).
we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation—compare Ps 118:24, which refers to the second coming of Jesus (compare Ps 118:26, with Lu 13:35).
10. rest—as its permanent protector; on "hand" in this sense; compare Ezr 7:6, 28.
Moab—while Israel is being protected, the foe is destroyed; Moab is the representative of all the foes of God's people.
under him—Rather, "in his own place" or "country" (Ex 10:23; 16:29).
for the dunghill—Rather, "in the water of the dung heap," in which straw was trodden to make it manure (Ps 83:10). Horsley translates either, "in the waters of Madmenah," namely, for the making of bricks; or as the Septuagint, "as the threshing-floor is trampled by the corn-drag" (see Margin; Mic 4:11-13).
11. he—Jehovah shall spread His hands to strike the foe on this side and on that, with as little effort as a swimmer spreads forth his arms to cleave a passage through the water [Calvin]. (Zec 5:3). Lowth takes "he" as Moab, who, in danger of sinking, shall strain every nerve to save himself; but Jehovah (and "he") shall cause him to sink ("bring down the pride" of Moab, Isa 16:6).
with the spoils of … hands—literally, "the craftily acquired spoils" of his (Moab's) hands [Barnes]. Moab's pride, as well as the sudden gripe of his hands (namely, whereby he tries to save himself from drowning) [Lowth]. "Together with the joints of his hands," that is, though Moab struggle against Jehovah hand and foot [Maurer].
12. fortress—the strongholds of Moab, the representative of the foes of God's people [Barnes]. Babylon [Maurer]. The society of infidels represented as a city (Re 11:8).