Isaiah’s Hope – Part 1(Isaiah 25:1 – 26:6 (25:1-12))

Isaiah’s Hope – Part 1
Isaiah 25:1 – 26:6 (25:1-12)
September 10, 2023

As you know, we finished the oracles last Sunday morning
With the oracle concerning Tyre.

• Those were regional judgments
• Meant to teach the nation of Judah to trust God and not themselves
• And to approach God in repentance and faith.

We learned a lot from them about trusting God’s sovereign plan
In a world that is unstable and out of control.

However, last Sunday night Isaiah lifted his eyes up from the scroll
And made eye contact with us.

The prophecy we discussed in Isaiah 24
Was NOT about a regional judgment that occurred in Isaiah’s day.

The prophecy of Isaiah 24 was about
The coming judgment that will come over all the earth.

Isaiah 24:1 “Behold, the LORD lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface and scatters its inhabitants.”

We called it “Isaiah’s Apocalypse”.
Isaiah saw the end.

We learned that it is sin which has polluted the earth.
Isaiah 24:5 “The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant.”

And we learned that because of this sin, this earth will not last.
Isaiah 24:20 “The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard And it totters like a shack, For its transgression is heavy upon it, And it will fall, never to rise again.”

We called it “Biblical Global Warming”.
We learn from the Bible that humanity has polluted the earth
And because of that pollution God will destroy it.

But the pollution of humanity is not CO2 or methane, it is sin.
It is prideful rebellion against the God who created this world.

And because of that rebellion, the earth will be burned
And sinners who have not trusted in Christ will burn with it.

We also noticed as we studied this apocalyptic day were some of the responses to it.

1. We saw the response of the wicked who were so distraught that they didn’t even have drinking parties anymore.

In short, any and all cause for celebration was gone.
Isaiah 24:11 “There is an outcry in the streets concerning the wine; All joy turns to gloom. The gaiety of the earth is banished.”

2. And we saw the response of the righteous who rejoiced that God finally intervened and judged sinners.

Isaiah 24:14 “They raise their voices, they shout for joy; They cry out from the west concerning the majesty of the LORD.”

We’ve read enough of those imprecatory Psalms over the years
To understand the celebrating of the righteous here.

3. But then we saw Isaiah’s response.
And Isaiah rightly brought our perception into focus.

For while there is coming a day
When Isaiah will join the celebration of the righteous,
It is not this day.

Today is not the day of judgment, today is the day of salvation.
And the prophet of God was grieved and broken
Over the fate of those who are lost and who would not repent.

His response was convicting to us and indeed should motivate us
To “prophesy again” and to go tell the world again
Of the coming judgment and the way to be saved from it.

And that is what we looked at last Sunday night.

But THIS MORNING we move forward.

And here, Isaiah is now looking past the day of judgment
To the day when he will join the chorus of the righteous.

Isaiah now fixes his gaze upon the heaven which follows the judgment
And he cannot contain himself.

He sees what God has in store for those who trust Him
And Isaiah immediately breaks out in doxology.

(1) “O LORD, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name;”

This morning we get to witness Isaiah’s gaze upon heaven.
We get to see why the righteous will rejoice there.

If you did your prayer journal this morning before church you know that we read Ephesians 1:18-19 and our prayer was that God will show our church just how glorious our eternal inheritance is.

Well that fits perfectly with what we will study here.

Let’s look this morning at Isaiah’s view of heaven.

We can break it down into 5 points, we’ll look at the first 4 this morning.
#1 GOD’S FORMED PLAN
Isaiah 25:1-3

We see Isaiah praising God in verse 1 and then we immediately see why.

“For You have worked wonders, Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.”

The worship of Isaiah begins with the sovereignty of God.
It begins basically with Isaiah saying,
“You did it! You said You’d do it and You did it!”

God formed a plan and God executed the plan.
And He did it “with perfect faithfulness.”

That is simply a testimony to the power and steadfastness of God.
• Some make a plan but cannot carry it out.
• Some make a plan but grow lazy and do not carry it out.
• Some make a plan but it is flawed so they change it.

But not God.
His plan is perfect, and He will carry it out exactly as He intended.

And this plan, as we saw, begins with the judgment of the wicked.

(2) “For You have made a city into a heap, A fortified city into a ruin; A palace of strangers is a city no more, It will never be rebuilt.”

• Isaiah speaks there, not of any particular city, but of all the cities of the earth.
• He is referencing the judgment which God will have upon the entire world.

In Revelation 18 the judgment of the earth
Is also referred to as the judgment of a city. There it is called Babylon.

And God calls for rejoicing over her destruction.

Revelation 18:20 “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.”

And we see heaven rejoicing over her fall.
Revelation 19:1-4 “After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER.” And a second time they said, “Hallelujah! HER SMOKE RISES UP FOREVER AND EVER.” And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!”

And here we see the first thing Isaiah rejoices in regarding heaven.
He is rejoicing because the city of sin is no more.

That is without a doubt the greatest glory of heaven…SIN IS NOT THERE.

Revelation 21:27 “and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

• God has a plan to put an end to sin.
• God has a plan to put an end to the curse.
• God has a plan to redeem His people from this sin-stained earth
• And then to destroy it so that it never afflicts us again.

Heaven is rejoicing because God has done what He said.
Heaven is rejoicing because God has totally eradicated sin.

• No more corrupt worldly governments to oppress…
• No more prideful humanity…
• No more celebrations of immorality…
• No more bombardment with temptation…
• No more cringing at the world’s sinful expressions…

GOD ENDS IT ALL.
He said He would, and Isaiah is now rejoicing at the day
When God fulfills that promise.

All the world has been subdued and brought into subjection to Him.

(3) “Therefore strong people will glorify You; Cities of ruthless nations will revere You.”

It is the equivalent of the New Testament promise:
Philippians 2:10-11 “so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Everything God said He would do; He did.

What a joy it will be to all the inhabitants of heaven to examine all the promises God ever made to His people and to see that not one of them was broken.

What a joy it will be to examine all the prophecies that God revealed and see that He fulfilled every singe one exactly as He intended.

“For You have worked wonders, Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.”

Isaiah already anticipates it!

His Formed Plan
#2 GOD’S FAITHFUL PROTECTION
Isaiah 25:4-5

It is certainly understandable that the first cry of rejoicing
Would be in the sovereign faithfulness of God.

But it also makes perfect sense
That such praise immediately would break into gratitude
FOR BRINGING ME safely to heaven.

How many people have attended a funeral where John 14 was read?

John 14:1-3 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

• Many a believer has held to that verse in times of darkest peril.
• Many a believer has held out hope that one day we will go and be with Him.

EVEN SO:
• We know that we live in a world that lies in the power of the evil one.
• We know that there are temptations and trials around every corner.
• We know that we are very much living in enemy territory.
• We know the devil will stop at nothing to have us not make it.

But we live with this promise
• That He has promised us eternal life and “no one is able to snatch us out of His hand.” (John 10:28)
• We are told in Jude that He is “able to keep us from stumbling.” (Jude 1:24)
• Peter told us that we are “protected by the power of God for a salvation ready to be revealed in us.” (1 Peter 1:5)
• Paul reminded us that “nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:39)

And we hold to those promises in faith.
(That He will bring us safely home)

And on the day that we enter its gates…
On the day that we arrive…
We will praise our Heavenly Father for never letting go of us.

(4a) “For You have been a defense for the helpless, A defense for the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat;”

We love all of those analogies of God.
• “A defense”
• “A refuge”
• “a shade”

WE WON’T walk into the gates of heaven
And expect to be patted on the back for our sheer strength
And determination to have made it that far.

WE WILL immediately look for the One who cared for us along the way.
• We will seek the One who defended us from Satan’s fiery darts.
• We will seek the One who was a refuge to us from His deceptive lies.
• We will seek the One who was a shade to us from His blistery persecution.

For we know that by ourselves we were no match for the enemy.

(4b-5a) “For the breath of the ruthless Is like a rain storm against a wall. Like heat in drought,”

Isaiah describes the attack of the evil one like “a rain storm against a wall”

• It may not mean much to you in our culture,
• But many of you have donated several times to pay to rebuild houses in Malawi
• Where all they have at their disposal are clay bricks they form out the mud in the ground.
• Too much rain and those houses collapse.

Isaiah describes the attack of the evil one like “heat in a drought”

• That one you have a pretty good handle on.
• It is overbearing, it is too much to handle.
• Stuff dies under such circumstances.

THE POINT BEING – Satan would have defeated us.

But on the day we step into heaven we will see that
God has carried safely through every storm.

(5b) “You subdue the uproar of aliens; Like heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the ruthless is silenced.”

When the enemy rained down his heat upon our heads;
(Such heat as would cause us to deny and run away from God.)
God intervened with a cloud to shadow us from his lies and his attacks.

We make it safely home because He causes us to make it.

And on the day we enter His gates
We will join the chorus of praising Him for it.

Paul faced martyrdom has he wrote his final letter, and in it he wrote:
2 Timothy 3:10-11 “Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me!”

At the end of the letter he wrote:
2 Timothy 4:16-18 “At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Paul counted on the fact that God, who had protected his soul thus far,
Would continue to do it.

What a joy for the righteous to look back on their afflictions
And see that God did deliver us from them all.

We will praise Him for His formed plan.
We will praise Him for His faithful protection.

#3 GOD’S FULFILLED PROMISE
Isaiah 25:6-9

Here is the part that we all love.
Isaiah describes for us the realities of heaven.

How comforting to know that nearly 800 years later when God showed a picture of heaven to John, he saw the exact same thing.

Revelation 21:1-4 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

Interesting to us that when Isaiah saw God’s heaven,
He saw the very same thing.

He saw “a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, And refined, aged win.”

• John saw it as a wedding.
• Jesus described it as a wedding banquet.

Matthew 22:2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.”

And the point of it is EXTRAVAGANCE.

We’ve all heard people make comments like: “I want to go to heaven, but I don’t want to go tonight.”

Or you hear today of people’s “bucket lists”.
• You know things you want to do before you die.

And I get the idea behind such statements.
I understand God has given us reasons to enjoy our present life.

But at least somewhere in those statements is the sentiment
That when you die you’ll be missing out.

Can I read you a very important verse about heaven?
Isaiah 65:17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.”

When you get there, you aren’t going to miss anything that was here.
No one is grieving in heaven
That they didn’t get to spend a little longer on earth first.

1 Corinthians 2:9 “but just as it is written, “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”

The picture is EXTRAVAGANCE.
It is pictured by a luxurious banquet.

And no one is sitting around that table saying, “Remember those steaks we ate at Outback that time?”

Everything is better.
Nothing here will be missed.

Listen to Peter describe it:
1 Peter 1:4 “to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,”

“imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away”
Name one thing on earth that fits that category.
Heaven is better.

BUT THAT’S NOT THE ONLY PROMISE THEY ARE REJOICING IN.

(7) “And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, Even the veil which is stretched over all nations.”

Most commentaries throw this verse in with verse 8
And say that Isaiah is talking about death.
But he talks about death in verse 8.

What if this is a different veil that is removed?
LIKE WHAT?

Well Paul speaks several times about a veil
That covers the eyes of the unbelieving.

2 Corinthians 3:15 “But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart;”

2 Corinthians 4:3-4 “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

But even we,
• Though that veil has been removed, still do not yet fully know.
• Even we, who are His children don’t see fully yet.

But…
1 Corinthians 13:12 “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.”

What if the veil Isaiah sees removed is that which has caused us to only see Christ dimly through a mirror?

On this day that veil will be removed.
• We won’t see Christ through His veil of human flesh.
• We won’t see Christ through the veil of our unbelief or ignorance.
• We will see Him as He is.

1 John 3:2 “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”

“What a day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see; when I look upon His face, the One who saved me by His grace; when He takes me by the hand and leads me through the promised land; what a day, glorious day that will be!”

Today we walk through this world of trials and snares
And we do so with a blurry picture.

We walk by faith and not by sight.
“Eye has not seen” the truth of it all.

But on the day when the scales fall off our eyes and we see Him as He is,
THAT WILL BE CAUSE FOR REJOICING.

AND THAT’S NOT ALL.
(8) “He will swallow up death for all time…”

Sin is gone, the curse is removed, and death is not needed.

1 Corinthians 15:26 “The last enemy that will be abolished is death.”

1 Corinthians 15:54-57 “But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

By coming and dying as human He saved us from the fear of death.
On the day we enter His heavenly kingdom
We shall be saved from the total reality of it.

• We will never again attend a funeral.
• We will never again say our final goodbyes to a loved one.
• We will never miss anyone ever again.

Which also explains:
“And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces,”
• No more weeping over our own failures or the failures of those we love.
• No more weeping with those who weep.
• No more grief or sorrow or pain or despair.
• No more tragedies.
• No more suffering or disaster or scorn.

Isaiah says:
“And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth;”

On earth we are strangers and aliens.
• We are the pebble in the world’s shoe.
• We are the progress stoppers.
• We are the kill-joys.

The Psalmist said (and Paul agreed) that
We are “considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

The world hates that we oppose their plans
And God’s people throughout the ages have suffered for it.

But holiness won’t be hated in heaven.
• Righteousness won’t be looked down upon in heaven.
• Obedience won’t be rejected in heaven.

And so God’s people will never be hated or reproached again.

“For the LORD has spoken.”

On that day we will see the promise fulfilled.
It will be a glorious day.

It’s no wonder heaven is rejoicing.

(9) “And it will be said in that day, “Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

Psalms 6:3 “And my soul is greatly dismayed; But You, O LORD—how long?”

Psalms 13:1-2 “How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?”

Psalms 35:17 “Lord, how long will You look on? Rescue my soul from their ravages, My only life from the lions.”

Psalms 74:10 “How long, O God, will the adversary revile, And the enemy spurn Your name forever?”

Psalms 90:13 “Do return, O LORD; how long will it be? And be sorry for Your servants.”

Psalms 94:3 “How long shall the wicked, O LORD, How long shall the wicked exult?”

Even to the very end:
Revelation 6:9-10 “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

My guess is that YOU HAVE FACED similar circumstances in your life
At one time or another where that was your cry as well.

But what a great day of fulfillment.
• When the journey is complete.
• When the trial is over.
• When the victory is won.

And all of heaven joins in:
“Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

HE DID IT!
He saved us!
We are home!

Many times we have talked about that day when Moses spoke to the burning bush and he wanted a sign that God might prove that He would really deliver the children of Israel from under Pharaoh’s hand.

And God consented to give Moses a sign.
Exodus 3:12 “And He said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.”

That wasn’t much of a sign for going forward,
But what a worship service that must have been
When Moses got back to that mountain with all those people.

THAT DAY IS COMING.
• Full extravagance…
• No more separation…
• No more death…
• No more sorrow…
• No more struggle…
• No more waiting…

This is why Isaiah is worshiping.

This is why Isaiah is declaring (1) “You are my God; I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name;”

His Formed Plan, His Faithful Protection, His Fulfilled Promise
#4 GOD’S FINAL PUNISHMENT
Isaiah 25:10-12

Isaiah just spoke of all the glories of dwelling in heaven with God
We hear the saints declaring praise to the God who saved them.

But it doesn’t end there.
The vision continues.
And it continues with a VISION OF JUDGMENT.

“Moab will be trodden down in his place as straw is trodden down in the water of a manure pile.”

Wow that is pleasant.

It gets better.
(11) “And he will spread out his hands in the middle of it as a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim, But the Lord will lay low his pride together with the trickery of his hands.”

First of all: Why Moab?
• Well, Moab here is just a picture of all unredeemed peoples.
• God does this sometimes.
• Later in Isaiah’s letter He’ll use Edom in the same way.

Here Moab is just a representative of all unredeemed peoples and they are used because they are notorious for their pride.

In Moab’s oracle Isaiah outlined Moab’s sin:
Isaiah 16:6 “We have heard of the pride of Moab, an excessive pride; Even of his arrogance, pride, and fury; His idle boasts are false.”

One could easily make the argument that
• Pride is in fact the root of all sin and rejection of the gospel.
• We certainly know that God is opposed to the proud.

Here Moab represents the proud world who would not trust God
And heaven is rejoicing as God judges them.

• They are pictured as having been tossed in a septic tank.
• And when they try to start swimming to escape,
• God puts his foot on their head and pushes them back down in it.

If such a picture makes you squeamish then you read it correctly.
There is nothing desirable about judgment.

And the point is that Moab’s pride and boasts can’t save him.

(12) “The unassailable fortifications of your walls He will bring down, Lay low and cast to the ground, even to the dust.”

So Isaiah just finishes a beautiful section of all the glories of heaven
And then turns right around
And gives us a terrible picture of God’s judgment.

WHAT IS THE REASONING FOR SUCH A SHIFT?
TO REMIND YOU THAT NOT EVERYONE GOES TO HEAVEN.

Mankind loves to gravitate towards universalism.
• It is one of the ways we know the gospel was not invented by man,
• Because if man wrote the gospel everyone would go to heaven.
• But universalism is a lie.
• So is annihilationism (sinners just cease to be).

What we learn from Isaiah is the same thing we learn throughout scripture
Some men go to heaven and others go to hell.

• Some men dwell in the presence of God in eternal glory and extravagance,
enjoying the presence of God with no tears or reproach or suffering or pain.

• Some men dwell in the presence of God in eternal torment and agony suffering
endlessly in reproach and humiliation.

And Isaiah makes a clear distinction as to the determining difference.
AND THAT IS PRIDE.

• It is men who refuse to acknowledge their sin.
• It is men who refuse to repent of their sin.
• It is men who refuse to see they need someone else to save them.
• It is men who refuse to humble themselves and cry out for that salvation.

And again, it was NOT JUST ISAIAH who saw this.

A moment ago we read John’s account of heaven
• Where he spoke of seeing that bride coming down for her husband.
• John talked about how there would no more tears or death or mourning or crying or pain.

But John continued…
Revelation 21:6-8 “Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”