Isaiah 25, Waiting! On the LORD!! (1)

Let’s take some time to talk about everyone’s favorite subject: “waiting.”  If you didn’t see it clearly, the previous sentence contained a large amount of sarcasm.  Nobody wants to wait.  We want fast food, fast service, fast answers, fast working pain medicine, not to mention quick books, jiffy lubes and urgent care.  (That last sentence took five minutes; I don’t have time for this.)

Isaiah 24-27 is where we’ll begin.  It is a section of Isaiah sometimes called “The Little Apocalypse.”  In 4 chapters it contains many of the ingredients in the Apocalypse, the Book of Revelation.  This world-wide apocalypse promises to bring joy to the people of Israel (26:1-19).  But wait!  Hear the LORD’s word in Isa. 25:9:

And it will be said in that day

“Behold, this is our God;

We have waited for Him, and He will save us. 

This is the LORD;

We have waited for Him;

We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”

Twice it says: “We have waited for Him.”  A similar line is in 26:8: “We have waited for You.”  And you will see, there are several more references to “waiting” in Isaiah.  It’s actually an important theme.

What is Israel “waiting” for?  One answer to that question is in today’s reading from Isa. 25.  In 25:1 there is a promise to exalt and praise God because His “counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.”  What we understand by this is that God has been faithful to His “plan” (counsels).  His plan to exalt Messiah in Zion was made in eternity past (Ps. 2:6-9) and in time was first revealed to Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3; 15, etc.).  So they will have waited since the time of the Fathers.

But notice that in 25:9 it says “in that day” they will be talking about how they waited for God.  What “day” is it talking about?  It’s the one described in 25:2-8, where we see that …

·       v2: God made a city of foreigners a ruin;

·       v3: the terrible nations are glorifying God;

·       v4: God has been a refuge to the poor people;

·       v5: the noises of the nations are diminished;

·       v6: the nations will fellowship with God in Zion;

·       v7: the veil of darkness over Israel has been removed;

·       v8: “He will swallow up death forever.  And the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces.  The rebuke of His people (Israel in this context) He will take away from all the earth.”  Death was swallowed up in the resurrection of Christ (2 Tim. 1:10).  The removal of tears is related to the taking away of Israel’s rebuke by the nations. 

What is Israel “waiting” for?  The complete fulfillment of God’s promises to the Patriarchs, which happens at the same time as the “times of the Gentiles/Nations” comes to an end with the return of Christ. 

Let us end with the command often seen in the Psalms: Wait on the LORD (e.g. Ps. 27:14).  How long have you been waiting for an answer from the LORD?  God will keep His word.  Wait, I say, on the LORD!