Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

No power threatens the reign of the true king of the heavens and earth

Commentary on Isaiah 25:1-9

Bo Lim

Interpreters of Isaiah have observed that the book can be summarized as a “tale of two cities” that tells the story of how Jerusalem, also referred to as Zion, is redeemed. On the one hand, Jerusalem is its own worst enemy due to its wickedness and corruption, but its enemies are also external. Jerusalem is oppressed by foreign empires and nations, both far and near, exemplified most notably by the city of Babylon. For God’s people to experience peace and joy, not only do they need to experience the forgiveness of their own sins, but they need to be liberated from foreign powers.

This contrast between two cities—a “strong city” (Isaiah 26:1) where the righteous dwell under God’s protection, and a city of ruin (Isaiah 25:2) inhabited by foreign powers—serves as the central theme of Isaiah 24–27 and of this Sunday’s lectionary text, Isaiah 25:1–9. This passage testifies to God’s commitment to judge and destroy all foreign powers that threaten the people of God, and to restore and save the poor and distressed who find refuge in him.

The genre of Isaiah 25 is a hymn of thanksgiving and can be divided into three parts, verses 1–5, verses 6–8, and verses 9–12. The psalm opens in verse 1 with a stereotypical formula found in the book of Psalms, where an individual worshipper extols and praises God (see also Psalm 9:1; 30:1). This phrase is followed with four statements, each introduced by the particle “for” (kî), that provide the rationale for the worshipper’s praise.

The first rationale is somewhat generic: “wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure” (Isaiah 25:1). Yet it demonstrates that God’s actions are deliberate and consistent with his character. Verse 2 specifies that the cause of celebration is God’s complete destruction of a powerful foreign city. This city is described as fortified, containing a palace, and will never rise again to threaten God’s people. The third kî phrase, which opens verse 4, demonstrates that these sentiments ought not to be understood as xenophobia. Apparently, this foreign city oppressed the poor and needy, and its destruction is a demonstration of God’s care for the most vulnerable. The last kî phrase comprises the latter half of verse 4 and portrays God as a shelter and shade in stark contrast to the foreign city that is described as ruthless and causing a storm.

Whereas the first five verses celebrate God’s mighty acts of the past, the next section, 25:6–8, shifts to a vision of a future feast for all people and the defeat of death itself. Blenkinsopp rightly observes, “Sharing a meal has always been one of the most effective means of achieving and celebrating reconciliation and bonding in general and one of the great metaphors for well-being.”¹ So it is not surprising that it appears throughout Scripture to describe God’s final hope for humanity. The meal described in 25:6 does not contain ordinary fare; the terms used to describe the food and drink are uncommon and indicate that this is a special occasion and, in this case, commemorates God’s victory over all threats toward God’s people.

The site of this meal is described as “this mountain” (25:6, 7, 10), which is undoubtedly Mount Zion (see also 24:23). In the book of Isaiah, Zion serves as both the site of God’s peaceful rule and reign over the entire earth (see also 2:2–4), and the location of God’s defeat over evil powers (see also Isaiah 36:1–37:38). It is at Mount Zion that God’s defeat of the foreign city described in 25:2–5 takes place, and it is at Zion where death is defeated forever. This view of Jerusalem as the site of both the judgment and salvation of Israel and the nations is shared by Jesus as portrayed in the Gospels.

The phrase that opens verse 8—“He will swallow up death forever”—is an allusion to the Canaanite myth where death, personified as the deity Mot, swallows the god of fertility and storms, Baal Hadad. In a stark polemic against and reversal of this myth, Isaiah declares that God will swallow up death forever. Yahweh is victor, not death, and at the eschatological banquet while God’s people enjoy sumptuous food, God dines on death itself. Verse 8 goes on to describe that the result of God’s defeat of death is the end of sorrow, hurt, and disgrace for God’s people throughout the earth. Verse 8 ends with the prophetic stereotypical formula, “for the LORD has spoken” which signifies the surety of what has been declared.

Verse 9 introduces a new section of the chapter, with the author introducing another psalm, yet now he speaks in the first-person plural as a representative of the community. Having taken into consideration God’s actions in the past, described in 25:1–5, and the future hope for God’s people, envisioned in 25:6–8, the worshipper understands the nature of faithful living in the present. History will include the defeat of evil powers, and the book of Isaiah itself will testify to the demise of the Assyrian and Babylonian empires. The end of these kingdoms demonstrates that no power threatens the reign of the true king of the heavens and earth, Yahweh.

And yet, suffering will persist until a future moment when death, the ultimate enemy of God’s people, is destroyed. Until then, the proper response of God’s people is not to despair, nor to assume they can defeat evil and death with their own might, but instead to wait patiently upon the salvation of God.

Isaiah 25:1–9 contains a much-needed message for our current moment, in which great political, economic, religious, and cultural powers prey upon the poor and needy. God’s people can give thanks and praise to God because all these forces will come to an end, and they can be assured that a great reward awaits those who wait on the Lord. This teaching is affirmed in the Gospel reading for today in Matthew 22:1–14, where Jesus announces that the kingdom of heaven is like a wedding banquet reserved only for those who are found worthy.