Isaiah 25-28

Isaiah 25
1-12 Praise for Deliverance from Oppression

• 1-5 I praise you for your deeds: your power against evil nations, your protection of your people.
• 6-10 On this mountain the LORD will prepare a sumptuous meal for his people, wiping their tears and removing their disgrace, and they will rejoice in his salvation. "Then the LORD God will wipe away the tears from all faces." (See Revelation 21:4)
  
• 11-12 The Moabites will be struck down and disgraced in their place.

Isaiah 26
1-21 Judah's Song of Victory

• 1-6 The land of Judah will sing about their victorious city, where in peace they trust God, for he has brought low the lofty city.
• 7-8 O Just One, you make smooth the path of the righteous.
• 9-10 When things go well, the perverse learn nothing. They learn only when you bring judgment on them.
• 11 "Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed. Let the fire for your adversaries consume them." John 2:17 may not be a direct fulfillment of verse 11, but it certainly is an answer to Isaiah's prayer.
  
• 11-15 We acknowledge you alone; you have obliterated our enemies and increased our nation.
• 16-19 You ignored the prayer of the wicked for renewal, but you heard our cries; your dead shall live.
• 20-21 My people, hide yourselves until the wrath of the LORD is past. He will come, exposing the world's wrath. Here it seems like the punishment comes not from God -- he only reveals all the ugly things that have been happening and allows the wicked to destroy themselves.

Isaiah 27
1-12 Israel's Redemption

• 1 "On that day" God will punish Leviathan (the enemy).
• 2-5 "On that day" I will take care of my people as I would a vineyard, guarding it and pruning it. Let it make peace with me.
• 6 "In days to come Jacob shall take root. Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots, and fill the whole world with fruit." Romans 11:13-24 refer to Israel as the root; Romans 15:12 refers to Christ as "the root of Jesse."
• 7-11 Those who took Israel into exile will receive no mercy. Their city will be "deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness" because they are a people without understanding, and God will have no compassion on them. The commentaries I consulted all say this applies to Jerusalem, to a temporary devastation and destruction. But I don't see that. The destruction here seems total; God has no compassion. But Jerusalem was not destroyed completely, and God does show them compassion by bringing them back. With their background of history, they're probably right, but at this point I don't see it.
  
• 12-13 Triumphal entry of those returning to Jerusalem from captivity.

Isaiah 28
1-29 Judgment on Corrupt Rulers, Priests and Prophets

• 1-4 The mighty God will overcome, hurl, and trample the drunkards of Ephraim who are bloated with rich food.
• 5-6 The LORD of hosts will represent glory, beauty, justice and strength to his people.
• 7-8 The drunk priest and prophet will stagger, err in vision, stumble in judgment
• 9-10 The prophets are so dense they cannot grasp his message all at once, but must be taught as children are taught: just a little at a time: "here a little, there a little."
• 11-13 God speaks to them in a language they do not understand. God's word is little more than a rhyme to them "here a little, there a little." It is a word of salvation, but because they do not accept it, it condemns them.
• 14-15 Hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers who have made lies your refuge and falsehood your shelter:
• 16-17 "I am laying in Zion a foundation a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation." Fulfilled in Christ. See 1 Peter 2:6-8.
• 18-22 You'll want to die, but you will not be able. You will experience sheer terror when the LORD issues his decree of destruction.
• 23-26 Eventually the farmer stops plowing and sows his seed, each seed planted according to where it will grow the best. So God also prepared our souls, knowing the seeds we need to grow.
• 27-29 His reaping is also always appropriate, for "he is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in wisdom." If we respond positively to his word, we will be blessed for it. If we don't, we will be chastised by it.