Strong people and groups of ruthless individuals will fear God and respect Him for what He has done. They will not necessarily become believers in Him, but they will acknowledge that He has done great things (cf. Revelation 9:20-21). read more
Specifically, they will confess how He delivered those who trusted in Him (during the Tribulation) in spite of the fierce antagonism of their enemies, which was like driving rain (cf. Psalms 61:2-4). read more
1. Thy counsels, etc.] RV ’even counsels of old’ (i.e. formed of old) ’in faithfulness and truth.’2. A city] viz. the one that oppressed God’s people (Isaiah 24:10). Strangers] aliens from God’s covenant people (Isaiah 1:7). 3. The hostile power is not utterly destroyed; its remnant acknowledges Jehovah. 4. Strength] RV ’stronghold.’5. As the heat] i.e. as heat is assuaged by the shadow of a cloud. Branch] RV ’song’; viz. of triumph.6. The temporal and spiritual blessings which the rule of... read more
XXV.(1) O Lord, thou art my God.—The burst of praise follows, like St. Paul’s in Romans 11:33-36, upon the contemplation of the glory of the heavenly city.Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.—It is better to omit the words in italics, and to treat the words as standing in the objective case, in apposition with “wonderful things.” The “counsels of old” are the eternal purposes of God made known to His prophets. The absence of a conjunction in the Hebrew, emphasises the enumeration. read more
(2) Thou hast made of a city an heap.—The city spoken of as “the palace of strangers” was, probably in the prophet’s thought, that which he identified with the oppressors and destroyers of his people—i.e., Nineveh or Babylon; but that city was also for him the representation of the world-power which in every age opposes itself to the righteousness of God’s kingdom. The Babylon of Isaiah becomes the type of the mystical Babylon of the Apocalypse. The words as they stand expand the thought of... read more
(3) Therefore shall the strong people . . .—Better, “a fierce people and a city,” the Hebrew having no article before either noun. The words paint the effect of the downfall of the imperial oppressor on the outlying fiercer nations, who were thus taught to recognise the righteous judgments of the God of Israel. (Comp. Revelation 11:13; Revelation 15:4.) read more
(4) Thou hast been a strength . . .—Literally, a fortress. The fierceness of the oppressor is represented by the intolerable heat, and the fierce tornado of an eastern storm, dashing against the wall, threatening it with destruction. From that storm the faithful servants of the Lord should find shelter as in the castle of the great King. read more
An Act of Faith Isaiah 25:1 I. 'O Lord, Thou art my God.' This is not a prayer, but something higher 'an act of faith'. What do we mean by an act of faith? We mean an expression of faith in which the will has its part. An act of faith should be the utterance of the whole nature, the will giving effect both to the conclusions of the reason and to the desires of the affections. An act of faith seems so simple; it is tremendous, for it involves the operation of the whole soul. II. There is (1)... read more
CHAPTER XXIXGOD’S POORDATE UNCERTAINIsaiah 25:1-12; Isaiah 26:1-21; Isaiah 27:1-13WE have seen that no more than the faintest gleam of historical reflection brightens the obscurity of chapter 24, and that the disaster which lowers there is upon too world-wide a scale to be forced within the conditions of any single period in the fortunes of Israel. In chapters 25-27, which may naturally be held to be a continuation of chapter 24, the historical allusions are more numerous. Indeed, it might be... read more
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Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Isaiah 25:2
What did God do? He destroyed the city of man, the world of city-state culture (cf. Isaiah 24:10), as He said He would. The city, since the time of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9), was a biblical figure of self-salvation. In the Tribulation, God will humble the pride of man who seeks to save himself. read more