Isaiah 25:8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces… I. THE TRUTH ASSERTED. "He will swallow up death in victory." The redemption of Jesus Christ deals with both parts of man's nature, his soul and his body. But the application of redemption to the body is as yet deferred. There is — 1. The removal of all sorrow. "The Lord God shall wipe away," etc. 2. There shall be the removal of the rebuke of God's people; by which I would understand death, which surely is the greatest reproach which God's people now lie under. II. THE HYMN OF TRIUMPH which is sung by the risen saints at the time referred to in our text. "And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us," etc. It is impossible for us fully to enter into the triumphant feeling contained in this verse, whilst we are ourselves in the valley of humiliation and woe. The language is the language of victory, and that we have not yet received. There are parts, however, in this hymn which we may already join in. The language of our text is the language of present realisation of expected triumph. "Lo, this is our God." There is the manifestation of Jehovah. "We have waited for Him." In times past "we have waited for Him." In sorrow, in distress, in agony of spirit, "we have waited for Him." When death has entered our family, and when bitter grief has entered our hearts, "we have waited for Him." And the darkness, the mist, and the cloud have all cleared away. "We have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." The double truth, then, presented to us in our text is the assertion of coming victory and the assurance of the joy which shall be ours when that victory is achieved. (E. Bailey, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it. |
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