We Have Waited – Isaiah 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.' "

Every now and then in Isaiah's flow of fearful prophecy, he peels back the corner of the present and gives us a glimpse of the reality that will become fully visible "in that day." Chapter 25 begins with praise to the Lord God for what He has done. The prophet is looking back from the end times, rather than forward toward them.

The passage contrasts two groups of people. There are the strong and terrible nations, and there are those who are poor and needy (see verses 3-4). In that day, it says, "The strong people will glorify You, and the city of the terrible nations will fear You." But the reason they now honor and respect God is specifically because He has turned their fortified city into a ruin, never to be rebuilt.

On the other hand, the poor and needy have found God to be their strength in times of distress, and a refuge from the storms. Note that (prior to the end of time) God does not remove the distresses or the storms. Instead, He provides a place of safety (Himself) in the middle of these difficulties. He is also described as "a shade from the heat," and a wall against which the "terrible ones" could only storm and blast.

If we truly know God, we should expect to find ourselves among the poor and needy. Jesus spoke of those who were poor in spirit, mournful, meek, and spiritually hungering and thirsting (see Matthew 5:3-6). It was these, He told us, who would inherit the kingdom of heaven. What especially divides this group from those who do not inherit the kingdom? I would suggest it is that they were willing to wait for God.

We get another glimpse of the strong and terrible crowd in verse 11 of Isaiah 25. It says that God "will bring down their pride, together with the trickery of their hands." Here we see these people as independent, self-directed, and grasping for what they desired--even if it involved dishonesty. God will trample them "as straw is trampled down for the refuse heap." By contrast, those who trustingly wait for the Lord will eventually come to the day when they are able to fully rejoice in His salvation. For them, God will prepare a great feast.

One other verse in this chapter especially astonishes me. Many years ago we were driving in Alabama along a remote but lovely stretch of Highway 65. Suddenly I had what I would call an inner vision. About a hundred yards above the surface of the ground, I "saw" a strange invisible membrane stretched out over us. I somehow knew that this shroud was preventing me from seeing something very real, just on the other side. It struck me then that we think we know so much, when there is so very much we have been given no awareness of.

It was much later that I came across verse 7 of this chapter. "And He will destroy on this mountain the surface of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations." Verse 8 goes on to say, "He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; for the Lord has spoken."

If these things are true, and I believe they are, then we are foolish if we make our decisions and choices based on what we now see, instead of waiting, in hope and peace, for the God whose word WILL come to pass.