Isaiah 25:6-8 – O death, where is your sting!

In the first five verses of chapter 25, Isaiah turned to address the LORD, adoring and thanking Him, the perfect God, for His faithfulness in dealing with sin and protecting the needy. Notice here he refers to God as the LORD of armies. This term could either refer to God as the LORD of Israel’s armies or the LORD of the hosts of heaven. Regardless of how one takes this to mean, Isaiah wanted his readers to know that this God is the LORD of all.

This God would prepare a feast for all peoples on this mountain. Which mountain?  Though it is not specified here, we learn earlier in Isaiah 24:23 that the mountain would be Mount Zion. That was where the prophet said, “For the Lord of armies will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and His glory will be before His elders.”  Hence, we conclude that the lavish feast that the LORD would host would be on Mount Zion and Jerusalem. This was no ordinary feast. It would be a grand and lavish feast hosted by the LORD.

 

What exactly does verse 7 mean? Isaiah said, “And on this mountain, He will destroy the covering, which is overall peoples, the veil which is stretched over all nations”? What is this covering that stretches over all nations? Verse 8 sheds light on this. We concluded that he was referring to death. Death had been a threat that had stretched over all mankind since the fall of Adam. Here God is portrayed as removing the sentence of death that had threatened all mankind since the fall. This is substantiated by Hebrews 2:14-15 that tell us that Christ has destroyed “…the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.” Through Christ, God not only removed death, but He would wipe away all tears, and remove the disgrace of HIs people from all the earth.

 

Death is a grim reminder that mankind had been under the curse of sin. Many had been subjected to the fear of death. Praise God, in Christ Jesus, He has removed the one who controls death i.e. the devil. In Christ, we no longer fear death, hence we are no longer under the hold of the devil. For in Christ, death has lost its sting! Now we can look forward to the feast in God‘s presence. Hallelujah!