Scriptural text: Isaiah 25; Daniel 6:10-28
Lesson Context: God’s interventions took the form of oppression by foreign powers (Isaiah 7:0). One such oppression occurred during the reign of Ahaz of Judah (735-716 BC) when Aram (Syria) and the northern kingdom of Israel joined forces against Judah (2 Kings 16:1- 10). Ahaz “saved” Judah by means of an unholy alliance with Assyria (16:7- 9). That country eventually conquered northern Israel and exiled its inhabitants in 772 BC (17:6). The city of Jerusalem (in Judah) barely escaped the same fate in 701 BC (18:13- 19:27). But that was only temporary. Jerusalem’s reaction to that time of forthcoming darkness would reveal where the inhabitants’ hearts actually lay (Jeremiah 7:1-8; Isaiah 42:20-25). (International Sunday School Lessons KJV 2024-2025)
l. Praise the Lord (Isaiah 25:1-5):
A. For His Judgments (vv. 1-3). 1. “O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.”
The worshipper here makes a decision to praise God (I will). Worship is never to be just a feeling even if it is an intense feeling. We are to worship God with a decision. When we think about all the wonderful things the Lord has done, it is pretty easy to make the decision to worship the Lord. God wants our worship to be filled with thought and remembrance of God’s great works, not only an emotional response. When we remember the greatness and permanence of God’s word, it makes us want to praise Him. (David Gutz’s Bible Commentary)
2a. “For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a ruin:a palace of strangers to be no city.” We can worship God for His judgment because we have confidence in His fairness. As was the case with Sodom and Gomorrah, God will never make a city a ruin unless the judgment is deserved, and God has made provision for the righteous.
2b. “It shall never be built.” Destroyed cities and towns were often rebuilt. For God to forbid a city ever being rebuilt indicates His extreme displeasure of what went on there. To ignore this prohibition was to invite the wrath f God anew.
(International Sunday School Lessons KJV 2024- 2025)
B. For His Mercy (vv. 4-5): 4-5 “For thou hast been a strength to the poor; a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is a storm against the wall. Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.”
God is worthy of our praise because He brings strength to the poor and needy. “A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat” This is a wonderful reason to praise God, and even the strangers (aliens) are blessed by His goodness. God will even quiet the song of the terrible ones. (David Gutz’s Bible Commentary)
ll. The Lord Hosts a Banquet (Isaiah 25:6-8): A. Invitation to Dine (v.6). 6a. “And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things.” In several places, the Bible speaks of what sometimes called