Isaiah 25:6 On this mountain Adonai-Tzva’ot
will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food and superb wines,
delicious, rich food and superb, elegant wines.
7 On this mountain he will destroy
the veil which covers the face of all peoples,
the veil enshrouding all the nations.
8 He will swallow up death forever.
Adonai Elohim will wipe away
the tears from every face,
and he will remove from all the earth
the disgrace his people suffer.
For Adonai has spoken.
9 On that day they will say,
“See! This is our God!
We waited for him to save us.
This is Adonai ; we put our hope in him.
We are full of joy, so glad he saved us!”[Compete Jewish Bible]
Who has never wondered about heaven? As a pastor, I frequently get questions about heaven: who will be there or won't be there? Where is it? What is it like? Kids ask these questions often. But it isn't just kids. Adults also want to know, and their interest is often prompted by real life concerns, such as a health crisis or the death of a loved one.
This passage from Isaiah is about as good an answer as you will find in the Bible. But strictly speaking it is not a passage about heaven but about salvation. There is a difference. Our primary concerns of heaven tend to be a concern of place--will there be a place for me? The promise of place is an important part of our salvation hope, but salvation is more than that.
The picture of salvation that Isaiah offers in this passage begins with place: the "mountain of the LORD," but focuses mostly on a state of being in that place. Salvation, for Isaiah, is a state of being sated and content, safe and without fear, comforted and without shame.
We can only imagine and passively wait to see what the mountain of the lord might be like. But the other aspects of Isaiah's image of salvation are things we have tasted and seen, even if only imperfectly. They are also things for which we wait actively by setting the table for God's rich banquet through our generosity, compassion, and forgiveness.
Lord, give us this day the rich abundance of your salvation, that we might extend and share the abundance of your kingdom with others. Amen.
Joe and Jill Doherty
New Promise Lutheran Church, St. George, Utah
Master of Divinity, 1998
Isaiah 25:6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.
7 And he will destroy on this mountain
the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
the sheet that is spread over all nations;
8 he will swallow up death forever.
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation. [New Revised Standard Version]
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