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Swallowing Up Death Forever
On this mountain, the Lord will prepare for all peoples a rich feast and choice wines. He will swallow up death forever. The Lord God will wipe tears from all faces; the Lord has spoken. – Isaiah 25:6-8
The first lesson for Easter Sunday is from Chapter 25 of Isaiah from the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). This is a popular reading for funerals and yet here it shows up on Easter Sunday too. I’d like to walk you through why it is good news for both funerals and Easter.
On this mountain. The first mention of a mountain in the Bible is during Noah’s flood. The water rose above the mountains and, as the water receded, the Ark rested on one. The second reference was when Abraham was told to go sacrifice his son Isaac (on a mountain; and, thankfully, God stopped him from going through with it). The burning bush Moses saw was on a mountain. The Ten Commandments were given on a mountain. The Promised Land is outlined by mountains. If you have been to Jerusalem, you will know it’s on top of a mountain. In the New Testament, mountains play an important role including the Transfiguration (when Jesus’ clothes turned dazzling white), the Sermon on the Mount, and when Jesus ascended to heaven, his disciples were on a mountain. In other words, mountains are places of transformation where, metaphorically speaking, heaven and earth touch. Isaiah’s “On this mountain” highlights a time of great transformation.
All peoples. “All” in Hebrew is the same in English, it means all. “Peoples” means the different groups, tribes, languages, ethnicities of the world. “All” is an intentionally repeating word in this passage – all faces, all people, all the earth. In other words, no one is left out.
A great feast. The food and wine, as described in detail in Hebrew, take a long time to prepare. Likewise, it takes a long time to eat. This passage is why we believe in heaven there is a great feast for all people.
Swallow up death forever. Most likely an intentional play on words; while all people are eating and drinking (swallowing) what is God eating? The answer: death. When: forever.
Wipe tears from all faces. God is the Feast Preparer, the Inviter of all people, the Swallower of Death, and God is the Great Comforter. Wiping away tears is an intimate, individualistic act. Probably an intentional play on words, the text switches from “all people” to the eyes of each individual. As a loving, compassionate parent wipes away tears from the face of a crying child, so too will God do with you.
The Lord has spoken. A trivia question for you: what’s the first thing God said in the Bible? If you answered, “Let there be light,” you are correct. That light, once spoken, is still active and present and will be here tomorrow and all the tomorrows forever. What God speaks happens; now, and in the future. The feast; swallowing up death; wiping away tears – God has spoken (and is speaking and will speak for every tomorrow for ever). In other words, if you see light in the day and the stars at night, God too will do this on the mountain.
We read this at funerals and on Easter Sunday because it is a summary of the Good News. God has/is/will prepare a feast for you, and for everyone you include in your “all”, and for everyone outside of your “all” too. Therefore, we fear death no more and we rely on God our Great Comforter. The food is being prepared; let us meet God on the mountain and celebrate!
- Rev. Dave
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