Explore the Bible: October 4

God Saves • Isaiah 25:1-10a

By Don Hicks

O LORD, You are my God;

I will exalt You, I will praise and give thanks to Your name;

For You have done miraculous things,

Plans formed long, long ago, [fulfilled] with perfect faithfulness (Isaiah 25:1 AMP).

Thus begins song of praise that opens our focal passage for today’s Bible lesson. Songs, hymns, praise songs, and Psalms carry deep meaning and rich emotion. Do you identify with the Prophet Isaiah when he says’ “O Lord, You are my God?” Think about the pupils that will be in your class Sunday morning when you teach this lesson. Will they identify with Isaiah’s praise song? Is there an opinion leader in your class who you could ask ahead of time to respond to this verse from their own testimony?

When Isaiah says: “O LORD, You are my God,” he has a very clear Biblical understanding of God & LORD.

— Genesis 1:1 — “In the beginning God” (AMP; KJV; CSB; NIV; ASV). The Amplified Bible goes on to say: “In the beginning God (Elohim) created [by forming from nothing] the heavens and the earth.”

— “Thou Shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3 KJV).

— “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: and thou shalt love the LORD with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5 KJV).

Isaiah also has a clear view of the phrase, “For You have done miraculous things.”

— “Moses answered the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the “LORD will bring you… Then the LORD said to Moses, … Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground’” Exodus 14:13-16(NIV).

— The capture of Jericho in Joshua chapters five and six.

Isaiah had seen and understood God’s plan with Abraham, “Plans formed long, long ago, [fulfilled] with perfect faithfulness,” being fulfilled.

— “The LORD had said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. ‘I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all people on earth will be blessed through you,” (Genesis 12:1-3 NIV).

— God gave Isaiah an important explanation of one of His long-formed plans that would come to fulfillment eight centuries later: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14 NIV).

Isaiah’s prophecy reaches its climax in verse eight of today’s focal passage when he tells us about God’s plan to save us and defeat death: “he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away tears from all faces” (Isaiah 25:8 NIV).

The truth of this profound verse is explained by the Apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians: “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed… ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting” (I Corinthians 15:51-55 NIV). Isaiah 25:9 (NIV) says: “In that day they will say, ‘Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.’”

Paul states this same truth in the New Testament using these words, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13 KJV).

We began this preview with this quote from Isaiah the prophet. After prayerfully studying this verse and the related Old and New Testament passages, is the song of your heart? O LORD, You are my God.