Isaiah 25:4-9 -- On Previews of Salvation

"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 as 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.
And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations.
He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.
And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation."
Isaiah 25:4-9


I like the imagery here of basically the culmination of everything that God has promised and that we have waited for... the fulfillment of God's promises.  The poor taken care of, a top quality feast provided for all (both literally and figuratively I am guessing)... no more tears, and I love the phrase "he will swallow up death in victory" ... meaning, it seems, that the triumph will more than make up for any previous sorrow.

Another thing that I love here is the destruction of the veil... that's huge.  The veil is holding back all of our memories of the preexistence, and having that gone changes everything.  I mean, that right there might be how he wipes off the tears from all of us, because remembering who we have been and that we already knew and loved God and wanted to be here... that could solve lots of our background existential crisis issues. :)

Honestly though, it's almost like skipping to the end of a novel, or getting a "coming soon" preview of the future, just to make sure things are going to be okay--we'll get to the same place by trusting the author and continuing to read, but an occasional preview is nice to soften our anxieties and help us remember that there is a happy ending ahead.

Today, let's believe in and work for the future that God has promised us, so that someday after waiting a bit, we too will rejoice in his salvation.