ISAIAH 25

FOLLOWS 24 (ARMAGEDDON JUDGEMENTS)


1    O Yahweh, thou art my Elohim; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

2 For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.

3 Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.

4 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.

5 Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers [silence the tumult of zarim], as the heat [chorev] in a dry place; even the [chorev] with the shadow [by the tzel] of a cloud: the branch of the terrible [zemir (battle song) of the ruthless] ones shall be brought low.




6 And in this mountain [Har Hazeh [i.e., Mt Tziyon] shall Yahweh [Tzva'os] make unto all people [kol HaAmim] a feast [mishteh] of fat things , a [mishteh] of wines on the lees [finest, aged wines,], of fat things full of marrow, [finest meats] of wines on the lees well refined [best wines of finest vintage].


It appears, from Ezek. 43., that the Lord will visit, at stated times, the Temple of Jerusalem, and that the house shall be filled with his glory. We may therefore suppose that so great an occasion as that of the Feast of Tabernacles will not be overlooked.

When all nations are assembled at Jerusalem, this manifestation of Divine glory will undoubtedly take place, and complete the grandeur and brightness of the scene. It appears also, from Isaiah, that some remarkable display of Divine Power will be made in providing for the wants of so vast a multitude.

It occurs at first sight at least, to a political economist, that it will be impossible for the land of Israel to sustain so immense an assemblage. Such a concourse of nations, and still more from year to year, would be sufficient to exhaust the most fertile country, and to drain it of all its resources.

But, independently of the increased productiveness of the land, there is a remarkable indication of some supernatural provision to be found in Isaiah 25. There it is written,

This chapter is immediately preceded by that terrible description of judgment which occupies the whole of chap. 24. There can be no doubt that these two chapters are as consecutive in time as they are in arrangement, and that the 24th foretells the tremendous judgments of the Day of the Lord-the great tribulation-while the 25th describes the period of prosperity and blessing which is immediately to follow.

This being the case, the Feast described in verse 6, may be taken literally as an exercise of Divine Hospitality on a scale worthy of God.

The Lord himself has invited all nations to meet him at Jerusalem. They all assemble as his guests; and the preparations for their reception will, no doubt, be worthy of the Host. A feast, on a scale that the world has never witnessed or conceived, will be provided for the guests of the Lord.

It is said that Cæsar entertained the whole multitude of the Roman people at a single feast; and he defrayed the expenses out of the spoils of the world. But the Lord Jesus, the successor of Cæsar, will entertain all the nations of the earth in annual succession, and without the spoil or oppression of the humblest of his subjects.

At this stupendous feast, "wines on the lees" form a prominent item of the entertainment.

...The aspect of Jerusalem, under the reign of the Age to Come, presents to us the most perfect picture of felicity and beauty that the earth can offer, and one in every way adapted to its end. The magnificent city, fifty miles in circumference, the present circumference of London-Editor of the Herald), and perfect in all its building; the Temple raised above, on the precipice of Mount Moriah; the Feast of Tabernacles prepared in the streets and courts of Jerusalem: the boughs of goodly trees, fresh from the forests (newly created-Editor); the assembled crowds, composed of every variety of the human race, from the western sons of Gomer to the dark-haired race of Ham.

The soft air breathing through the leaves of a thousand bowers; the blue tranquillity of the sky. All this is peaceful and beautiful; but it is far from being the whole; the Lord himself will appear in the midst of his subjects, attended by the thousands of his saints. He is to assume his place as Son of David and King of Israel, and to fill the Temple with his glory. The wonders of his presence will be revealed to all the multitude; and all the natural pleasures of the feast will be sanctified by his approbation.

In that great day the Lord of lords shall be the Host, and all mankind his guests. He whom the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain, will be seen on that speck of his creation which is occupied by the Temple.

What a sublime answer to return when a stranger inquires, "Who is your King? Who is the master of this feast?-God himself!" The Creator of the ends of the earth stands, in human manifestation, upon one narrow spot of his creation. He who feeds oceans with waters, and volcanoes with fire, condescends to spread a feast for feeble, sinful men.

The grandeur of the thought; the beauty of the scene; the beneficence of the Lord of the Land, shall fill the whole earth with admiration. Every man, as he returns to his native city, shall proclaim the marvels he has witnessed; and thus, from mouth to mouth the glories of the Feast of Tabernacles shall be published throughout the earth! All nations shall be awakened by the same holy desire to witness the presence of the Lord, and to go up to Jerusalem.

"The Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising,"

"therefore thy gates shall be open continually;" "they shall not be shut night nor day; that men may bring into them the wealth of the nations, and that their kings may be brought." "Thy sun shall go down no more; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light; and the days of thy mourning shall be ended."

A bond of perpetual union shall be woven at Jerusalem, and diffused through every heart. All men shall be bound together by a common interest and a common pride: for all that glory shall glory in the Lord. And Jerusalem shall be made the Capital of the World, and become the centre of empire by becoming first the centre of attraction.

... A nation of saints, a city of palaces; a festival of unrivalled grandeur! the King of Kings descending to his subjects; the light of Jerusalem, then a Heavenly City, radiating glory into the skies; the presence of the Prince of Peace pacifying the wildness of creation; and thus without violence he takes possession of the avenues of the heart, and shuts out every tumultuous passion.

"For in this place will I give peace, saith Yahweh."

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, July 1856



When the distance to be covered by each visitant to the Temple, as delineated on the map of the " Holy Oblation" (see Plate XIV) is realised—something like twenty- five miles—the necessity for some provision for feeding the people before leaving the sanctuary becomes manifest. But apart from the necessity, the Deity has a distinct purpose in this direction, as already mentioned, see the following testimony :

IN THIS MOUNTAIN SHALL YAHWEH T'ZVAOTH MAKE UNTO ALL PEOPLE A FEAST OF FAT THINGS, A FEAST OF WINE ON THE LEES, OF FAT THINGS FULL OF MARROW, OF WINES ON THE LEES WELL REFINED. (ISA . 25: 6).

The mountain referred to is Mount Zion and Jerusalem where Yahweh is to reign before his ancients gloriously. We may be perfectly sure that when the Lord sets His hand to do this, the feast will be a vast and glorious affair.

" In the mountain of Yahweh it will be seen,"

and in the service of His Temple. One item indicating the vastness of these feasts is the immense provision for vine trees, and the size of that part of the house which may be called the cooking kitchens, i.e., the corner courts, 180 cubits, or 360 feet square. Four of these kitchens are approximately three times the area upon which St. Paul's Cathedral stands. The use of this part of the Temple is thus described :

These are the places of them that boil, where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifices of the people. (Ezekiel 46: 24.)

In these places also they "Bake the meat offering" (verse 20). Baking the meat offering must include preparation of bread for the service of the sanctuary. There are four of these immense kitchens ; they will be needed, although they are so large.

But in what part of the house is the eating to take place ? Surely, in those delightfully-sheltered galleries in the outer court. In the upper storeys of these buildings which flank the outside wall and the double row of buildings on the western side, ample provision will exist for this part of the programme.

These galleries comprise rooms each say one hundred feet in length and about fifty feet wide. Over the porches a terrace, or gallery, extends the full length of the outer court, between the corner courts or kitchens, from whence, along the terraces, the food can be quickly conveyed.

There would be something like 1,776 rooms in each storey of the outer court buildings ; half of them, or 888, may be used for feeding the multitude, the remaining portion being used for special purposes.

If the buildings are three storeys high there would be 2,664 dining halls, each larger than most banqueting halls.

In these dining parlours the worshippers may be regaled in that feast which the Deity makes unto all peoples of the earth. We may well forbear to calculate the number of people who could be entertained in such a suite of rooms—at a shrewd guess, we may safely say three or four hundred thousand at one sitting.

But the charm of the arrangement is that this immense number thrice told could go up and be served without the least confusion or crush. They enter the gates, they pass into the broad outer court. The oblation, or portion which each worshipper brings, and which may be used for food, is elevated to the terrace overhead, and conveyed to the kitchens.

The worshippers upon returning from the central building after judgment, pass through the lower storeys of the cellae to the lifts at the side of the gateways, they ascend to the dining hall cellae above, and there obtain food prepared and served by the ministers of the house.

The lines of traffic are not crossed in all this service. In fact, the plan solves a problem which military men have found difficulty in solving, i.e., how to feed, without confusion, millions of people. Never in the history of man has such a thing been done effectively.

Large multitudes, such as a vast army in campaign, may have been provisioned, but not in so small a space. Spread over a wide tract of country, the thing has been done with more or less confusion and breakdown ; here it will be different.

The boiled meat—probably served cool, the baked meat, the luscious fruit and the cheering

wine, will form a repast of exquisite sense, needing nothing further in the way of embellishment or sumptuousness.

The modern method of catering for a depraved taste, by which the palate is vitiated, its tone destroyed, and its natural sensitiveness lost, so that the delicate flavour of some cereals is almost unknown or despised, we may be sure will be absent.

The Temple of Ezekiel's Prophecy 5.2.7.



7 And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.

8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord Yahweh will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for Yahweh hath spoken it.

9 And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our Elohim; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is Yahweh; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

10 For in this mountain shall the hand of Yahweh rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill.

11 And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands.

12 And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust.