Isaiah 25:1-8

¹ Yahveh, my God, it is you; I will applaud you. I will praise your name, because you have done a wonderful thing, what you advise from a distance is firmly faithful. ² Because you have set up a heap of a city; that inaccessible city is now a ruin, a palace of foreigners from what used to be a city; it will not be rebuilt for an age. ³ For this reason, strong people will bring you glory; a city of ruthless Gentiles, they will fear you. ⁴ Because you have been a refuge to the poor, a refuge to the needy in his distress, a shelter from a rainstorm, a shade from heat. Because the breath of the ruthless ones was like a rainstorm against a wall, ⁵ the noise of foreigners like heat in a dry land. You restrained the heat with the shade of a cloud; the song of the ruthless ones was silenced. ⁶ And on this mountain Yahveh of armies will make for all people a fat feast, a feast of aged wines, fat filled with marrow, filtered aged wine. ⁷ And on this mountain he will swallow the face of the shroud, the shroud over all peoples, and the woven covering over all nations. ⁸ He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord Yahveh will wipe off tears from all faces, and he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the land, because Yahveh has spoken.

long distance advice

One of the jobs that Penny and I share involves advising those involved in missions and church work in various countries in Asia and the Pacific. We occasionally have face-to-face visits with the leaders of these ministries. But, most of the time we communicate via emails or Skype calls. Thanks to the miracle of modern electronic communication, we can have an impact on the lives and ministries of believers in many lands – via long distance advice.

Isaiah had given some long distance advise from the LORD to the exiles in Babylon. He told them to be patient, because the LORD was going to deliver them. At some time in the future, the refugees would return. The LORD would swallow up death, wipe away tears, and remove their disgrace.

Those same three promises are ours today. While we may not be exiles in Babylon, we are in bondage. But our king is returning, and he will completely rescue us from that bondage. He will remove from us the penalty of sin (death), the sorrow caused by the curse upon Adam, and the dishonor that has been with us since the fall in Eden.

While we are still here, waiting for Jesus to return and struggling with the consequences of sin and depravity, the LORD has some long distance advice for us. He wants us to trust that what he promises, he will deliver. He wants us to believe that what he promises from a distance is firmly faithful.

LORD, we will stay the course, and trust in your coming deliverance, because your promises are firmly faithful.