March 14, triumph is sure.

Therefore, strong peoples will glorify you.

Cities of ruthless nations will fear you, Isaiah 25-3.

Isaiah sees the day coming when all the nations, representatives from all the people groups,

will no longer be at odds with Yahweh, the God of Israel and his Messiah,

whom we know to be Jesus. They will no longer worship Bell or Nebo or Molec or Allah

or Buddha or Utopian social programs or capitalistic growth possibilities or ancestors or animistic

spirits. Instead, they will come in faith to the banquet on God's mountain and they will have

the veil of sorrow removed and death shall be swallowed up and the reproach of God's people

will be removed and tears shall be gone forever. That's the setting of understanding the vision

of Isaiah 25-3. Therefore, strong peoples will glorify you. Cities of ruthless nations will fear you.

In other words, God is stronger than the strong peoples and he is so powerful and so gracious

that in the end he will turn ruthless nations to revere him.

So the picture Isaiah gives us is one of all nations turned to God in worship, a great banquet for

all the peoples, the removal of all suffering and grief and reproach from the nations who have

become his people and the final putting away of death forever. This triumph is sure because God

is doing it. Therefore we can be certain of it. Not one life spent in the cause of world

evangelization is spent in vain. Not one prayer or one dollar or one sermon or one letter of encouragement

or one little light shining in some dark place, nothing in the cause of this advancing kingdom

is in vain. The triumph is sure.