Isaiah 25 - When God Destroys

Today I realized I did not plan my Lenten challenge well.  I type faster than I can write so I set up a place to blog.  I will share the link on FaceBook as a way of staying accountable to my commitment and to share what's in my heart with my congregation.

So the inevitable question of what do I study when I set down to read the Bible?  Starting tomorrow I will receive a daily suggested reading but today I had nothing.  So as I was going to www.biblegateway.com to read 'something" their verse of the day was Isaiah 25:1 - so I read the verses below.  Go ahead and scroll down and read - then come back.

Did you read?

You Sure?

Ok then - encountering the Bible in snippets like this is hard for me because I don't know what happened.  What's the context here?  Why does the prophet praise God for destruction?  Why will "ruthless people" revere God?  Why are foreigners always the bad guys?  Is this a reliable translation?

I'll pull out my concordances and whatnot later but for now, in my Lenten time commitment I have promised to simply encounter the Word as it is.  And as it is these are passages that trouble me.

BUT!  Good scriptural study principle says that I interpret scripture through the lens of the living embodiment of the Word, Jesus.  He did not delight in destruction but in building people up.  And he did not delight in separating people into Foreign and Not - no he brought people together.

So I know, because I know Jesus, that every piece of destruction is meant to rebuild something better.  Every time something is taken away, it is to make room for the best things.  Just like this passage troubles me in some ways because on the surface it looks harsh, sometimes God asks me to change, to give something up, or I feel like something is being taken from me.  And it's hard.  Uncomfortable.

Yet ,. . . . . every tearing down is a preparation to rebuild.  And we have the promise of Isaiah that the Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from ALL faces (emphasis mine)

Today Lord, let me walk in the confidence of your love and care.  As I fast for Lent, let it remind me of the feast you have prepared for me.  As I go through my day, if something feels hard, uncomfortable or destructive let me trust that you will be tender with my bruises, wipe away my tears and that you will build something beautiful in it's place.  Amen

25 Lord, you are my God;
    I will exalt you and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
    you have done wonderful things,
    things planned long ago.
2 You have made the city a heap of rubble,
    the fortified town a ruin,
the foreigners’ stronghold a city no more;
    it will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore strong peoples will honor you;
    cities of ruthless nations will revere you.
4 You have been a refuge for the poor,
    a refuge for the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the storm
    and a shade from the heat.
For the breath of the ruthless
    is like a storm driving against a wall
5     and like the heat of the desert.
You silence the uproar of foreigners;
    as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud,
    so the song of the ruthless is stilled.

6 On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare
    a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine—
    the best of meats and the finest of wines.
7 On this mountain he will destroy
    the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
8     he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears
    from all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgrace
    from all the earth.
The Lord has spoken