Isaiah 25:6-9 And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make to all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees… God, in the verse before us, has been pleased to describe the provisions of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Other interpretations are all flat and stale, and utterly unworthy of such expressions as those before us. When we behold the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose flesh is meat indeed, and whose blood is drink indeed, offered up upon the chosen mountain, we then discover a fulness of meaning in these gracious words of sacred hospitality. Our Lord Himself was very fond of describing His Gospel under the self-same image as that which is here employed. I. THE FEAST. It is described as consisting of viands of the best, nay, of the best of the best. They are fat things, but they are also fat things full of marrow. Wines are provided of the most delicious and invigorating kind, wines on the lees, which retain their aroma, their strength, and their flavour; but these are most ancient and rare, having been so long kept that they have become well refined; by long standing they have purified, clarified themselves, and brought themselves to me highest degree of brightness and excellence. 1. Let us survey the blessings of the Gospel, and observe that they are fat things, and fat things full of marrow:(1) Complete justification. (2) Adoption. (3) Every child of God is me object of eternal love, without beginning and without end. (4) Union to Christ. (5) Resurrection and everlasting life. 2. Changing the run of the thought, and yet really keeping to the same subject, let me now bring before you the goblets of wine. These we shall consider as symbolising the joys of the Gospel. (1) One of the dearest joys of the Christian life is a sense of perfect peace with God. (2) A sense of security. (3) Communion with God. (4) The pleasures of hope, a hope most sure and steadfast, most bright and glorious. (5) These joys of the believer are ancient in their origin. Old wines are intended by "wines well refined"; they have stood long on the lees, have drawn out all the virtue from them, and have been cleared of all the coarser material. (6) The fulness of their excellence, because the wine on the lees holds its flavour, and retains its aroma; and there is a fulness and richness about the blessings of Divine grace which endear them to our hearts. (7) Their refined nature. Gospel joys are elevating. (8) How absolutely peerless are the provisions of grace. II. THE BANQUETING HALL. "In this mountain." There is a reference here to three things — the same symbol bearing three interpretations. 1. Literally, the mountain upon which Jerusalem is built. The reference is here to the hill of the Lord upon which Jerusalem stood; the great transaction which was fulfilled at Jerusalem upon Calvary hath made to all nations a great feast. 2. Frequently Jerusalem is used as the symbol of the Church of God, and it is within the pale of the Church that the great feast of the Lord is made unto all nations. The mountain sometimes means the Church of God exalted to its latter day glory. III. THE HOST of the feast. In the Gospel banquet there is not a single dish brought by man. I know some would like to bring a little with them to the banquet, something at least by way of trimming and adornment, so that they might have a share of the honour; but it must not be, the Lord of hosts makes the feast, and He will not even permit the guests to bring their own wedding garments — they must stop at the door and put on the robe which the Lord has provided, for salvation is all grace from first to last. The Lord provides sovereignly as "Lord of hosts," and all-sufficiently as Jehovah. It needed the all-sufficiency of God to provide a feast for hungry sinners. If God spread the feast it is not to be despised If He provide the feast, let Him have the glory of it. IV. THE GUESTS. — "For all people." This includes not merely the chosen people, the Jews, whose were the oracles, but it encompasses the poor uncircumcised Gentiles, who by Jesus are brought nigh. ( C. H. Spurgeon.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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