Jehovah's Hand Becomes High, Chapter Twenty-One

ISAIAH has deep love for Jehovah and delights in praising him.  He cries out:  "O Jehovah, you are my God. I exalt you, I laud your name."  What helps the prophet to have such fine appreciation for his Creator?  A major factor is his knowledge of Jehovah and of his activities.  Isaiah's next words reveal this knowledge:  "For you have done wonderful things, counsels from early times, in faithfulness, in trustworthiness."  (Isaiah 25:1)  Like Joshua before him, Isaiah knows that Jehovah is faithful and trustworthy and that all his "counsels"-the things he purposes-come true. -Joshua 23:14.

The counsels of Jehovah include his judgment declaration against Israel's enemies. Isaiah now pronounces one of these:  "You have made a city a pile of stones, a fortified town a crumbling ruin, a dwelling tower of strangers to be no city, which will not be rebuilt even to time indefinite."  (Isaiah 25:2)  What is the unnamed city?  Isaiah may be referring to Ar of Moab-Moab has long  been at enmity with God's people.  Or that he may be refereeing to another, stronger city-Babylon. -Isaiah 15:1; Zephaniah 2:8, 9.

How will Jehovah's enemies react when his counsel against their strong city comes true?  "Those  who are a strong people will glorify you; the town of the tyrannical nations, they will fear you."  (Isaiah 25:3)   It is understandable that the enemies of the almighty God will fear him.  How, though, do they glorify him?  Will they abandon their false gods and adopt pure worship?  Hardly! Rather, like Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar, they glorify Jehovah when they are compelled  to recognize his overwhelming superiority. -Exodus 10:16, 17; 12:30-33; Daniel 4:37.

Today "the town of the tyrannical nations" is "the great city that has a kingdom over the kings of the earth," namely, Babylon the Great," the world empire of false religion.  (Revelation 17:5, 18) The principal part of this empire is Christendom.  How do the religious leaders of Christendom glorify Jehovah?  By bitterly conceding the wonderful things he has accomplished in behalf of his Witnesses.  Particularly in 1919 when Jehovah restored his servants to dynamic  activity after their release  from spiritual captivity to Babylon the Great, these leaders  "became frightened and gave glory to the God of heaven." -Revelation 11:13.

Although fearsome when viewed by his enemies, Jehovah is a refuge to the meek and humble who want to serve him.  Religious and political tyrants may try everything to break the faith of true worshipers, but they fail because these have absolute confidence in Jehovah.  Eventually, he easily silences his opposers , doing so as if he were covering the burning desert sun with a cloud or blocking the force of a rainstorm with a wall. -Read Isaiah 25:4, 5.

Next time: 'A Banquet for All the Peoples'

From the Book Isaiah's Prophecy Light for all Mankind, 2000