A Feast for All Peoples

Long tables stretch as far as the eye can see. The smell of roasting meat fills the air. Cups are being filled with the best wine. And the guests are arriving from every country on earth. But look at the host. The one serving the feast is God himself.

These words come from Isaiah, the prophet in Jerusalem, in a part of his book that looks far into the future. Chapters twenty-four to twenty-seven describe the whole world shaken by judgement: cities ruined, the proud brought low. But in the middle of all that, Isaiah bursts into praise. In the verses just before our passage, he thanks God for being a refuge to the poor, a shelter from the storm, a shade from the heat. And then he describes what God will do on Mount Zion, his holy mountain in Jerusalem. In the ancient world, when a great king won a victory or was crowned, he threw a feast. Isaiah sees God throwing the greatest feast of all.

“In this mountain, the Lord of armies will make all peoples a feast of choice meat, a feast of choice wines, of choice meat full of marrow, of well refined choice wines.” All peoples. Not just Israel. Not just the important people. Everyone. And it is not a thin soup or plain bread. It is the very best. Rich food. Wine that has been aged and carefully strained until it is clear and smooth. In a land where most people ate meat only on special occasions, this is a picture of complete generosity. God is not stingy. He is a host who gives his finest.

But this feast is about more than food. “He will destroy in this mountain the surface of the covering that covers all peoples, and the veil that is spread over all nations.” A veil. Perhaps like the cloth mourners wrapped over their heads at a funeral. Something that hangs over every nation, every family, every person: sorrow, and the shadow of death. And God will tear it away. Then Isaiah says the most astonishing thing of all. “He has swallowed up death forever!” Death, which swallows everyone, will itself be swallowed. “The Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces.” Picture God, the host of the feast, going from guest to guest, gently wiping each person's tears away. Not one face left wet.

And the guests will sing. “It shall be said in that day, Behold, this is our God! We have waited for him, and he will save us! This is the Lord! We have waited for him. We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” We waited. And he came. Christians hear this as the song of Christmas and of Easter together. Paul quoted this passage when he wrote about the resurrection: Death is swallowed up in victory. And the very last book of the Bible ends with the same promise: God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. Jesus himself often talked about the kingdom of God as a great feast, with people coming from east and west, north and south, to sit at the table.

Ancient kings loved to boast about their banquets. In nineteen fifty-one, archaeologists at Nimrud in Iraq, the old Assyrian city of Kalhu, found a stone inscription of King Ashurnasirpal the Second. It describes a ten-day feast to celebrate his new palace, and claims sixty-nine thousand, five hundred and seventy-four guests. Isaiah's feast is bigger still: God invites all peoples, and the guests leave with their tears wiped away.

A feast for all peoples. You'll find it in Isaiah chapter twenty-five, verses six to nine. God prepares the best for everyone, and swallows up death forever. So here is a question to carry with you. Who could you invite to your table, or show kindness to, as a little picture of God's great feast?