He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD has spoken it.
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Hosea 13:14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
1 Corinthians 15:26,54 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death…
2 Timothy 1:10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:
God
Isaiah 35:10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Revelation 7:17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
rebuke
Isaiah 30:26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
Isaiah 37:3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
Isaiah 54:4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.
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Malachi 3:17,18 And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him…
The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face
This phrase conveys God's compassion and personal care for His people. It is a promise of comfort and restoration, indicating a time when sorrow and suffering will be eradicated. The act of wiping away tears is intimate, suggesting a close relationship between God and His people. This imagery is echoed in Revelation 7:17 and 21:4, where God promises to remove all pain and mourning in the new heaven and new earth. It reflects the deep love and mercy of God, who desires to heal and restore His creation.
and remove the disgrace of His people from the whole earth.
Here, the focus is on the vindication and restoration of God's people. Historically, Israel faced disgrace and shame due to exile and oppression by foreign nations. This promise assures that God will restore their honor and remove their shame, a theme also seen in Zephaniah 3:19-20. It points to a future where God's people are no longer subject to humiliation but are instead exalted and honored. This removal of disgrace is not limited to Israel but extends to all who are part of God's covenant community, highlighting the universal scope of God's redemptive plan.
For the LORD has spoken.
This phrase underscores the certainty and authority of the promise. When the LORD speaks, it is a guarantee that His words will come to pass, reflecting His sovereignty and faithfulness. This assurance is a common theme in prophetic literature, where God's declarations are seen as unchangeable and reliable (Isaiah 55:11). It serves as a reminder that God's promises are trustworthy and will be fulfilled in His perfect timing, providing hope and assurance to His people.
• God’s promise is decisive: death itself, the final enemy (1 Corinthians 15:26), will be consumed and rendered powerless.
• Isaiah anticipates the victory Christ secures: “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable… ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory’” (1 Corinthians 15:54–55).
• This is not symbolic optimism; it is a literal guarantee grounded in Jesus’ resurrection (2 Timothy 1:10; Revelation 1:18).
• For believers, the grave is no longer an end but a doorway to eternal life (John 11:25–26).
• God’s tenderness meets His triumph. He does not merely conquer death; He comforts each individual, personally wiping away sorrow (Revelation 21:3–4).
• Tears flow from loss, pain, injustice—yet all these are addressed in Christ:
– Emotional wounds: “He heals the brokenhearted” (Psalm 147:3).
– Physical suffering: “By His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
– Injustices endured: “He will judge the world with righteousness” (Psalm 9:8).
• The scene previews the New Jerusalem where mourning is forever banished (Revelation 7:17).
• Israel’s reproach—exile, oppression, ridicule—depicts humanity’s larger shame under sin. God pledges full vindication.
• At the cross, Christ “became a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13), lifting our shame and clothing us in righteousness (Isaiah 61:10).
• Worldwide scope: not a local fix but a global restoration (Habakkuk 2:14; Romans 8:21).
• The redeemed will stand faultless, “holy and blameless before Him” (Ephesians 1:4), their disgrace erased.
• The promise rests on the unchanging character of God (Numbers 23:19).
• His spoken word guarantees fulfillment; history cannot derail His decree (Isaiah 55:11).
• The resurrection of Christ is the down payment demonstrating that what God says, He does (Acts 2:24, 32).
Isaiah 25:8 unveils a fourfold promise: death destroyed, tears dried, shame removed, and every pledge secured by God’s unbreakable word. In Christ we already taste this victory, and one day we will experience it in full, face to face, forever freed from death, sorrow, and disgrace.
(8) He will swallow up . . .--The verb is the same as the "destroy" of Isaiah 25:7. The words are an echo of the earlier promise of Hosea 13:14. They are, in their turn, re-echoed in the triumph-anthem of St. Paul in 1Corinthians 15:54. The clause, "the Lord God shall wipe away tears," is in like manner reproduced in Revelation 7:17; Revelation 21:4.The rebuke of his people . . .--The taunt to which they were exposed in the time of their affliction, when the heathen took up their proverb of reproach and asked, "Where is now their God?" (Psalm 79:10). . . .
Verse 8. - He will swallow up death in victory; rather, he will abolish death forever. Hosea, a contemporary, was inspired to write! "Will ransom Israel from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction" (Hosea 13:14); but otherwise this was the first announcement that death was to disappear and to cease to be a possibility. It was an enormous advance on the dim and vague conceptions of a future life hitherto current (Job 19:25, 27; Psalm 17:15) to have such an announcement made as this. Hitherto men had been "through fear of death all their life subject to bondage" (Hebrews 2:15). Now they were taught that, in the resurrection-life, there would be no tear, no possibility of death. The joyous outburst of the apostle, when he quotes the present passage (2 Corinthians 15:54), is the natural thanksgiving song of reassured humanity, on recognizing its final deliverance from the unspeakable terror of death and annihilation. The Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces. A recent commentator asks, "What place is left for tears?" But surely death is not the only cause of human mourning. Our own sins, the sins and sufferings of our dear ones, are the main provocatives of our tears. When it is promised, as here and in Revelation 7:17 and Revelation 21:4, that "there shall be no more pain, neither sorrow nor crying," the revelation is made that there shall be no more sin; for where sin is, sorrow must be. The rebuke of his people shall he take away. It will be among the lesser satisfactions of the final condition of the saved that they are no longer subject to reproach. In this life they have to endure continually reproach, rebuke, contumely (Psalm 74:10; Psalm 89:50, 51, etc.). In the resurrection-life they will be exempt from any such annoyance. The Lord hath spoken it. God's word has gone forth. There can be no retractation. The blessings promised are certain to be obtained.