Swallowed Up

He will swallow up death for all time,

Isaiah 25:8

A reference to swallow in the Old Testament refers to death taking someone to Sheol, to the grave. In Numbers 16:32 we read, “and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions.” However, here in Isaiah 25:8 we see something different occurring. God is promising that death will be swallowed up forever.

This occurred when Jesus died and rose from the dead on the third day. Everyone who puts their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation has no fear of death. For the ungodly, this is not so. All those who die denying that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior, the only way, will be swallowed up by death and taken into Sheol to wait upon their final judgment and then everlasting punishment in the lake of fire.

Paul expresses the hope of every true follower of Christ,  “But when this corruptible puts on the incorruptible, and this mortal puts on immortality, then will come about the word that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ ( 1 Cor. 15:54-57)!” 

Isaiah also declared that the Lord would wipe away every tear (Is.25:8). John records when this will occur in the Book of Revelation:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain. The first things passed away" (Revelation 221:1-5).

God is a God of promise, and He has given us the Holy Spirit as our guarantee that one day, death will be swallowed up for us. On that day, we will join all other believers praising God, and we will spend eternity worshiping the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

Your shepherd,

Pastor Mark