For the Lord Has Spoken...

 Isaiah 25:6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
    a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
    of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
7 And he will swallow up on this mountain
    the covering that is cast over all peoples,
    the veil that is spread over all nations.
8     He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
    and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
    for the Lord has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day,
    “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
    This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
    let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

Often when I look at the prophets of the Old Testament, I wonder what kept them going. They had to announce rebuke and judgment on people who usually refused to listen, and who often resorted to the attitude of "kill the messenger." But announcements like this must have carried them through. In Isaiah especially we find the thread of hope throughout.  Notice in the midst of the passage above promised that we often associate with the Revelation: death ends, tears wiped away, reproach removed.  May we join with him in proclaiming: "Behold our God, the one we have waited for; let us be glad and rejoice!"