Commentary - Isaiah 25:10-12

Bird's-eye view

Following the glorious promises of the messianic feast on the mountain of the Lord (vv. 6-9), Isaiah pivots to the necessary corollary of that salvation: the final and utter humiliation of God's enemies. This is not some unfortunate addendum; it is part of the triumph. The same God who wipes away every tear from the faces of His people is the God who tramples the proud in the mire. This passage sets in stark relief the two destinies of mankind, the two cities. On the one hand, there is "this mountain," Zion, the city of God, where the Lord's hand rests in blessing and protection. On the other hand, there is Moab, the archetypal enemy, a stand-in for all the proud and boastful nations who set themselves against the Lord and His anointed. Their doom is described in earthy, visceral, and frankly disgusting terms to leave no doubt about the final outcome of their rebellion. God's victory is not a polite affair. It is total, comprehensive, and it reduces the highest towers of human arrogance to dust.

The central theme here is the absolute sovereignty of God in judgment. Human effort, figured here as a desperate swimmer, is entirely futile against the settled purpose of Yahweh. The pride of man, his clever stratagems, his unassailable fortifications, are all brought to nothing. This is a necessary comfort for the people of God in every age. We live in a world where Moab often appears to be winning. Their walls are high, their pride is lofty, and their hands are busy with mischief. But God has spoken, and their end is the manure pile. The security of the believer is not in our own strength, but in the resting hand of Yahweh upon His mountain.

Outline

Context In Isaiah

This short section is the capstone to a song of praise that begins in Isaiah 25:1. The prophet has just celebrated the Lord as his God, who has done wonderful things, turning fortified cities into heaps of rubble (v. 2). He has described the great eschatological banquet where God will swallow up death forever and remove the reproach of His people (vv. 6-8). The exclamation "Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us" (v. 9) is still ringing in our ears. The judgment described in verses 10-12 is therefore not a jarring shift in tone, but the logical outworking of that salvation. For God to save His people fully, He must deal decisively with their enemies. Moab, a perennial thorn in Israel's side and a people known for their exceeding pride (see Isaiah 16:6), serves as the representative of all such opposition. The destruction of Moab is a concrete picture of what will happen to all who refuse to bow the knee.

Verse by Verse Commentary

10 For the hand of Yahweh will rest on this mountain, And Moab will be trodden down in his place As straw is trodden down in the water of a manure pile.

The verse opens with a glorious contrast. First, the hand of Yahweh. This is the hand of creation, the hand of power, the hand of deliverance. And where is it? It will rest on "this mountain." This is Mount Zion, the place of God's dwelling, the symbol of His covenant people, the Church. The word "rest" here is one of peaceful, settled security. It is a gesture of blessing, of favor, of permanent protection. God's hand upon us is our only safety. While the world thrashes and churns, the hand of the Lord rests upon His people. This is our peace.

But that same sovereignty has another aspect. The contrast is immediate and stark: "And Moab will be trodden down." Moab represents the proud enemies of God. They are not just defeated; they are utterly humiliated. The language is agricultural and pungent. They will be trodden down "in his place," right where he stands, in his own turf. There is no escape. The simile is as graphic as it gets: "As straw is trodden down in the water of a manure pile." This is not the picture of a noble foe falling in battle. This is the picture of refuse being stomped into filth. Straw was mixed with dung and urine to create compost. The image is one of contempt, of turning something once thought valuable into worthless, stinking muck. This is what God thinks of the pride of man that sets itself against Him. He will not just break it; He will disgrace it.

11 And he will spread out his hands in the middle of it As a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim, But Yahweh will lay low his lofty pride together with the trickery of his hands.

The imagery continues. Moab, finding himself in this miry pit, does not submit. He struggles. He "will spread out his hands in the middle of it." The picture is of a swimmer, flailing, thrashing, trying to save himself. This is a picture of man's self-effort in the face of divine judgment. He uses his hands, the instruments of his work and his will, to try and propel himself out of the muck. He is energetic. He is desperate. He is doing everything he can. This is the religion of the flesh, the striving of the unregenerate man. It is a flurry of activity, but it is activity in a manure pile.

And it is utterly futile. "But Yahweh will lay low his lofty pride." All this frantic swimming is nothing but pride in action. It is the refusal to drown, the refusal to submit to judgment, the refusal to admit that you are helpless. And God will humble it. He lays it low. Notice the connection between the pride and the action: "together with the trickery of his hands." The Hebrew word can mean "ambush" or "craftiness." The hands that are flailing to swim are the same hands that were once used for clever, crafty, and wicked schemes against God's people. All the political maneuvering, the shrewd business deals, the sophisticated idolatries, the military strategies, all of it is just so much thrashing in the dung heap. God will bring down both the arrogant heart and the clever hands it employs.

12 The unassailable fortifications of your walls He will bring down, Lay low, and cast to the ground, even to the dust.

The focus now shifts from the person of Moab to his works. What does the proud man trust in? He trusts in the strength of his own hands, the fortifications he has built. These are the "unassailable fortifications of your walls." The word for unassailable means high, inaccessible. From the human point of view, these walls are impregnable. This is the city of man in all its glory: Babylon, Rome, Washington D.C., you name it. It is the technological prowess, the economic might, the military security that says, "we are safe." It is the pride of human civilization that believes it has secured itself against any and all threats, including God.

And what does God do with it? The verbs are piled up for emphasis. He will "bring down, lay low, and cast to the ground." It is a systematic and complete demolition. There is nothing left. The final destination is "even to the dust." This is the reversal of creation. Man was made from the dust, and in his pride he builds his towers to the heavens. God simply returns his proud achievements to their constituent elements. Dust they are, and to dust they shall return. This is the end of all humanistic striving, all attempts to build a world without God. It will not stand. Only one city will remain, the one on the mountain where the hand of Yahweh rests.

Application

First, we must see the world through the lens of this passage. We are surrounded by the high walls and lofty pride of Moab. The world constantly boasts of its achievements and mocks the faith of God's people. We must not be intimidated. Their walls are destined for the dust. Their frantic activity is nothing more than a man swimming in a sewer. We should not envy them, nor should we fear them. Their doom is written.

Second, we must find our security in the right place. Our safety is not in our own efforts, our own walls, or the trickery of our own hands. Our safety is the resting hand of God upon His people, the Church. We are secure in Christ alone. When we are tempted to trust in political solutions, financial security, or our own cleverness, we must remember that these are the fortifications of Moab. Our trust is in the Lord who made heaven and earth, the one who lays the proud low.

Lastly, this passage should fuel our worship and our evangelism. We worship a God of awesome power, who saves His people and judges His enemies with perfect justice. This is not a God to be trifled with. And because this judgment is coming, we are compelled to plead with those still swimming in the mire. The message of the gospel is a call to leave the doomed city of man and to flee to the mountain of the Lord, where His hand of grace rests. There is no condemnation there, only a feast of rich food and the wiping away of every tear.