Isaiah 25:4

4 For thou art made strength to a poor man, strength to a needy man in his tribulation, hope from [the] whirlwind, a shadowing place from heat; for why the spirit of strong men is as a whirlwind hurling the wall. (For thou art made strength to the poor, strength to the needy in their tribulation, hope from the whirlwind, a place of shadow, or of shade, from the heat; for the blast of the strong, or of the ruthless, is like a whirlwind hurtling against the wall.)

Isaiah 25:4 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 25:4

For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to
the needy in his distress
The people of God, who are poor and needy, both in a literal and in a spiritual sense; and especially when under afflicted circumstances, in times of desertion, temptation, bodily affliction, and persecution from men, which may be here chiefly intended; to whom the Lord is a strength: he strengthens their hearts, and his own grace in them; he sheds abroad his love in their hearts, which makes their mountain to stand strong; he directs them to Christ, in whom is strength, as well as righteousness; he strengthens them by his Spirit, his promises, word, and ordinances. Christ may be more especially meant; and it may refer to the strength and power he will give to his people in the latter day; when a small one shall be a strong nation; when the feeble shall be as David, and the house of David as the angel of the Lord; when they shall have got the victory over the beast, his mark and image, ( Isaiah 60:21 ) ( Zechariah 12:8 ) ( Revelation 15:2 ) : a refuge from the storm;
or tempestuous rain, or overflowing flood; as Christ is a refuge from the tempest and storm of divine wrath and vengeance, by his satisfaction and righteousness, ( Isaiah 32:2 ) so from the flood of persecution, by his power and providence, ( Revelation 12:15 ) : a shadow from the heat;
which gives refreshment and rest, and is a protection from the scorching beams of the sun. Christ, as he is the shadow from the heat of a fiery law, from the flaming sword of justice, from the wrath of God, and the fiery darts of Satan's temptations; so from the violence of persecution, which heat shall now be no more, antichrist being destroyed, ( Revelation 7:15 Revelation 7:16 ) : when blast of the terrible ones [is] as a storm [against] the wall;
these terrible ones are either Satan and his principalities, who are very terrible to the Lord's people; and whose temptations are like a strong wind, which beat against them as against a wall, but they stand, the Lord being their strength, refuge, and shadow; see ( Isaiah 49:24 ) or rather antichrist and his persecuting princes, the kings of the earth, that have joined him, and persecuted the saints, and have been terrible to them; and whose persecutions have been like a blustering strong wind, threatening to carry all before them; but the Lord has been their protection, and made them to stand as a wall, firm and immovable, against them. The Targum is,

``so the words of the wicked are to the righteous, as a storm that dasheth against a wall.''

Isaiah 25:4 In-Context

2 For thou hast set the city into a burial, a strong city into falling, the house of aliens (yea, the house of foreigners, or of strangers), (so) that it be not a city, and be not builded (again) without end.
3 For this thing a strong people shall praise thee, the city of strong folks shall dread thee. (For this thing strong people shall praise thee, and the cities of strong nations shall fear thee.)
4 For thou art made strength to a poor man, strength to a needy man in his tribulation, hope from [the] whirlwind, a shadowing place from heat; for why the spirit of strong men is as a whirlwind hurling the wall. (For thou art made strength to the poor, strength to the needy in their tribulation, hope from the whirlwind, a place of shadow, or of shade, from the heat; for the blast of the strong, or of the ruthless, is like a whirlwind hurtling against the wall.)
5 As by heat in thirst, thou shalt make meek the noise of aliens; and as by heat under a cloud burning, thou shalt make the scions of strong men to fade. (Like with the heat in thirst, thou shalt make the noise of the foreigners to be meeked, or subdued; and like with the heat under a burning cloud, thou shalt make the offspring of the strong, or of the ruthless, to fade away, or to die.)
6 And the Lord of hosts shall make in this hill to all peoples the feast of fat things, the feast of vintage of fat things full of marrow, of vintage well-refined. (And on this hill the Lord of hosts shall make the feast of fat things for all peoples, the feast of the vintage of fat things full of marrow, yea, of well-refined wine.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.