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“The Blessings of Sonship” No. 6 by Rev. Toru Asai
On this mountain,
he will destroy the shroud that enfolds (lit. face of covering upon) all peoples,
the sheet that covers (lit. mask casted upon) all nations;
he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces;
he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth.
The Lord has spoken (Isa 25:7-8).
These are the words that lie behind what John witnessed inside the empty tomb: two kinds of cloth were used for the burial of Jesus, but the one that had been around his head was placed separately from the other. Note, however, the coverings mentioned in this scripture of Isaiah are much larger covering the whole earth. They symbolize death that came upon humanity: death is depicted as if it is covering the whole earth as dark clouds. This description reminds us of the story of the flood in the book of Genesis. It says, "all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened (Gen 7:11)." The subterranean water burst into sky, producing thick clouds in the sky, so rain began to fall heavily. It happened when Methuselah (meaning "death sending") died as Enoch, his father, named him as a prophecy of the coming of the flood. It came to be fulfilled as God said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth (6:7)."
As Noah came out of the ark after the flood waters subsided, the first thing he did was to offer burnt offerings to God. The smoke reached heaven, and he smelled it, and said:
Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands (9:1-2).
It was back to square one, and God started over with Noah and his family. It indicates that his first plan to bless humans as his heirs had not changed at all even though sin had already come into this world, and humans continued to be sinful. His plan now was to redeem them from sins, and make them perfect heirs again.
And surely, I will demand your blood for your life; from the hand of every animal I will demand it, and from the hand of man, from the hand of each brother, I will demand the life of the human. As for the one who sheds the blood of the human, by the human, his blood will be shed, for in the image of God, he made the human (vv. 5-6, translation mine)
This was not simply to legalize death penalty, but rather, it was a prophecy concerning the one who was to to be given as a ransom for the lives of sinners. It meant that God would make a new covenant with humans and all the living things. And as a sign for this covenant, he promised to give his rainbow:
I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life (vv. 13-15).
A rainbow appears when rain stops, clouds are disappearing, and streams of sunlight break into the land. It is a symbol of hope and victory over death—the resurrection of Jesus. The cloths that had covered his dead body were put off, and the tomb became empty. Death has been swallowed up in victory! Those who believe that Jesus was raised from the dead have overcome the world, and have become heirs inheriting the kingdom of God.
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By Davar Kingdom of GodOn this mountain,
he will destroy the shroud that enfolds (lit. face of covering upon) all peoples,
the sheet that covers (lit. mask casted upon) all nations;
he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces;
he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth.
The Lord has spoken (Isa 25:7-8).
These are the words that lie behind what John witnessed inside the empty tomb: two kinds of cloth were used for the burial of Jesus, but the one that had been around his head was placed separately from the other. Note, however, the coverings mentioned in this scripture of Isaiah are much larger covering the whole earth. They symbolize death that came upon humanity: death is depicted as if it is covering the whole earth as dark clouds. This description reminds us of the story of the flood in the book of Genesis. It says, "all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened (Gen 7:11)." The subterranean water burst into sky, producing thick clouds in the sky, so rain began to fall heavily. It happened when Methuselah (meaning "death sending") died as Enoch, his father, named him as a prophecy of the coming of the flood. It came to be fulfilled as God said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth (6:7)."
As Noah came out of the ark after the flood waters subsided, the first thing he did was to offer burnt offerings to God. The smoke reached heaven, and he smelled it, and said:
Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands (9:1-2).
It was back to square one, and God started over with Noah and his family. It indicates that his first plan to bless humans as his heirs had not changed at all even though sin had already come into this world, and humans continued to be sinful. His plan now was to redeem them from sins, and make them perfect heirs again.
And surely, I will demand your blood for your life; from the hand of every animal I will demand it, and from the hand of man, from the hand of each brother, I will demand the life of the human. As for the one who sheds the blood of the human, by the human, his blood will be shed, for in the image of God, he made the human (vv. 5-6, translation mine)
This was not simply to legalize death penalty, but rather, it was a prophecy concerning the one who was to to be given as a ransom for the lives of sinners. It meant that God would make a new covenant with humans and all the living things. And as a sign for this covenant, he promised to give his rainbow:
I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life (vv. 13-15).
A rainbow appears when rain stops, clouds are disappearing, and streams of sunlight break into the land. It is a symbol of hope and victory over death—the resurrection of Jesus. The cloths that had covered his dead body were put off, and the tomb became empty. Death has been swallowed up in victory! Those who believe that Jesus was raised from the dead have overcome the world, and have become heirs inheriting the kingdom of God.