Only God has the power to reverse the decay of the grave. Death is the last enemy God will destroy.

Part 2

Yesterday:
“I will ransom them from the power of the grave.”
God said He will pay the ransom price to save Israel from the power of the grave.  He will remove them from Sheol’s grasp.

“I will redeem them from death.”
God is Israel’s near kinsman, and He is willing to repurchase her, even from death.

Today:
“O death, I will be thy plagues.” “O grave, I will be thy destruction.”
“O death… O grave!”  The prophet is addressing death and the grave as though it is a living being.  He is predicting the end of death and the grave!

“Thy plagues” is “the sting” of death as Paul calls it in 1 Corinthians 15:55.

“O death, where is thy sting?  O grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55).

Paul was quoting Hosea’s words from the Septuagint[1] (LXX) when he wrote this remarkable verse.

The commentator reminds us of Isaiah’s words (Isaiah 25:8),

“‘Death is swallowed up in victory,’ to confirm the truth, that at the resurrection of the last day, death will be annihilated, and that which is corruptible changed into immortality”[2] (Kyle & Delitzsch).

“Repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.”
Nothing and no one will keep God from accomplishing His purpose.  As Paul spoke of the salvation of Israel (Romans 11) and their present blindness, he shared this unchangeable truth about God.

“For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance” (Romans 11:29).

When God makes a decree, the promise is as good as though it were already accomplished.  God said He will destroy death and that He will never repent of this decision.  He will save Israel, and He will terminate death.

“But in order to anticipate all doubt as to this exceedingly great promise, the Lord adds, ‘repentance is hidden from mine eyes,’ i.e., my purpose of salvation will be irrevocably accomplished” (Kyle & Delitzsch).

He will both destroy death, and He will move His people to their rightful places.

“His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me” (Psalm 89:36).

Jesus Christ, our redeemer, is also our great Savior.  When He devastates death, we, too, are the beneficiaries.

[1] The Septuagint is the Old Testament translated into koine (common) Greek so that the people of that day could read it.
[2] Keil & Delitzsch, Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament, the electronic version in eSword.