I have commented in the past on the bizarre Eucharistic imagery that ends Isaiah 49: “And I will feed your oppressors with their own flesh, And they will become drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine; And all flesh will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior, And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
On further reflection, there is perhaps something more to say. This is not just a judgment on the nations that have tried to consume Israel. It is also a subtle typological pointer to the ways redemption will come to the Gentiles.
The sequence is: Gentiles consume Israel; therefore, the Lord gives them over to self-consumption and cannibalization. When the nations are saved, though, they stop consuming themselves, but not just that. They turn back to consuming Israel. Israel has become not prey but food, bread for the nations.
Consuming Israel is precisely what the nations are supposed to do.
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