Isaiah 24
I. (1-39) Condemnation
A. Chapters 1-12 - Prophecies against Judah
B. Chapters 13-23 - Prophecies against the Nations
C. Chapters 24-27 - Prophecies of the Day of the Lord - Isaiah has
been speaking of national judgments throughout his prophecies, with
many prophecies covering far more than one time period (i.e. the
Assyrians attacking Israel or Persia attacking Babylon) and with
some prophecies reaching into the end-time tribulation of the last
days. Now, the prophecies seem to bypass all individual nations and
move entirely to the end-time tribulation. This chapter could be
a summary of the entire tribulation.
1. \\#24:1-23\\ The Judgment of the Earth
a. \\#1-4\\ The reach of the curse
(1) \\#1\\ "the earth" - Mentioned 10x in this chapter, meaning this is
not a judgment for a nation but for the whole planet.
(2) \\#1\\ God’s judgment will be severe as described in the many
phrases He uses. It will be "empty," "waste," and "turned upside
down." When this judgment is complete, the earth will not be as we
have known it.
(3) \\#1\\ Yet, God is not just casting wrath out upon a ball of dirt,
but upon the "inhabitants thereof," who will find themselves having
fled to any and every spot where they had the slightest hope of
finding safety.
(4) \\#2\\ "as with the people, so with the…" - No rank of lifestyle
or privilege will grant a pardon from this judgment for it does not
come from the hands of men but from God.
(5) \\#3\\ "utterly emptied, spoiled" - God will leave the land in total
ruin, everything will destroyed.
(6) \\#3\\ "for the Lord hath spoken this word" - God has given His word
on it.
(7) \\#4\\ "fadeth away… languish" - The repeated use of words to
describe devastation indicate how severe the carnage is. They are
repeated over and over for there is nothing else to be said.
b. \\#5\\ The reasons for the curse
(1) "the earth is defiled under the inhabitants thereof" - Here is the
general statement. The whole of God’s planet has become defiled
under the rule of its inhabitants. God gave to man a world to rule
but we have ruined it with our sinful ways.
(2) "because…" - God tells us what our sins are.
(a) "…they have transgressed the laws" - Man has broken God’s laws.
Pick any one. We have not only broken it but delighted in
doing so.
(b) "…changed the ordinance" - Not only has man broken the laws,
but we have attempted to change them. Isaiah has already
described the changes wicked man has attempted to make.
Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness
for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for
bitter!
(c) "…broken the everlasting covenant" - God does not tell us
the covenant to which He is referring, but it must be more than
the covenant made with Abraham \\#Ge 12:1-3\\ since all the
world is held accountable to it. It would likely be the
covenant made with Noah \\#Ge 9:1-11\\ since there is not
record of a covenant with Adam.
c. \\#6-12\\ The results of the curse - "Therefore," \\#6\\ Because of
these sins…
(1) \\#6\\ "the curse devoured the earth"
(a) "the curse" - God’s promised judgment.
(b) "devoured" - Past tense, implying that in God’s mind, it is
already accomplished.
(2) \\#6\\ "the inhabitants of the earth are burned" - Perhaps a
reference to the event described in Revelation.
Revelation 16:9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name
of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him
glory.
(3) \\#6\\ "few men left" - Likewise a probable reference to the many
who will perish in the tribulation.
Revelation 6:8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on
him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over
the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with
death, and with the beasts of the earth.
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of
them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
Revelation 8:11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part
of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they
were made bitter.
Revelation 9:15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an
hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.
Revelation 14:17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven,
he also having a sharp sickle.
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and
cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy
sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes
are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of
the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
(4) \\#7, 9\\ Such far-reaching destruction would not be selective in
its targets but destroys also the "wine" and the "vine." Whatever
drink that is available will only be "bitter" to them \\#9\\.
(5) \\#7-8\\ With all the death and mayhem in the world, there will be
no "merry hearted" or naturally optimistic people left. "mirth,"
"rejoicing," and "joy" will be ended.
(6) \\#10\\ "The city of confusion" - If a single city is in God’s mind,
it would most likely be Jerusalem; however, it could also be most
any city and perhaps every city for the time is the great tribulation
and all the world seems to be effected. The remainder of this
section seems to describe that city’s condition.
(a) \\#10\\ "every house is shut up" - If a house is standing, it
would be closed up, barred and boarded so "that no man may come
in."
(b) \\#11\\ "There is crying for wine in the streets" - It is
likely that the people are crying for food and drink.
(c) \\#11\\ "all joy… mirth…is gone"
(d) \\#12\\ "the city is left" desolate, "the gate is smitten" - If
this is Jerusalem, it maybe the description of it after the
anit-Christ has seized it \\#Zech 14:1-2\\.
d. \\#13-15\\ The remnant in the curse - God always has a remnant for
Himself.
Romans 11:5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according
to the election of grace.
(1) \\#13\\ "When thus it shall be among the peoples" - When these
things happen to the world and its people.
(2) \\#13\\ "As the shaking of an olive tree… as the gleaning when…
harvest is over" - These phrases mean that only a few will be
gathered. Those will rejoice in God are few in number.
(3) \\#14\\ Those few will "raise their voice" to… "shout for joy" at
…"the majesty of the Lord."
NOTE: \\#14-15\\ "sea" or WEST, "fires" or EAST. It appears that directions are
sometimes translated as local regions, as in the western region of Israel being
the Mediterranean Sea or the east being the rising of the sun or source of
light or fire. (Too much for me to understand but the different translations
give different meanings. At this point, I do not see that it matters unless the
cry for God goes from the west to the east as in that is the direction God’s
deliverance will travel.)
(4) \\#15\\ Wherefore glory… the Lord, even… the God of Israel" -
The remnant shall know the Lord of Israel. The world may be in
peril, but deliverance can only come by the hand of Israel’s God.
e. \\#16-23\\ The results of the curse continued - Since this appears to be
more of the results of the curse, we continue with the same order.
(7) \\#16\\ Even though Isaiah hears and knows that songs will one day
praise the Lord, he continues to bemoan the earth, "My leanness, my
leanness, woe unto me!"
(8) \\#16\\ "the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously" - It
sounds like Isaiah is not bemoaning the earth’s destruction as much
as the sinful conditions which will lead to its destruction.
(9) \\#17\\ "Fear…the pit…the snare" - The people of the earth are
to become like fearful animals being trapped in the snare of their
sins.
(10) \\#18\\ "…he who fleeth…shall fall" - There is no escape from
the judgments for they are sent from "on high." There is no place
where the judgment does not reach for even the very "foundations of
the earth do shake," perhaps an prophecy of the great earthquakes
that will mark the world during that time.
(11) \\#19\\ The words "utterly" and "broken down" are the same Hebrew
word, as is the case with the words "clean" and "dissolved." Again,
the words are repeated to emphasize the completeness of the earth’s
destruction and waste.
(12) \\#20\\ The whole planet will sway back and forth like a "drunkard."
The sinful world will be removed like a man-made "cottage," leaving
no trace that it ever existed; and once it is removed, it will "not
rise again."
(13) \\#21-22\\ Both the human and spiritual powers will be judged.
(a) \\#21\\ "And it shall come to pass in that day" - During that
end-time period.
(b) "the Lord will punish the host of the high ones that are on high"
Perhaps the "host of the high ones" refers to the armies of
anti-Christ.
(c) "the kings of the earth" - Would likely be the anti-Christ, his
beast, and the false prophet.
(d) \\#22\\ "they shall be gathered…as prisoners" - Not that they
are prisoners, but they will be shut-up like they are prisoners.
(e) "after many days they shall be visited" - Then after a long time,
they will be punished.
(f) Perhaps a reference to the armies and their kings being gathered
together for what will be their own destruction.
Rev 16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of
the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the
false prophet.
14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto
the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of
that great day of God Almighty.
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his
garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue
Armageddon.
Rev 19:19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies,
gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against
his army.
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought
miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of
the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into
a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
(14) \\#23\\ "then…" - After the things that have happened.
(a) "the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed" - A
confusing thing will happen to the moon and the soon will
either hide itself for shame or turn red like blood rushing to
an embarrassed person’s face.
(b) "when the Lord… shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem" -
This is a sign of the end of the tribulation and the beginning
of the millennium.
Matthew 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be
darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from
heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
(c) This is very similar to the sign to mark the completion of the
church age and (I think) the beginning of the tribulation.
Rev 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a
great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon
became as blood;
13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her
untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every
mountain and island were moved out of their places.
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