Isaiah 24:1-23
Q.1. What will happen to Planet Earth as we know it? Why is it to be completely re-landscaped? When will this happen? – (Isa.24:1-6 c.f. Rom.8:20; Rev.6:12-17; 16:13-21)
After predicting the destruction of many nations, Isaiah prophesied the devastation of the earth, and God’s ultimate triumph over evil, because – 5 The earth is polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, and broke the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left (Isa.24:5-6 c.f. Rom.3:19). This is what Jesus and the apostles predicted would happen during the Great Tribulation (Mt.24:21; 2 Pet.3:10 & 12). It will be a catastrophic time that will exclude no one, when – 1 Behold, the Lord lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface, and scatters its inhabitants. … 3 The earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled, for the Lord has spoken this word (Isa.24:1 & 3). God will purge a polluted earth, as He did at the time of the Flood.
Q.2. Did Isaiah proclaim complete doom and gloom? What blessings come out of the darkness? What clue do we have to the timing? – (Isa.24:7-23 c.f. Rev.7:9-17)
Isaiah was not describing the normal natural disasters that Jesus taught would herald the Great Tribulation (c.f. Mt.24:6-8). These ones here are catastrophic worldwide, and may well affect the earth’s axis, and perhaps restore the earth to its Pre-Flood conditions, as in the Garden of Eden – 18 … For the windows above are opened, and the foundations of the earth shake. 19 The earth is broken asunder. The earth is split through. The earth is shaken violently. 20 The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard and it totters like a shack, for its transgression is heavy upon it, and it will fall, never to rise again (Isa.24:18-20 c.f. Rev.16:15-21). Before this, there will be a harvest of faith, in these darkest of times in the history of the world – 14 They raise their voices and will shout for joy; They cry out from the west concerning the majesty of the Lord. 15 Therefore glorify the Lord in the east, the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, in the coastlands of the sea. 16 From the ends of the earth we hear songs, “Glory to the Righteous One (Isa.24:14-16). This corresponds to the revival which will occur during the Great Tribulation, when – … I saw a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands (Rev.7:9). However, Isaiah declared that before then, at the time of the tribulation – I say, “Woe to me! Woe to me! Alas for me! The treacherous deal treacherously, and the treacherous deal very treacherously.” (Is.24:16). As is so often the case with the Old Testament prophets, their descriptions are accurate, and then the New Testament provides us with the perspective. An example is when Jesus applied Isaiah 61:1-2 to Himself, but then left off – and the day of vengeance of our God (Isa.61:2 c.f. Lk.4:18-19). Two thousand years have passed, waiting for the fulfilment of the latter part of verse 2. Nevertheless, it will come to pass, just as the preceding verses of Isaiah 61:1-2. Isaiah saw the climactic day coming “that the Lord will punish the hosts of heaven on high (Lucifer and his fallen angels) and the kings of the earth on earth. They will be gathered together and confined as prisoners in the dungeon. After many days they will be punished” (24:21-22 c.f. Revelation 20:7-15). Then the Millennial Reign of Christ will be established – Then the moon will be abashed and the sun ashamed, for the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and His glory will be before His elders (Isa.24:23 c.f. Mt.24:29-30).