The Judgment of the World - Isaiah 24

THE JUDGMENT OF THE WORLD – ISAIAH 24

By Dr. Stephen Jones

Blog Post Date:  8-1-2020

After giving us prophecies about many nations, Isaiah 24 is a prophecy of judgment on the earth, focusing particularly upon Jerusalem, which was thought to be the heart of the earth. Indeed, Jerusalem is near the center of the land mass between Asia, Europe, and Africa.

Isaiah 24:1 begins,

¹ Behold, the Lord lays the earth [eretz] waste, devastates it, distorts its surface and scatters its inhabitants.

The Hebrew word eretz can mean the earth as a whole or a portion of the earth (country or tribal territory). It can mean the earth in contrast to heaven, or it can mean the land rather than the sea. It is often used figuratively of the inhabitants themselves. The meaning of the term is broad enough to cover all these aspects, making it often difficult to know the application and scope of prophecy. We must rely on context to understand the prophecy in Isaiah 24.

Isaiah 24:10-12 applies the judgment on the earth to “the city of chaos” (vs. 10) and “the city and the gate” (vs. 12). This applies the prophecy specifically to Jerusalem. But later, the judgment is said to come upon “the host of heaven on high and the kings of the earth on earth” (Isaiah 24:21). So it appears to have at least two layers of application, one universal and the other local.

Perhaps the prophet considered Jerusalem to be a representative of all nations and of the earth itself, even as a nation’s capital represents the whole of a nation. The capital is the seat of authority. So we often see elsewhere how Babylon is not only a city but also represents a large land mass wherever its authority was found.

Prior to the Babylonian captivity, Jerusalem had been given the Dominion Mandate, because its kings were of David and of the tribe of Judah to whom the Dominion had been given (Genesis 49:10). If Jerusalem had indeed exercised its authority properly, its Dominion would have increased gradually until it filled the whole earth.

But it failed to fulfill the covenant, and so God gave the Dominion Mandate to Babylon (Jeremiah 27:6, 7). The Mandate was later passed down to Babylon’s successor nations until the time of the end, when the Dominion was to be given to “the saints of the Most High” (Daniel 7:22 KJV) who serve under Jesus Christ’s universal authority.

The earthly Jerusalem and the heavenly city are clearly presented to us in Galatians 4:25, 26 and again in Hebrews 12:22 and in Revelation 21:1. This adds to our understanding of Isaiah 24, because it shows that the earthly Jerusalem is not only the “bondwoman” but is also the “city of chaos” (Babylon) that is to be “cast out” (Galatians 4:30). I believe that this is how we are to view Isaiah’s prophecy against Jerusalem and the entire system of bondage that is represents.

In other words, God is not going to turn the bondwoman (Hagar) into the free woman (Sarah) but intends to cast out the earthly Jerusalem in favor of the heavenly Jerusalem. This is how we are to understand Isaiah 24 in the light of New Testament revelation. This understanding shows how the city (and land) relates to the kings of the whole earth.

How is the Earth Judged?

Isaiah 24:1 says that God “lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface, and scatters its inhabitants.”

The distortion of the earth is defined in Isaiah 24:2, 3,

² And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor. ³ The earth will be completely laid waste [baqaq, “emptied, made void”] and completely despoiled [bazaz, “plundered”], for the Lord has spoken this word.

We cannot assume that God is going to distort the surface of the earth in a physical manner, although we might see signs of this. When China built its Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydroelectric power plant in the world, it was said that the reservoir made the earth a bit rounder and flattened the poles slightly. While this distortion of the earth may be taken as a sign of the fulfillment of Isaiah 24:1, it was not the main picture that the prophet was painting for us.

Isaiah saw this distortion in terms of a disruption of normal relationships. When disaster would hit a nation, everyone found himself in the same danger. Servants and masters were suddenly put on an equal footing.

People were no longer creditors or debtors, for all might go into captivity as equals. In other words, the prophet envisioned this devastation and distortion in terms of status and relationships between people. He said nothing about physical changes in the earth.

Isaiah 24:4 continues,

⁴ The earth mourns [aval] and withers [nabel, “to be senseless or foolish”], the world fades [amal, “droops” (its head)] and withers [nabel], the exalted of the people of the earth fade [amal] away.

It is a picture of the rich and powerful losing their power and strength. Their slaves or servants have become their equals. Nothing seems to make sense anymore, for the whole earth has become senseless and foolish. No one understands what is going on. The prophet sees people walking around in a state of shock and disbelief as their world crashes down upon them.

The Curses for Disobedience

Isaiah 24:5, 6 says,

⁵ The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, 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.

The prophet sees this devastation in terms of the law of tribulation in Leviticus 26 and again in Deuteronomy 28. Leviticus 26:14, 15, 16 says,

¹⁴ But if you do not obey Me and do not carry out all these commandments, ¹⁵ if, instead, you reject My statutes, and if your soul abhors My commandments, and so break My covenant, ¹⁶ I, in turn, will do this to you…

Deuteronomy 28:15 says,

¹⁵ But it shall come about, if you do not obey the Lord your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you.

Moses then lists many “curses” that were to come upon them. The curse of the law is the judgment for sin. Isaiah says that Jerusalem had followed the ways of the whole earth in its rebellion against the laws of God, and for this reason, the curses that God promised in the days of Moses had been unleashed upon the city. He says, “the inhabitants of the earth (or the land) are burned.”

This refers to the “fiery law” in Deuteronomy 33:2 KJV, whose judgment is said to burn men figuratively. The baptism of fire which the Holy Spirit brings is designed to burn chaff (Matthew 3:11, 12), that is, to purify us from the things of the flesh. When the law judges sin, it burns chaff so that the sinner may be restored to right standing before God.

The scene that Isaiah paints for us is obviously a time of divine judgment. It was fulfilled partially in Isaiah’s day when 46 cities of Judah were taken by the Assyrians and its people exiled to Assyria. A century later the prophecy was fulfilled in a greater way when Jerusalem was destroyed and the survivors were exiled to Babylon, leaving few behind.

He then describes the scene in Isaiah 24:7-9,

⁷ The new wine mourns [aval], the vine decays [amal], all the merry-hearted sigh. ⁸ The gaiety of tambourines ceases, the noise of revelers stops, the gaiety of the harp ceases. ⁹ They do not drink wine with song; strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.

In verse 7 we read that “the new wine mourns,” while in verse 4 we read that “the earth mourns.” The Hebrew word translated “mourns” in both cases is aval, “to mourn or lament.” New wine does not literally mourn, of course, but Isaiah uses metaphorical language to describe the lack of wine, perhaps because vineyards have been neglected.  “Few men are left” (verse 6) in the land to tend the vineyards, and few are there to drink the wine.

Again, the prophet uses the same words found in verse 4. It is a picture of sadness and depression. The people drink but are not happy. They drink to forget their bitterness but do not find any happiness.

Isaiah 24:10-12 says,

¹⁰ The city of chaos [tohu, “void, formless, confusion”] is broken down; every house is shut up so that none may enter. ¹¹ There is an outcry in the streets concerning the wine; all joy turns to gloom. The gaiety of the earth is banished. ¹² Desolation is left in the city and the gate is battered to ruins.

Isaiah compares Jerusalem with the original creation that became tohu “formless” and bohu, “void” (Genesis 1:2). We are not told how or why the original creation became formless and void, but Isaiah tells us the reason why Jerusalem was to be so judged. It was because they had forsaken the laws of God and because God had promised to judge them for doing this.

After speaking of the judgment upon Jerusalem and the earth as a whole, Isaiah abruptly turns his attention to the overcomers, who are pictured as gleanings in the time of harvest.

Shaking the Tree

Isaiah 24:13, 14 says,

¹³ For thus it will be in the midst of the earth among the peoples, as the shaking of an olive tree, as the gleanings when the grape harvest is over. ¹⁴ They raise their voices, they shout for joy; they cry out from the west concerning the majesty of the Lord.

The harvest is when men shake the olive trees, but the olives are not shaken by events. While the city and the earth have no joy and are depressed, with their heads drooping, there are a few (the “gleanings”) who “shout for joy.” The contrast is striking.

We have already seen previously in Isaiah 17:5, 6 how Isaiah speaks of the gleanings in terms of the overcomers and how the gleanings represent the overcomers—those set apart and devoted to God for His use (Deuteronomy 24:20). Isaiah does not fail to give hope to the righteous in the midst of general despair.

In fact, one of the marks of an overcomer is that he is not shaken, for Psalm 55:22 says, “He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.”

Haggai 2:6, 7 says,

⁶ For thus says the Lord of hosts, “Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. ⁷ I will shake all the nations…”

Hebrews 12:27 interprets this, saying,

²⁷ The expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

This, then, should be our worldview. We are observing the harvest at the end of the age. We see the great shaking taking place, and many olives are falling to the ground in the harvest. However, we ourselves are not shaken but remain in the olive tree to feed the fatherless, the widow, and the orphan who have no covering other than God Himself.

Isaiah 24:15, 16 continues,

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”….

The overcomers “from the ends of the earth” are heard singing a song entitled, “Glory to the Righteous One.” They rejoice, for they know that the time of harvest will benefit them and that the “Kingdom which cannot be shaken” will remain standing (Hebrews 12:28).

But only a few have this hope. Only a few are able to rejoice.

No Way to Escape

The prophet continues in the latter part of Isaiah 24:16, 17,

¹⁶ … But I say, “Woe [raziy] to me! Woe [raziy] to me! Alas [oy] for me! The treacherous deal treacherously, and the treacherous deal very treacherously.” ¹⁷ Terror [pakhad] and pit [pakhath] and snare [pakh] confront you, O inhabitant of the earth.’

Raziy is translated “leanness” in the KJV. That is the literal meaning of the word. It is from the root word razah, “to grow lean, famish, emaciate, consume, destroy.” The prophet was giving voice to those around him who were being shaken by the destruction. This is what he was hearing and (as an intercessor) was feeling on behalf of others. He himself was one of the righteous who could not be shaken.

The NASB renders it “woe to me!” Perhaps it could be better understood to picture men crying out, “All is lost! We are being consumed! We are being destroyed!”

The Hebrew text of Isaiah 24:17 reads, “pakhad vapakhath, happa vappakh,” using words with similar sounds as a play on words. “Terror and pit and snare” are what await those who are being shaken in the time of judgment.

Isaiah 24:18 says,

¹⁸ Then it will be that he who flees the report of disaster [pakhad] will fall into the pit [pakhath], and he who climbs out of the pit will be caught in the snare [pakh]; for the windows above are opened, and the foundations of the earth shake.

The prophet gives them no way to escape certain judgment, no matter how they may try to escape. The solution, of course, is to walk by faith, not in fear.

Breaking the Earth

Isaiah 24:19, 20 says,

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 [sways like a chair that is suspended from above], for its transgression is heavy upon it, and it will fall, never to rise again.

The prophet may have been remembering the great 8.0 Richter earthquake that had shaken both Israel and Judah when Isaiah was young. This was the main focus of Amos, who prophesied to Israel two years before the quake. (See Amos 1:1 and chapter 1 of my commentary, Amos, Missionary to Israel.). The quake was so strong that it weakened Israel and caused a 24-year interruption of Israel’s monarchy. Assyria then took advantage of Israel’s weakness and began to conquer and deport the Israelites from 745-721 B.C.

Hence, Isaiah’s metaphor of shaking of the olive tree was well illustrated by the great earthquake that had struck the land earlier. Many still remembered how the land appeared to reel to and fro like a drunkard. But Isaiah was speaking of a later time, essentially an end-time repeat that was to collapse the governments of the entire earth in some way. It is likely that we will witness another great earthquake—or, more likely, a series of earthquakes affecting many parts of the earth—that will weaken the nations and bring about the collapse of governments.

Isaiah 24:21, 22 says,

²¹ So it will happen in that day, that the Lord will punish the host of heaven on high, and the kings of the earth on earth. ²² They will be gathered together like prisoners in the dungeon and will be confined in prison; and after many days they will be punished.

How will God “punish the host of heaven on high”? Are the sun, moon, and stars to blame for the sins being done on the earth? The heavenly bodies were worshiped in the religious systems on earth, and so this is meant to convey divine judgment upon the gods of idolaters. Similarly, the ten plagues in the days of Moses brought judgment upon the gods of Egypt.

The idea is to discredit false gods and undermine false religion so that the people turn to worship the Creator rather than the creatures.

Likewise, the kings of the earth will be arrested and “gathered together like prisoners in the dungeon.” When the prophet says, “after many days they will be punished,” we may interpret this in two ways. It may be that these kings will be confined in prison for “many days” before they are actually brought to trial—or the prophet may be telling us that these events will be fulfilled in the future “after many days.”

Judging the Heavens

Isaiah 24:23 concludes,

²³ 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.

A similar but expanded prophecy is seen in Joel 2:31, 32,

³¹ The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. ³² And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.

This literally occurred on the day of Christ’s death on the cross. First, the sun was darkened for three hours from noon to mid-afternoon (Luke 23:44). Then at 5:10 pm, when the full moon rose over Jerusalem, it was already eclipsed and appeared blood-red. (See The Laws of the Second Coming, chapter 1.)

It is scientifically impossible for a solar and lunar eclipse to occur on the same day. The lunar eclipse was natural, but the darkening of the sun was supernatural. The result of Christ’s death on the cross was that “whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered,” which the Apostle Paul quotes in Romans 10:13.

Yet it is clear that this prophecy must be fulfilled again about the time of the second coming of Christ, because not everything was fulfilled at His first coming. Both Isaiah and Joel clearly say that Christ will rule “on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem” but His right to rule remained in dispute and in legal limbo for 2,000 years, as we see from Jesus’ parable (Luke 19:14 and 27).

That dispute would not be resolved until just prior to His second coming, and only then can He lawfully enforce the ruling in the Divine Court and take His throne. Meanwhile, the kingdom in the past 2,000 years has been a manifestation of the kingdom of Saul, the Pentecostal king. This must give way to the kingdom of David, who was crowned on a Jubilee and whose kingdom is manifested through the feast of Tabernacles.

To understand both Isaiah and Joel, of course, we must understand that Zion and Jerusalem were both disqualified as physical locations and were replaced with Sion and the New Jerusalem. Sion is Mount Hermon (Deuteronomy 4:48), the place where Jesus later was transfigured and declared to be “My beloved Son” (Matthew 17:5). It has become the prophetic place where all believers must rally around Him, as prophesied in Hebrews 12:22 KJV.

Genesis 49:10 KJV tells us that the people were to rally around “Shiloh,” a reference to the coming Messiah, “and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be.” It pictures the people united in choosing a leader and swearing allegiance to obey Him. So also Hosea 1:11 tells us that Israel and Judah would one day be reunited under the headship of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 12:22 KJV, along with verses 23 and 24, adds that Mount Sion is where the sons of God unite in swearing allegiance to the Messiah.

The point is that it is no longer Zion but Sion, even as it is no longer the earthly Jerusalem but the heavenly Jerusalem. None of the Old Testament prophets distinguish between the two Jerusalems, but the two cities are clearly distinguished by Paul in Galatians 4:25, 26 and by John in Revelation 21:2. The Old Jerusalem is “Hagar” and must be “cast out” in favor of “Sarah,” the heavenly Jerusalem. Zion is part of the Old Jerusalem and must also be cast out in favor of Sion, which is the seat of government for the New Jerusalem.