Judgments for the Earth, Joy for the Righteous, Glory for God

Isaiah 24:7-12

As we’ve seen in Isaiah 21–22, people are always seeking escape from God’s judgments in sensual pleasures. The night Babylon fell, Belshazzar was feasting (Dan 5). So also in secular history: while the Red Army was conquering Berlin in 1945, the remnants of the wicked Nazi regime were partying in Hitler’s bunker before committing suicide. In Isaiah 24 we see this so clearly—the yearning for joy and revelry, music and drinking, eating and carousing. But God has shut it all down completely (vv. 7-9). The noise of the revelers comes to an end; the last song has been sung (v. 8). The sinners in the “City of Man” must face the judgments of God sober, and they will be slaughtered themselves: only desolation is left in a once-populous city (v. 12).

In all this horror there are no accidents, there is no bad luck, no fate. Every time a city has been destroyed by a conquering army it is in some sense a judgment from God. As Jesus said in Luke 13:1-5, unless every sinner on the face of the earth repents, they “will all perish as well.” The sinners in the cities that weren’t destroyed in Germany in 1945 were no better in God’s sight than the ones who lived in Dresden or Berlin, which were leveled by the Allies. Every destruction is a message from God: repent or perish!

Isaiah 24:13-16

As the “City of Man” is destroyed, the righteous among the human race have two very different reactions, both reflected in verses 13-16. First, the godly are depicted as a tiny remnant (a few olives or grapes) who lift their voices in triumphant worship, celebrating the majesty of the Lord. Because of thousands of years of successful missions spreading the gospel of Christ, this chorus of praise extends from west to east, from the distant islands of the west to the ends of the earth. This is one valid reaction: unbridled joy in the Lord, the mighty Warrior, who has destroyed his enemies completely.

On the other hand, Isaiah represents an opposite reaction by a godly man. In verse 16 he grieves and laments the details of this vision. He feels like his body is wasting away because of the judgments of the Lord that are yet to be unleashed on the earth. Perhaps Isaiah is lamenting all the damage the treacherous have yet to do on the earth, like Elisha weeping in advance of Hazael’s destructions (2 Kgs 8:11-12). The earth will be viciously convulsed before the Lord returns, and much suffering is still to come.

Isaiah 24:17-22

In verses 17-22 Isaiah makes it plain that God will weave his net with fine mesh, and no one will escape. “Panic, pit, and trap” await the people of the earth, and whoever escapes the one will be caught by the second; whoever escapes the first two will be swallowed by the third. Like an earthquake, when the very ground beneath your feet is convulsing, there is no refuge, nowhere to hide (vv. 18-20). These terrifying verses show a comprehensive level of destruction that will ultimately be fulfilled only in the awesome events depicted in the book of Revelation. Outside of Christ, there is no escape possible.

As the earth itself is being judged, the Lord also will punish the “army of the heights in the heights” and the “kings of the ground on the ground” (vv. 21-22). This refers to Satan and the demonic “evil, spiritual forces in the heavens” (Eph 6:12) and to the human rulers who dominated people under their power. So both the demonic puppet masters and the human puppet kings will be judged on that final day. Verse 22 mentions a dungeon in which some of these “army of the heights” and “kings of the ground” are held until the time comes for final judgment (Matt 8:29; 2 Pet 2:4).

Isaiah 24:23

The final verse in this awesome chapter depicts the Lord of Armies reigning as king on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, putting his glory on display before the elders. Some believe this refers to the millennial reign of Christ in Jerusalem; others see it finally fulfilled in the new Jerusalem depicted in Revelation 21–22. The City of Man will be purified, with only the redeemed left. The City of God will descend and become the City of Man, with the God-Man, Christ, at the center of the union. And how glorious that will be!

All phases of the City of Man, erected for the glory of man, will be laid waste: first, by one another, in an ongoing cycle of invasion and destruction, one rising empire supplanting the previous; second, by the second coming of Christ. He will bring the final judgment of God, to which all of these smaller dress rehearsals have been pointing throughout history. Because this is so, we should live as aliens and strangers on earth, looking ahead to a “city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb 11:10). We should be faithful in preaching the gospel to the ends of the earth so the worldwide worship of the Lord by the remnant (Isa 24:14-16) may come to pass. By faith we should flee to Christ, who is the only refuge from the coming wrath. Like Isaiah, we should weep for the misery yet to come, for it will be dreadful. But in the end, we should celebrate the glory of the Lord who will be reigning in Zion (the new Jerusalem) forever.