A Meditation on Isaiah 24
© Pastor Bill Randles Believers in Grace Fellowship
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For when they shall say Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. (I Thess 5:3)The Day will come like a "snare upon all those who dwell upon the face of the earth" according to Jesus (Luke 21:34-35). The strong delusion will come to those who "received not the love of the truth" Paul warns (see II Thess 2). But the results will be calamitous to those who are the victims of this deception, there will be no escape. This is what elicits such anguish from the prophet. The suffering and eternal alienation could have perhaps been avoided but for the "treacherous ones."
And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: For the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake. (Isaiah 24:18)In the final analysis, it is God himself who is at work in it all, and as in the days of the Flood, the work extends from the very windows of heaven to the foundation of the earth. The earth itself is cracked, splits, and shakes violently. Because the inhabitants of the earth have chosen various forms of 'drunkenness', delusion, God denial, suppression of truth, embrace of various false spiritualities, preference for lies over the truth...God causes the earth itself to "reel like a drunkard", staggering under the weight of its sins.
The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression therof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall and not rise again. (Isaiah 24:20)Before a trial, arrests are made, incarcerations happen. Isaiah makes mention of two particular categories of apprehendees: Angelic Hosts and the Kings of the earth. Behind all of the false spirituality, every idol or God-defying movement in history, have been the fallen "Hosts of heaven." These are the "principalities, powers and rulers of the darkness of this age" that Paul warned about in Ephesians 6. It is they who have empowered the "Kings of the earth and their rulers" to defy "the Lord and His Christ" as David saw in Psalm 2. He that sits in the heavens Will have the last word.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high that are on high, and the Kings of the earth that are on the earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days they shall be visited. (Isaiah 24:21-22)
The focal point of the end of the World is the city of Jerusalem and the mount Zion. To this all of the prophets of both Testaments and Jesus attest. Zechariah predicted that in the last days, Jerusalem would be as a heavy stone, standing in the way of the whole world, but then added that whoever tried to pick it up (as if to move it out of the way) would be broken. (see Zechariah 12:2-3)
Where is it all headed? Is the end of the world an end in and of itself? Of course not! The real end and goal of all of history is the revelation of the glory of the triune God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. On that day, all shall be revealed for what it truly is. When He is revealed, the saints will shine in His glory. We shall see Him as He is and in that Beatific Vision, we shall be transformed also.
Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of Hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously (Isaiah 24:23)The Fall of the Great City
In the scripture, the Divine destruction of countless cities such as Sodom, Babel, Nineveh, Tyre, and Jericho, to name a few, all serve as types of the end of the world. This is because in Biblical typology, the metaphor of all that is God defiant, Independent of and opposing to God is summed up in the name of a city, Babylon.
The first city mentioned in scripture is an example of this. It is called Enoch, which means 'Inauguration'. Enoch was built by the first murderer and will worshipper, Cain, as a response to the command of God to be a wanderer (Genesis 4:12,17). Rather than submit to the Divine sentence, Cain inaugurated a new beginning, a city built to nurture a new culture, one without God. Its citizens would build a 'brave new world' on the principle of human independence from and defiance of God. Jude warns of those who have "gone the way of Cain", rebels, God opposers.
There is a sense in the end of the world is already played out in the "city of meaninglessness" every single day. Paul assured us in Romans that the wrath of God is "being revealed" daily. Isaiah says the same in verses 7-9.
The new wine dries up, the vine withers; all the merrymakers groan. The gaiety of the tamborines is stilled, the noise of the revelers has stopped, the joyful harp is silent. No longer do they drink wine with a song...(Isaiah 24:7)One of the unspoken reasons for the voracious appetite for entertainment in our day is to distract uneasy and empty consciences. At the end of the world, God pulls the plug. But already, the music is dying, the "merry makers" groan even now, in unwitting anticipation of that day. The misery and depression of godlessness and hedonism is an expression of the wrath of God. It is a warning, a wake up call, designed to turn men to God while there is still time. The sun goes down on the "gaiety" of the revelers.
The City of Meaninglessness
The ruined city lies desolate; the entrance to every house is barred. In the streets they cry out for wine; all joy turns to gloom, all gaiety is banished from the earth. The city is left in ruins, its gate is battered to pieces. (Isaiah 24:10-12)The metaphor for the end of the God denying world is that of a ruined city, defenseless and vulnerable. But there is even more here than meets the eye. The Hebrew word for "ruined" is the same word used in the creation account when it spoke of the world being "formless and void."
The "city of meaninglessness" is how some translate this verse. This "city" which is the object of God's judgment, is the metaphor for the entire system of man, organized as it is in defiance of the Infinite personal God of the Bible. It is called "the world" in the New testament. Independent of God, Hostile to Christ, rejecting of the revelation of God, "the World", we are told in I John is already under judgment.
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world, if any man has the love of the world, he has not the Love of the Father...The World and its lust shall pass away..." (I John 2:15-17)The Song in the Night
Piercing the gloom of wrath and destruction, Isaiah hears voices, singing praises to the Majesty of God! The metaphor is switched from the desolated city to a happier image, harvesting olives, gleaning grapes. True, the tree must be violently shaken to bring in the last olives at the top of the tree, the olives are gathered to be saved! God will have his worshippers at the end of the world.
They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea. Wherefore glorify ye the Lord in the fires, even the name of the Lord God of Israel in the Isles of the sea. From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even Glory to the Righteous. (Isaiah 24:14-16a)From many different points around the earth, the beautiful anthem antiphonally rises! Not all have refused to give the Creator His glory as is due! Glory to the Righteous One! Isaiah would identify this "Righteous One" later on as the Servant of Yahweh, who by the offering of His sinless life would "justify the many", bearing their iniquities as a sin offering. Glory to the Righteous One, indeed! Righteousness with God through the gracious gift of pardon through the satisfaction of Holy Justice is the underlying theme of the worship Isaiah hears.
But the prophet cannot linger long over the beautiful hymn, for what he sees coming for the vast majority of the "inhabitants of the earth" causes Him to cry out in sharp spiritual spasms of pain. Five times in one line he uses forms of the same word for treachery, betrayal or deceit.
...my leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! The treacherous have dealt treacherously; yea,the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously. Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. (Isaiah 24:16b-17)What caused the pain for Isaiah is exactly what Daniel, Paul, Jesus and the prophets warned would be a terrible aspect of the time leading up the end-of-the-world deception leading many to Judgment! "Take heed that no one deceives you" Jesus replied, when asked about the sign of "End of the age."