Isaiah 24:1 - 27:13 "The Apocalypse of Isaiah"
ch. 1-12 Judah's Judgment
ch.13-23 Destruction of Nations
ch. 24-27 Destruction of Earth
Chapter 24
Destruction is mentioned 16 times in this chapter
24:1
"lay waste" Hb. signifies "emptying"
"he will ruin its face" indicates an earthquake
"ruin" means "to twist"
"face" speaks of the earth's surface
"scatter inhabitants" similar to the tower of Babel
24:2
Society is effected:
and no one can stop it
24:5
Modern society is concerned with physical pollution.
God is concerned about moral pollution.
God will destroy the physical planet because of the moral corruption
"disobeyed the laws" refers to the knowledge of God's law that is
written on men's hearts and
revealed through General Revelation /
"everlasting covenant" refers to God's covenant with Noah for mankind in Genesis 9:16
24:7
The wine dries up in judgment.
The best wine is restored in Isaiah 25:6
24:10
"the ruined city" is a general reference to the cities of man.
"desolate" is "tohu" or "chaos" as in Genesis
1:2
"houses barred" because of crime.
The home is the last line of defense when the nation is overrun and the city
is captured.
24:12
The city gate has been broken down.
24:14
This begins the rejoicing of the believers and godly survivors
It is a song of Thansgiving.
Chapters 24-27 are a mix of judgments and songs of rejoicing
This song begins in the West. Isaiah heard it from there first.
Then the East and is exhorted to join and also the islands.
This refers to rejoicing Gentiles.
This is singing Isaiah heard from the future.
24:16
But though Isaiah hears the rejoicing from the future he must face suffering
in his day.
The international scene is filled with treachery.
This speaks of Assyria of Isaiah's day.
Assyria was aggrtessive and deceitful. This is a bad combination for the world
power to have.
"The treacherous betray! With treachery the treacherous betray!"
Hebrew sounds like this:
"bogdim bagadu ubeged bogedim bagadu"
and it means:
"treacherous betray trechery trecherous betray"
24:18
Isaiah the prophet must live by faith knowing the truth. God is in control and
will help Isaiah.
We must not flee from God, his will or his righteousness because of the sound
of terror.
This verse describes the treacherous as hunting their prey.
The next image is of God taking over the treacherous with a flood.
"floodgates of heavens" are in Hebrew "windows from on high."
Also, an earthquake.
24:19
Planet earth is falling apart.
Never to rise again refers to the wicked nations or the earth after its destruction
24:21
"In that day" speaks of an eschatological day in the future
"powers in the heavens" the Hebrew is used to refer to
"punished" can be "released" or "released after many
days.
The many days are Revelation 20, the millennium
Isaiah 34:5 , "My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens, see, it descends."
Isaiah 25
After judgment of the earth there will be a time of blessing
25:1
"my God" is Isaiah calling God his personal God.
25:2
The wicked face disaster
25:3
Here those being destroyed turn to God. The ruthless nation repents.
25:4
The ruthless are like a storm beating a rock wall and scorching heat blowing
in from the desert with sand.
25:5
But God silences the storm of the ruthless and reduces the scorching heat with
a cloud.
25:6
"On this mountain" speaks of Mt. Zion or Jerusalem in the millennium.
The provisions in the Lord's kingdom are call:
The wine is restored (the aged and the finest)
Mary spoke of this at the wedding of Cana
In Isaiah 2:1-4 the Gentiles come here.
25:7
God destroys the "covering" on this mountain
The covering is either spiritual blindness or death.
This verse speaks of the millennium.
The next verse speaks of the eternal state
25:8
"disgrace" refers to the sin of God's people in time.
Even the saints live in times of judgment before the Lord's return.