Isaiah
Chapter 24
ESCHATOLOGY
Catastrophe
See how the Lord breaks the land and makes it crack, how he turns it upside down and scatters its inhabitants,
priest and people alike, servant and master, maid and mistress; buyer and seller, lender and borrower. As it will be with the creditor, so will it be with the debtor.
Cracked is the earth, worn out is the world, for the Lord has spoken.
The earth mourns and withers, the world pines and fades, both heaven and earth languish.
The land lies polluted, defiled by its inhabitants who have transgressed the laws, violated the ordinances, and broken the Covenant.
Therefore, a curse consumes the land and its people burn for their guilt. Few of its inhabitants are left.
The Desolate City
The new wine mourns, the vine pines away, all the revelers groan.
The merry timbrels are stilled, the noise of the revelers is over, the harps and lyres are silenced.
No more will they drink wine with a song; strong drink tastes bitter to the drinker.
The city of confusion is broken down, every door is closed; you cannot enter.
In the streets they cry for wine: all joy is gone, all cheer has left the land.
The city is left in distress, its ruined market is deserted.
The Remnant
Some remain where nations have been as olives after the beating of the trees, as grapes after the vintage.
They lift up their voices and shout for joy, from the vast lands they acclaim the Lord.
People give him glory from the western islands: “Islands, sing to the Lord, the God of Israel!”
From the remotest part of the earth we hear songs of praise: “Glory to the Righteous One.”
Destruction
Yet I said: “Woe is me! Woe is me! There is but treachery and traitors!”
Not at all! Terror, pit, and snare await you, inhabitants of the earth.
He who flees at the cry of terror falls into the pit, and he who climbs out of the pit gets caught in the snare. For the floodgates of heaven are opened and the earth shakes to its foundation.
The earth is broken into fragments, the earth is in convulsion.
The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut in the storm, weighed down by its transgression, and it falls, never to rise again.
Judgment and Reign of the Lord
On that day the Lord will punish the host of the heavens above, and the kings of the earth below.
They will be gathered together as prisoners are gathered in the pit; they will be shut up in a dungeon and after a time, punished.
Then the moon will be confounded and the sun ashamed, when the Lord Sabaoth reigns on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and lets his glory be shown to his elders.
Commentaries
Catastrophe.
Chapters 24-27 form a section that ends the oracles against the nations. This now becomes a broader judgment against humanity: the Lord causes the earth to dry up, the people to scatter, and societal institutions to vanish. Men have corrupted the earth with their crimes (v. 5; cf. Nm 35:33). This cosmic disaster is part of God’s plan, which will ultimately lead to the restoration of Jerusalem (chapters 25-27).
The Desolate City.
Everything reverts to the chaos (Hebrew: tohu) that existed before creation: desolation (tohu) in “the city,” which may refer to Babylon or Nineveh. There is no longer any joy; all is lamentation and destruction.
The Remnant.
Despite the desolation and death, a small group of faithful people will remain to recognize and sing the praises of the God of Israel. They will experience God’s salvation.
Destruction – Judgment and Reign of the Lord.
The initial celebration of the survivors is overshadowed by the prophet’s cry of pain, as he predicts further destruction, now also coming from heaven, where the Lord will judge the powerful of the earth (21-22). After the judgment, the Lord will reign in Jerusalem (23).