Isa 24
Notes
Transcript
Judgment of the Whole Earth
Judgment of the Whole Earth
Good to see you all this evening....
Wednesdays are a great time to recharge and gas up for the final days of the week before we gather again on Sunday. so I appreciate you all coming out.
You know, I can tell you that many people want to know about the end of time. They want to know when it will be, and most certainly what will happen during those days..
Here in Isaiah 24, we are looking at the beginning of a new section here in the Book of Isaiah. Chapters 24-27 tells of the whole world in crisis at the end of history as we know it, and God’s people are secure in their own city.
This particular chapter reveals the vision of God ruling the nations in Judgement and salvation in the days to come.
This chapter is divided into 3 sections,
The final curse on the earth vv 1-13, Joy and Sorrow over God’s destruction vv14-18A,
And after the destruction, God will reign vv18b-23.
Now lets begin this evening and see that the Lord is telling the world and his people through His prophet Isaiah.
Verses 1-3 the Curse brings destruction...
1 Behold, the Lord will empty the earth and make it desolate,
and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.
2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest;
as with the slave, so with his master;
as with the maid, so with her mistress;
as with the buyer, so with the seller;
as with the lender, so with the borrower;
as with the creditor, so with the debtor.
3 The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered;
for the Lord has spoken this word.
The first word is important, Behold or in some translations it might say see. it is to draw attention to what Isaiah is communicating from God.
God is seen as emptying the earth. to empty the land, making is a place of waste, we see the people will be scattered from where they live and only a few people will remain, only a few will be left on the earth.
To twist the earth, is to shake it, its catastrophic and violent. The earth will be shaken, broken and the surface of the earth is pictured as it a great earthquake takes place.
All of this is meant to describe great acts of God against the earth.
And as you walk into verse 2, everyone will be effected by this, no one will escape it! A persons place or social status doesn’t matter.
Priest and master will be in the same place on that day and nothing will matter. All will be effected by the powerful curses of the people on the earth. God doesn’t play favorites, everyone will suffer.
And people will ask, why do these things happen? They always question God but are never willing to follow God.
Yet, as we walk into the next section, God will tell them why these things happen...
4 The earth mourns and withers;
the world languishes and withers;
the highest people of the earth languish.
God will revealing that the plants, animals and humanity will wither, will dry up and waste away to nothing. Even the highest people, or most exalted peoples will be effected and most certainly God will humble the proud.
Friends, understand that on the day of the Lord, only God will be exalted, will everything else is being destroyed.
5 The earth lies defiled
under its inhabitants;
for they have transgressed the laws,
violated the statutes,
broken the everlasting covenant.
Isaiah tells us that God is revealing 5 reasons why God will remove fertility and life.
A.) The first reason drought is coming to dry up the earth is that God finds the earth is defiled. Evil people have polluted or desecrated the land by the evil actions. This curse will prevent the earth from producing fruit and support life.
When God speaks of defile and polluting the earth, they have shed blood.. God says in Numbers 35:33
33 You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.
They have worshipped pagan gods, Jer 3:9
9 Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree.
All of this defiles the land. The next two really are spoken of together....
B.) People have disobeyed instructions and C.) statutes. What does this mean, it tells us that people have not kept God’s covenant requirements, in one class we could say they have not kept the law. In a greater sense they have not loved God nor their neighbor.
D. They broke the eternal covenant, They sinned before God and each other.
E.) God entered into a covenant with his people, this happened first with Abraham and secondly, after coming out of the land of Egypt, God said he would be their God and they would be His people.
There is a problem when people abandon God. It morally and spiritually bankrupts them and defiles the earth in which they will..
All will suffer because of the sins of man… Man instead of exalting God, they exalted sin.
How broken this world has become because of it.....
Now verse 6
6 Therefore a curse devours the earth,
and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt;
therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched,
and few men are left.
So Isaiah reveals two things here… A.) the curse will consume the entire earth. B) few will be left on the earth on account of it.
Listen when God promises to bless or curse the people, understand one of those will happen, He has spoken.
This oath results in the consuming or eating up of the earth because people remain in sin and refuse to respond to God in repentance.
It is not that God is burning people up with a consuming fire, but instead a series of catastrophic events that will bring death to millions and millions of people.
Isaiah says few people will be left.....
Now lets move forward.... verses 7-8
7 The wine mourns,
the vine languishes,
all the merry-hearted sigh.
8 The mirth of the tambourines is stilled,
the noise of the jubilant has ceased,
the mirth of the lyre is stilled.
So look at this, Isaiah says this… this doom will bring a quick end to drunkards and all those who live and celebrate for themselves.
Even the instruments of music and joy will be silenced...
Now move forward Isa 24:9-13
9 No more do they drink wine with singing;
strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
10 The wasted city is broken down;
every house is shut up so that none can enter.
11 There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine;
all joy has grown dark;
the gladness of the earth is banished.
12 Desolation is left in the city;
the gates are battered into ruins.
13 For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth
among the nations,
as when an olive tree is beaten,
as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is done.
There is no joy to celebrate, to victories to cheer for on that day. Instead people will try to hide from God as they lock themselves up in their homes.
This future disaster will effect the people in a very adverse way. Just as the country side will suffer, so the cities will as well.
And when this happens upon the people, the cities will be empty, like the other areas, why… Disaster as come...
People will even flee to the countrysides in an effort to find food will search those harvested items hoping to find a morsel of food, but sadly none will be left...
Now lets move forward and look at verses 14 to 16A
14 They lift up their voices, they sing for joy;
over the majesty of the Lord they shout from the west.
15 Therefore in the east give glory to the Lord;
in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
16 From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise,
of glory to the Righteous One.
But I say, “I waste away,
I waste away. Woe is me!
For the traitors have betrayed,
with betrayal the traitors have betrayed.”
They will lift up their voices, they sing for joy.. this had to speak to the remnant of people who have survived God’s harvest when he judges the earth,
They will give glory to God when they observe that God is doing to those who have defiled the Lord, and all that He has created in the earth and the earth itself.
Those who sing will come from the west, from the sea, and there will also be those who come from the east and from the far ends of the earth
These people will witness the awesome power of God at the end of history and their response is adoration and praise.
These people aren’t just Hebrews, but from all the earth God’s people will praise him for his mighty deeds.
And their praise will include magnifying the majestic supremacy of God. giving glory and honor to God, exalting his name and proclaiming majesty to the Righteous one.
The worship is focused on God and no one else, he is the righteous judge and he is justified in his destruction of the evil people of the earth.
One scholar said....God’s majesty, glory, and righteousness will be on full display for all to see. Praise naturally flows from those who know God and observe what he has done.
Now the second part of 16b to 18A
16 From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise,
of glory to the Righteous One.
But I say, “I waste away,
I waste away. Woe is me!
For the traitors have betrayed,
with betrayal the traitors have betrayed.”
17 Terror and the pit and the snare
are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth!
18 He who flees at the sound of the terror
shall fall into the pit,
and he who climbs out of the pit
shall be caught in the snare.
For the windows of heaven are opened,
and the foundations of the earth tremble.
So here Isaiah reacts to God’s future deeds… We have gone from words of praise to mourning, or lamenting...
But I said… I waste away....because these future events haven’t happened yet so it means the sin of Judah is still going to be judged and a mighty nation will face them… The Assyrian army is flexing it muscle against Jerusalem, trying to surround the city..
His second; I waste away, Woe is me, is certain, he is not able to help Judah in their presnet condition, he wants too, He wishes he could change their actions but he cannot and the only power he has, is to trust in God the father. she is able....
The traitors have betrayed, the are full of treachery. Isaiah clearly reveals the bloodshed, death and terror that would happen when he Assyrians attack Jerusalem.
Judah is hopeless without God..
Wow.. the truth is we all are hopeless without God.
Jehoshaphat understod this at a different time
12 O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
Now we look at the last section 18 to 23
18 He who flees at the sound of the terror
shall fall into the pit,
and he who climbs out of the pit
shall be caught in the snare.
For the windows of heaven are opened,
and the foundations of the earth tremble.
19 The earth is utterly broken,
the earth is split apart,
the earth is violently shaken.
20 The earth staggers like a drunken man;
it sways like a hut;
its transgression lies heavy upon it,
and it falls, and will not rise again.
21 On that day the Lord will punish
the host of heaven, in heaven,
and the kings of the earth, on the earth.
22 They will be gathered together
as prisoners in a pit;
they will be shut up in a prison,
and after many days they will be punished.
23 Then the moon will be confounded
and the sun ashamed,
for the Lord of hosts reigns
on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
and his glory will be before his elders.
The final punishment of the earth will involve a major breakup of the normal patterns of the earth.
Floods will occur once again as the windows of heave are opened. Strong earthquakes will will shake the land and the earth will seem like it is falling apart
And sadly, there is no stable safe place to hide, the earth will sway like a drunk trying to walk, the buildings will sway back and forth
The sinful rebellion of people here on earth will be so bad that nothing can save them. Man, friends it reminds us that God hates sin, and we have a sinful perverse time on our hands..
The earth will collapse and it will never rise gain, Isaiah is saying the world as we know it willl come to an end.
This world will face the brunt of God’s wrath but so will all living creatures, especially those who oppose God. They will know His wrath
Once these are defeated “in that day”, God’s final and victorious reign will be fully established .
God himself will be the ruling and reigning King over this earth and the people who remain...
Even the spiritual forces of darkness will not prevail on that day.
Remember in that time, Satan is bound for 1000 years before released for the final battle...
The shinning of the moon and the brightness of the sun will be of no comparison to the glory of God revealed and shinning in that day
He will reign before the elders of Israel. He will reign over the earth, in the hearts and lives of his people on that day.