reflections on Isaiah 24

Isaiah 24 (Contemporary English Version)
1. The LORD is going to twist the earth out of shape and turn it into a desert. Everyone will be scattered,
   
2. including ordinary people and priests, slaves and slave owners, buyers and sellers, lenders and borrowers, the rich and the poor.
   
3. The earth will be stripped bare and left that way. This is what the LORD has promised.
   
4. The earth wilts away; its mighty leaders melt to nothing.
   
5. The earth is polluted because its people disobeyed the laws of God, breaking their agreement that was to last forever.
   
6. The earth is under a curse; its people are dying out because of their sins.
   
7. Grapevines have dried up: wine is almost gone-- mournful sounds are heard instead of joyful shouts.
   
8. No one plays tambourines or stringed instruments; all noisy celebrating has come to an end.
   
9. They no longer sing as they drink their wine, and it tastes sour.
   
10. Towns are crushed and in chaos; houses are locked tight.
    
11. Happy times have disappeared from the earth, and people shout in the streets, "We're out of wine!"
    
12. Cities are destroyed; their gates are torn down.
    
13. Nations will be stripped bare, like olive trees or vineyards after the harvest season.
    
14. People in the west shout; they joyfully praise the majesty of the LORD.
    
15. And so, everyone in the east and those on the islands should praise the LORD, the God of Israel.
    
16. From all over the world songs of praise are heard for the God of justice. But I feel awful, terribly miserable. Can anyone be trusted? So many are treacherous!
    
17. Terror, traps, and pits are waiting for everyone.
    
18. If you are terrified and run, you will fall into a pit; if you crawl out of the pit, you will get caught in a trap. The sky has split apart like a window thrown open. The foundations of the earth have been shaken;
    
19. the earth is shattered, ripped to pieces.
    
20. It staggers and shakes like a drunkard or a hut in a windstorm. It is burdened down with sin; the earth will fall, never again to get up.
    
21. On that day the LORD will punish the powers in the heavens and the kings of the earth.
    
22. He will put them in a pit and keep them prisoner. Then later on, he will punish them.
    
23. The moon and sun will both be embarrassed and ashamed. The LORD All-Powerful will rule on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, where he will show its rulers his wonderful glory.

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The scope of God's judgment broadens beginning with chapter 24 and continuing through chapter 27. This section is known as “Isaiah’s apocalypse.” Beginning with chapter 13 Isaiah delivers a series of oracles, or burdensome sayings, against Israel and Judah and the surrounding nations. "Isaiah's apocalypse" expands the oracles to include the whole earth serving as a "backdrop for the Lord’s eventual judgment on the whole world." (The Bible Knowledge Commentary) 

The reason for this judgment on the earth's inhabitants is that they have polluted the earth. Whatever God may think of the ecological pollution of the earth by its inhabitants, His greater concern is the moral pollution. This judgment comes because the earth's inhabitants have "transgressed teachings, overstepped decrees, and broken the everlasting covenant." (24:5) The resulting curse from this pollution comes upon the earth as well as its inhabitants. Thus "The earth will be stripped completely bare and will be totally plundered." (24:3) The earth's inhabitants will be burned leaving only a few survivors. Revelry will cease as will the tambourines, jubilant noise, and joyful lyre. "All joy grows dark; earth's rejoicing goes into exile." (24:11) A godly remnant will survive and these will raise their voices to proclaim the "majesty of the Lord." (24:14) 

However, for the treacherous who act treacherously, terror will pursue them. They will flee the sound of one terror only to fall prey to another. Though they may escape the pit, they will be caught in a snare. The earth will quake, splitting open and staggering like a drunkard. Then the "host of heaven above and kings of the earth below" will be gathered like prisoners and confined to a dungeon. This host of heaven may refer to spiritual forces opposed to God. Then "the LORD of Hosts will reign as king on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, and He will display His glory in the presence of His elders." (24:23)