Isaiah 24:17-23

3. JUDGMENT IS FROM JEHOVAH

TEXT: Isaiah 24:17-23

17

Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.

18

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 midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.

19

The earth is utterly broken, the earth is rent asunder, the earth is shaken violently.

20

The earth shall stagger like a drunken man, and shall sway to and fro like a hammock; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise again.

21

And it shall come to pass in that day, that Jehovah will punish the host of the high ones on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.

22

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 shall they be visited.

23

Then the moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed; for Jehovah of hosts will reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem; and before his elders shall be glory.

QUERIES

a.

Why open the windows on high?

b.

Who are the high ones on high to be punished?

c.

When will Jehovah reign in mount Zion?

PARAPHRASE

When God executes His judgments upon the present world order, man will be confounded like the wild animal who fears its pursuers and falls into the pit; if it avoids the pit, it is taken by the snare. From heaven God is going to overwhelm man's rebellion like the great flood; He is going to shake the very foundations of man's utopian schemes like an earthquake brings down great edifices. Earthly systems and worldly schemes will be utterly broken, rent asunder and shaken violently. Those forces and philosophies of man which have arrayed themselves against God's rule will be caused to stagger and reel under the defeat God brings upon themthey shall sway like a watchman's hut in a blowing storm. The futility of their rebellion and the guilt of their sin will be such a weight upon them they will fall never to regain complete dominance of the world again. On that day the Lord will make a visitation of judgment upon the principalities and powers in the heavenly places who have rebelled against Him as well as those rulers on the earth who have joined with these wicked spiritual beings. God will triumph over them all. He will gather these forces together in their greatest concentration of power, and He shall defeat them and take them captive like prisoners and He shall imprison them. And after a long period of time the Lord will visit all these imprisoned beings with final judgment. Such will be the glory of Jehovah when this is accomplished the brightness of the sun and moon will seem to fade away. The glorious reign of Jehovah will, at that time, be established among men in the form of His kingdom on earth, the church. And His faithful covenant people will be brought to glory with Him.

COMMENTS

Isaiah 24:17-20 VICTORY: Admittedly these verses are difficult to interpret. Many want to make them apply to the Second Advent of Christ and the end of the world. It is our view that the prophets spoke almost entirely of Christ's First Advent, and in view of New Testament passages which seem to appropriate these figures of Isaiah, we believe these verses and those following apply to Christ's first coming and the establishment of the church.

These verses are a continuation of the idea begun in the first verse of this chapter. Human efforts to take over God's work of redeeming man are doomed to failure and defeat. There is no escape for man's rebellious attempts to usurp God's sovereignty. God's defeat of rebellion is inevitable! This same figure of inescapability is used in Amos 5:18-20 (see our comments in Minor Prophets there). The Lord's judgments are inescapable. His power to defeat man's rebellion is overwhelming and inundating like when He opened the windows of heaven and poured out the flood in Genesis 6. God is going to open the windows on high and send down His Son to defeat Satan and all those powers Satan has to hold men captive (cf. John 12:31; John 16:11; Hebrews 2:14-15; Colossians 2:15; Matthew 12:28-30). His Son will establish the kingdom of God on earth, the rule of God in men's hearts, and ascend to the right hand of the Father taking captivity captive (Ephesians 4:8).

In all this we hear the crash and roar of falling governments and crashing empires. God's judgments are upon them. He brings them to naught. His divine judgments will cause rebellious man to reel and stagger. Assyria fell to Babylon. Babylon fell to Medo-Persia; Medo-Persia crumbled before Alexander the Great; Greece was broken and overrun by Rome. Even Judaism will be shaken (cf. Hebrews 12:25-29) and removed so that what cannot be shaken (the kingdom of God, the church) may remain. Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar, And in the days of those kings (the Roman empire) the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand for ever; (Daniel 2:44). Isaiah is not picturing the final great judgment here but the overthrow of the worldliness of the world. The destructiveness of rebellion and sin will bring about the downfall of all earthly systems trying to save men. If Daniel's prediction is correct, and we believe it is, world-wide rule by human empires or kingdoms is never to rise again! The fourth kingdom of Daniel 2 was the last universal, human empire. That was the Roman empire. The church is now, and ever shall be, the only universal kingdom. Isaiah, in this passage (Isaiah 24:20), is agreeing with Daniel (see our comments in Daniel, College Press).

Isaiah 24:21-22 VANOUISHING: When God defeats the world of human rebellion and world-government usurpation, He will visit the host of the high ones on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth, to imprison them. The Hebrew word translated punish in Isaiah 24:21 is pokad which is usually translated visit (as in Isaiah 24:22). At the accomplishment of the redemption of manat the death and resurrection of Christthe god of this world, Satan, was cast out (John 12:31; John 16:11). Satan was bound (Matthew 12:28-30; Revelation 20:1-3). Satan's power was destroyed (Hebrews 2:14-15). The New Testament also indicates (as well as Daniel 10:13; Daniel 10:20) the devil had angels or princes of the abyss to help him lead sinful men in rebellion (2 Corinthians 11:14; Ephesians 6:10-18, etc.). But these rebellious angels have been vanquished to a prison house of God (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6) awaiting final punishment. Christ triumphed over all principalities and powers (Colossians 2:15; Ephesians 1:20-21; Colossians 1:16), and He led captivity captive (Ephesians 4:8). Many days after Isaiah penned his 24th chapter, God visited the earth in His Son and vanquished the principalities and powers arrayed against His rule over man, freed man from their power, and bound the rebel Satan and his helperswhether hosts on high or kings on the earth. Those who sat in darkness have seen a great light (cf. Isaiah 9:1-7). Captives have been liberated (Isaiah 61:1-4; Luke 1:68-75; Luke 4:16-30).

Isaiah 24:23 VINDICATION: The great planets and heavenly bodies are used by the prophets time and again to symbolize cataclysmic changes or portents to be experienced by man during the progress of history. See our comments in Minor Prophets, College Press, on Joel 2:31; Joel 3:15. See also Isaiah's use of the same terminology in connection with the downfall of babylon, Isaiah 13:9-10, and the symbolic language of the Revelation, Chapter s Isaiah 6:12 and Isaiah 8:12.

Here in Isaiah 24:23, Isaiah portrays God's triumph over the world at the accomplishment of redemption in Christ as so exceedingly glorious the sun and moon will pale into insignificant shame in comparison with His glory! No created thing in this universe, no matter how magnificent or majestic, can ever be compared with the glory of redemption's accomplishment and the reign of God in His kingdom finally established. As C. S. Lewis once said, Even the glory of the future heavens and earth will not compare with the glory that is in us. It is not changed circumstances that will so much constitute a glorified existence as changed people. And when Jehovah reigns in Zion (the church, Hebrews 12:22 ff) people are changed and glorified! Of course, changed people eagerly long for changed circumstances where they, in their changed natures, may serve the Lord without pain, frustration, and death. But right now those who are overcoming the world by their faith and are beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; (2 Corinthians 3:18). God reigning in Zion is a Messianic term (see our comments in Minor Prophets, College Press, Obadiah, Isaiah 24:17). God is going to reign in Jerusalem when the ark of the covenant is no longer remembered or missed (Jeremiah 3:15-18). That must be when the New Covenant is instituted!

QUIZ

1.

How are these verses a continuation of the ideas in the beginning of the 24th chapter?

2.

Why is God going to open the windows on high?

3.

How do these verses portray the inescapability of God's judgments?

4.

What is probably meant by the violent shaking of the earth?

5.

What other O.T. prophet may be used in comparison here?

6.

When did God visit the host on high and shut them up in prison?

7.

How are heavenly bodies used symbolically by the prophets?