"Behold, Jehovah empties the land, and makes it waste; He even turns it upside down, and scatters abroad the inhabitants. And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; As with the servant, so with his master; As with the handmaid, so with her mistress; As with the buyer, so with the seller; As with the borrower, so with the lender; As with the usurer, so with the giver of usury. The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled; For Jehovah has spoken this word. The land mourns, it withers; The world languishes, it withers; The lofty people of the land do languish. The land is even polluted under her inhabitants: For they have transgressed the law, they have changed the decree; They have broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore has a curse devoured the land; Because they are guilty, that dwell in her. Therefore are the inhabitants of the land destroyed; And few are the mortals that are left in her. The new wine mourns; the vine languishes; All, that were glad of heart, sigh. The joyful sound of the tabor ceases; The noise of exultation is no more; The joyful sound of the harp ceases: With songs they shall no more drink wine; The palm-wine shall be bitter to them that drink it. The city is broken down; it is desolate: Every house is obstructed, so that no one can enter. There is a cry in the streets for wine; All gladness is passed away; The joy of the whole land is banished. Desolation is left in the city; And with a great multitude the gate is battered down. Yea, thus shall it be in the very center of the land, in the midst of the people; As the shaking of the olive; as the gleaning when the vintage is finished. But these shall lift up their voice, they shall sing; The waters shall resound with the exaltation of Jehovah. Wherefore in the distant coasts, glorify Jehovah; In the distant coasts of the sea, the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel. From the uttermost part of the land we have heard songs. Glory to the righteous! But I said, Alas, my wretchedness, my wretchedness! Woe is me! the plunderers plunder; Yea the plunderers still continue their cruel depredations. The terror, the pit, and the snare, Are upon you, O inhabitant of the land: And it shall be, that whoso flees from the terror, He shall fall into the pit; And whoso escapes from the pit, He shall be taken in the snare: For the floodgates from on high are opened; And the foundations of the earth tremble. The land is grievously shaken; The land is utterly shattered to pieces; The land is violently shattered out of its place; The land reels to and fro like a drunkard; And moves this way and that, like a lodge for a night; For her iniquity lies heavy upon her; And she shall fall, and rise no more. And it shall come to pass in that day, Jehovah shall summon on high the host that is on high, And on earth the kings of the earth: And they shall be gathered together, as in a bundle for the pit; And shall be closely imprisoned in the prison: And after many days, account shall be taken of them. And the moon shall be confounded, and the sun shall be ashamed; For Jehovah God of Hosts shall reign On Mount Sion, and in Jerusalem; And before His ancients shall He be glorified." (Isaiah 24:1-23,Lowth)
The reading of this chapter makes more deep the impression that the book of Isaiah is emphatically a book for the last
days. To the prophets of old it was revealed, "That not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are reported unto you by them that have preached the Gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven." (1 Peter 1:12)
This chapter tells us not only what shall take place in the last days, but also the cause of it. Study the chapter through as a whole, and note that it is a unit, presenting only one thing.
Emptying of the Earth
Note that which is to come upon the earth; it is to become empty, turned upside down, "devoured by the curse, ... clean dissolved." (Isaiah 24:6,19)
It is to "reel to and fro like a drunkard, and be removed like a cottage." (Isaiah 24:20)
These are very strong expressions; they mean nothing less than utter destruction at the coming of the Lord. "The earth mourns and fades away, the world languishes and fades away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. ... The new wine mourns, the vine languishes, all the merry hearted do sigh." (Isaiah 24:4,7)
The terms "languish" and "fade away." indicating weakness, sickness, are frequent in this chapter. "Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty, and makes it waste, and turns it upside down." (Isaiah 24:1)
The verb in the expression "turns it upside down," means "beset with pain." So in verse 4, "the world languishes," we have the fact that the earth becomes sick. It is getting old and feeble, hence it staggers and totters, instead of going steadily.
The Cause of the Curse
Why does this take place? Verse 5 tells. It is "because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant." (Isaiah 24:5)
In the beginning man was given dominion over the earth; not simply over the beasts and birds, and the fishes, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the face of the earth, but over the earth itself. "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." (Genesis 1:26)
Now when the governor cannot control himself, when he transgresses the laws, and makes them void, what can result but that all that is under him should be out of order? The earth sympathizes with its lord. Man having lost his dominion, the earth runs wild. The curse eats up the earth, not because God arbitrarily sends it, but because man's disobedience to the laws which he should keep and execute, brings the curse.
A Remnant
"Therefore has the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left." (Isaiah 24:6)
"Few men left." Thank God, He sends His messenger before His face, to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers, and the fathers to the children, so that He need not come and smite the earth with utter destruction. "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." (Malachi 4:5-6)
When the Lord has "removed men far away, and there is a great forsaking in the midst of the land," (Isaiah 6:12) yet, "the holy seed shall be the substance thereof." (Isaiah 6:13)
Who will be one of the few? "Whosoever will" may come. (Revelation 22:17)
The Millenium
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. 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." (Isaiah 24:21-22)
Compare these verses with: "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection: on such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years." (Revelation 20:4-6)
At the coming of the Lord all the wicked who are then alive will be destroyed by the brightness of His coming. "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming." (2 Thessalonians 2:8)
They cannot endure the sight. A thousand years the earth will lie desolate, while God's people, caught up at Christ's coming, both living and dead made immortal (1 Corinthians 15:51-54; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) will be with the Lord. At the end of the thousand years the wicked who have been "gathered together ... as prisoners are gathered in the pit," shall "be visited." Then will their iniquity be visited upon them, and the earth will be purified, and "the first dominion" will return. (Micah 4:8)
The End of Sin
"Then ... the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion and before His ancients gloriously." (Isaiah 24:23)
Note verse 20: "The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, ... and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it." (Isaiah 24:20)
Here we see plainly that it is the weight of sin, that causes the earth to be removed, even as it does men. "The earth is clean dissolved." (Isaiah 24:19)
Compare this with: "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness." (2 Peter 3:11)
Read the whole of this latter chapter, and it will be seen even more clearly that the coming of the Lord is under consideration in the prophecy of Isaiah. But although all these things shall be dissolved at that time, "Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens, and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness." (2 Peter 3:13)
Do not lose sight of the fact that "in that day, the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones on high." (Isaiah 24:21)
Compare this with: "wicked spirits in high places." (Ephesians 6:12,margin)
Compare the last part of the 2nd chapter of Isaiah. The day of the Lord is against every thing that is proud and lofty. Let us, then, in order that we may escape, hide ourselves in Him who is meek and lowly in heart, that the storm may pass over our heads, so that we shall be among those who glorify God from the ends of the earth, and "sing for the majesty of the Lord." (Isaiah 24:14; See verses 13-15 for the whole context)--Present Truth, April 6, 1899--Isaiah 24:1-28.