INTRODUCTION

Isaiah 24-27 constitutes a section of the prophecy often known as the “little apocalypse.” Isaiah sees the whole world devastated and ruined. Not only earth, but the whole of creation is coming apart at the seams (cf. Isaiah 24:21-23).

THE TEXT

“Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty and makes it waste, distorts its surface and scatters abroad its inhabitants. And it shall be: As with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, 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. The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered . . . .” (Isaiah 24:1-23).

LITTLE APOCALYPSE

“Apocalypse” is the term some scholars use to describe generalized prophecies about the end of the world. The term is vague, and most of the “apocalypses” in Scripture are not about the end of the world, but about the end of a world. Isaiah 24-27 is the climax to the series of burdens in chapters 13-23. After the nations have been judged, the whole political and economic universe collapses. But as these chapters progress, there are signs of restoration and hope. At the center of these chapters is a stirring vision of a mountaintop feast (25:6-12) and at the end Isaiah sees the scattered remnant of Israel returning to Jerusalem (27:13).

CURSE ON THE EARTH

Yahweh lays a fourfold judgment on the earth (waste, devastation, distortion, scattering, v.1), a judgment that extends to the four corners. All classes are caught up in the destruction (v. 2), and even the earth itself sighs as it withers (v. 4). Vines decay (v. 7), and since vines produce the wine of joy, the destruction of the vines ends all merriment (vv. 7-12). Isaiah’s gaze narrows from the earth to a city with its houses and streets (v. 10). The city will be a central concern to the whole “little apocalypse” (25:2-3; 26:1, 5; 27:10). All this has happened because the land is polluted by the disobedience of the inhabitants (v. 5). A curse devours the earth (v. 6).

GLEANINGS

Though the Lord is shaking the tree and the vine, a few olives and grapes will remain to be harvested (v. 13). Yahweh puts Himself in the place of a poverty-stricken gleaner who picks up the leftovers of harvest for Himself. Though joy has departed from the city, the remnant raises its voices in a song of praise (vv. 14-16a). From the sea on the west to the land of light (the sunrise, the east), the cry of praise is heard (v. 14).

CREATION UNDONE

The treacherous, however, will be snared in their treachery (v. 16b). Those who try to flee from the falling city will fall into a pit, those who escape the pit will be caught in a trap (v. 18). Heaven’s windows will break open, and the earth will be split and totter around like a drunk (vv. 18-20). The host of heaven, the stars, will be punished. Stars were created to rule and often represent rulers (Genesis 1:14-16), and Isaiah 24:21 parallels the stars of heaven and the kings of the earth. Sun and moon will hide their faces in shame (v. 23a). As the world unravels, it becomes clear that Yahweh of hosts rules the nations from His throne in Jerusalem, where His glory shines before the elders of Israel (v. 23).