Over the next few weeks we will be studying these four chapters that are often called “Isaiah Apocalypse.” They discuss God’s judgment on the entire world for its sin. Isaiah’s prophecies were first directed to Judah, then to Israel, then to the surrounding nations, and finally to the whole world. The theme is the triumph of God, which is good news (hence the singing) because it means that the reign of sin and death is at an end; the kingdom of God has at last come in its fullness. The “apocalypse” or “unveiling” of the end (for that is what the word means) in many ways anticipates that better known apocalypse, the Book of Revelation, which serves as the grand finale of the Bible as a whole.

Isaiah 24:1-23 The earth laid waste: The judgment of God is both terrible and glorious, especially when, as here, it is the final judgment which is in view. Much of chapter 24 is taken up with the terror of it, but the glory breaks through briefly in the middle (vv. 14-16) and again, more brilliantly, at the end (v. 23).

There are both certainty and expectancy in the opening words of verse 1. For Isaiah the final judgment was not only certain; it could happen at any moment. He lived every day in the light of it, just as we ourselves must do today as those who await their Lord’s return. That is one reason why the judgment is glorious; it’s a manifestation of His total sovereignty. In exercising that judgment, as verses 1-3 make clear, God will be no respecter of persons; in language reminiscent of the account of the great flood in Genesis 7. Flood gives way to drought in verses 4-6, making it clear that we are dealing not with literal description but with a series of powerful images. There is more connection with what has gone before however, than first meets the eye. The earth mourns, we are told, because its inhabitants have broken His everlasting covenant (v.5). This is almost certainly a reverence to the covenant between God as Creator and humankind as creature implicit in the very act of creation itself, and reaffirmed to Noah after the flood. God has given us fair warning of where our abuse of His world is leading us! The solution is not to deify the earth, as some do today (allowing paganism to re-enter by the back door), but to turn to its Creator in repentance before it is too late.

But then suddenly, just as at the time of the great flood there were a faithful few who were spared to inherit a new earth, so, it appears from verses 14-16, will there be a remnant on the final day. Scattered among the nations will be those who acknowledge the Lord and welcome His judgment as the triumph of right over wrong. Over the scene of desolation, a song of praise goes up from east and west and from the earth’s farthest limits (vv. 15-16). This is the “new song” of Revelation 5:9-10, the song of the redeemed. God will not destroy the righteous with the wicked. He will spare those who have turned to Him and waited for His salvation.

The basic idea of verses 17-22 is the impossibility of escape for those destined for judgment, whether people in general or kings or heavenly beings (vv. 17, 21). They will be like animals vainly fleeing from a hunter who has anticipated their every move (vv. 17-18a). There will finally be nowhere to go because the very ground they tread on will break up under their feet (vv. 18b-20). Like captive rebels they will be thrown into prison, never to be released (v. 22). This message needs to be sounded clearly today when the church has grown squeamish about the truth of divine retribution. There will be no escape for rebels who refuse to lay down their arms. The day on which He will punish them has already been entered in God’s diary (v. 21a).

The final goal of judgment, however, is the glory of God, the visible display of His character. And so in verse 23, the chapter ends fittingly with a burst of light so brilliant that it shames the sun which is a thumbnail sketch of God’s glorious reign over a renewed earth. There is surely a touch of special grace in the fact that the redeemed people of God are represented here by “the leaders of His people.” The Lord’s triumph will not be for Himself alone, but for His people as well. His glory consists not only of His righteousness (v. 16), but also of His grace (v. 23). How thankful we should be for that tremendous fact!

Isaiah 24:1-23 Reflection Questions:

What is a New Testament Scripture that Jesus said that He would return at some time?

How would you describe the way are you living each day as if Jesus is returning at any moment?

How are you preparing for His return each day?

This prophecy of the fall (vv. 1-14) and the subsequent rise (vv. 15-18) of Tyre is a minor landmark within this part of the book. It’s the last of the series of oracles concerning particular nations which began in chapter 13 and is followed by what scholars commonly call the “Isaiah Apocalypse” (chapters 24-27) in which cosmic acts of judgment and salvation bring history to a close. It stands at the end of a distinct block of material within the larger unit, chapters 13-27.

Tyre probably closes the series of oracles against the nations for the same reason that Babylon opens it; it was so famous for one particular aspect of worldly achievement that it had a symbolic value that could be used to good effect by Isaiah and others who followed him. As Babylon was proverbial for its military might and cultural achievements, Tyre was proverbial for its commercial wealth. Standing in the first and last positions as they do, then, Babylon and Tyre sum up all that is impressive and alluring in the world. A connection of a different kind is made between Tyre and Babylon in verse 13, which points clearly to the historical setting of the present oracle. It is clear that the fate already suffered by Babylon provides the background to the present prediction that Tyre, too, will fall. Again indirectly, but none too subtly, Isaiah hammers home his message. Then as now, the security that seems to be available through unholy alliances with the world is a cruel illusion.

Verses 1-7 picture the stunning news of Tyre’s fall reverberating around the Mediterranean world. Home-bound sailors first hear of it in Cyprus (v. 1b); a deathly hush falls over Sidon at the news (vv. 2-4); Egypt weeps because of the impact on her wheat exports (v. 5), and finally refugees carry the news right back to Tarshish (v. 6). There is more involved here than the personal suffering of the inhabitants of the city. A lot of people had a great deal to lose in the collapse of Tyre. When it came it would hit the Mediterranean world like a Wall Street crash of devastating proportions.

Isaiah doesn’t leave it at that, however. In verses 8-12 he presses beyond the event itself to its cause, and in characteristic prophetic fashion bypasses all secondary causes to trace Tyre’s fall to the determined purpose of the Lord Almighty (v.8). Sentence had already been passed on the city in heaven, not (take note!) because of its wealth, but because of its pride. There is no intrinsic connection, of course, between wealth and pride, but sadly they do all too often go hand in hand. The wealth of Tyre had made its merchants princes (v. 8), but, like the rich fool in Jesus’ parable, they had failed to recognize their accountability to Him from whom their wealth had come. Wealth had bred in them an illusion of self-sufficiency which had made God – or at least the true and living God – seem irrelevant. It would take God’s swift and severe judgment to jolt them back to reality.

But God’s judgments on nations within history are seldom final, and that is certainly the case here, for in verses 15-18 Isaiah sketches in the longer-term prospects for Tyre in God’s purposes. There is hope in the seventy years of verses 15 and 17, a conventional number for a long but limited time. Tyre will not rise quickly, but rise she will, and in the continuation of the prostitute image through to verse 17 there is more than a hint that she will return to her old ways. But – and this is where history gives way to eschatology – the wealth she has hoarded up will be taken from her. It will flow into Zion as the rightful inheritance of the people of God (v.18).

Isaiah 23:1-18 Reflection Questions:

If Isaiah were to write a letter today what country or counties would he use to “sum up all that is impressive and alluring in the world”?

In what areas of your life are you putting your security through unholy alliances with the world? Will you repent?

Have you ever had God jolt you back to reality? What was it for?

What is the “hope” that you see in this study?

The dire vision of 21:1-10, with its revelation that Babylon was doomed, filled Isaiah with dread. If Babylon could not stand, how could Judah? But the same news apparently produced quite a different reaction among the people of Jerusalem in general, as summarized in 22:13b. The response of some, including the king, was more measured and purposeful: they looked to the city’s armaments, walls and water supply in anticipation of an attack (vv. 8-11a). But what no one did was to look to the Lord in repentance and faith (v. 11b), and it is this that calls forth the severe announcement of judgment to come in this oracle (v. 14).

We need to see the descriptions of Jerusalem beset by armies in verses 2b-3 and 5-8a as the content of a revelation (vision) which Isaiah has received rather than the description of a past event. In the midst of a city given over to senseless revelry (vv. 1-2a) Isaiah sees a very different scene, which causes him to weep (4a). He is inconsolable, for what is portended by revelation is nothing less than the destruction of his people. The mention of Elam in verse 6 is a further link with the dire vision of the previous chapter, and suggests that, like that vision, this one too reaches beyond the immediate threat to the city (in this case Jerusalem) to its ultimate fall. Warriors from Elam probably formed part of the forces of Nebuchadnezzar which destroyed Jerusalem in 587. Isaiah saw that, whatever her fortunes in the short term might be, Jerusalem’s faithlessness would eventually be her downfall (vv. 8a, 14).

The reservoir between the two walls in verse 11 is almost certainly Hezekiah’s famous water tunnel, still to be seen in Jerusalem today. So Hezekiah, as king, is alluded to but not named, partly perhaps out of deference to him, but mainly because he is not being singled out for individual blame (he later evinced a faith not evident here, as we will see in chapter 37). The indictment is general rather than particular at this point and remains so to the end of verse 14. But there is a sharp shift of focus in what then follows.

Both men named in verses 15-25 were court officials under Hezekiah. In Shebna in particular the passage gives a concrete example of the faithlessness for which the people as a whole are condemned in verses 1-14. Verses 15-19 predict his fall, and verses 20-25 his replacement by Eliakim. Eliakim is the very antithesis of Shebna, an ideal leader called and established by the Lord. Verses 24 and 25 therefore, come as something of a surprise. Eliakim’s family is apparently not made of the same stuff as he is. They take advantage of his high position to better themselves and in so doing bring about his ruin. Eliakim is destroyed from below.

In the end then, it’s not just the Shebnas of Jerusalem that will bring it down, but the common people as well. What is presented in general terms in verses 1-14 is particularized in verses 15-25, but the message is the same. The failure of the people of Jerusalem to rely upon the Lord will bring both them and their leaders to ruin. Jerusalem, Mount Zion, is in reality a valley where no real vision exists. The people of Jerusalem are blind to the Lord’s purposes. Isaiah sees them clearly, and weeps.

Isaiah 22:1-25 Reflection Questions:

What does it say about God’s character in verse 14?

What lesson can we learn from Eliakim’s story?

Are you blind to the Lord’s purposes in your life?