Isaiah 24 – 35
Important Chapters
in the Major Prophet
In the section of Isaiah we come to today, beginning with Chapter 24, there is a vivid description of the time of trouble that lies yet ahead for the nations of earth. Recognize how clearly this accords with what is in the book of Revelation.
Isaiah 24:1-6 – Behold, the Lord lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface and scatters its inhabitants. And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor. The earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled, for the Lord has spoken this word. The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away. The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant. Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.
Isaiah 24:19-22 expounds on this description. But there is no time to look deeper at that passage but I would like to say that this sounds very much like the very end of the tribulation to me. However I will admit I don’t know much about the end of the millennial reign of Christ and how that ends. I know how it ends for Satan, he is thrown into the lake of fire. But what it the damage that he will do on his way to destruction, I don’t remember hearing or reading much about that. There is some writing about the battle of Satan against God, and of course, God wins. The battle is over when God reigns down fire on the armies that march against Jerusalem, which does align with Isaiah 14 that we read above.
In Isaiah 25 the prophet looks beyond this time to the new heavens and the new earth. Isaiah 25:7-9 “And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, Even the veil which is stretched over all nations. He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken. And it will be said in that day, “Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”
This is a much happier picture than we read in chapter 24. It is interesting to think about what is that veil that is over the nations? Is that a veil to hide from them the plans of God or even the character of God? And look at what happens when that veil is removed? God swallows death, He wipes tear away, and He removes the reproach of His people. There is a common knowledge about who God is and the people seem to speak with a single voice about who God is.
Chapters 26 and 27 return to the terrible time of judgment coming on the earth. There is no time to read these, though I urge you to read them through.
Beginning with Chapter 28 the prophet introduces a series of six “woes.” These are like stop signs, warning of some danger that lies ahead. I would like to focus our time on the six woes of this next section beginning with Chapter 28. They are warnings of temptations and judgment to the nation of Israel and truthfully any person who desires to live for God. While these “woes” focus primarily upon Judah and Jerusalem (picturing the time of trouble that awaits Israel before her hour of deliverance comes) please don’t forget that the Apostle Paul wrote that all these things that happened to Israel are “written down for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come,” (1 Cor 10:11).
First Woe – Isaiah 28:1-3, 7-8 – initially it appears to warn against the issues of too much alcohol. But if we think deeper about this, we know that anything that begins to control us can have the same overwhelming impact on a life as alcohol. The danger of ungodly spirits controlling our lives. Their moral condition is described as a fading flower. Go beyond what is said about alcohol and see the influence that any deluding power has on our lives. They are confused, they err in vision, and they stumble in judgment. They live in vomit and filthiness because of their moral condition. With each of the six woes, there is a path to escape – see verses 28:9-10. It is God’s path for learning truth. Notice the instruction for the solution begins very young – (just weaned from milk, just taken from the breast). This is how the Bible is presented to us, blended together in a balanced form. This is a picture of someone who is studying God’s word from a young age and is growing and learning from it not in leaps and bounds, but in a steady, consistent manner. The only way to avoid falling to these errant influences is to be in the line upon line, which is a reference to God’s word. “Seek first the Kingdom of God, and then . . “
Second Woe – Isaiah 29:1-4 – Ariel is another name for Jerusalem. The sin addressed here is one of exterior religion with interior emptiness. It has been called “religion game-playing”. The picture of someone just punching their religious time card is seen by the words “year to year, observe your feasts on schedule”. The antidote to this is in 29:5-6, where God visits His child. Sounds like a radical upsetting to the normal calm. “And it will happen instantly, suddenly. From the Lord of hosts you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, with whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire”.
Third Woe – Isaiah 29:15-16 – The danger of thinking that God doesn’t see what you are doing or who you truly are. Self-deceit. We tend to think if we can fool others, we can survive with God. In verse 16, there is the point that we have turned things upside down. The pot is telling the potter what for. This is one of the biggest errors that evangelical believers struggle with, believing what they do in private does not impact their relationship with God. One sermon I remember is that many people are Professing Believers, but Practicing Atheists. The point of this is that God is not remote and that He is not distant. What is the cure? 29:18 – the deaf will hear what God has been saying all along. And the source of the truth is the book. Verse 18. They will change from telling the potter what to do to Isaiah 29.
Fourth Woe – Isaiah 30:1-2 – The warning against the danger of self-confidence, the danger of an arrogant and rebellious spirit that despises God’s counsel. Here are a people who have a great plan, but it’s not God’s plan. They make alliances, but not with God. Seeking the shelter of another refuge is worshiping the wrong god because it is putting your trust in something other than God. Of course we should do what we can to act responsibly, but not at the cost of putting our trust in another shelter. I try to save for retirement but I am sure that God could wipe it all out in a moment. Read more in verse 9-11. Someone who despises the counsel of the Word. Someone who is a false son, sons who refuse to listen to the instruction of the Lord! What is the solution? Verse 15: In repentance and rest you shall be saved, in quietness and in trust is your strength. And the new description of a person who follows verse 15 is provided in verses 20-22. Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher. Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left. And you will defile your graven images overlaid with silver, and your molten images plated with gold. You will scatter them as an impure thing, and say to them, “Be gone!” This is the spirit of one who has been restored from the error of trusting in the shelter of a lesser god.
Fifth Woe – Isaiah 31:1-2 – this is the danger in a misplaced confidence, trusting something other than God to get you through, to counsel you. The difference between this woe and the first woe, is that in Isaiah 30, you had a plan. In Isaiah 31, you went to the Egyptians for a plan. The Egyptians are just men. All the counsel that we search out from human sources will fail us. This is false wisdom. The solution is in chapter 32. Verse 2-4. The refuge we need to learn is to seek is our own Lord. When we seek God’s mind we are protected from all the traps that encircle us. What a difference it makes if you have a King in your life! The Lord himself will be to you like a “hiding place from the wind, like streams of water in a dry place.” (Isaiah 32:1-3) This beautifully describes the refreshment of spirit that comes to those who, while walking in the midst of life and not trying to run away from it, feed their inner life with the strength and beauty of the Lord their God. How wonderfully this describes the escape from the danger of a misplaced confidence. The call to us is to “Return to Him from whom you have deeply defected, O sons of Israel”.
Sixth Woe – Isaiah 33:1 – This one is not targeted to Judah, but to those who have assaulted the nation. This is not the warning from the Father to the children, but to those who have attacked the child. The danger of being the attacker to God’s children. Unfortunately, we are sometimes both child and the attacker of the children of God. Verse two has the response: we need a spirit that is aware of its fatal tendencies to attack and asks God for help moment by moment in the midst of the pressures of life.
Chapter 34 returns to the judgments on the earth. Chapter 35:3-6, changes the scene and provides a picture of the inner life of those who rest upon the strength of God in the midst of the world and its pressure. Maybe verse 8 was an inspiration for Pilgrim’s Progress (A highway will be there, a roadway, And it will be called the Highway of Holiness). You might recognize verse 10 (With everlasting joy upon their heads) as well. Those words will be literally fulfilled to Israel in the day of their return to the Messiah. But they describe the heritage of believers right now. The entire chapter 35 is a chapter of hope. It’s really worth reading in the quiet of your own home.
Our inheritance is peace, love and joy. Inwardly we are to have those no matter what the world around us is like. If we feed upon the riches of truth given to us, and live in daily fellowship with the Lord who is our present possession, then those “refreshing graces” will possess our hearts.