Rejoicing for the faithful - the shadow of a Mighty rock.
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This will be a long study, but chapters 24-27 belong together!
Commentators agree that these next three chapters form a conclusion to the first part of Isaiah’s book and look even further forward to the end times. But as I write this (2025), it is obvious we have entered a time of ‘Global Warming’ and ‘Climate Change’ so this opening chapter seems to be speaking to our current generation too.
Isaiah 24
Note that the phrase ‘in that day’ is repeated 7 times in chapters 24-27
Read Isaiah 24:1-4
1 See, the Lord is going to lay waste the earth and devastate it; he will ruin its face and scatter its inhabitants –
2 it will be the same for priest as for people, for the master as for his servant, for the mistress as for her servant, for seller as for buyer, for borrower as for lender, for debtor as for creditor.
3 The earth will be completely laid waste and totally plundered.
The Lord has spoken this word. 4 The earth dries up and withers, the world languishes and withers, the heavens languish with the earth
Look again at verse 3. The Lord is quite able to bring desolation by himself, but how often in this book has he used people to bring punishment on others? Again to me I see the Lord using us all as we see the beginnings of this prophecy being fulfilled – ‘the earth will be completely laid waste and totally plundered’. As a result its inhabitants scatter (verse 1).
But is there still hope that we could go ‘carbon neutral’ or attain ‘Net Zero’? No – why?
Read 5-6
5 The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant.
6 Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt.
Therefore earth’s inhabitants are burned up, and very few are left.
Now we turn from world-wide devastation to individuals ‘its people must bear their guilt’. What are individuals guilty of?
Each individual has persisted in going their own way, ignoring the consequences. Not only have they closed their minds to the way they have personally devastated the earth, but they have wilfully turned their backs on God and his requirements. Individually they will have to give account to God.
The prophecy continues:
Read 7-13
7 The new wine dries up and the vine withers; all the merrymakers groan. 8 The joyful tambourines are stilled, the noise of the revellers has stopped, the joyful harp is silent.
9 No longer do they drink wine with a song; the beer is bitter to its drinkers. 10 The ruined city lies desolate; the entrance to every house is barred. 11 In the streets they cry out for wine; all joy turns to gloom, all joyful sounds are banished from the earth.
12 The city is left in ruins, its gate is battered to pieces.
13 So will it be on the earth and among the nations, as when an olive tree is beaten, or as when gleanings are left after the grape harvest.
There is now nothing we can do to avert our final destiny. The Lord has proclaimed a curse on the world and it is now too late for anyone to repent. But –
Read 14-16a
14 They raise their voices, they shout for joy; from the west they acclaim the Lord’s majesty. 15 Therefore in the east give glory to the Lord; exalt the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, in the islands of the sea. 16 From the ends of the earth we hear singing: ‘Glory to the Righteous One.’
Even during all this destruction those who have accepted God’s offer of salvation through his Son Jesus Christ will recognise this as ‘The day of the Lord’ and will be overcome with praise and worship.
Read 16b-20
16b But I said, ‘I waste away, I waste away! Woe to me! The treacherous betray! With treachery the treacherous betray!’ 17 Terror and pit and snare await you, people of the earth. 18 Whoever flees at the sound of terror will fall into a pit; whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in a snare.
The floodgates of the heavens are opened, the foundations of the earth shake. 19 The earth is broken up, the earth is split asunder, the earth is violently shaken. 20 The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut in the wind; so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion that it falls – never to rise again.
Too late the untrustworthy leaders are exposed. This devastation is reminiscent of the scenes when the World was destroyed by flood – there will be massive seismic activity and no-one will escape.
Read 21-22
21 In that day the Lord will punish the powers in the heavens above and the kings on the earth below. 22 They will be herded together like prisoners bound in a dungeon; they will be shut up in prison and be punished after many days.
Look at Ephesians 6:12
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
On that day the ‘spiritual forces of evil’ will be gathered with the rulers of this world who followed their lead, and all will be punished together.
Read 23
23 The moon will be dismayed, the sun ashamed; for the Lord Almighty will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before its elders – with great glory.
The picture here is of the sun and moon who have ruled the day and night and have gloried in their own brilliance. When the true glory of the Lord is revealed they can only be dismayed and ashamed.
The rejoicing that started in verse 14 is now continued:
Isaiah 25
Read 1
1 Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago.
Who is speaking here? Yes it’s Isaiah, but speaking for all those who know and love the Lord, those who will be gathered to him ‘in that day’.
They can truly rejoice that they know that ‘Lord, you are my God’ and their response is ‘I will exalt you and praise your name’.
2 You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin, the foreigners’ stronghold a city no more; it will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore strong peoples will honour you; cities of ruthless nations will revere you.
Nations who once boasted that they ruled the world, who believed they were invincible, will be forced to admit that they too must bow before almighty God.
4 You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall 5 and like the heat of the desert.
You silence the uproar of foreigners; as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is stilled.
When the ruthless had attacked like a mighty storm, or like unrelenting desert heat, poor and needy people (us) only needed a wall to shelter behind, like the shadow of a mighty Rock .
Read 6-8
6 On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine – the best of meats and the finest of wines.
7 On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; 8 he will swallow up death for ever.
Note that the phrase ‘On this mountain’ (repeated again in verse 10) refers to Mount Zion, but maybe it could equally apply to Jesus himself – the mighty rock?
Only Jesus could ‘swallow up death for ever’ and welcome us to his banquet.
Read 8b-9
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.
The Lord has spoken.
9 In that day they will say, Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.’
Remember, the people in Isaiah’s day had not yet seen Jesus, but by faith they trusted in the Lord, and looked forward to that day when they would meet him.
Read 10-12
10 The hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain; but Moab will be trampled in their land as straw is trampled down in the manure.
11 They will stretch out their hands in it, as swimmers stretch out their hands to swim.
God will bring down their pride despite the cleverness of their hands.
12 He will bring down your high fortified walls and lay them low; he will bring them down to the ground, to the very dust.
Moab is used as a picture of the fate of all their enemies, and the description of them trying to escape is not a pleasant one!
Isaiah 26
Read 1-4
1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts.
2 Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith.
3 You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.
4 Trust in the Lord for ever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.
Many songs and choruses have been written inspired by Isaiah’s prophecies, this song has inspired some too. But it’s not only a song, it is also a prayer of praise to the Lord for all he has done.
Read 5-7
5 He humbles those who dwell on high, he lays the lofty city low;
he levels it to the ground and casts it down to the dust.
6 Feet trample it down – the feet of the oppressed, the footsteps of the poor.
7 The path of the righteous is level; you, the Upright One, make the way of the righteous smooth.
Here the picture is of a demolition site. Grand buildings have fallen to dust and the resulting rubble becomes a smooth path for the righteous.
Isaiah’s prayer continues and becomes more personal.
Read 8-11
8 Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.
9 My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.
10 But when grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and do not regard the majesty of the Lord.
11 Lord, your hand is lifted high, but they do not see it. Let them see your zeal for your people and be put to shame; let the fire reserved for your enemies consume them.
Having had a glimpse into the future, Isaiah admits that he is still waiting – yearning and longing for ‘the day of the Lord’. Here he is distressed that when the Lord shows his grace to the unrighteous, he is spurned and so they bring judgement on themselves.
Read 12-15
12 Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us. 13 Lord our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone do we honour.
14 They are now dead, they live no more; their spirits do not rise. You punished them and brought them to ruin; you wiped out all memory of them.
15 You have enlarged the nation, Lord; you have enlarged the nation.
You have gained glory for yourself; you have extended all the borders of the land.
All that Israel in it’s pride imagined it had achieved, was actually all the Lord’s doing. The peace they currently enjoyed came from him, past enemies were destroyed by him, and even the expansion of their borders was his work.
Read 16-18
16 Lord, they came to you in their distress; when you disciplined them, they could barely whisper a prayer.
17 As a pregnant woman about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pain, so were we in your presence, Lord.
18 We were with child, we writhed in labour, but we gave birth to wind.
We have not brought salvation to the earth, and the people of the world have not come to life.
When we come to our senses, and finally come to the Lord, we recognise his awesome greatness and can barely whisper a prayer. We try so hard by ourselves but the fundamental things, salvation and life, are way beyond our ability.
Read 19
19 But your dead will live, Lord; their bodies will rise –
What a shout of triumph! By faith Isaiah could appreciate what we can now know for certainty. ‘That day’ when ‘the dead in Christ will rise’ will bring to fulfilment all that has been planned for eternity.
Read 19-21
19 But your dead will live, Lord; their bodies will rise – let those who dwell in the dust wake up and shout for joy –
your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.
20 Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you;
hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by.
21 See, the Lord is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins.
The earth will disclose the blood shed on it; the earth will conceal its slain no longer.
And the Lord will reign in glory, seated at the right hand of the Father. And all his children will be gathered to him!
Isaiah 27
Here Isaiah continues his prophecy, looking far into the future:
Read 1
1 In that day,
the Lord will punish with his sword – his fierce, great and powerful sword – Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; he will slay the monster of the sea.
These monsters of the deep can either represent powerful nations, or powers of evil – either way, they will be punished ‘in that day’. But let’s not dwell on that:
Read 2-5
2 In that day – ‘Sing about a fruitful vineyard:
3 I, the Lord, watch over it; I water it continually.
I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it.
4 I am not angry.
If only there were briers and thorns confronting me! I would march against them in battle; I would set them all on fire.
5 Or else let them come to me for refuge; let them make peace with me, yes, let them make peace with me.’
Who make up the 'fruitful vineyard'?
These are God’s people. Sometimes referred to in sadness (Isaiah 5:1-7); but here the vineyard is fruitful and a joy to the Lord.
Who are the 'briers and thorns'?
These are those who don't acknowledge him. If they come as his enemies he will defeat them, if instead they wish to join his kingdom he will welcome them.
Read 6
6 In days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit.
Following the exile of both Israel and Judah, the land was left fallow. Now a shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit (Isaiah 11:1) that will fill all the world.
Read 7-9
7 Has the Lord struck her as he struck down those who struck her?
Has she been killed as those were killed who killed her?
8 By warfare and exile you contend with her – with his fierce blast he drives her out, as on a day the east wind blows.
9 By this, then, will Jacob’s guilt be atoned for, and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin: when he makes all the altar stones to be like limestone crushed to pieces, no Asherah poles or incense altars will be left standing.
When Israel’s attackers were vanquished it was final, but the Lord was careful to retain a remnant of Israel and Judah so that they could finally return. It is worth noting that on their return to their land, idol-worship, which had been so rampant, was never repeated and the structures used in their worship were destroyed.
Again, Isaiah’s prophecy returns to the last day:
Read 10-13
10 The fortified city stands desolate, an abandoned settlement, forsaken like the wilderness; there the calves graze, there they lie down; they strip its branches bare.
11 When its twigs are dry, they are broken off and women come and make fires with them. For this is a people without understanding; so their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favour.
12 In that day the Lord will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, Israel, will be gathered up one by one. 13 And in that day a great trumpet will sound. (Revelation chapters 8-11) Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled in Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.
Perhaps Revelation 14:14-20 contains the best commentary, where the redeemed of the Lord are gathered to him for eternity, and those who still reject him are gathered for retribution.
