Isaiah 24

2. Divine victory over the nations chs. 24-27

This section of the text has similarities to the preceding oracles against the nations (chs. 13-23), but it is also different in certain respects. It is a third cycle, but not a cycle of oracles. [Note: See the chart under "2. Divine judgments on the nations chs. 13-23" above.] The content integrates with the oracles, but chapters 24-27 are one continuous whole. It is similar to the finale of a great piece of music; it is climactic but can be appreciated by itself (cf. Zechariah 9-14).

Chapters 24-27 also parallel chapters 1-4 in that both sections contain messages of sin, judgment, and restoration "in that day." Likewise, Isaiah 27:2-6 is another song about a vineyard (cf. Isaiah 5:1-7). Chapters 28-33 contain six woes, like Isaiah 5:8-30. Chapter 34 assures divine judgment on Gentile oppressors (cf. ch. 10), and chapter 35 promises kingdom blessings for Israel (cf. chs. 11-12). [Note: Dyer, in The Old . . ., p. 545.]

"As the book of Immanuel closes in ch. xii. with a psalm of the redeemed, so have we here a fourfold song of praise." [Note: Delitzsch, 1:423.]

The theme of this section is the triumph of God over His enemies for His people. Isaiah developed this theme by picturing the destruction of one "city" ("the city of chaos" [Isaiah 24:10], which is the city "of man," i.e., "of the whole world"), and the establishment of another city (Mount Zion, Jerusalem, the city of God). These two "cities" are the focal points of the judgment and restoration that Isaiah alluded to in the preceding oracles. As the city of man falls under divine judgment, the songs of God-neglecting people disappear; and as the city of God appears, the songs of the redeemed swell.

"A city is not just a collection of buildings. It is a mechanism for living independently of God. It is a device for human self-salvation. It is a denial of human mortality. The city is man establishing his own enduring greatness. But even civilizations are mortal." [Note: Ortlund, p. 142. Cf. Genesis 11:4.]

"The prophet wants to make it plain that God is sovereign actor on the stage of history. It is not he who reacts to the nations, but the nations who respond to him. Thus Israel’s [and all God’s people’s] hope is not in the nations of humanity. They will wither away in a moment under God’s blast. Rather, her hope is in the Lord, who is the master of the nations." [Note: Oswalt, p. 443.]

Temporally, the first five oracles (chs. 13-20) had strong connections to Isaiah’s own times, and the second five (chs. 21-23) reached further into the future. This is not saying, however, that the first oracles were entirely restricted to Isaiah’s time and the second were completely futuristic. The comparison is only general, not absolute, as exposition of the oracles has shown. This section (chs. 24-27) stretches even further into the future and is mainly eschatological. Many commentators refer to this section as "Isaiah’s Apocalypse" because it reveals the culmination of history, though strictly speaking the language used is not apocalyptic but eschatological. [Note: See Grogan, p. 149, for a brief discussion of prophecy, eschatology, and apocalyptic; Ronald Youngblood, "A Holistic Typology of Prophecy and Apocalyptic," in Israel’s Apostasy and Restoration: Essays in Honor of Roland K. Harrison, pp. 213-21, for a fuller discussion; and Robert P. Carroll, "Twilight of Prophecy or Dawn of Apocalyptic?" Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 14 (1979):3-35.] These are prophecies regarding the eschatological day of the Lord. Later scriptural revelation enables us to locate these judgments more specifically in the Tribulation, at the return of Christ, in the Millennium, and at the very end of human history on this earth.

The original settings of the prophecies that make up this section are even more difficult to nail down than those in the foregoing oracles. Chapters 24-27 develop the calls expressed in Isaiah 2:2-5: calls to the nations and to God’s people to come to Jerusalem, the magnet of the earth in the future. The structure of the passage is chiastic, also centering on Mount Zion (Isaiah 25:6-12).

A The Lord’s harvest from a destroyed world (Isaiah 24:1-13: destruction, 1-12; gleanings, 13)

B The song of the world remnant (Isaiah 24:14-16 a)

C The sinful world overthrown (Isaiah 24:16-20)

D The waiting world (Isaiah 24:21-23)

E The song of the ruined city (Isaiah 25:1-5)

F Mount Zion (Isaiah 25:6-12)

E’ The song of the strong city (Isaiah 26:1-6)

D’ The waiting people of God (Isaiah 26:7-21)

C’ Spiritual forces of evil overthrown (Isaiah 27:1)

B’ The song of the remnant of the people (Isaiah 27:2-6)

A’ The Lord’s harvest from a destroyed people (Isaiah 27:7-13: destruction, 7-11; gleanings, 12-13) [Note: Motyer, pp. 194-95.]

There is chronological progression in this eschatological section: from the Tribulation (Isaiah 24:1-20), to the Second Coming (Isaiah 24:21-23), to the Millennium and beyond (chs. 25-27). The millennial sections explain various aspects of God’s activity during this time.