The Book of the Prophet Isaiah
Isaiah 24
Chapter XXIV · Vol. III, pp. 1174–1176
1 The deplorable judgments of God upon the land. 13 A remnant shall joyfully praise him. 16 God in his judgments shall advance his kingdom.
1 Behold,a the LORD maketh1 the earth empty; and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down,2 and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
A.M. cir. 3278. B.C. cir. 726.
a ver.19-21; ch.1.7-9,30,31; 2.6-21; 6.11,12; 7.17-25; 8.7,8,21,22; 36.1; 26.21. Je.xxxix.lii. Hag.2.21. Lu.21.20-24. Mal.4.1.
1 Or, diggeth up.
2 Heb. perverteth the face thereof.
2 And it shall be, bas with the people, so with the priest;3 asc 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 taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.
3 Thed land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.
d Le.26.30-35. De.28.63; 29.13; 32.22-26. ch.36.1. 2 Ch.xxxvi. Zec.14.1. Lu.17.37; 21.20-25. Mat.24.1-21.
4 The earth mourneth, and fadeth away; the world languisheth, and fadeth away; the haughty people4 of the earth do languish.
4 Heb. the height of the people, ch.2.11,12; ver.21. Job 40.11,12.
5 The earth also is edefiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they ghave transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
e Le.18.25,27. Nu.35.33. Ps.106.38. Je.3.1,2. Ro.8.20,21. Ge.4.10,11. ch.26.21.
g Ge.3.17. De.32.15-20. 2 Ch.xxviii.xxxiii. ch.1.2; 5.1-25; 43.24; 59.1-15. Je.ii.-xiii. Eze.xvi.xx.xxii.xxiii. Ho.iv.-ix. Mat.12.45. Da.7.25.
6 Thereforeh hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: thereforei the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.5
h Mal.4.6. Le.26.15-39. De.28.15-68; 27.15-26; 29.18-25; 33.8. ch.42.25; 33.8. Ps.79.1. Zec.5.3. Mat.22.7; 27.25. 1 Th.2.16.
i 2 Pe.3.10.
5 Nothing is more remarkable in the condition of modern Judea and the surrounding countries, than the decrease of the population, manifest in the total ruin of many ancient cities—the deep decay of others, and the vast extent of rural districts totally uninhabited.—C.
7 Thej new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merry-hearted do sigh.
j ch.16.8,9. Joel 1.10,12.
8 The mirth kof tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.
9 They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.
10 Thel city of confusion6 is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in.
l ch.34.11; 25.2; 27.10; 26.5; ver.12.
6 Babylon, which signifies 'confusion,' and represents both Babylon natural and mystical.—C.
13 When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, qthere shall be as the shaking of an olive-tree, and as the gleaning grapes7 when the vintage is done.
q ch.1.9; 6.13; 10.20-22; 17.5,6. Mi.2.12. Je.30.10,11. Ro.11.5,26.
7 This is that 'remnant according to the election of grace,' of which Paul speaks, Ro.11.5.—C.
14 Theyr shall lift up their voice, they shall sing8 for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea.
* Singing has always characterized the people of God: Moses sang to the Lord at the Red Sea; Jesus sang with his disciples after the passover and supper; his apostles sang in prison. James prescribes holy singing to every mirthful heart; and angels and the redeemed sing to the Lamb on Mount Zion.—C.
r Zep.2.14,15. ch.xxv.xxvi.xxxv.xii.; 42.10-16; 44.23. Je.31.7-17. Re.19.1-8.
8 See note * in first column.
15 Wherefore sglorify ye the LORD in the 9fires,1 even the name of the LORD God of Israel tin the isles of the sea.
† In ver. 6 the inhabitants of the land are described as 'burned,' and here they are exhorted to 'glorify God in the fires' of adversity by which they are tried, as it is written, Zec.13.9, 'I will bring the third part through the fire—they shall call on my name, and I will hear them.'—C.
s Ps.101.1. Eze.39.6. 1 Pe.3.15; 4.11-13.
9 Dens, caves, or valleys, Ca.2.14.
1 See note † in first column.
t Zep.2.11. Le.26.44. De.30.4. Zec.10.9, or ch.11.10; 42.4,10; 49.1.
16 Fromu the uttermost part2 of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous.3 But I said, vMy leanness,4 my leanness, woe unto me!5 thex treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.
u Re.15.3. Mal.1.11. Ps.2.8; 22.27-31; 72.8-11,17,19; 117.1,2. ch.45.22-25; 43.6; 49.12; 54.1-5. Je.23.6.
2 Heb. wing.
3 Even glory to 'Jesus Christ the righteous.'—C.
v ch.10.16; 17.4. Ps.106.16.
4 Heb. leanness to me, or my secret to me.
5 'My distress! my distress! woe is me! the plunderers still plunder; yea, the plunderers plunder without ceasing.'—C.
x ch.48.8; 33.1. 2 Ki.18.14-17. Eze.16.37-43; 23.22-29. Lu.21.16-25, or De.32.20. Jn.1.11. Ps.109.24. ch.53.3,4. Je.5.11.
17 Fear,y and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
y Je.48.43,44. 1 Ki.19.17. Am.5.19. Je.18.22.
18 And it shall come to pass, zthat he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for athe windows from on high are open,6 and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 Theb earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
b ver.1,3,4; ch.34.1-9; 1.8; 6.12. De.32.22-26. Je.4.20-27. ch.19.14; 1.8. Re.20.11; 21.1.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the ctransgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that dthe LORD shall punish7 the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
d ch.9.4; 10.7-19,25,27,30-33; 33.1; xiii.xiv.xxi. Je.l.li. Re.6.13-17; 14.14-21; xvii.-xix. Eze.xxxviii.xxxix. Ps.76.12. Job 40.11-13.
7 Heb. visit upon.
22 And they shall be gathered together as prisoners are gathered8 in the pit,9 and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.1
A.M. cir. 3278. B.C. cir. 726.
8 Heb. with the gathering of prisoners.
9 Or, dungeon.
1 Or, found wanting.
23 Then the emoon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reigng in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients, gloriously.2
e ch.13.10. Eze.32.7. Joel 2.31; 3.15. Ho.3.4,5.
g Nu.24.17,18. Ps.110.2,3; 22.27-31; lxxii.xciii.-c. ch.2.2-5; 11.9,10. 1 Pe.5.1,4. Mat.19.21. Zec.10.3,4; 14.5. Ob.17-21. Re.6.2,16,17; 11.15; 20.11,12.
2 Or, there shall be glory before his ancients.
Notes
Ver. 13-15 Such as in faith persevere shall cordially and publicly acknowledge God's great power and goodness in their preservation, and praise him in the countries where they sojourn. And your duty is to own his power, justice, and mercy, and to trust in him, and patiently wait for deliverance in every fiery trial, and in every country, however remote. 16 may either signify that, though once the whole land of Israel was filled with shouts of praise to a righteous and promise-performing God, yet there is now nothing but desolation, murder, pillage, and captivity instead thereof; or that, though the Gentiles are in multitudes assembling to Christ and his worship, yet the Jewish nation reject him, and are rendered miserable on that account. 19, 20. The country is rendered desolate, and the inhabitants know not which way to turn themselves, and are tossed about from one place to another. 21, 22 may perhaps represent the final ruin of the Assyrians, Chaldeans, Romans, Antichristians, Turks, and other enemies of the people of God, as well as of the Jewish great men. 23. The glorious reign of Christ in his church, particularly in the apostolic, spiritual, and eternal periods, will obscure the lustre of all earthly grandeur and authority, and the greatest potentates shall stoop to him.
Ver. 1. The Lord maketh the earth empty. The earth here signifies the land of Israel, as is evident from its inhabitants being guilty of breaking the 'everlasting covenant,' &c., ver. 5. Yet the judgments that originate there extend to all the nations, ver. 4. For when 'the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God; and if it first begin' there, 'what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?' 1 Pe. 4. 17. C.
Ver. 17. Fear. It is important to observe that while those who fear God, fear none but him; those who refuse to fear God are never delivered from fear. The mightiest nations, even in time of profound peace, are always afraid of one another—fear, under the name of panic, is always at intervals smiting the heart, and paralyzing the arm of commerce; and there is an undefined sense of fear, an instinctive prophesying of impending calamities, and a certain 'fearful looking for of judgment,' from which no sinner can escape so long as he neglects the 'great salvation.' C.
Ver. 22. Shall they be visited. 'They shall be found wanting' (the marginal reading), is to be preferred, as the whole process in the judgment of all nations, Mat. 25. 45, is not so much the commission of sin, as the want of grace and works of love. C.
Reflections.—What a world of sinning and suffering we live in! What a theatre of disappointments, dishonours, confusions, sorrows, and deaths! No rank, no place, nothing escapes the fearful effects of sins curse: and if men avoid one misery, they but fall into another. Nor are any more wretched than treacherous apostates from God and rejecters of his Son. Nevertheless, God in the worst of times finds a remnant who believes; and often makes the most terrible calamities an introduction to the most remarkable displays of his mercy and grace. In transcendent wisdom did God bring in the accursed Gentiles to his church, when he rejected the seed of Abraham his friend. And in true compassion will Jesus hereafter, to the amazement of all beholders, draw both Jews and Gentiles to himself; and at last, for the eternal manifestation of his glorious perfections, translate his whole kingdom to the celestial mansions above.