Isaiah 24:13-23
13 When it shall be thus in the midst of the land among the people,
It shall be like the shaking of an olive tree,
Like the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done.
14 They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing;
For the majesty of the LORD
They shall cry aloud from the sea.
15 Therefore glorify the LORD in the dawning light,
The name of the LORD God of Israel in the coastlands of the sea.
16 From the ends of the earth we have heard songs:
"Glory to the righteous!"
But I said, "I am ruined, ruined!
Woe to me!
The treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously,
Indeed, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously."
17 Fear and the pit and the snare
Are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall be
That he who flees from the noise of the fear
Shall fall into the pit,
And he who comes up from the midst of the pit
Shall be caught in the snare;
For the windows from on high are open,
And the foundations of the earth are shaken.
19 The earth is violently broken,
The earth is split open,
The earth is shaken exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard,
And shall totter like a hut;
Its transgression shall be heavy upon it,
And it will fall, and not rise again.
21 It shall come to pass in that day
That the LORD will punish on high the host of exalted ones,
And on the earth the kings of the earth.
22 They will be gathered together,
As prisoners are gathered in the pit,
And will be shut up in the prison;
After many days they will be punished.
23 Then the moon will be disgraced
And the sun ashamed;
For the LORD of hosts will reign
On Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
And before His elders, gloriously.
The Lord will reign gloriously after the coming judgment of justice poured out on the world. He will shake the world once more (Hebrews 12:27, Luke 21:26-27) to dislodge the olives and grapes of wrath from their attachments. Those who know the Lord will lift songs of praise to Him to glorify the majesty of God and His righteous justice. They will sing, "Glory to the righteous!" while confessing their own ruination of their sinful nature. Yet we now know His promised grace in the forgiveness and reconciliation of the Messiah Jesus Christ who is the answer to our guilt and our release from this certain judgment (John 5:24). The fear of death fills the earth apart from His work to free and forgive us as the prophecy tells us here. People may attempt to flee the judgment to come as they are shaken but will find no escape if they do not give Him the glory, fear Him, and trust His work in Christ (Revelation 14:7). Otherwise they all find the pit of the lake of fire to fall into from which there is no escape and no further hope. The snares of sin and idolatry which keep men from the Lord will hold them fast as the earth is shaken and reels back and forth in that time before His coming. As Joel 2:31-32 says about that time, the sun and moon will be darkened and the only hope for the called ones (Romans 9:27-28) will be to call on the name of the Lord for deliverance from that terrifying end. But God will reign gloriously as the only wise and worthy Sovereign before and among His people who trusted Him and heeded His word for reconciliation in the unearned favor of grace because He chose to do so to rescue some from what we all deserve. May these fearful things cause us to trust more in godly fear, give Him the glory for His work in Christ, and look forward to His eternal reign in the New Jerusalem before His elders and people in His glorious presence!
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