24:1 Look, the Lord is ready to devastate the earth and leave it in ruins; he will mar its surface and scatter its inhabitants.
Isaiah 24–27 is sometimes called the “The Little Apocalypse.” Much of the Book of Revelation is an expansion of these four chapters. Isaiah 24–27 follows the same basic outline as the Book of Revelation, but it is not as much detail.
The Hebrew word for “look” is הִנֵּ֧ה (hinah), meaning to look closely to the future things which Isaiah was about to reveal. In the future, Jehovah will at some tine in history be ready to start the Great Tribulation. This Great Tribulation will come upon the inhabitants of the entire earth. Jehovah will devastate the earth, leave it in waste, mar its surface, and scatter its inhabitants.
24:2 Everyone will suffer—the priest as well as the people, the master as well as the servant, the elegant lady as well as the female attendant, the seller as well as the buyer, the borrower as well as the lender, the creditor as well as the debtor.
During the Great Tribulation, all social classes will suffer.
24:3 The earth will be completely devastated and thoroughly ransacked. For the Lord has decreed this judgment.
The Hebrew word for “completely” is בָּקַק (bakak), meaning to make utterly empty or to make totally void. The Hebrew word for “devastated” is תִּבּ֛וֹק (tibok), which is the same root word as בָּקַק (bakak). This is a niphal verb, meaning that the earth will receive the action. Since the verb is doubled, then it makes the emptying of the earth emphatic. The Hebrew word for “ransacked” is בָּזַז (bazaz), meaning to become completely spoiled and plundered.
This verse is much more emphatic in Hebrew than most English translations. The Hebrew text literally reads: “Intensely emptied, there will be the emptying of the earth. Intensely spoiled, there will be the spoiling of the earth. For Jehovah has spoken this word.”
When God speaks, then the result will always happen. God is not like man. Man is a liar. God is not a liar. God always keeps His word.
24:4 The earth dries up and withers, the world shrivels up and withers; the prominent people of the earth fade away.
The Hebrew word for “world” is הָאָ֔רֶץ (ha-eretz), with a Hebrew article, meaning the inhabited world. The inhabitant world will begin to fade away, meaning that the world will become depopulated.
The Hebrew word for “prominent” is מָרוֹם (marom), meaning haughty, high, exalted, or proud. All of the arrogant Christ-rejecters are being purged out of the world. The Christ-rejecters are those who do not believe that Jesus is the Messianic God-man-King predicted in the Old Testament. One of the purposes of the Great Tribulation will be to remove the wicked people from the physical earth, so that the Millennial Kingdom can be populated with Jewish and Gentile believers.
24:5 The earth is defiled by its inhabitants, for they have violated laws, disregarded the regulation, and broken the permanent treaty.
Verses 1-4 predicted the results of the coming Great Tribulation. Verses 5-8 gave the reasons for the Great Tribulation. The first reason for the judgment is that the earth will be polluted by man. Man will pollute the earth, by violating God’s laws, violating God’s regulations, and breaking the everlasting covenant.
The everlasting covenant which man will break is the Noahic Covenant. Instead of being fruitful and multiplying, man will promote same-sex marriage and aborted babies. Instead of subjecting the earth, man will exploite the earth. Instead of eating vegetables and animals, man will corrupt his food sources with GMO products. Drinking blood was forbidden, but this will be practiced by men once again. Instead of enforcing capital punishment on murderers, judges will allow criminals to walk the streets to slay more victims. Therefore, man will completely pollute the earth. Much of this pollution of the earth has already began.
24:6 So a treaty curse devours the earth; its inhabitants pay for their guilt. This is why the inhabitants of the earth disappear, and are reduced to just a handful of people.
The inhabitants of the earth will violate the Noahic Covenant, so a curse will devour the earth. The inhabitants of the earth will be burned. God promised in the Noahic Covenant that He would never destroy the earth by water again. In the Great Tribulation, more than 2/3 of the population will be destroyed by fire. Only 1/3 of the inhabitants of the earth will survive. Those who do survive will enter into the Millennial Kingdom with their physical bodies.
24:7 The new wine dries up, the vines shrivel up, all those who like to celebrate groan.
There will be no joy or gladness during the Great Tribulation. All wine will be removed, making it difficult for parties. The alcoholics will no longer have their fix. They may have to turn to drugs.
24:8 The happy sound of the tambourines stops, the revelry of those who celebrate comes to a halt, the happy sound of the harp ceases.
There will be no joyful music during the Great Tribulation.
24:9 They no longer sing and drink wine; the beer tastes bitter to those who drink it.
The wine and beer that is left is so bitter, that no one can drink it.
24:10 The ruined town is shattered; all of the houses are shut up tight.
The ruined town is actually a city. The Hebrew definite article is used, so it is a specific city. This is the specific city of Babylon. Babylon will be the capital of the Antichrist during the Great Tribulation, just as Jerusalem will be God’s capital city during the Millennial Kingdom. Babylon will be destroyed completely. No one will live in any of her houses.
24:11 They howl in the streets because of what happened to the wine; all joy turns to sorrow; celebrations disappear from the earth.
There will be no more wine, joy, or celebrations in Babylon. It was once the great commercial city of the Antichrist, but now it is destroyed completely.
24:12 The city is left in ruins; the gate is reduced to rubble.
The city is nothing but debris. The debris is so bad, that it blocks the entrances of the gates of the city.
24:13 This is what will happen throughout the earth, among the nations. It will be like when they beat an olive tree, and just a few olives are left at the end of the harvest.
The destruction of Babylon will spread worldwide. Their will be famine all over the world. The famine is compared to the shaking of an olive tree at the end of the harvest. Only a few olives fall out of the tree.
It is important to note that one of the key purposes for the Great Tribulation is to make an end of wickedness and wicked ones (Is. 13:9). Isaiah 24:1–13 records in advance how God will purge the wicked people out of the world.
Sin is a terrible thing. If left unchecked, liberalism will take over the world. Liberals are those who elevate their human opinion above the Word of God. Liberals will eventually elect the devil as their king. Liberals will enslave other men. Liberals will kill Jews and Christians. Liberals will destroy the natural resources of this world. For this reason, God must purge these evil men out of the world.
24:14 They lift their voices and shout joyfully; they praise the majesty of the Lord in the west.
Even during the Great Tribulation, those west of Israel will praise the Lord. Those west of Israel will be Jews and Gentiles who will come to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some will hear the gospel from the two witnesses. Others will hear the gospel from the 144,000 Jewish evangelists. Others will hear the gospel from angels. As God is judging the earth and purging out the wicked people, then the believers will be praising God.
24:15 So in the east extol the Lord, along the seacoasts extol the fame of the Lord God of Israel.
Those east of Israel will praise the Lord.
24:16 From the ends of the earth we hear songs— the Just One is majestic. But I say, “I’m wasting away! I’m wasting away! I’m doomed! Deceivers deceive, deceivers thoroughly deceive!”
The believers will praise Jehovah though songs. These songs will glorify God and proclaim His majesty. The unbelievers will die at a very rapid rate. It seems that the threat of a horrible death would cause these unbelievers to repent and turn to God, but their total depravity will not allow them to do so. They would rather die and burn in the Lake of Fire than to worship the One True God. Men who are totally depraved and evil will naturally reject and blaspheme God. They will not be able to see the truth. They will be happy to believe the lie.
24:17 Terror, pit, and snare are ready to overtake you inhabitants of the earth!
Those who are left behind will not be able to escape fear, the pit, and the snare. The unbelievers will become terrified during the Great Tribulation. They will not be able to escape the pit of death. They will not be able to escape the snare of the Antichrist.
24:18 The one who runs away from the sound of the terror will fall into the pit; the one who climbs out of the pit, will be trapped by the snare. For the floodgates of the heavens are opened up and the foundations of the earth shake.
The floodgates of the heavens and foundations of the earth is a reference to the global flood of Noah's day. Just as the global flood wiped out most of a perverse generation, so the Great Tribulation will do the same. Somewhere between two thirds and three quarters of the earth’s surface and population will be destroyed.
24:19 The earth is broken in pieces, the earth is ripped to shreds, the earth shakes violently.
During the Great Tribulation, violent earthquakes will shake the earth.
24:20 The earth will stagger around like a drunk; it will sway back and forth like a hut in a windstorm. Its sin will weigh it down, and it will fall and never get up again.
During the Great Tribulation, the earth will stagger like a drunken man. It will sway back and forth like a hammock. Satellite television will most likely televise this swaggering of the earth to those who are left behind.
The sins of the people on earth will place such a burden upon the earth, that the earth will not be able to carry its weight. The burden of sin will cause the earth to fall to its knees and be crushed by the weight of sin. The weight of sin will be so heavy, that the earth will not be able to stand up and recover.
Environmentalists will most likely blame all of these catastrophes on global warming or climate change. There will be global warming during the Great Tribulation, but it will come from the fiery judgments of God.
24:21 At that time the Lord will punish the heavenly forces in the heavens and the earthly kings on the earth.
The heavenly forces are the wicked demons in heaven. Demons have access to heaven and earth. The earthly kings will be the regional leaders who will serve the Antichrist.
24:22 They will be imprisoned in a pit, locked up in a prison, and after staying there for a long time, they will be punished.
The pit is the Abyss. The prison is hell. The demons will be locked in the Abyss during the Millennial Kingdom. The evil kings and all unbelievers will be locked in hell during the Millennial Kingdom.
The "long time" is revealed in Revelation 20 six different times as 1,000 literal years. At the end of the 1,000 years, both the demons and unbelieving humans will go on trial at the Great White Throne Judgment. They will all be found guilty and thrown into the Lake of Fire.
24:23 The full moon will be covered up, the bright sun will be darkened; for the Lord who commands armies will rule on Mount Zion in Jerusalem in the presence of his assembly, in majestic splendor.
During the Millennial Kingdom, Jesus will rule from Mount Zion in Jerusalem. The majestic splendor is the Shechinah Glory. The Shechinah Glory of Jesus will shine so brightly from Jerusalem, that He will outshine both the sun and the moon.