Isaiah's Revelation (Isaiah 24:1-23)
Rev. Myung-Sin Choi
“1 Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty and makes it waste, Distorts its surface And scatters abroad its inhabitants. 2 And it shall be: As with the people, so with the priest; As 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 creditor, so with the debtor. 3 The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered, For the Lord has spoken this word. 4 The earth mourns and fades away, The world languishes and fades away; The haughty people of the earth languish. 5 The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, Because they have transgressed the laws, Changed the ordinance, Broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, And those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, And few men are left. 7 The new wine fails, the vine languishes, All the merry-hearted sigh. 8 The mirth of the tambourine ceases, The noise of the jubilant ends, The joy of the harp ceases. 9 They shall not drink wine with a song; Strong drink is bitter to those who drink it. 10 The city of confusion is broken down; Every house is shut up, so that none may go in. 11 There is a cry for wine in the streets, All joy is darkened, The mirth of the land is gone. 12 In the city desolation is left, And the gate is stricken with destruction. 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.”
Introduction
I am sure you heard of the very unfortunate news regarding what happened in South Korea. On the night of the 30th, there was a Halloween festival held in Itaewon, Korea and it killed around 150 people due to a stampede. So far, about 154 people which included people around the young age group of 19-20s. They were having a party and all people were partying, and they ended up dying due to the huge crowd that gathered around to celebrate halloween. What is absolute is that halloween is a day celebrating Satan. Even when we go to stores, we see that all of these decorations are set up to celebrate halloween. Many people don’t know the meaning of halloween and are mindlessly celebrating Halloween. People are wearing Satan’s clothes and devil costumes, and celebrating halloween. There were stories back in the day where they would make their children chase out evil spirits with broom sticks. I think all of this did not help cast out evil spirits but caused the evil spirits to come in. They were actually preparing themselves to accept these evil spirits into their bodies and homes. I think the day that makes Satan most happy is Halloween. It is because it is the best time for Satan to steal and destroy souls. Haunted houses are the most popular attractions but there is so much Satantic activity in these haunted homes. These were all young people who were killed in this stampede. I am sure these were young people who were supposed to get married in a covenantal marriage but instead, they went out to party during halloween. I am sure God did this to warn us. God is giving especially the Christians a warning message. Through this incident, we need to see how Satan is working during Halloween and we need to share this to our family and friends, and people around us. What is absolute is that God is alive and Satan is alive as well. It is so unfortunate to see Christian parents dressing up their children and making their children participate in Halloween. We need to open our spiritual eyes. What is so unfortunate is that Satan is so happy right now and applauding. We need to open our spiritual eyes and hold onto the accurate gospel message that God has given to us, and have spiritual awareness at this time. Today’s sermon is very important. Today’s scripture is able to give the revelation of God’s word that it is why it is referred to as Isaiah’s revelation. It was prior to this, a warning to the people of Israel was given but today’s Scripture is a warning to the entire world. There is a reason why God has given us a warning and the principle of judgment.
1. The Eternal Covenant
1) Judgment upon all the earth
Verses 1-4 - When God judges the world just like how God judged the world during Noah’s flood and during the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; it was all the same thing. God said that He will make the entire land desolate. God will overturn the world completely upside down. God will scatter all human beings and animals all throughout the world. When it came to God’s judgment, these were the things that God always did.
Verse 2 - God will get rid of all statuses and positions of people. When people die, all of their possessions and worldly status doesn’t matter anymore. Even if you were wealthy or the president of this world, none of this will matter at all. This is the state of death.
Verse 3 - Everything will disappear when God brings judgment onto this world. All possessions, property, your real estate, and buildings, all will disappear.
Verse 4 - Everything will wither away. All of the people with high positions, they will all become powerless and without status. Before God’s judgment and death, everyone is powerless and with no power. This shows the face of God’s judgment. Then from here, what is the reason why God brings judgement onto this world?
2) The reason for the judgment
Verses 5-6 - This is astounding. Why are people of this world dying? They violated God’s covenant. The reason why mankind and Adam and Eve became cursed was because they broke the covenant of God, the covenant of Genesis 2:17.
Genesis 2:17, 3:17 “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. 3:17 Then to Adam He said, 'Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: 'Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.' ” - The world has become cursed because of the sin of mankind. What did the blood of the young lamb do? The young lamb existed for mankind.
Verse 6 - People left God and His word so mankind became cursed along with the world as a result.
Verses 7-13 - There are 7 curses explained here. The reason why we can’t produce any fruit is because the root has withered and has become cursed. The root has withered away so no fruit could be produced and no harvest could be formed. If there is harvest, then they can produce wine and hold festivals. But they couldn’t do this anymore because mankind were only focused on their own pleasure and lives. Even in the clubs in Itaewon where they were celebrating Halloween, loud music and only things for pleasure for mankind were taking place there.
Verse 8 - All joy of mankind disappeared so everything became toxic and poison for mankind. All of the prosperous cities all closed their doors because no one would come into the cities to celebrate. All of the joy of the city and the world disappeared. All of the cities that were once filled with loud joys, they were filled with cries and agony.
2. Eternal Judgment
1) The praise of those who remain
Verse 14 - They were sounds of death on one side of the river but sounds of joy on the other side. This means that this is the praises of the remaining ones. This is talking about the remaining ones. There were still people who held onto only the gospel and prayer. There are still people who hold onto only the gospel and prayer.
Isaiah 17:6 “Yet gleaning grapes will be left in it, Like the shaking of an olive tree, Two or three olives at the top of the uppermost bough, Four or five in its most fruitful branches,' Says the Lord God of Israel.” - God said that He will leave behind His remaining ones. Even if they shook the trees, they were still remaining fruits left on top of the trees. These few fruits remained and they continued to sing praises to God.
Verses 15-16 - All people have left God’s covenant and experienced God’s judgment as a result. But on the day of judgment for the remaining ones, it is a day of victory and salvation. It was as if the judgment day was made for the remaining ones to celebrate. But if we hold onto God’s covenant and not get deceived, there are still remaining ones like this left in this world.
Verse 16 - The glorious one is talking about Jesus. There are still people who glorify God and satisfy God alone. They only focus on glorifying God.
Romans 14:8 “For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” - There are believers who live holding onto this covenant.
2) The lament of those who leave the covenant
Verses 17-19 - When our soul, mind, and physical bodies waste away, this means that the gospel is withering away. There is fury regarding this. The people around you are only treacherous people. The people you trusted the most, they will become the most treacherous. Those who are within God’s judgment, you cannot come out of it no matter what. Even if you come out of it, you will return back to it. This is very scary. The earth is split open and the windows from on high are opened, this means the fiery judgement will come upon this world. People may interpret this as a nuclear warfare or wars in the future but this is talking about the final judgment of this world that will wipe out 1/3 of the world’s population as prophesied in the Bible. Who is this message towards? The people who left God’s word and covenant, and determined to live their lives for their own greed and desire. We must hold onto the reason why we must hold onto God’s covenant once again.
3. The Eternal Reign
1) The glory of the Throne
Verses 21-23 - God’s judgment came upon this world but it will come once again. God will judge this world but will judge from heaven above. God said that the kings of this world are being controlled by Satan’s bondage but God said that He will bring judgment to them. That day is talking about the day when Jesus was crucified on the cross. The day when the head of serpent was broken down.
Verse 22 - This is interesting. They were chained and imprisoned together. But this is interesting on how it was stated here.
2 Peter 2:4 “For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment.” - The angels captivated the demons and cast them into these prisons, and cast down to hell. Until the second coming of Jesus Christ, this judgement is being reserved. Until Jesus Christ comes again, Satan is bound and cannot freely do whatever he wants.
Revelation 20:1-3 “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.” - God bound up Satan for a thousand of years. People have a theory that Jesus will rule the world for a thousand years when He comes for His second coming but I don’t believe in this. When Jesus comes again, He has the power to bring down Satan once and for all. When we testify of the name of Jesus Christ, all darkness is bound. All of the chosen people of God will come together and Jesus will temporarily free Satan for a short period of time. During that brief period of time, this will be the time where the 7 year tribulation will occur. Right now, we are living in a good time. We are able to freely testify of Jesus Christ right now and can bear the most amount of fruits.
Matthew 25:41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.' ” - Jesus will bring His final judgment after the 7 year tribulation and bring the final demise of Satan. All of this will happen. Why is that?
Verse 23 - When God’s glory comes upon this world, the entire world will shine.
Revelation 21:23-24 “The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. 24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.” - When it says about the king of the world, I don’t think it is referrring to the kings of the world but I think it is talking about the evangelists. These are the spiritual kings, the evangelists, who will break down darkness and shine the glory of God. Imagine how much glory and happiness we can have when we stand before God at this time. Aren’t you happy thinking about this? I am sure you will have true happiness regarding this.
2) The life of a true disciple
If you hold onto the covenant, you will be blessed. If you lose hold of the covenant, you will be destroyed and will face the judgement of God. Whether you hold onto the covenant or not is so important.
John 12:3, 13:14 “Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. 13:14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” - The perfume that Mary had was so precious because it was so expensive and are usually saved for the wedding day. It was so expensive because it will require your entire yearly salary to buy it but Mary took this perfume and poured it onto Jesus’ feet. She did this thinking about the cross and the love towards Jesus. This was Mary’s confession of Jesus as the Christ. Mary was giving everything to Jesus. This is a role model of a true evangelist.
John 13:14 - When Jesus was washing the feet of the disciples, Jesus was not expecting the same thing or presenting His thankfulness towards them but He was showing His great love towards His people. Usually servants who wash the feet of their masters. Jesus was saying that He was willing to humble Himself to serve His people and die for them. This was when God said that He is glorified when Jesus does this. May we become people of God who love God and serve others just like Jesus served God and His people.
Conclusion
Hold onto Revelation 22:14 “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.” - This is talking about the commandment and the script of God. This is talking about the word of God. Through Jesus’ blood, we are being washed and cleansed daily with His word. This is talking about enjoying Christ every single day. We already possess this blessing. May the true glory of God shine through you.
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