Jewish Commentary: Isaiah 24:1-23

The Jewish orthodox sages and Rabbis understood the literalness of all of the Old Testament prophecies. Premillennialists and dispensationalists are in good company in seeing the Bible interpreted in a normal, literal hermeneutic. Someday, the eyes of the Jews will be open in seeing the Lord Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah. Meanwhile, their interpretative notes and commentaries on great prophetic passages continue to support the “rightness” of looking for future prophecy being fulfilled actually, and literally!

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 Isaiah 24:1-23

The Prophesied World-wide Tribulation 

Though stupidly denied as tribulational by the Reformed camp, this chapter is well recognized as the tribulation and the wrath of God on the earth by orthodox Jews and solid, dispensational premillennialists. There has never been a day like this on earth, so it is yet future! Chapters 24-27 form a distinct group and are apocalyptic (prophetic) in character. They speak of God’s desolating judgment of the whole world, the terrors of that great day, the suppression of the power of evil in heaven and on earth, the consequent blessings upon Israel and humanity, the abolition of death forever and the wiping away of tears from all faces. 

24:1 Empty ... waste. This sets the setting for the horror that will come upon the earth as dispensationalists clearly teach. 

24:2 With the people … priest. The common people of the earth will be trapped by what is coming, so will the rulers and the religious, the priests. 

24:3 The earth will be utterly emptied. This tribulation is not localized; it is universal in nature. The world will be terribly abused and destroyed. This is the proclamation of God Himself; He will bring upon the earth and the rebels destruction. Only fools deny the absolute sovereignty of God. He is in charge of history and He openly brings on disaster and the wars that decimate humanity! 

24:4 World. The Hebrew word is tebel and means the inhabited parts of the earth.

The exalted people. The “height” of the people, meaning the rulers, leaders, presidents, and governors. They will become insignificant in light of all the terror coming down upon the world. They will be unable to save the people. It will be, to no avail, every man for himself. The earth will cry as a wounded animal. 

24:5 The everlasting covenant. Many Rabbis believe this refers (1) to the Torah, the Mosaic covenant, the Law, made between God and Israel at Sinai. Others believe (2) it refers to the Noahic covenant made between the Lord and the human race after the flood (Gen. 9:16). But since this prophecy has not come to pass, and since it is yet future, (3) could it refer to the New covenant ratified by the blood of Christ for Israel? 

Jeremiah quotes the Lord and says the New covenant is “everlasting” in Jeremiah 32:40. God says: “I will make an everlasting covenant with [Israel, not the church] that I will not [in the future] turn away from them [anymore], to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me [again].” Note that the Lord said that turning away from His people actually was in order “to do them good”! Ultimately, persecution will do them good in that it will bring them back to the Lord.

Polluted. Defiled with wickedness, moral uncleanness. And as well, the inhabitants of the planet will violate the universal, moral laws that are generally accepted by all. 

24:6 A curse will devour the earth … and all will be held guilty. Better, “They that dwell [on the earth] will all be found guilty.” The Messiah said that if the seven year tribulation was not stopped “no flesh would survive!” The tribulation is God’s wrath out on a sinful world. 

24:7-9 All the merry-hearted will sigh. Those who simply live for entertainment will have a price to pay. The fun and games will cease. Even liquor and strong drink will no longer bring pleasure. “Strong drink [will be] bitter to those who drink it.” 

24:10-12 The terror gets worse! In the cities chaos (“confusion”) will break out and the infrastructure will “be broken down” (“reduced to ruin”). People will hold up in their homes for fear. And, “All joy will turn to gloom” (v. 11). The cities will be left desolate and protection in the cities will disappear: “The gate [of the city] will be battered to ruins.” 

24:13 This terrible chaos will happen in the middle of the earth among its peoples. The world will be shaken like an olive tree at harvest time or when the grapes are gleaned. Sadness and desolation will prevail everywhere. 

Tradition applies this verse to the remnant of Jews scattered among the Gentiles when the tribulation breaks out. Others rightly so see it as the terror and wrathful visitation of the Lord upon all the human race of which only a small remnant will survive. This conforms to what Christ said. And this is what the Rabbis say will happen. Rabbi Yitzhaq in the orthodox Jewish writing the Pasiqta Rabbati says:

       
        In the year in which King Messiah will be revealed, all the kings of the nations
        of the world will provoke each other. The king of Persia (Iraq or Iran?) will
        provoke the other Arabian nations, and the king of Arabia will go to Syria to
        take counsel from them. The Messiah will drive back the king of Persia and
        devastate the entire world in judgment, and all the nations of the earth will
        tremble and fear and fall upon their faces. And the birth pangs will take hold
        of them like the pangs of a woman in childbirth. And Israel will tremble and
        fear, and they will say: “Where shall we come and go, where shall we come
        and go?” 

24:14-16 They will shout for joy. The redeemed remnant will shout when the judgments are ended. The will “glorify the Lord” and the name of the Lord will be exalted “in the east” (Israel and the Middle East) and His name will be honored in the nations (the coastlands). “The ends of the earth will sing: Glory to the Righteous One” (v. 16). Since this is one of the designations of Jesus the Messiah, it is referring to Him (Acts 3:14)!

They will shout from the west concerning the majesty of the Lord. From the direction of the Mediterranean. Both the east and west will unite, along with the continents, and sing hymns of praise and glory to the God of Israel! 

Woe to me! Woe to me! While the prophet Isaiah is jubilant on one hand for the redemption he sees coming, here on the other hand it seems he is premature in his rejoicing because the world has yet in the future (soon our day) to pass through tribulation and sorrow before the traitors and rebels will be swept away and the earth can be cleansed. 

24:17-22 Terror, pit, and snare will come upon the entire earth. The ones who try to run away “will fall into the pit.” No one will escape! If he tries to climb out of the pit “he will be caught in the snare” of destruction. No one can hide from this worldwide tribulation. “The windows above will open (like the flood) and the foundations of the earth will shake” (v. 18b). Probably a reference to terrible earthquakes. The earth will be broken asunder and “will be shaken violently” (v. 19). The earth will wobble on its axes like a drunkard and totter like a small shack that collapses (v. 20). The earth will not be the same and will not rise again (v. 20b). This will happen “in that day,” i.e. the Day of the Lord. And, “the Lord of host will punish the host of heaven on high” (v. 21). Probably a reference to judgment among the angelic hosts. 

The evil powers of heaven and on earth will be vanquished, imprisoned and punished, and God will reign supreme on mount Zion, a reference to the rule of the Messiah who has returned to earth. The final judgment of the world will be preceded by God’s contest with the celestial powers of evil and possibly with the earthly dominion of God and Magog (Ezek. 39). 

The kings of the earth. The rulers of the earth who persecuted, tortured, and mistreated Israel. 

24:23 The moon will be abashed and the sun ashamed. Abashed means “confused,” and ashamed carries a larger idea of “pale with shame.” The idea is that God’s glory will outshine the celestial lights, the moon and the sun will pale into insignificance! The Messiah, “the Lord of hosts,” will reign on Mount Zion. This refers to the hill of the kings of Israel in Jerusalem. The Jewish leaders and elders will see His glory before them.

The Jewish Targum Onkelos on Numbers 24:17-18 says:

        I see Him, but not now,
        I behold Him, but He is not near;
        A king shall arise from Jacob,
        And the Messiah shall be anointed for Israel,
        And He shall slay the lords of Moab (the leaders of Jordan)
        And shall rule over all the sons of mankind,
        And Edom (Jordan) shall become His possession,
        And Seir a possession of those that hate Him,
        And Israel shall succeed in prosperity. 

Finally, the Sibylline Books add:

“Now I tell you a very evident sign that you may understand when the end of all things is coming on the earth. A terrible war will occur at the end of history. This is the consummation of war which God, who dwells in the heavens, will bring to pass on the world!”

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Sources:

    The Pentateuch and Haftorahs.
    Society and Religion in the Second Temple Period, Michael Avi-Yonah and Zvi  Baras (Jerusalem: Massada Publishing, 1977).
    The Messiah Texts, Raphael Patai (Detroit: Wayne State University, 1979).
    Dictionary of Judaism in the Biblical Period, William Green, ed. (Peabody, MS: Hendrickson, 1999).