Final Triumph of Zion (Isaiah 24–27)
Following oracles against individual nations in Isaiah 13–23, Isaiah
24–27 describes on a worldwide scale the climactic defeat of God’s
enemies and the deliverance of His people.
Why does Isaiah’s description of the desolation of the earth (Isaiah 24) look like John’s description of events connected with 1,000 years that follow Christ’s second coming (Revelation 20)?
______________________________________________________
As in Isaiah 13 and 14, aspects of literal Babylon apply to later
powers, and the “king of Babylon” represents fusion of human rulers
with the mastermind behind them, Satan himself. So, a message that
Babylon is fallen (Isa. 21:9) can be repeated at a later time (Rev. 14:8,
Rev. 18:2), and Satan is finally destroyed after the millennium (Rev.
20:10). While the destruction of literal Babylon was a judgment “day
of the Lord” (Isa. 13:6, 9), another “great and terrible day of the Lord”
(Joel 2:31, Mal. 4:5, compare Zeph. 1:7) is on the way.
Similarly, in Isaiah 24 the prophet’s vision reaches through conditions
with which he is familiar to the time when “the moon will be abashed,
and the sun ashamed; for the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion
and in Jerusalem” (Isa. 24:23, NRSV). Isaiah undoubtedly thought the
vision applied to the Jerusalem he knew, but the book of Revelation
explains that it will actually be fulfilled in the New Jerusalem (Rev.21:2). “And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the
glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Rev. 21:23, NRSV).
Does God really destroy the wicked?
______________________________________________________
Look at Isaiah 28:21, where God’s work of destruction is His strange
“deed” (NRSV). It is strange for Him, because He doesn’t want to do
it, but it is, nevertheless, a deed, or an act. It is true that sin carries the
seeds of self-destruction (James 1:15). But because God has ultimate
power over life and death, and He determines the time, place, and manner of final destruction (Revelation 20), it is pointless to argue that He ultimately terminates the curse of sin in a passive way, by simply allowing cause and effect to take its natural course.
What we see in Isaiah 24–27 is what we see reflected in the entire
Bible, which is that no matter the suffering, pain, and desolation
now, in the end God and goodness will triumph over evil. What,
then, is the only thing we can do if we ourselves want to be part
of that final victory? (Prov. 3:5–7, Rom. 10:9.)