eschatology, Feast or Famine? (Is.24-28)

Isaiah chapters 24 to 28 appears to be another thought-flow-grouping with prophecies of the end times.  While keeping it in context, I am going to show the verses in chronological event order.  First are the descriptions of the Tribulation - God's judgment on the entire earth.  These particular verses seem to be describing more of what is happening right at the end of the 7 year period leading up to the battle of Armageddon...

(Isaiah 24:1-11)  Behold, the Lord lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface and scatters its inhabitants. (Rev.16:17-21)   2 And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor.  3 The earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled, for the Lord has spoken this word. 4 The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away. 5 The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant.  6 Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty.  Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.  (Rev.16:8-9)

7 The new wine mourns, the vine decays, all the merry-hearted sigh.
8 The gaiety of tambourines ceases, the noise of revelers stops, the gaiety of the harp ceases.
9 They do not drink wine with song; strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
10 The city of chaos is broken down;  every house is shut up so that none may enter.
11 There is an outcry in the streets concerning the wine;  all joy turns to gloom.  The gaiety of the earth is banished.  

(Isaiah 24:17-20)  Terror and pit and snare confront you, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 Then it will be that he who flees the report of disaster will fall into the pit,  and he who climbs out of the pit will be caught in the snare;  for the windows above are opened,  and the foundations of the earth shake.

19 The earth is broken asunder, the earth is split through, the earth is shaken violently.  (Rev.16:17-21)
20 The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard and it totters like a shack, for its transgression is heavy upon it, and it will fall, never to rise again.

(Isaiah 28:1-2)  Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of its glorious beauty, which is at the head of the fertile valley of those who are overcome with wine!
2 Behold, the Lord has a strong and mighty agent;  as a storm of hail, a tempest of destruction, (Rev.16:17-21)  like a storm of mighty overflowing waters, He has cast it down to the earth with His hand.

Meanwhile, while the earth is being judged with catastrophic events during the Tribulation, these are the signs that Jesus talks about in Matthew 24 - the signs leading up to His Second Coming.  And the Israelites who recognize these signs will believe and eagerly await for their Messiah's return in order to fulfill all covenants.  As well, in the following verses, a very important analogy is used, which remains very consistent in order to explain the order of events - and that analogy is the one of labor pain.  Labor pain is really NOT fun!  I mean - AT ALL.  But once the baby is born, the woman forgets the pain and is able to enjoy the blessings of a child.  Just so - the Tribulation is equated to labor pain (1 Thessalonians 5:3)... the blessing to come is the Millennium...

 (Isaiah 26:16-21)  O Lord, they sought You in distress; they could only whisper a prayer, Your chastening was upon them.
17 As the pregnant woman approaches the time to give birth, she writhes and cries out in her labor pains, thus were we before You, O Lord.
18 We were pregnant, we writhed in labor, (Matt.24:8-9) we gave birth, as it seems, only to wind.  We could not accomplish deliverance for the earth, nor were inhabitants of the world born.
19 Your dead will live; their corpses will rise.  You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, for your dew is as the dew of the dawn, and the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.

20 Come, my people, enter into your rooms and close your doors behind you;  hide for a little while until indignation runs its course.  (Matt.24:16)
21 For behold, the Lord is about to come out from His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;  and the earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer cover her slain.

The following verses describe what will happen after the battle of Armageddon which is the judgment of nations...

(Isaiah 27:1)  In that day the Lord will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, with His fierce and great and mighty sword, even Leviathan the twisted serpent; and He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea.

 (Isaiah 24:21-22)   So it will happen in that day, that the Lord will punish the host of heaven on high, and the kings of the earth on earth.  (Rev.19:19-20)
22 They will be gathered together like prisoners in the dungeon, and will be confined in prison;  and after many days they will be punished.

 (Isaiah 26:5-6)  “For He has brought low those who dwell on high,  the unassailable city;  He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He casts it to the dust.
6 “The foot will trample it, the feet of the afflicted, the steps of the helpless.”

    
 (Isaiah 24:23)  Then the moon will be abashed and the sun ashamed, for the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and His glory will be before His elders.

(Isaiah 28:5-6)  In that day the Lord of hosts will become a beautiful crown and a glorious diadem to the remnant of His people;
6 A spirit of justice for him who sits in judgment, a strength to those who repel the onslaught at the gate.

(Isaiah 28:16)  Therefore thus says the Lord God,

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed.  He who believes in it will not be disturbed.

Jesus is the cornerstone!  Jesus has the victory!  All Israelites and other people who have become believers during the Tribulation will be gathered together and enter the Millennium (Matt.24:31)...


(Isaiah 27:12-13)  In that day the Lord will start His threshing from the flowing stream of the Euphrates to the brook of Egypt, and you will be gathered up one by one, O sons of Israel. 13 It will come about also in that day that a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

And this is a song that will be sung in the Millennium, which gives us descriptions of both what will happen in the Tribulation as well as how it will be in the Millennium.  The "city in ruin" refers to Babylon (the Antichrist's empire), while the "mountain"/"Mount Zion" is in Jerusalem where Jesus will sit on the throne and lead the people into a time of blessing for the entire earth in the Millennium...

(Isaiah 25:1-6)  O Lord, You are my God;  I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name; for You have worked wonders, plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.
2 For You have made a city into a heap, a fortified city into a ruin;  a palace of strangers is a city no more, it will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore a strong people will glorify You;  cities of ruthless nations will revere You.
4 For You have been a defense for the helpless,  a defense for the needy in his distress,  a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat;  for the breath of the ruthless is like a rain storm against a wall.
5 Like heat in drought, You subdue the uproar of aliens;  like heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the ruthless is silenced.

6 The Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain;  a banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow,And refined, aged wine.  (Rev.19:9)

(Isaiah 26:1-4)  In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city;  He sets up walls and ramparts for security.
2 “Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter,  the one that remains faithful.
3 “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You.
4 “Trust in the Lord forever, for in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock..."

(Isaiah 27:2-6)  In that day, “A vineyard of wine, sing of it!
3 “I, the Lord, am its keeper; I water it every moment.  So that no one will damage it, I guard it night and day.
4 “I have no wrath.  Should someone give Me briars and thorns in battle, then I would step on them, I would burn them completely.
5 “Or let him rely on My protection, let him make peace with Me, let him make peace with Me.”
6 In the days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will blossom and sprout,And they will fill the whole world with fruit.

At the end of the Millennium, all believers of all time will enter heaven...

 (Isaiah 25:7-9)  And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, even the veil which is stretched over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, (Rev.21:1-7)  And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; (Rev.20:11-15)  for the Lord has spoken.
9 And it will be said in that day,  
“Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us.  This is the Lord for whom we have waited;  let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.” 

Today's takeaway:  what stuck out for me is this - WINE!!!  In the Tribulation there is the wine of dissipation, which will disappear.  But in the Millennium, which is also considered the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, Jesus will prepare a lavish feast - and He will serve refined, aged wine.  So cool, considering that Jesus' very first miracle was at a wedding feast where He turned the water into the finest, aged wine!  A taste of the eternal celebration that is to come!!!...

(Romans 10:8-11)  But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”