(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)
(Isaiah 24:1-23)
1 Behold, the Lord lays the earth waste, devastates it, twists its surface, and scatters its inhabitants. 2 And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the female servant 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 plundered, for the Lord has spoken this word. 4 The earth dries up and crumbles away, the mainland dries out and crumbles away, the exalted of the people of the earth dwindle. 5 The earth is also defiled by its inhabitants, for they violated laws, altered statutes, and broke the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live on it suffer for their guilt. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth decrease in number, and few people are left.
7 The new wine mourns,
The vine decays,
All the joyful-hearted sigh.
8 The joy of tambourines ceases,
The noise of revelers stops,
The joy of the harp ceases.
9 They do not drink wine with song;
Intoxicating drink is bitter to those who drink it.
10 The city of chaos is broken down;
Every house is shut up so that no one may enter.
11 There is an outcry in the streets concerning the wine;
All joy turns to gloom.
The joy of the earth is banished.
12 Desolation is left in the city
And the gate is battered to ruins.
13 For so it will be in the midst of the earth among the peoples,
As the shaking of an olive tree,
As the gleanings when the grape harvest is over.
14 They raise their voices, they shout for joy;
They cry out from the west concerning the majesty of the Lord.
15 Therefore glorify the Lord in the east,
The name of the Lord, the God of Israel,
In the coastlands of the sea.
16 From the ends of the earth we hear songs: “Glory to the Righteous One,”
But I say, “I am finished! I am finished! Woe to me!
The treacherous deal treacherously,
And the treacherous deal very treacherously.”
17 Terror and pit and snare
Confront you, you inhabitant of the earth.
18 Then it will be that the one who flees the sound of terror will fall into the pit,
And the one 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 apart,
The earth is split through,
The earth is shaken violently.
20 The earth trembles like a heavy drinker
And sways like a hut,
For its wrongdoing is heavy upon it,
And it will fall, never to rise again.
21 So it will happen on that day,
That the Lord will punish the rebellious angels of heaven on high,
And the kings of the earth on earth.
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.
23 Then the moon will be ashamed and the sun be put to shame,
For the Lord of armies will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
And His glory will be before His elders.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
7 The new wine mourns,
The vine decays,
All the joyful-hearted sigh.
8 The joy of tambourines ceases,
The noise of revelers stops,
The joy of the harp ceases.
9 They do not drink wine with song;
Intoxicating drink is bitter to those who drink it.
10 The city of chaos is broken down;
Every house is shut up so that no one may enter.
11 There is an outcry in the streets concerning the wine;
All joy turns to gloom.
The joy of the earth is banished.
12 Desolation is left in the city
And the gate is battered to ruins.
13 For so it will be in the midst of the earth among the peoples,
As the shaking of an olive tree,
As the gleanings when the grape harvest is over.
14 They raise their voices, they shout for joy;
They cry out from the west concerning the majesty of the Lord.
15 Therefore glorify the Lord in the east,
The name of the Lord, the God of Israel,
In the coastlands of the sea.
16 From the ends of the earth we hear songs: “Glory to the Righteous One,”
But I say, “I am finished! I am finished! Woe to me!
The treacherous deal treacherously,
And the treacherous deal very treacherously.”
17 Terror and pit and snare
Confront you, you inhabitant of the earth.
18 Then it will be that the one who flees the sound of terror will fall into the pit,
And the one 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 apart,
The earth is split through,
The earth is shaken violently.
20 The earth trembles like a heavy drinker
And sways like a hut,
For its wrongdoing is heavy upon it,
And it will fall, never to rise again.
21 So it will happen on that day,
That the Lord will punish the rebellious angels of heaven on high,
And the kings of the earth on earth.
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.
23 Then the moon will be ashamed and the sun be put to shame,
For the Lord of armies will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
And His glory will be before His elders.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
The earth's curse is sin, which happened when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. From that point forward, al people are born into sin, and are separated from God. Although He created all of us with a purpose to have a personal relationship with Him, the only way we can reconcile this is to do it His way. When verse 5 mentions that people have broken the everlasting covenant, this is referring to the 'unpardonable sin" - which is rejecting the salvation that the Lord Jesus offers to all of us.
Those who become believers now (and those asleep in Christ) will be caught up to heaven before the Tribulation begins. During the Tribulation, there will be a few who turn to the Lord. And so at the end of those seven years, which is when "the harvest" is ready, all unbelievers will be removed from the earth, and only believers will enter the Millennium. It is then that there will be peace and joy everywhere because Jesus will reign here on earth as King.
Meanwhile, no matter what is going on around us, when we ask Jesus into our hearts, we are reconciled with God. His forgiveness removes our guilt and we can live in His freedom of grace. And as we allow Him to reign over our lives, He gives us peace and joy.
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