Isaiah 24:17

The Bible says in Isaiah 24:17-23, “Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake. The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited. Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.” The emphasis in this passage of scripture is how greatly the Lord will punish the earth one day. The earth is a place of life, and beauty, and abundance; but when God’s judgment comes, the earth will be “utterly broken down,” and “clean dissolved,” and “moved exceedingly.” It is truly a sad thing that such a thorough judgement must take place in the whole earth, but sin must be punished. This shows us how terrible sin really is. And it shows us how important repentance from sin is for every human being. How blessed are those who have found forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ.

There is a purpose to everything. The terrible judgment that God will bring upon the earth will have a purpose. We can praise God for everything that He chooses to bring upon the earth, just as we can praise Him for everything that He chooses to bring into our lives. There is a purpose to everything. The prophet Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 25:1-4, “O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built. Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee. For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.”

The Bible says in Isaiah 25:5-12, “Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low. And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill. And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands. And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust.” These verses remind us of some of the wonderful things that the Lord will do for His people. It is a great thing to be a believer in Jesus because a great future is prepared for every believer. Here is a list of blessings in Isaiah chapter 25 that God will perform in the future: 1. God will punish the evildoers. Justice will come. No unbeliever will escape the just recompense of his or her deeds. It says in Isaiah 25:5, “the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.” 2. It says in Isaiah 25:8 that God “will swallow up death in victory.” This is a great promise and a very important promise. Death is everywhere. Everything and everyone dies. Without conquering death everything else in life is ultimately in vain. Isaiah 25:8 says that God “will swallow up death in victory.” Of course, this is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ and the victory over death that He gives. The New Testament quotes this verse in Isaiah chapter 25, and says in First Corinthians 15:54-58, “So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

It says in Isaiah 25:8 that “the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces.” We live in a world of woe, of sorrow, of trial and tribulation. There are heartaches and heart-breaks. Things do not always work out the way that we wish they would. Sometimes we cry because of the pain. Unfortunately, tears are a part of this life. Many parents have become familiar with tears because of what happens to their children. For every suffering person: a person that is very ill, a person that is self-destructing, a person that is being abused or a person that is in prison, there is another person thinking of that suffering one, and perhaps crying himself or herself to sleep at night. Jesus wept. He was a man of sorrows and well acquainted with grief. But because of Jesus all things are coming to an end, and that includes tears. The Bible says in Revelation 21:4, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

There is one more thing mentioned in Isaiah chapter 25 that the Lord will do for His believers that is important to notice. It says in Isaiah 25:8, “the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.” The true believers are few in number in this earth, and usually they are not held in high esteem. In fact often those who walk with God are hated. Of course, Jesus told us to return hatred with love. But it can still be difficult to bear the reproach of man for Christ’s sake. The word that is translated “rebuke” means “reproach” and “scorn.” The people of the world have a lot of scorn for those who follow Jesus. We are of a different spirit. The spirit of Christ does not have communion with the spirit of the world. There is no agreement, and there is no common ground. It is a spiritual fact that those who are united with the all-powerful Christ are the objects of the world’s scorn. It is hard to endure being hated by others just because you have done the right thing and have loved that which is good. But thanks be to God that Christians will not always suffer from such hatred. Jesus will turn the tables. That is why He said in Matthew 5:5, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

The Bible says in Isaiah 26:1-4, “In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.” There is a lot of important symbolism in these verses. Notice first of all that this is a “song.” A day will come when a great song will be song: a song that has to do with strength and with salvation. The “strong city” is the city of God. What makes the city of God so very strong? Salvation makes the city strong: “salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.” If you have salvation through faith in Christ, then you have a strong protective seal around your soul. All of the evil forces of the world cannot reach your soul to harm it or to destroy it. That is why Jesus said in John 10:27-30, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.”

Isaiah 26:2 says concerning the city of God, “Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.” Please notice that the city of God has “open” gates. That is because there is always an open invitation to everyone to come to Jesus and to believe on Him, and then to have a home in heaven. The book of Revelation says the same thing about the gates that lead into the city of God. It says in Revelation 21:21-25, “And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.”

Notice who will enter into the gates of the city of God. It says in Isaiah 26:2, “that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.” There is a very close connection between righteousness and truth, and entering into the city of God. No one can enter into the eternal city of God without righteousness, but we are all sinners and we do not have this kind of righteousness on our own. It says in Isaiah 64:6, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” That is one of the reasons that it is so important to come to know Christ as Savior. Only Jesus can give you the righteousness that you need to enter into the kingdom of heaven. It says in Romans 1:16-17, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” And it says in Romans 3:21-26, “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”

The truth is also associated with entrance into the city of God because Jesus is the truth, and no one can enter into heaven without Jesus. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” If you want to enter the kingdom of heaven when you die, then it is important that you receive the righteousness and truth that only Jesus can give. Pray to Jesus for forgiveness of sins today while you still have time.

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