When I read these chapters, here is the musical underscore that pops into my mind.

Go ahead. Give it a listen. It’s only 2 minutes long. Use headphones for the full experience.

I’ll just sit right here til you get back…

🪑

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See? Epic huh?

And fitting because these are a couple of EPIC chapters. Isaiah boldly goes where no man has gone before… the end; to a point in the future that we today have not yet reached. He slipped the bonds of earth and spoke on behalf of God.

Let’s get into it.

Right out of the gate we know this is something MUCH bigger than ancient Jerusalem or Babylon. The scope of this prophecy is the whole planet: 🌎

“Behold, the Lord will empty the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.

The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered; for the Lord has spoken this word.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭24‬:‭1‬, ‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The current global population is estimated to be around 8.3 Billion as of the beginning of 2026. Pretty far from empty. And going back through history to the time of Isaiah, the earth has never been “utterly empty.” But when God says a thing, it ALWAYS happens.

Humans can build all the super bunkers and underground bases they want, you can’t hide from Almighty God.

Verse 2 lets us know that everyone, regardless of prior socio-economic status is in the same boat- the very few who are left, that is.

Verses 4-6 might’ve been what Paul was drawing on when he wrote:

“For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭19‬-‭23‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The “modern era” taught us to think of the state of the environment as being something separate and distinct from the morality of the people living in it: “A people’s sexual preferences couldn’t possibly have an effect on the environment.” Look at what God said to Isarel about the land:

“Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. But you shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you (for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean), lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.” Leviticus‬ ‭18‬:‭24‬-‭28‬ ‭ESV‬‬

This same idea is expanded to include the entire planet in Isaiah 24. The whole earth is unclean and is “vomiting out its inhabitants.” 🤮

It’s like the earth has eaten bad shrimp 🍤 and is now up all night hurling out the poison. 🚽

Verses 7-14 are strikingly parallel to John’s description of the fall of Babylon in Revelation:

“and the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will be heard in you no more, and a craftsman of any craft will be found in you no more, and the sound of the mill will be heard in you no more, and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more, and the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more, for your merchants were the great ones of the earth, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭18‬:‭22‬-‭23‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The party is OVER but from somewhere there is the sound of singing… songs of …praise?? Perhaps it’s THIS song which is sung in heaven immediately upon the announcement of the Fall of Babylon:

“After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.” Once more they cried out, “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!””
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭19‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Keep this dual location of heaven and earth in mind, because it really permeates this portion of Isaiah.

Back in Isaiah, 24:17-18 speaks of inescapable catastrophes. It’s like there’s an escalation from creation groaning and bad times to REALLY bad times, to inescapable catastrophes from the windows of heaven above and a shaking earth below, and finally, the spinning top that is planet earth begins to wobble and finally just flips over.

“The earth is utterly broken, the earth is split apart, the earth is violently shaken. The earth staggers like a drunken man; it sways like a hut; its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls, and will not rise again.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭24‬:‭19‬-‭20‬ ‭ESV‬‬

This is a catastrophic event on par with the Flood of Noah.

The final bowl of God’s wrath in Revelation describes something similar. (It’s worth mentioning that the 7th seal and 7th trumpet also describe an earthquake in very final language. Some scholars speculate that the 7th seal, trumpet and bowl- at least from Heaven’s perspective- may be concurrent rather than sequential.) The 7th bowl is the FINAL thing in destroying the unrepentant. The judgements escalate in severity just like Isaiah describes, then there is this final blow.

“The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭16‬:‭17‬-‭20‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Forget the Richter Scale. This is what scientists call “an extinction level event.”

😯 Oooo! Like the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs? 🦕 🦖 ☄️

Yes. Exactly like that.

And it is at this point that a great judgment happens in both Isaiah and Revelation. We get our code words “on THAT day” so we know this is Day of the Lord stuff. But Isaiah has an amazing detail that we don’t really get in Revelation.

“On that day the Lord will punish the host of heaven, in heaven, and the kings of the earth, on the earth. They will be gathered together as prisoners in a pit; they will be shut up in a prison, and after many days they will be punished. Then the moon will be confounded and the sun ashamed, for the Lord of hosts reigns on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and his glory will be before his elders.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭24‬:‭21‬-‭23‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I hope you’re still thinking in 2 realms- heavenly and earthly- because this judgement has 2 locations for 2 groups.

• The Host of Heaven in Heaven
• The Kings of Earth on Earth

The unseen realm is intertwined with earth and what happens on it. And the rebel sons of God will have a a judgement day too.

And you and I will be in the jury.

Or so the Apostle Paul said:

“Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭6‬:‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Let’s look at some additional texts that support this idea of a Judgement Day for the Heavenly Host (not just humans).

In Deuteronomy 4:19 Yahweh warns the people against idolatry- particularly against worshiping “the host of heaven” and God says that the host of heaven has been “allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.” This is what Paul describes in Romans 1 when God “gave them over” to their sin. The post-flood people again defied God at Babel so He gave them what they wanted – He gave them over to the their sinful worship of the rebellious members of the host of heaven.

Deuteronomy 32:8 describes this event as taking place at Babel:

“Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you. When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.”
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭32‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Jeremiah receives this word from Yahweh:

“Thus shall you say to them: “The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.””
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭10‬:‭11‬ ‭ESV‬‬

They are destined to die. Asaph confirms it.

“They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.” Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭82‬:‭5‬-‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Notice that the context in this prophetic Psalm of Asaph is:

• The foundations of the earth are shaken
• The earth is getting judged too
• The LORD is inheriting all nations (see Rev. 11:15)

Jude also had something to say about the judgment of angels:

“And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.”
‭‭Jude‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

He is referring to the angels of Genesis 6. Isaiah and Asaph are probably referring to others. But speaking of angels being in prison… Isaiah 24:22 speaks of both the heavenly hosts and the kings of the earth being “gathered together as prisoners in a pit, and shall be be shut up in the prison, and after man days shall they be visited.”

This sequence tracks with Revelation:

“And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭20‬:‭2‬-‭3‬, ‭7‬-‭13‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Here’s the sequence:

• Judgment is determined
• The wicked – both human and heavenly are cast into a pit (death/hell) to await judgment
• After “many days” punishment finally comes
• Death and Hell are cast into the Lake of Fire
• New Heavens and Earth

Isaiah ends this section with a hint at problems with sun and moon (which figures heavily into Day of the LORD imagery and prophecy) and finally with Yahweh reigning “in mount Zion AND in Jerusalem, and before His elders gloriously” (emphasis mine).

Remember those 24 Elders we saw earlier in Revelation? Here they are in Isaiah. And the text makes a subtle distinction between Zion and Jerusalem. Remember how we talked a few posts back about “Zion” being the heavenly reality while “Jerusalem” speaks of the physical city on earth? Heaven and earth finally come back together again like it was in Eden. Isaiah is tracking on the themes from Revelation 21-22, the new heaven & earth.

No wonder he bursts into a psalm of praise in chapter 25! It’s a psalm rejoicing in Yahweh’s triumph over sin and death FOREVER.

Compare these:

“He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭25‬:‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.””
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭21‬:‭4‬ ‭ESV‬‬

And Isaiah even gives the name of the Messiah Who’s victory over death made it all possible:

“It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.””
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭25‬:‭9‬ ‭ESV‬‬

It literally says in Hebrew: “let us be glad and rejoice in His Yeshua (Jesus in Greek).”

And Isaiah isn’t done singing. In the next reading he teaches another song of praise and then he “gets his preach on.” He foretells the Resurrection and talks more about the wrath of God. There’s even talk of a dragon and a great trumpet being blown.

😏 Sounds like John was copying Isaiah’s homework.

Hey… In the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses…