The next three chapters of Isaiah (from 24 to 27) are called (at least by the older Bible preachers/teachers) “Isaiah’s Apocalypse!”

Pure (and precise) Bible Prophecy!

Not cryptic symbolism, mind you … but (more along the line of Jesus’ “Olivet Discourse” of Matthew 24) amazing descriptions of the “last days,” not yet fulfilled for that matter!

More about that later.

Specifically for today’s lesson … Isaiah 24 is built around an “inclusio.” The Holy Spirit has “marked” (as do “bookends” or “parentheses” or “frames”) both the start and the end of His major thrust …labeling them with identical (at least matching) literary terms.

Let me show you.

Isaiah 24:1 … “Behold, the LORD maketh the EARTH empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.”

Then, near the end of the chapter but certainly the end of its foremost paragraph, Isaiah 24:19-20 … “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.”

Notice that in both Isaiah 24’s beginning and ending … the “earth” is falling apart!

In verse 1 … “empty, waste, upside down,” and “scattered!”

In verses 19-20 … “utterly broken down, clean dissolved, moved exceedingly, reeling to and fro,” and “fallen, not to rise again!”

Wow!

I am wondering something already. If Isaiah chapters 12-23 show God’s Power over the Nations … does perhaps Isaiah chapters 24-27 show God’s Power over all creation? At least over all of planet earth, with the whole world implied?

And “between” Isaiah 24’s verse 1 and verses 19-20 … is described a time of great tribulation (maybe better spelled Tribulation) on our globe!

God sent Tribulation!

As examples …

Verse 3 … “The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.”

Verse 4 … even the “people” now … “The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the HAUGHTY PEOPLE of the earth do languish.”

Verse 5 … chaos, rebellion, disobedience … “Isaiah 24:5 … “The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.”

Verse 6, sounding much like Revelation 8:7, the Tribulation … “Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.”

There’s even more (within this dramatic “inclusio”), life becoming a drudgery … Verses 7-12 … “The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearted do sigh. The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth. They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in. There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone. In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.” What “city?” Any city of earth, a generic term here.

Then, suddenly, is this an earthquake? Verse 13 … “When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done.” Or just more severe judgment?

And yet, in keeping with Isaiah’s writing style (unexpectedly inserting harbingers of “Kingdom Blessing” into passages of horrible “tribulation gloom”), Verses 14-16a … “They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea. Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea. From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous.”

Wow!

Then immediately, back to all the suffering … as a result of sin. Isaiah 24:16b-17 … “My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! The treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously. Fear, and the pit and the snare, are upon thee. O inhabitant of the earth.”

And things are not going to improve for a while. “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.” Verse 18, sounding much like Amos 5:20 now!

Then finally … still from verse 18 … “For the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.”

Here, not windows open to pour out blessings, as in Malachi 3:10 … but to pour out God’s wrath on a reprobate world!

What a chapter!

Isaiah 24, as astounding as anything John wrote from the Isle of Patmos. But of course, there is a Common Author behind both men’s hands!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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Normally today we’d be in the next Isaiah chapter, Isaiah 24.

But I feel compelled (if not for your sakes, dear readers, for my sake … to help further our perception of this Section of Isaiah) … to try to write an overview/summary of Isaiah chapter 13 through Isaiah chapter 23, all having in common this: some nation of the world is being addressed with (at least an initial) word of judgment, because of unconfessed sin!

The people of Israel had (almost constantly) trusted some ungodly Nation around her … for safety and alliance during hard times! (Even paying them “protection money” at times!)

And this trust angered Almighty God! (Isaiah 36:6 illustrates this issue. “Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.”)

For this reason (at least) … God has just (through Isaiah the Prophet) pronounced doom on nation after nation! PROVING THAT GOD IS OVER THE NATIONS, THE SOVEREIGN RULER OF THE WORLD! These nations are “nothing” to our great God!

Isaiah 40:15, spoken of God: “Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.” What an “artist” with his words, Isaiah! What “word pictures!”

Thus Isaiah 13-23 illustrates Israel does not need these nations for “help,” because the day will come (the Millennium) when these nations will literally “serve” Israel!

This is specifically depicted in the last paragraph of Isaiah 23 … where Tyre has become a believing body of people … again in the Millennium … worshipping Almighty God and aiding/honoring the little Nation of Israel as her superior!  

Here’s Isaiah 23:17-18, the chapter’s last thought: “The LORD will visit Tyre … and her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD (the believing Jews), to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.”

Subservience!

In summary, I saw this “string” of thought in a commentary earlier today. It’s helpful. “If the GLORY of the nations is nothing and if the SCHEMING of the nations is nothing and if the WISDOM of the nations is nothing and if the WEALTH of the nations is nothing … THEN WHY TRUST THE NATIONS?  (A precis of chapters 11-23!)

ANSWER: NO REASON EXISTS!

Thus … TRUST IN THE LORD!

Wow!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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The Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon (the latter mentioned as “Zidon” in verse 2) have been slated for destruction, by Almighty God nonetheless! According to Isaiah 23:1-14 anyway.

But(and what a contrast today’s Text is when juxtaposed with yesterday’s Text) …

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot. Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; take sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, THAT THE LORD WILL VISIT TYRE, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.” Isaiah 23:15-18

Here we have another 70 year block of time! As in Jeremiah 25:11 … “And this whole land (Judah) shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.” Also Daniel’s expression “70 weeks” (literally “seventy weeks of years”) comes to mind, Daniel 9:24.

Tyre “forgotten” (destroyed) for seventy years. (The approximate life of one of her Kings.)

Then at the conclusion of those seventy years … Tyre is back! (History says this actually happened! With different commentators ascribing her “absence” to various periods of time.) But she’s no better spiritually … “After the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot. Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.” Self perpetuation is critically important to the vain inhabitants of the world. She longs to be remembered, that “world history” thing. (This “poem” is one that makes fun of an old harlot who is no longer beautiful or seductive … but must “play and sing” to draw any customers!)

Then naturally Tyre is back to her old ways, buying and selling and making money! “And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that THE LORD WILL VISIT TYRE, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.” Isaiah 23, our Text, verse 17. She is located west of the Holy Land and directly on the Mediterranean Coast … a perfect place to conduct commerce with the then-known world. Buying and selling and trading! (Isaiah here is comparing godless commerce, love of money … to “prostitution,” leaving God out of all one’s activities.)

Then something amazing happens! But only after the Lord has visited Tyre! “And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD.” Can you imagine? Is this Nation converted? Or has (at least) a little nucleus of people there been saved?

She no longer hordes her money, vast as the supply may have been! “It (her massive wealth) shall not be treasured nor laid up.” So says God! Isaiah in 23:18b, word for word. (Not for her own use, anyway!)

Rather … her resources will be dedicated to God! Here it is, King James Version: “For her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.” Wow, Isaiah 23:18, the rest of the verse.

Wow!

Filthy Tyre … now (at least some of her people) on the “Lord’s side!”

Supporting the Lord’s Work!

Tyre generously provided materials for the building of Solomon’s Temple, if you recall! David’s Palace, too!

2 Samuel 5:11 … “And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons: and they built David an house.”

1 Chronicles 14:1 agrees! “Now Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and timber of cedars, with masons and carpenters, to build him an house.”

Solomon too!

1 Kings 9:11 … “Now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire.”

Wow!

Yes, Isaiah 23:15-18 has a historical fulfillment. Definitely! But it also has (I believe) a future fulfillment. When the wealth of the world will flow to Jerusalem during the Millennium, during the Reign of Jesus Christ on earth there … as per Isaiah 60:5. “Then thou (Israel) shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because THE ABUNDANCE OF THE SEA shall be converted unto thee, THE FORCES OF THE GENTILES shall come unto thee.” 

Wow!

By the way, during Jesus’ first earthly Ministry people from Tyre got saved! Mark 7:26 … “The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.” Praise the Lord! (Phoenicia, the Land of Tyre!)

Fruit, spiritual fruit … from Tyre!

Truly … “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

And I say, “Amen!”

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

(If you are having “trouble” with Tyre, ungodly as she has been, “supporting” God’s people … the wicked aiding the good … just remember Egypt! The Exodus … “And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.” Exodus 12:36-37)

Wow!

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Finally (at least that’s the word some of you might use), we have arrived at the end of Isaiah’s “Judgment against the Nations” Material. Encompassing Isaiah chapters 11 through 23 … what Proof that God is “over all,” omnipotent and omniscient and omnipresent!

Which Nation is last on the list?

Phoenicia, whose two major cities (Tyre and Sidon) are clearly indicated (and threatened) in Isaiah 23.

Isaiah begins with his typical: “The burden of Tyre!” The seacoast City which was the Crown Jewel of the Mediterranean world, a transportation hub and financial center supreme. Isaiah 23:3 … “And by great waters the seed of Sihor (the Nile), the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations.”

Wow!

Initially, as the chapter begins … it seems some of the huge ships of Tarshish (located in Spain) are sailing toward Tyre, loaded with goods, and they hear some “bad news” about the City. “Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it (Tyre) is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them.” (Isaiah 23:1) The Land of Chittim? All the isles of the Mediterranean combined, as a group. (A little like the U.S. Virgin Islands.)

In verse 5 Isaiah compares the demised of Egypt (Isaiah 19) to that of Tyre. Thus proving that the “Judgment of the Nations” unit is a whole, not fragments pieced together by some unknown editor! “As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre.” 

Tyre had built (and heavily fortified) a part of itself on an island extending into the Mediterranean. Such was thought to be impenetrable! “Howl, ye inhabitants of the ISLE. Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days?” Verses 6 and 7 of Isaiah 23.

Now, watch this example of beautiful Isaianic preaching! “WHO hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth? The LORD OF HOSTS hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.” Isaiah 23:8-9 (The Lord of Hosts, meaning the Lord of the Armies!)

And God is still at work! “He (the Lord) stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: the LORD hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof.” Verse 11, powerful!

Parts of verse 12, God to Tyre and Sidon: “Thou shalt no more rejoice!” Then “Thou shalt have no rest!”

But … just who is God using to bring this havoc to such rich, worldly, affluent places? The Babylonians, the Assyrians … anyone He chooses! And the aggressors … “Brought it (Tyre/Sidon) to ruin,” Phoenicia no more! (Verse 13)

No more profit for the nations of the whole world, like Tarshish for example. “Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste.” (Verse 14, and a harbinger of Revelation chapters 17 and 18 when Babylon again falls and all the merchants of earth weep and mourn.)

But yet … tomorrow’s lesson … God does something amazing! For Tyre and Sidon, a second chance. This is discussed in Isaiah 23:15-18 and will be our next “focus,” the Lord willing.

Study with us again, Thursday.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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Our chapter today ends in an amazing way.

By comparing two men, each a leader of Judah in his day.

But there the similarity ends.

One (named Shebna) is selfish.

The other (named Eliakim) is phenomenally selfless!

Watch Shebna (under the guise of leading Judah) provide for himself. “Thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts (speaking to Isaiah here), Go, get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna, which is over the house, and say, What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, and that graveth an habitation for himself in a rock? Behold, the LORD will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, and will surely cover thee.” Isaiah 22:15-17

This Shebna is the “treasurer” (an important “Secretary” level post) of the Land … but is much more interested in providing his own grave site (burial plot) … an expensive one at that! Hewn from solid rick, costly indeed.

But God is aware of the man’s greediness. And (in keeping with this section of Isaiah … its emphasis on judgment) the Lord announces the man’s demise, downfall. “He (an attacking enemy, maybe Assyria) will surely violently turn and toss thee (Shebna) like a ball into a large country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord’s house. And I will drive thee from thy station (position), and from thy state shall he pull thee down.” Isaiah 22:18-19

Wow!

The other man … Eliakim … is by comparison a paragon of virtue!

God here replaces the bad with the good.

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that I (the Lord Himself) will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah: and I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.” Isaiah 22:20-21, a real “fatherly figure” to the people of Judah!

But then, for a few verses anyway … I think this description goes beyond a human being, looking all the way to the coming Messiah (Jesus)! See if you agree. “And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house. And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons.” Isaiah 22:22-24, this is our Lord, folks!

Jesus Himself quotes these words (applying them to HIS Ministry) in Revelation 3:7. “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth.”

Wow!

Jesus … as the future Treasurer/Leader/Father of Israel!

Then, inexplicably, Isaiah turns back to the human being who replaced Shebna … to the mere man Eliakim (and as good as he is … yet his humanity/depravity soon shows) … “In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for the LORD hath spoken it.” Isaiah 22:25, the chapter’s last verse. (Only our great God completely is infallible!)

UNLESS … this “removal” and “cutting down” and “falling” of Eliakim (even if faintly) represents the old rugged Cross, Jesus’ Death there for you and me!

And that “cutting down ” of Jesus leads to … READ IT … the removal of the BURDEN, the weight of sin!

Wow!

You decide.

I like Eliakim!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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