God has established the boundaries of peoples and nations. He establishes and brings down kings and authorities but that doesn’t prevent men, or even the devil himself from trying to exalt themselves. God did tell man in Genesis 1:28 “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of heaven, and over every animal that moves upon the earth.” and this was as a father might say to his children seeking the best for their future. But then God sees that in Isaiah 24:5 “the earth is defiled beneath its inhabitants. For they have transgressed” and in Isaiah 24:6 “Therefore a curse devours the earth, and the inhabitants in it suffer for their guilt”.
You Did Not See the One Who Created It
I Will Put Your Authority Into His Hand
Isaiah 22:15–25
Sometimes people get the idea that they are exalted because they are so superior, that they have made themselves great. But it is God who sets up and tears down.
Isaiah 22:22–23 And I will put the key of the house of David on his shoulder, and he shall open and no one will be able to shut; and he shall shut and no one will be able to open. 23 And I will drive him in like a peg into a secure place, and he will become like a throne of glory to the house of his father.
Yahweh of Hosts has Planned It
Isaiah 23:1–9
Tyre was a great sea port for commerce. Here, the ships would be returning with great cargo to be distributed throughout the region. These are “ships of Tyre returning from their voyage to Tarshish, or Tartessus in Spain, with which the Phoenicians had much commerce (Ez 27:12–25). “Ships of Tarshish” is a phrase also used of large and distant-voyaging merchant vessels (Is 2:16”.1
And since great wealth passed through the city, they thought highly of themselves as it says in
Ezekiel 27:3 And you must say to Tyre, the one who sits at the entrance of the sea as the merchant of the peoples to the many coastlands, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Tyre, you yourself said “I am perfect in beauty!”
But God gave the fruit of the earth for all to enjoy, not to be hoarded and used to build wealth for a few as it says in
1 Timothy 6:17–19 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be proud and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of riches, but in God, who provides us all things richly for enjoyment, 18 to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, sharing freely, 19 storing up for themselves a good foundation for the future, in order that they may take hold of what is truly life.
So, the Lord tells us what he will do in
Isaiah 23:9 Yahweh of hosts has planned it: to defile the pride of all glory, to humble all the honored ones of the earth.
Yahweh Has Commanded Concerning Canaan
A Curse Devours the Earth
Isaiah 24:1–12
Sin entered the world through man and in every way mans actions have tainted God’s creation as it says in
Isaiah 24:5–6 and the earth is defiled beneath its inhabitants. For they have transgressed laws; they have passed by statutes; they have broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore a curse devours the earth, and the inhabitants in it suffer for their guilt. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth burn, and few men are left.
The first and one of the most obvious ways man has sinned is “with innocent blood (Ge 4:11; Nu 35:33; Ps 106:38)”.2 Jesus said in
John 10:10 The thief comes only so that he can steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
And somehow, we have been deceived into thinking that we can kill our unborn children, that we can poison and pollute our environment, that we can steal from and oppress those weaker than us and we can do it with impunity. But the great deceiver will be thrown down in
Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
But man has also sinned in every way and cannot go guiltless, “First, they have transgressed revealed truth (5b). Disobeyed (√’ābar) is to cross over a boundary. The laws: the plural denotes ‘law of every sort’ and ‘law covering every aspect of life’. But the basic idea of law (tōrâ) is not so much authoritative imposition as authoritative instruction. God spoke but they did not submit. Secondly, they changed the unchangeable (5c). Violated (√ḥālap) is used of one thing replacing another. Statutes: from √ḥāqaq, to carve, engrave, hence to make a permanent mark. They rejected divine moral absolutes and invented an innovative morality. Thirdly, they discarded a given relationship with God (5d). Everlasting covenant is used of the Noahic covenant (Gen. 9:16), the Abrahamic covenant (Ps. 105:10), the Sabbath (Lev. 24:8) and the Davidic covenant (2 Sam. 23:5) with its future messianic fulfilment (55:3; 61:8). But the world has not wished to live faithfully under the promise of the rainbow (Gen. 9:12–17), nor has it seen itself in need of the blessing that comes only through Abraham’s seed (Gen. 12:3; 22:18; Gal. 3:8), nor has it ordered its timetable so as to remember the Sabbath (Exod. 20:8–11; Deut. 5:12–15), nor has it wanted this Man to reign over it (Luke 19:14) nor loved his appearing (2 Tim. 4:8).”3
Yahweh of Hosts Will Rule on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
Isaiah 24:13–23
Yahweh, You Are My God; I Will Exalt You
Isaiah 25:1–12
Study Verses
- Isaiah 22:15–25 I Will Put Your Authority Into His Hand
- Isaiah 23:1–9 Yahweh of Hosts has Planned It
- Isaiah 24:1–12 A Curse Devours the Earth
Today’s Reading
- Isaiah 22:1-25
- Isaiah 23:1-18
- Isaiah 24:1-23
- Isaiah 25:1-12
References
- 1. Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 455). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
- 2. Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 457). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
- 3. Motyer, J. A. (1999). Isaiah: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 20, pp. 185–186). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
