When people read prophecy they want to know: When will these things happen? Did they happen already? Will they happen to me?

The answer to these questions depends upon the individual prophecy, of course. There are lots of prophecies that have already come to pass, proving that the Lord was right when he spoke. Others are still in process, and the fulfillment of others still lies ahead of us. The events described in our reading today can’t be pinned to a particular time in Isaiah’s ministry so they were written for an era beyond his lifetime. Some of them are still ahead of us today.

We read prophecy because it tells us what to expect from God. It’s one thing to read the Law and hear the call to obey, it’s another to find out what happens if we choose not to heed that call. Prophecy lets us know the potential results of our responses to God.

The Coming Destruction of the Earth

The Lord is going to lay waste the earth someday. People will have done their worst and the impact of their sin on the earth will be devastating.

“The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt. Therefore earth’s inhabitants are burned up and very few are left.” Isaiah 24:4-6

Human beings are the only part of God’s creation that disobeys him. While the rest of the earth and the universe do exactly what they were made to do, people tend to exploit and abuse what God has made and their sin makes whatever they touch unholy.  The earth itself comes under God’s wrath.

“See, the Lord is going to lay waste the earth and devastate it; he will ruin its face and scatter its inhabitants – it will be the same for priest as for people, for the master as for his servant, for the mistress as for her servant, for seller as for buyer, for borrower as for lender, for debtor as for creditor. The earth will be completely laid waste and totally plundered.” Isaiah 24:1-3

People’s sinful activities have a powerful, far-reaching effect.

The Remnant

However, not everyone participates in this destruction. God knows who has repented from their sins and chosen righteousness. He will preserve those people and they will still be standing when the Lord’s holy wrath subsides, like the last fruit that hangs on the vine after harvest.

“So it will be on the earth and among the nations, as when an olive tree is beaten or as when gleanings are left after the grape harvest. They raise their voices, they shout for joy; from the west they acclaim the Lord’s majesty . . . From the ends of the earth we hear singing: ‘Glory to the Righteous One.’” Isaiah 24:13-16

For those who are saved, singing praise to God is the right response to his justice. They will sing for the joy of their salvation despite the devastation in the world around them. They will be glad that God’s perfect justice has been applied.

The End of the World

Every generation wonders if the end of the world will come in their lifetime and in each century there are events that seem to point to the end. War, famine, disease and pestilence come, and world leaders rise up who act like the Anti-Christ, but still the world doesn’t end.

Why should we take these end-of-the-world prophecies seriously?

We take them seriously because we want to be ready for anything. The end of the world could come today, and if we have listened to the prophets and learned to live in the right relationship with God all of the time, we won’t be afraid. We can look forward to the Lord’s appearing because we know our reward is with him.

We are the people for whom Isaiah wrote chapters 25 and 26.

God Prepares a Place for His people

The same God who deals with godless nations and reduces them to rubble, offers a quiet refuge and safe shelter for those who belong to him.

“Therefore strong peoples will honor you; cities of ruthless nations will revere you. You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall and like the heat of the desert. You silence the uproar of foreigners; as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is stilled.” Isaiah 25:3-5

The wicked will be destroyed, but God has prepared an eternal home for his people, a mountain where he has laid out a feast of rich food and choice wine. All who come to this mountain top banquet leave death and suffering behind forever.

“On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. In that day they will say, ‘Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.” Isaiah 25:7-9

God Gives His People Peace

Of all the things God offers his people, perhaps the greatest gift is peace. We can face anything, even the end of the world, if we have peace in our hearts.

“Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith. You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal . . . the path of the righteous is level; you, the Upright One, make the way of the righteous smooth. Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you . . . Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us.” Isaiah 26:2-4,7-9,12

When we walk a righteous path it leads to peace; the Lord makes the way for us.

The Righteous Understand

Only people who love God and his righteousness understand these things. Those who hate God will never learn from the prophets and never experience the peace of God.

“When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness. But when grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and do not regard the majesty of the Lord.” Isaiah 26:9-10

Everyone, the righteous and the wicked, are going to die someday, but those who belong to God will rise to eternal life. God will call to them and they will come.

“But your dead will live, Lord; their bodies will rise – let those who dwell in the dust wake up and shout for joy – your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.” Isaiah 26:19

In the meantime, we are safe in the Lord.

“Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the door behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by.” Isaiah 26:20

The Lord Knows

God sees into the heart of every person. He knows who puts on a show of honoring him while their hearts are far from him, and he sees those who try to hide from him.

“Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their work in darkness and think, ‘Who sees us? Who will know?’ . . . Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘You did not make me’? Can the pot say to the potter, ‘You know nothing’? Isaiah 29:15-16

No matter what people think of God, they answer to him eventually.

The nations may act as if God doesn’t exist, but he is sovereign over them. Someday all of humanity will stand before God and be judged by what he said in the Bible. He will ask, “Did you read the prophets? Because through them I told you what you should do to get ready for eternity.”

On that day we will be very glad that we read Isaiah and learned from him.