CHAPTER 24

(712 B.C.)

THE TRIBULATION: CHAOS, WASTE, JUDGMENT

¹Behold, the LORD makes the Earth empty, and makes it waste, and turns it upside down, and scatters abroad the inhabitants thereof. (The intention of the Holy Spirit is for the hearer of this Prophecy to understand that as Israel is affected, so, at least in some measure, is the entirety of the Earth. This Verse could read, Behold, Jehovah shall make the Land of Palestine empty, and shall make it waste, and shall turn it upside down, and shall scatter abroad its inhabitants.)

²And it shall be, as with the people, so with the Priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. (The inhabitants in this Passage are divided into six groups doubled. Six in the Scriptures is the number of man and expresses his imperfection, for it comes short of the perfect number seven. Man was created on the sixth day, and the number of the future superman will be 666.

These Passages, in some limited way, have had fulfillment in the past; however, their greater fulfillment concerns the Great Tribulation yet to come and the Battle of Armageddon.)

³The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD has spoken this Word. (With the emphasis placed on the LORD has spoken this Word, we are given an idea of the unchangeable position of God. Perfection doesnt need to change.)

⁴The Earth mourns and fades away, the world languishes and fades away, the haughty people of the Earth do languish. (When the word Earth is here used, the manifold thrust of the Passage is toward Israel; however, during this time of the Great Tribulation, the judgments of God, even though centered up in the Middle East, will also affect the entirety of the Earth [Mat. 24:21; Rev., Chpt. 6].)

⁵The Earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the Everlasting Covenant. (The reason for the Great Tribulation that is to come is because of the acute violation of the Word of God [Mat. 24:21].)

⁶Therefore has the curse devoured the Earth, and they who dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the Earth are burned, and few men left. (The justice of this Divine action is stated in Verses 5 and 6. This Passage basically speaks of the Second Coming of Christ, when so many men will be killed that blood will run to the horses bridles [Rev. 14:20; Ezek. 38:22].)

⁷The new wine mourns, the vine languishes, all the merryhearted do sigh. (In olden times, the harvest constituted days of merrymaking. It was the grandest time of the year. But at this coming time, there will be no merryhearted, but only those who do sigh.)

⁸The mirth of tabrets ceases, the noise of them who rejoice ends, the joy of the harp ceases. (All is dismay and wretchedness desolation in the present and worse desolation expected in the future.)

⁹They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them who drink it. (This Passage does not mean that men will cease drinking alcohol; they will probably drink even more, yet without any accompanying merriment that usually corresponds with such action.

During the last three and a half years of the Great Tribulation, there will be no more joy in Israel.)

¹⁰The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in. (This probably addresses Jerusalem. Chaos reigns. There is no civic life, no government, no order, and nothing but confusion [Zech. 14:2].)

¹¹There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone. (During the Great Tribulation, there is implication that great amounts of alcohol will be consumed. They will desire its opiate for the oblivion it brings when drunk to excess.)

¹²In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction. (No amount of negotiations, diplomacy, or treaty agreements can halt the inevitable march of this coming doom, because the Third Verse says, The LORD has spoken this Word.

Even though this judgment is horrifying, still, it is not meant by the Lord to be punitive, but rather corrective.)

JEWISH REMNANT REJOICES

¹³When 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. (The idea of this Verse is to portray the tremendous number of Jews who will be killed in the latter half of the Great Tribulation and at the Battle of Armageddon. Zechariah said that two-thirds would die [Zech. 13:8]. There are approximately 5 million Jews in Israel presently. The death of two-thirds would leave about 1.6 million alive. As stated, it wont be a pleasant time!)

¹⁴They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea. (This refers to the remnant that is left at the beginning of the Kingdom Age, after Christ has returned, and those remaining in Israel have accepted Him as Saviour and Lord. There will be great rejoicing [Zech. 13:9].)

¹⁵Wherefore glorify you the LORD in the fires, even the Name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea. (It seems that the word fires is an unfortunate translation. The rendering which the Hebrew seems to suggest is that the Lord will be glorified even to the borders of Israel.

Crying aloud from the sea refers to the border on the west, which is the Mediterranean.)

A NEW AGE FOLLOWING JUDGMENT

¹⁶From the uttermost part of the Earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yes, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously. (The Righteous is the Messiah. Israel rejected the Righteous One and accepted the treacherous dealers, which brought a terrible leanness. Now they will have finally realized their tragic mistake, and, at long last, will glorify the Righteous, i.e., Christ.)

¹⁷Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon you, O inhabitant of the Earth. (The Prophecy now reverts back to the time of the Great Tribulation. Fear will captivate the entirety of mankind and even the atmosphere.)

¹⁸And it shall come to pass, that he who flees from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he who comes 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. (These great judgments in the coming Great Tribulation will affect the entirety of the Earth [Rev. 6:12-17; 11:13; 16:17-21].)

¹⁹The Earth is utterly broken down, the Earth is clean dissolved, the Earth is moved exceedingly. (The implication from the Scholars is that the English translation is very feeble compared to the original. Giant earthquakes, greater than the world has ever seen before, will no doubt be instrumental in this great calamity [Rev. 16:18].)

²⁰The 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. (The phrase, shall be removed like a cottage, means to sway to and fro like a hammock. During this time, one can well imagine what will happen to the tides, mountains, and even vast continents! [Rev. 16:16-21].)

²¹And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones who are on high, and the kings of the Earth upon the Earth. (The words, in that day, refer to the Battle of Armageddon. Then, all the mighty men on Earth, plus Satan, demon spirits, and fallen angels, will be dealt with by the Lord at the Second Coming [Rev. 19:19-21; 20:1-10].)

²²And 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. (Satan and all fallen angels and demon spirits will be locked in the bottomless pit for a thousand years [Rev. 20:1-7]. At the end of that thousand years will be the second resurrection of damnation, when every unsaved person who has ever lived will stand before God at the Great White Throne Judgment. There will be no reprieve.

So, Jesus Christ can be your Saviour today or your Judge tomorrow; but one way or the other, all will face Christ [Rev. 20:11-15].)

THE MILLENNIAL REIGN OF THE MESSIAH

²³Then 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 Chapter closes with the glorious Promise of the coming Kingdom Age.)