Old Testament Commentary - Isaiah 24

by Don R. Hender


Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
Commentary & Explanation
Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
                   CHAPTER 24                    

Men shall transgress the law and break the everlasting covenant—At the Second Coming they shall be burned, the earth shall reel, and the sun be ashamed—Then shall the Lord reign in Zion and Jerusalem.

  1 BEHOLD, the LORD maketh the aearth bempty, and maketh it waste, and cturneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
  2 And 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 abuyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with bthe taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.
  3 The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.
  4 The earth amourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, bthe haughty people of the earth do languish.
  5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have atransgressed the laws, bchanged the cordinance, dbroken the ceverlasting fcovenant.
  6 Therefore hath the acurse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the binhabitants of the earth are cburned, and dfew men lefta.
 6a few men left Though there will be both of the Latter Day Saints and those of other religions, relatively speaking there will be but a small percentage of the earth's population which does remain after the vast destructions and burnings which will come at the Lord's Second Coming. Not all who will be destroyed my be considered wicked as the destruction will come upon all men as verses 1-3 indicate. But assurdly, only the 'more righteous' will remain as it was in the Book of Mormon which scripture is a dualistic prototype for us to glean understanding from and apply such unto ourselves. As to the 'few men' it also seems that the ratio between male and female will be skewed toward there being many more females than males (Isaiah 4:1/2 Nephi 14:1). Perhaps this is due to wars and rumors of wars, but also it might be a reflection that generally more women are of a righteous nature than men.
  7 The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearted do sigh.
  8 The mirth of atabrets bceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.
  9 They shall not drink wine with a song; strong adrink shall be bitter to them that drink it.
  10 The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in.
  11 There is a crying for wine in the streets; all ajoy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.
  12 In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.
  13 ¶ When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the apeople, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done.
  14 aThey shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea.
  15 Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the afires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea.
  16 ¶ From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, aMy leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, bthe treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.
  17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
  18 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: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
  19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is amoved exceedingly.
  20 The aearth 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.
  21 And it shall come to pass in that aday, that the LORD shall bpunish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
  22 And they shall be gathered together, as aprisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the bprison, and after many days shall they be cvisited.
  23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun aashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount bZion, and in Jerusalem, and before chis ancients gloriously.