In this chapter Isaiah reminds us that when the world collapses, God still reigns. God brings judgment on the world to prepare the way for His kingdom. When things fall apart under God’s judgment, God’s children can have peace, knowing that He works all things together for good.

In Isaiah 24 the prophet moves away from the judgment of individual nations addressed in chapters 13–23 and turns his attention to the entire earth. He sees the world as a single vast city. It is a city not shaped by the wisdom of God but by the desires of humanity. “The city of man” is built on pride, injustice, and rebellion. Isaiah calls it the city of chaos.

This chapter confronts us with the sobering truth that a day is coming when every system, structure, and power built apart from God will fall. Yet in that same day, the redeemed will sing to the Lord, who will take His throne as King in Jerusalem over all the earth.

Isaiah presents five movements of God’s judgment. Each teaches us something about the heart of God, the nature of sin, and the hope of redemption.

The first movement is Devastation in Verses 1–3 – Isaiah opens with a vision of the Lord judging the earth and laying it waste. Everything that seems stable will be shaken. What is thought to be secure collapses. Isaiah wants us to understand that this is not merely a local event in Israel or the surrounding region, but a future worldwide act of God. We can see things like this occurring today in our world.

In verse 2, Isaiah stresses that this judgment is completely impartial. Priest and people, slave and master, buyer and seller, lender and borrower all fall alike. On that day, every human distinction is stripped away. Only one’s relationship to God will matter and afford peace in the midst of all those events.

Verse 3 declares the totality of the devastation. The earth will be completely laid waste and utterly ruined, for the Lord has spoken His word. Nothing can resist the word of God. The city of man that stands in pride will fall before the King of heaven.

We live in a world that places its trust in financial security, political power, technology, medicine, and human wisdom. Isaiah reminds us that none of these foundations will endure. Only those who build their lives on the Word of God and walk in His Holy Spirit of God will experience His peace through these trials.

This passage applies today by reminding us that God is sovereign over the entire world and that all human institutions and people, whether believers or unbelievers are accountable to Him. Judgment is comprehensive, reaching every social class and revealing that wealth, power, and status offer no protection when collapse comes.

It also highlights how social structures based solely on human wisdom, apart from spiritual truth, are inherently fragile. Instability often reflects deeper moral and spiritual realities rather than chance. God is sovereign over all things. These verses call us to humility and walking in the Spirit. This is how we can discern our part in God’s work in the world today. The Kingdom is now but not yet and is found in the Body of Messiah, which is both visible and invisible.

2. Mourning Verses 4–13

The second movement is mourning, found in verses 4–13. The world groans under the weight of sin, and Isaiah now shows us the reason for God’s judgment.

Verses 4–6 describe the earth drying up and mourning because humanity has corrupted it. Verse 5 gives the cause. Mankind has violated God’s teachings, broken His laws, and rejected the everlasting covenant. This covenant most likely refers to the Noahic covenant, which binds all humanity to live in righteousness and reverence before God. It may also point to the law written on the conscience, which every person knows yet continually violates, as described in Romans 2:14–16:

For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.

Because the world has rejected God’s moral order, verse 6 declares that a curse consumes the earth, both now and in the future. Sin has consequences. Rebellion against God brings judgment and destruction.

Verses 7–13 describe the collapse of joy. Wine no longer cheers the heart, music falls silent, and celebration ends. The proud city and its inhabitants are reduced to ruin. The world that once celebrated sin now mourns under the weight of its own corruption.

These verses describe what judgment does. Earlier Isaiah showed us why judgment comes. Here he shifts the focus from military defeat to the collapse of joy, community, and meaning. The city of man loses the very things it once lived for.

In verse 7, joy withers at its source. The new wine dries up and the vine languishes. Wine often symbolizes joy and blessing. Isaiah is not merely describing agricultural failure but spiritual loss. When the blessing of God is removed, creation reflects that loss. Joy cannot thrive apart from God.

In verse 8, celebration falls silent. It’s the day the music dies. Tambourines and harps cease, and joy ends. This silence does not point to temporary sorrow but to divine judgment. A culture built on pleasure loses its purpose that God intended. When He is rejected, joy recedes and sorrow increases.

In verse 9, pleasure sours. Drinking and singing end, and strong drink becomes bitter. Isaiah exposes the lie that happiness can be found apart from righteousness. Sin does not remove sorrow; it delays and magnifies it.

Verse 10 declares that the city of chaos is broken down. Every house is shut up so that none may enter. Isaiah names the world system chaos, disguised as order. Without God, society cannot maintain harmony. Fellowship collapses, fear replaces community, and isolation takes hold. The city of man promises freedom but delivers loneliness.

In verse 11, there is weeping over lost joy. People seek relief but not repentance. They long for past pleasures without turning to their source. 

Verse 12 describes total desolation. The gate is battered to ruins. Gates symbolize security, leadership, justice, and protection. Their destruction signals the collapse of authority and safety. This is not partial judgment but complete desolation. We see this truth in Nehemiah 1, where Nehemiah gets word of the state of Jerusalem after the judgment that Isaiah prophesied.

Verse 13 closes this section with restrained hope. Like olives left after shaking a tree or grapes remaining after harvest, God preserves a remnant. Judgment is severe but not total. God has always kept a remnant as a testimony of His covenant faithfulness. He never judges without also providing a way of salvation. The remnant prepares the way for the Messiah in both His first and second comings.

Thus verses 7–13 teach that joy without God cannot endure. Pleasure detached from righteousness turns bitter. Without God, society collapses inwardly. Yet even in judgment, God preserves a remnant.

3. Worship Verses 14–16

The third movement is worship. Amid ruin, a song rises. Verse 14 tells us that the remnant lifts its voice in praise. In the reign of Messiah, the redeemed recognize the righteousness of God even in judgment and glorify His name.

Verse 15 shows worship flowing from every corner of the earth, from east and west, from the islands of the sea. This includes the remnant of Israel and those grafted into her from the nations. It points forward to the first and second coming of Yeshua and His future reign from Jerusalem, while also reflecting Messiah’s present reign over His people in the Body of Messiah.

Verse 16 records their song: “Glory to the Righteous One.” Even in judgment, God is praised because His justice is perfect and His holiness is beyond question. Those who know Him recognize His righteousness and justice.

Yet this praise is not triumphal or flaunted before a world under discipline. It’s expressed with humility, love, and grace, pointing others to the Messiah, who through His death and resurrection brings life and redemption out of judgment.

True faith worships God even in times of shaking. When the structures of this world crumble, we are not without hope. We lift our eyes to the One who is righteous and unchanging.

4. Sorrow Verses 16–20

The fourth movement is sorrow. Though the remnant will sing in that future day, Isaiah groans in his own spirit. Verse 16 records Isaiah’s anguish: “Woe to me.” He feels the weight of judgment and mourns for the unrepentant.

Verses 17–18 describe the inescapability of judgment. Terror, pit, and snare await the wicked. Verses 19–20 portray the earth reeling like a drunkard, collapsing under the weight of its rebellion.

Isaiah reminds us that judgment is not a cause for celebration. Faithful ministry proclaims truth while mourning for the lost. We warn with tears, not triumph. God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but desires that they turn and live. This echoes Ezekiel’s words in 33:10-11;

Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus you have spoken, saying, “Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are rotting away in them; how then can we survive?”’ Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’

5. Finality Verses 21–23

The final movement is finality. God will punish both spiritual and earthly powers. Evil is restrained and defeated, and the Lord is on His throne now and will take His rightful throne in Jerusalem at the appointed time.

Verse 23 brings the climax. The glory of the Lord outshines sun and moon. He will reign on Mount Zion in the presence of His elders. The city of man is replaced by the Kingdom of God.

Our hope is not in the survival of this world’s systems but in the reign of the Lord. The city of man cannot stand. The Kingdom of God cannot fall. Therefore, we place our trust in the Righteous One, worship Him now, and proclaim His salvation while there is still time for others to join the song of the redeemed.