Today's session begins with Isaiah painting a picture of people living in fear, with many of them hiding in their homes with their doors barred. This is because because the things of this world that gave them a sense of security are no longer present. We also find people going in search of something to soothe their anxiety but no substance can be found with the power to do this. If only they had made the Lord their trust! He would have shielded them. But instead they rejected him, to their own peril.
"The ruined city lies desolate; the entrance to every house is barred. In the streets they cry out for wine; all joy turns to gloom, all joyful sounds are banished from the earth. The city is left in ruins, its gate is battered to pieces. 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." (Isaiah 24:10-13)
I don't think any particular city is in view in the verses above. I think many cities will be in the condition Isaiah describes, for he says this will happen "among the nations". In the last days, in every nation in the world, cities will be enduring the woes described for us in the book of Revelation as cup after cup of the Lord's wrath is poured out on the earth.
Earlier in our chapter we were told that this great judgment comes because of the ways man has transgressed the beautiful and righteous laws of a holy God. But even in the midst of judgment, God is merciful. When we arrive at the book of Revelation we will learn that during the Great Tribulation the Lord is still making His offer of salvation and there will still be people accepting His offer. Even during the darkest days the world has ever known, and even during the era when sin will abound more than it ever has before, the Lord does not turn His back on mankind. He will still hold out His hand to man and there will still be people reaching up and taking His hand. I believe that's what Isaiah is foreseeing in this next segment.
"They raise their voices, they shout for joy; from the west they acclaim the Lord's majesty. Therefore in the east give glory to the Lord; exalt the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, in the islands of the sea. From the ends of the earth we hear singing: 'Glory to the Righteous One.'" (Isaiah 24:14-16a)
Who is shouting for joy? Who is giving glory to the Lord? Who is exalting His name? It's not those who are still deliberately wallowing in sin, refusing to repent and accept His mercy. It's not those who, in spite of His discipline for sin, continue to curse His name as they will in Revelation. Those who are praising the Lord are those who have trusted in Him for salvation. They are the ones shouting for joy in spite of the world falling apart around them. They are the ones exalting the name of the God who forgave them. They are the one praising the God who called them out of darkness into light, who exchanged their old life of sin for a new life in Christ.
During the last days, people from cities all over the world will mourn the devastation falling upon the earth but will not repent of the sin that is causing this devastation. But at the same time, people from cities all over the world will repent and turn to the living God, to the salvation of their souls.
It's important to remember that although there will be opportunities to turn to the Lord during the Great Tribulation, no one should put off turning to Him. Today is the day when the lost should turn to Him. We aren't guaranteed tomorrow. We aren't even guaranteed the next breath. Anyone who has not trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior needs to do it now.
Even if someone who is alive now is still alive when the end time events begin unfolding, and even if they accept the Lord as their Savior during that time, that is not a good time to be a citizen of the earth. Christians will be persecuted as never before during the era of the Antichrist. Natural disasters will be taking place as well; it is not a time anyone will want to endure. If we accept Christ before He calls His church out of the world, which I believe happens at the beginning of Chapter 4 of Revelation, we are not even going to be on the earth during the Great Tribulation. When the Apostle John is given his vision of the end times, he sees the church on the earth up until the end of Chapter 3. But at the beginning of Chapter 4 the Lord calls him to heaven in the vision, and from that point on John views events on earth from heaven and we no longer see the church mentioned as being on the earth. This is why I, and many people much more learned than I am, believe the church is called up to heaven at the beginning of Revelation 4.
We will get into the subject of the end times in much more detail as we move on through the Bible but for now I cannot stress enough that today is the day of salvation. Today is always the best day to be saved. There is no better decision anyone could ever make. I've made a multitude of decisions during my fifty-four years on the earth and I've regretted some of them deeply but I have never and will never regret my decision to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior.
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