"The floodgates of the heavens are opened, the foundations of the earth shake. The earth is broken up, the earth is split asunder, the earth is violently shaken. The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut in the wind; so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion that it falls---never to rise again." (Isaiah 24:18b-20)
In the book of Revelation such a devastating takes place that the Apostle John will say that there has never been one like it since the creation of the world. That earthquake is likely what Isaiah foresees in our current chapter. Isaiah envisions the earth shaking so violently that he describes it as never rising again, not because the Lord is going to do away with the earth entirely, but because He is going to remake it into something new. The "old order" of things will pass away, as it is phrased in Revelation 21:4.
In Matthew 24 the Lord Jesus described the natural disasters that would occur between His own day up until the time of the Great Tribulation as "birth pangs". This is because the earthquakes and tsunamis and volcanic eruptions and wars between nations which would take place between His lifetime on earth until the end were a process of remaking this fallen world into something new. Just as a woman's labor pangs become more frequent and intense as the moment of birth arrives, the disasters and wars upon the earth will become more frequent and intense as the moment of "new birth" arrives.
The Lord is going to "make all things new" as He says in Revelation 21:5. He will do this by shaking the earth (shaking loose all that is wrong) and by judging all the sin that has taken place upon it. He will do this by shaking the heavens as well, by judging Satan and the angels who rebelled with him. Earth will not cease to exist and heaven will not cease to exist; instead they will be cleansed of all dark deeds and will enjoy an atmosphere that sin can never mar. Nothing wicked will ever happen again. Only those who love the Lord will inhabit the heavens and the earth; these inhabitants will behold His face and live in the light of His love forever.
What falls "never to rise again", as Isaiah puts it, is sin and the curse of sin that affected the entire creation. No rebellion against the Lord will ever rise again. Man will not fight against God. Man will not fight against man. Man will not fight against the animal kingdom, or the animal kingdom against man. The creation will be restored to a state of perfection.
But between now and then the birth pangs of that new creation must take place. The judgment of sin must take place. "In that day the Lord will punish the powers in the heavens above and the kings on the earth below. They will be herded together like prisoners bound in a dungeon; they will be shut up in prison and be punished after many days. The moon will be dismayed, the sun ashamed; for the Lord Almighty will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before its elders---with great glory." (Isaiah 24:21-23)
When we arrive at the book of Revelation we will find the leaders of the nations in the last days banding together to rebel against the Lord for what will be the last time. The Lord---in the person Jesus Christ---will overthrow them by His power and great glory. Those still living and those already dead, who rejected the goodness and mercy of God, will be judged and sent to their final and eternal destination. Satan and the fallen angels will be judged and sent to their final destination. Then the Lord Jesus Christ will take His throne in Jerusalem and reign over the entire world---over all who belong to Him---in goodness and love for eternity.
In that day no one will need the light of the sun or the moon (as Isaiah says, "the moon will be dismayed, the sun ashamed") because the glory of the presence of the Lord will put the lesser glory of those heavenly bodies to shame. The Apostle John described the light coming from the Lord's throne at Jerusalem like this: "I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there." (Revelation 21:21-25)
A beautiful day is going to dawn, a beautiful day that will last forever, and that beautiful day is intended for those who have placed their trust in the Lord.
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