24:1. “Behold,
the Lord maketh the earth empty and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside
down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.”
Taylor, taking this as
being applicable to Judah, writes, “Look! The Lord is overturning the land
of Judah and making it a vast wasteland of destruction. See how He is
emptying out all its people and scattering them over the face of the
earth.” Others see it as being descriptive of the judgments of the Great
Tribulation, a view with which the present writer concurs.
24:2. “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 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.”
This declares the
universality of the judgments of the Great Tribulation. No one will escape
them.
24:3. “The
land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken
this word.”
The primary application is
certainly to the land of Israel, but Scripture makes it clear that while
Palestine will be the vortex of the judgments of the Great Tribulation,
those cataclysms will affect the whole world, the certainty of the
catastrophes being confirmed by the words, “the Lord hath spoken this word.”
24:4.
“The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away,
the haughty people of the earth do languish.”
The primary idea here is
of withering in scorching heat and drought, and in this connection it is
instructive to note what is written relative to the judgments of the Great
Tribulation, “And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and
power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched
with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these
plagues: and they repented not to give him glory,” Revelation 16:8-9.
Punishment designed to produce repentance simply intensifies the rebellion
of the wicked.
The possible allusion to
atomic weapons should not be dismissed. Consider, for example, Hiroshima.
This judgment is but the
faint foreshadowing of the eternal torment to be endured by the unrepentant
dead, first in hell, and eternally in the dreadful lake of fire.
24:5. “The
earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof: because they have
transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting
covenant.”
“... defiled” is also
translated desecrated: polluted: profaned, the validity of this
charge being confirmed today by the concern of scientists universally
relative to the effects of greenhouse gases, and contamination of the
world’s water; the slow decay of the vast jungles of the Amazon basin
evoking dire warnings as to the adverse effects on climate world-wide.
Transgression of the laws
relates not only to the laws of nature, but to God’s moral law, the impunity
with which man has flaunted both being too obvious to require comment.
“... ordinance” as used
here concerns a decree of God relative to man’s conduct in general, and his
worship in particular. Man has changed both to suit his own evil
inclinations.
The “everlasting covenant”
may be summed up in the statement that obedience brings blessing:
disobedience, chastisement; and if persisted in, death.
24:6.
“Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein
are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men
left.”
Man’s time on earth had
been but brief before his sin provoked God’s pronouncement of the curse,
“And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy
wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou
shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake .... thorns also and
thistles shall it bring forth unto thee” Genesis 3:17-18. The crown of
thorns placed on the Lord’s head by the Roman soldiers was the symbolic
announcement that He was willing to be made a curse so that those who would
trust Him as Savior might be for ever blessed, as it is written, “Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for
it is written, “Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree,” Galatians 3:13.
“... desolate” in the
present context means suffering the just recompense of their sin.
“... the inhabitants of
the earth are burned, and few men left” describes what will be in the Great
Tribulation, see comments on 24:4. The terrible
Tribulation judgments will decimate earth’s population.
24:7. “The new
wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merry-hearted do sigh.”
Wine is a biblical symbol
of joy, see Psalm 104:15, “... wine that maketh glad the heart of man ....”
The terrible Tribulation judgments will transmute the world’s joy into
mourning, the languishing vine speaking symbolically of the removal of all
that makes life pleasant, and changing pleasure into sorrow.
24:8. “The
mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of
the harp ceaseth.”
The mirth, rejoicing and
joy were the expression of raucous revelry, not of the sanctified joy that
proceeds from pursuit of what is pleasing to God. It was in fact the OT
counterpart of the sensual gratification pursued by today’s pleasure-crazed
society. But as that ancient hedonistic lifestyle was brought to an end, so
will also that of today’s sophisticated civilization.
The terrible judgments of
the impending Great Tribulation will see the refinements of today’s society
destroyed by the ravages of war, famine, disease, and anarchy. Merriment
will give place to misery.
24:9. “They
shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that
drink it.”
Social drinking is the
bane of society today, and was no less so in that distant day; and as God
caused it to cease then, so will He again in the Great Tribulation, the
horrors of which will be such that wine and liquor will be no panacea for
the prevailing misery.
24:10. “The
city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may
come in.”
Philip’s rendering of this
verse is, “The city is in chaos, fallen and broken, every house is barred so
that none can enter,” and that of Taylor is similar, “The city lies in
chaos; every home and shop is locked up tight to keep out looters.” The
city represents the whole world, so the description is of prevailing
world-wide lawlessness, and will be duplicated in the Great Tribulation.
24:11. “There
is crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the
land is gone.”
The description continues
to be of Tribulation-age anarchy, the RSV rendering of this verse being,
“There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine, all joy has reached its
eventide,” while Taylor translates it, “Mobs form in the streets, crying for
wine: joy has reached its lowest ebb; gladness has been banished from the
land.”
24:12. “In the
city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.”
The NAB translation reads,
“In the city nothing remains but ruin: its gates are battered and desolate,”
and Phillips renders it, “The city is left desolate and its gates are
battered ruins.”
24:13. “When
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.”
This is the dramatic
description of famine. The few olives left on the tree, and the grapes on
the vine, after the harvest has been gathered, picture the scarcity of
food. People will die of hunger, the ultimate application being to
conditions in the Great Tribulation.
Another view is that this
describes the land emptied of its people in the Tribulation, and certainly
such a view is also tenable.
24:14. “They
shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord, they
shall cry aloud from the sea.”
Here the focus switches
abruptly from the lamentation that will be in the Tribulation, to the joyous
worship that will ascend to God in the Millennium.
“... from the sea” is also
translated “in the west,” and it is significant that the west is the
direction which speaks of approach to God, while the sea represents
unconverted humanity - see Isaiah 57:20, “But the wicked are like the
troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.” In
the Millennium obedience will be compelled, not optional, see Romans 14:11,
“... As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue
shall confess to God.”
24:15.
“Wherefore glorify ye the Lord in the fires, even the name of the Lord God
of Israel in the isles of the sea.”
“... in the fires” is also
translated “where the sun rises, in the regions of light, in the east, in
eastern lands,” and “isles of the sea” is rendered, “in the east, in eastern
lands, on western shores.” This seems to speak of worship in the Millennium
when the whole world will possess the knowledge of God as declared in Psalm
50:1, “The mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken, and called the earth from
the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.”
24:16. “From
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, yea, the treacherous dealers
have dealt very treacherously.”
The first sentence seems
to proclaim the universal worship of Jehovah in the Millennium; but the
remainder of the verse appears to revert to describing what will be in the
Great Tribulation, the “treacherous dealers” being the Beast and his
adherents.
24:17. “Fear,
and the pit, and the snare are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.”
This continues to describe
the ultimate misery that will be the lot of those who submit to the dominion
of the Beast, and who render to him the worship that belongs only to God.
24:18. “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.”
Taylor’s translation of
this verse reads, “When you flee in terror you will fall into a pit, and if
you escape from the pit you will step into a trap, for destruction falls
from the heavens upon you; the world is shaken beneath you;” and relative to
the opening of “the windows from on high,” the Amplified translation is,
“For the windows of heaven are opened [as in the deluge].” The description
is of the terrible judgments that will ravage the world in the Great
Tribulation.
24:19. “The
earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is
moved exceedingly.”
24:20. “The
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.”
This may be the
description of the world-wide destruction resulting from the Tribulation
judgments, Matthew 24 being the corresponding NT account of that
devastation, which foreshadows the final dissolution of this present world
at the conclusion of the Millennium, and its replacement with a new heavens
and earth, see 2 Peter 3:10-13.
“... the transgression
thereof shall be heavy upon it” is also rendered, “Its rebellion lies
heavily upon it, and it will fall, to rise no more,” AAT; “... its rebellion
will weight it down, until it falls, never to rise again,” NAB.
24:21. “And it
shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the
high ones that are on high; and the kings of the earth upon the earth.”
Taylor has translated this
verse, “On that day the Lord will punish the fallen angels in the heavens,
and the proud rulers of the nations on earth.”
24:22. “And
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.”
The “pit” refers to the
grave where the bodies of unbelievers will lie until the resurrection of
death or damnation; and “the prison” is hell in which their souls will be
confined in torment until the judgment of the great white throne, from which
they will be banished, body, soul, and spirit into eternal torment in the
lake of fire. The mention of “pit” is also the reminder that Satan will be
imprisoned in the bottomless pit during the Millennium, an imprisonment that
will be no small factor in the universal peace during that glorious era.
24:23. “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.”
Taylor’s translation of
this verse reads, “Then the Lord of heaven’s armies will mount His throne in
Zion and rule gloriously in Jerusalem, in the sight of all the elders of His
people. Such glory there will be that all the brightness of the sun and
moon will seem to fade away.” The reference is to Christ’s millennial
reign. [It is to be noted in connection with His reign in mount Zion, and in
Jerusalem, that in the Millennium, Christ will be reigning from the throne
in heaven, while a literal descendant of David will occupy the earthly
throne in Jerusalem as His regent.]
