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INTERPRETIVE ESSAY: ISAIAH 24-27

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Interpretive Essay: Isaiah 24-27

Introduction

With the number of Bible readers increasing by the day, it can only be expected that

commentary and interpretation will differ in almost all aspects of Christianity. One of the most

controversial of all issues in the Bible is the Old Testament and specifically the Prophetic Books.

In this case, this discussion will dwell on the Book of Isaiah. This essay derives most of its

insight on Isaiah 24–27, first looking into the “Everlasting Covenant”, the two cities and the

Leviathan imagery used in chapter 27 of the same book. The discussion entailed in this essay is

my personal interpretation of the prophecy entailed in Isaiah 24-27 with detailed support from

passages from the Bible.

The Everlasting Covenant

My personal interpretation of the Everlasting Covenant that Isaiah refers to in chapter 24

is the covenant that God set with mankind. This covenant traces its roots from the days of

Abraham when God promised him many descendants.

God calls this an everlasting covenant.

Contrary to what many people consider, this covenant was not a covenant between God and the

nation of Israel. It was a covenant between all the spiritual descendants of Abraham. The fact

that God, in Genesis 17: 6 tells Abraham that He will make nations of him is enough to denote

that God was not talking about Israel which we all know is a single nation or one people. God

was talking about all who would be the descendants of Abraham as a spiritual father.

Genesis 17:5-6

Genesis 17: 7

Let me shed more light on this. The New Testament testifies that Abraham is the father of

all who believe in God, whether Israelite or not.

Paul, through the Holy Spirit confirms to both

Israelite and Gentile that as long as they share in the Faith, they are both the descendants of

Abraham. We clearly see that the everlasting covenant is the covenant that was confirmed to

Abraham. This same covenant appears again in David’s time when God again promises to

establish the everlasting covenant.

A more elaborate explanation of this is found in Isaiah 9:7

where again, the everlasting covenant resurfaces again.

The fact that the covenant with Abraham, the father of Faith was an everlasting one

obviously means that it will persist through to the New Testament. Isaiah 9:6-7 speaks of the

Messiah, Jesus Christ who comes to rule on David’s throne and whose reign has no end. This

introduces us the continuation from Abraham to David and finally to Jesus Christ. This

everlasting covenant is to be enjoyed by everyone who believes in Jesus and partakes of His

salvation, ultimately leading to eternal life in full realization of the covenant.

To complete the understanding of the everlasting covenant, when God promised

Abraham the nations within the everlasting covenant, He was referring to everyone who would

submit to God’s plan of salvation. His plan of salvation was that persons believe in Jesus because

it is only through Him that the world can gain access to eternal life.

Since Jesus is the only one

who will rule forever, it turns out that the only way that the everlasting covenant of Abraham is

confirmed is through Jesus Christ. In summation, Jesus told the Israelites that they should only

Romans 4

2 Samuel 7:16

John 14:6

claim Abraham as their father if the follow in his footsteps.

We are aware that Jesus was talking

about Abraham’s faith in God.

The Two Cities

The Bible is never so direct in revealing exactly what is entailed in its passages. Ignorant

of this fact many people lose focus on what God intended when dispatching messages to His

creation. Isaiah prophesies the destruction caused by God’s wrath on the rebellious city and

deliverance for His people. It is that simple, but when it comes to getting into the details, all hell

breaks loose. It is interesting how authors try to liken the judged city in Isaiah 24 to ancient cities

and world powers that will rise in future.

The city that is being judged in Isaiah 24 represents the side of the world that is rebellious

towards God and His plan for salvation. This depicts the wrath of God that will be outpoured on

the earth during the period before and after the taking away of the Church in the Rapture.

The

other city that God makes as a refuge for His people is Israel during the time of Christ’s one

thousand year rule

after His glorious return on the Holy Mountain.

When Isaiah wrote about the two cities, he had seen the judgment of God to the

rebellious and salvation to the faithful. Isaiah 24-27 is all about the dispensation towards the end

of time when God’s wrath would come down. The Bible has always shown that whenever there

is judgment, God always makes an escape route for the righteous. It was so during the time of

Noah and also during the night of the Passover just before the liberation of the Israelites from

John 8:39

Robert Chisholm, The "Everlasting Covenant" And The "City Of Chaos": Intentional Ambiguity And Irony In

Isaiah 24. Criswell Theological Review 6.2 (1993) 237-253

Isaiah 26:19-20

Revelation 20:4-5

Isaiah 25: 6-10

Egypt. It is the same as this time that Isaiah saw. In Isaiah 26:20, the righteous are secured by

being told to enter their rooms in the event of rapture. These rooms are a depiction of heaven and

they are the same rooms that Jesus speaks about to his disciples before he is taken up to

heaven.

Isaiah presents that the only way to escape God’s judgment was to fit in His plan for

salvation which is believing in Jesus Christ. The people who do this will be taken up in the

rapture which will entail the raising up of the dead in Christ and then transformation of the alive

in Christ and the catching up with Jesus in the air to enter heaven.

God and Leviathan

When Isaiah saw the crushing of the serpent in Isaiah 27:1, he saw the long foretold

prophecy of Jesus triumphing over the devil. It is the devil who is called the serpent in the

Bible.

The serpent appears first in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3:1 where he lies to the

woman, leading to the fall of man. This explicitly introduces the reason why leviathan the

serpent has to be crushed. It is obvious that since he led to the fall of man, the salvation of man

would be realized by his destruction. In Genesis 3:15 the great prophecy of Jesus triumphing

over the serpent is given.

John Day’s article touches a little on the real picture that Isaiah was painting to readers of

the Bible. Day’s argument that Isaiah was referring to Egypt, Babylon and chaos of creation

might sound believable but this does not close up the fact that his ideas were far-fetched. The

only correct idea of Day is that Leviathan is the devil. All through the Bible, Satan is referred to

as the serpent. Other areas where Day asserts that Isaiah was referring to cities and chaos of

John 14: 1-4

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17

Revelation20:2

John Day, GOD AND LEVIATHAN IN ISAIAH 27:1. BIBLIOTHECA SACRA 155 (October-December 1998):

423-36

creation are not accurate. These may have been the works of the devil to annihilate God’s people

or rather the representation of Satan’s torment to the people of God but not the devil himself.

Conclusion

It is rather unfortunate that guidance from past theologians could mislead today’s Bible

reader. For example, Sandy dismisses to some extent the intended purpose of a prophecy given

by prophets like Isaiah claiming that the imagery created by the poetic nature of the language

was a personal effort of the prophet to exert some influence to the immediate audience.

some extent, Sandy suggests that certain messages from Old Testament prophets were over

emphasized and exaggerated in order to yield a desired effect on the audience. Sandy seems to

capitalize on the fact that Israel was and still is a believer of Biblical prophecy and any message,

no matter how insignificant it may sound to other is very important to them.

Bible prophecy is not to be treated as a ground for controversy. All who look to have

insight of the message contained in the Bible should look up to the one who commissioned its

writing. God is the sole revelator of His word through the Holy Spirit. It therefore doesn’t matter

the language used or the imagery created. Sometimes it is prudent to accept that the Bible is in

itself all correct and it is us who are at fault. The prophecy recorded in Isaiah 24-24 is straight

forward. It outlines the salvation plan of God to mankind. Our interpretations will do nothing in

the least measure to change this.

D. Brent Sandy: Plowshares & Pruning Hooks. Rethinking the Language of Biblical Prophecy and Apocalyptic.

Bibliography

D. Brent Sandy: Plowshares & Pruning Hooks. Rethinking the Language of Biblical Prophecy

and Apocalyptic.

John Day, GOD AND LEVIATHAN IN ISAIAH 27:1. BIBLIOTHECA SACRA 155 (October-

December 1998): 423-36

Robert Chisholm, The "Everlasting Covenant" And The "City Of Chaos": Intentional Ambiguity

And Irony In Isaiah 24. Criswell Theological Review 6.2 (1993) 237-253

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