Isaiah 24-25 "The City of Man"

For three weeks we heard of the oracles against the nations.

Ten oracles proclaiming the coming day of the LORD,

when Yahweh would strike the nations,

and every power would be humbled.

Mighty Assyria would plunder the nations,

but in the midst of its glory,

it too would fall to Babylon.

But Babylon itself would not stand.

For the LORD himself would cast down the mighty.

Where was a poor nation like Judah to turn?

Isaiah insists that there is no hope in earthly alliances.

Jerusalem must trust in the LORD.

Now in chapters 24-27 Isaiah reflects upon these oracles in a tale of two cities.

Chapters 24-25, which we are looking at tonight, speak of the city of man.

Chapters 26-27, which we will look at next week, speak of the city of God.

These chapters continue the themes of the oracles,

emphasizing the coming Day of the LORD,

when Yahweh will bring judgment upon the earth,

humbling every power that raises itself up against God.

And I mean every power-

whether social, military, or economic-every power shall be cast down.

In the last 200 years we have seen a significant amount of social leveling.

The old aristocracies have come crashing down,

but we still have our layers of society.

The wealthy and powerful are still in control.

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Isaiah 24-27 is a single literary unit-a single chiasm.

24:1-13 speaks of the harvest of the earth,

using the language of desolation, gleaning,

and the guilt of Israel as the reason for the judgment of the earth.

27:7-13 concludes the section,

using the same vocabulary to speak of both judgment and blessing.

But God says that there is a day coming when he will empty the earth and make it desolate.

Now the Hebrew word for "the earth" "ha'aretz" can mean either "the earth"

meaning the whole world,

or "the land"-meaning simply Israel.

But after speaking of the judgments coming upon ten nations in the previous 11 chapters,

it seems quite likely that Isaiah is referring to the whole earth.

But the ambiguity may well be intentional.

Israel and Judah are receiving the judgment of God precisely

because they are the covenant mediator.

They are the nation that should have known better.

And as Jerusalem goes, so go the cities of all the earth.

In Hebrew each couplet consists of two words

ca'am, cacohen

ca'ebed, ca'donai

cashiphtah, cagbirtah

caponeh, cammoken

caloveh, cannosheh

As the people, so the priest,

as the slave, so his master

as the maid, so her mistress

as the buyer, so the seller

as the lender, so the borrower

as the creditor, so the debtor.

Isaiah had a good eye for the rhetorical flourish!

There is some great poetry in this passage.

Plays on words, complex rhyme schemes,

assonance-Isaiah plainly wants his hearers to recognize

that this passage is crucial in the argument of his book.

The oracles concerning the nations did not have this level of sophistication.

But Isaiah is now reflecting on the oracles,

and crafting a summary of what the oracles mean.

The oracles deliver a devastating blow to the nations.

The inhabitants of the earth will be scattered.

This is the language of Babel from Genesis 11.

God is returning the ordered cities to the chaos whence they came.

This social leveling in verse 2 does not result from beneficent market forces!

No, the earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered;

for Yahweh has spoken this word.

To communicate the emphasis on "this word,"

we could translate it, Yahweh has spoken it, the word, this one.

God is going to bring the city of man to nothing.

And in response to this word-yes, this word,

"The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and withers;

the highest people of the earth languish.

The earth lies defiled under its inhabitants;

for they have transgressed the laws,

violated the statutes,

broken the everlasting covenant."

Normally this sort of language is reserved for Israel.

This is why some commentators think that "ha-aretz"

should be translated "the land,"

and that this passage is about Jerusalem.

And in a certain sense that is true.

Jerusalem is the center of this passage,

but Isaiah keeps moving back and forth from Jerusalem language

to "nations" language,

suggesting that Jerusalem-which was supposed to be the City of God,

the place where God's kingdom was established on earth,

has become the city of man.

And in this way, the "everlasting covenant" can be seen in a sense

as the Abrahamic covenant-but because the Abrahamic covenant

includes the provision that all nations shall be blessed

through the seed of Abraham,

we can see within and beyond Abraham to Adam.

The house of David has broken the Davidic covenant;

the house of Israel has broken the Mosaic covenant;

the seed of Abraham has broken the Abrahamic covenant;

the sons of Adam have broken the Adamic covenant.

Because any interpretation of Isaiah 24 that limits the covenant breaking to Israel

simply misses the cosmic darkness that falls over the whole earth in this passage.

The earth lies defiled under its inhabitants.

God had created Adam to rule over his creation.

He was to be a blessing to the creation.

And yet through his sin, he brought a curse to the earth

"Therefore a curse devours the earth," Isaiah says

"And its inhabitants suffer for their guilt;

therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left."

Now the sin of the house of David-the sin of the people of Israel-

the sin of the seed of Abraham-proves its cosmic consequences.

Far from being a royal priesthood and a holy nation,

mediating the blessings of God to the whole earth,

Israel is a curse to the nations.

Therefore the rejoicing of the city of man is brought to an end (7-12)

Joy has departed from the earth.

Even the wine mourns,

the tambourines are stilled.

No more do they drink wine with singing.

The wasted city is broken down;

every house is shut up so that none can enter.

"Wasted city" misses the image here.

In Genesis 1:2 God describes the earth as formless and void,

tohu vbohu-empty and barren.

This is the city of tohu.

God has returned the city of man to emptiness and chaos.

This is the undoing of creation.

This is a city without meaning or purpose-a city that has forgotten her chief end.

Instead, there is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine;

all joy has grown dark;

the gladness of the earth is banished.

Desolation is left in the city; the gates are battered into ruins.

This is what shall happen to the city of man.

And in response Isaiah calls out (read 14-16a)

Isaiah calls for rejoicing to the ends of the earth,

because their will be a remnant;

but for himself, he says (16b)

The stern vision in the oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea,

of the betrayer betraying, is now seen in its terror.

Isaiah uses the same word five times in one sentence.

There are only five words in this sentence,

and they are all forms of the same word!

Bogdim bagadu ubeged bogdim bagadu

"betrayers betray; with betrayal betrayers betray"

Those who flee from Assyria will fall before Babylon.

And that is merely a lesson for every age,

because there is no refuge from sin.

"The earth staggers like a drunken man; it sways like a hut;

its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls, and will not rise again." (24:20)

And on that day-the Day of the LORD-Yahweh will punish the host of heaven in heaven,

and the kings of the earth on the earth.

God will judge the heavens and the earth,

and all rebels will be gathered together in the pit and judged.

Then the moon will be confounded and the sun ashamed,

because the glory of the LORD will shine in Zion.

You can see where Revelation 21-22 gets its imagery of the glory of the New Jerusalem.

The light of moon and sun will be darkened,

for the LORD God will be the light of the city.

Already we are beginning to see a contrast between Zion and the city of man.

Chapter 25 continues to demonstrate this.

Isaiah takes up a song of praise (25:1-2)

The city of man will be cast down, never to be rebuilt.

This plainly recalls 13:20, which promised that Babylon would forever be a waste;

but it goes beyond Babylon to forecast destruction

to every foreigners palace which sets itself up against the city of God.

Therefore, Isaiah declares, "strong peoples will glorify you;

cities of ruthless nations will fear you."

Because God himself is our fortress.

We do not need a walled city, for a mighty fortress is our God.

He is our help and our shield.

Against the backdrop of Ahaz and Hezekiah constantly seeking foreign alliances,

this song celebrates the fact that God alone is our strength and hope.

And on this mountain Yahweh of hosts will make a feast of rich food for all peoples,

a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,

of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.

Isaiah speaks of the wedding supper of the Lamb,

when all God's people are gathered from the ends of the earth.

And somehow connected to this feast is the destruction of death.

(Read 7-8)

This would make a certain amount of sense to Isaiah's hearers,

because three times a year they gathered in Jerusalem for the feasts of Israel,

and the sacrifices moved from the burnt offering, dealing with sin,

to the peace offering, celebrating the peace and fellowship between God and man.

But of course, we understand this much better.

Because when we partake of the Lord's Supper,

we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Because in his death, Jesus has defeated the power of death,

and as Paul tells us, quoting from Isaiah 25,

"Then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

'death is swallowed up in victory.'" (1 Cor 15:54)

We have seen the death of death in the death of Christ,

and we partake of that death and resurrection every time we partake of the feast.

And on that final day, the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces,

and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth."

And it will be said on that day (verse 9):

God himself is our refuge.

He is the one who delivers his people from death

The contrast with Moab is instructive.

Moab was condemned for his pride.

And once again Moab is trying to go it alone.

But God will cast down the proud and will bring down the walls of Moab's fortresses.

We have reached the middle of the conclusion of Isaiah's second section (chapters 13-27).

The city of man will be cast down,

and Zion will be exalted as the City of God.

Next week we will look more particularly at the city of God,

but we are reminded that here we have no abiding city.

We have no earthly stronghold that can provide security against the power of the nations.

Notice that in 25:3 Isaiah says that "strong peoples will glorify you;

cities of ruthless nations will fear you."

That is the best the city of man can do.

The city of man may give glory to God by fearing him,

but it can never become the city of God.

Our Lord Jesus Christ has done what he promised.

He has defeated the power of death and has established a heavenly city for his people.

"Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him that he might save us.

This is Yahweh; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation."