Today I would like to talk from chapter 24 of Isaiah. Isaiah in chapters 13 to 23 warned about God’s judgment upon the countries surrounding Israel. From today’s passage on we enter a new stage. It exceeds Israel and the surrounding countries and is a warning about the judgment of God upon the whole earth. First of all he speaks about Israel whom God has a relationship with. He talks about God’s judgment. God’s judgment begins with God’s family. First of all we are to be questioned. First of all we must　look at our own hearts. Those who think that they are standing now, must be careful not to fall down. If you commit sin, you must repent; if you are prideful you must humble yourself. Next are the countries that surround Israel. God’s warning of judgment spreads out from God’s people, the Israelites to the surrounding countries. Then the warning of judgment spreads out on a worldly scale. It exceeds the surrounding countries and spreads out to the entire world. That’s not all. It exceeds that age and is a warning of God’s judgment at the end of the world. Therefore, this passage is called, “Isaiah’s revelation”. Like Daniel and Revelations the end of the world is described in detail.
Today through this description of God’s judgment at the end of the world, let’s look at how we should be now in this age through the Word of God.

I. The world turned upside down (vs. 1-4)
First of all, the first point is that by God’s judgment the world will be turned upside down. Please look at verses 1 to 4.
Here it says, “See, the LORD is going to lay waste the earth and devastate it; he will ruin its face and scatter its inhabitants.“ (1) This word “ruin“ means to turn upside down. Truly a convulsion of nature will occur. At the end of the world changes on the earth’s crust which surpasses our imagination will occur.
Jesus also spoke about this to his disciples. Please look at Matt. 24:21 and 22.
Matt. 24:21-22
This is a terrible tribulation like there has never been before and also like there has never been from now on too. It is such a huge tribulation that “if those days had not been cut short, no one would survive.” (Matt. 24:22)
Rev. 6:12-14 is also describing this.
Rev. 6:12-14
Isaiah is talking about this huge earthquake. Last year the huge Northern earthquake’ magniture was 9 so it was classified as a huge earthquake. A magnitude 9 when it is converted into energy would equal 475 megatons. Even if you say 475 megatons it still isn’t very easy to imagine. This is like 3,260,000 barrels of crude petroleum. Even that is hard to imagine. This is amount of the entire world’s crude petroleum consumption in 4 days. Therefore, it was a very, very, very big force. The force of the tidal wave that hit the Sanriku Coast, a coastal region of the Pacific Ocean extending from southern Aomori prefecture through Iwate prefecture and northern Miyagi prefecture, was like 250 1,000 km per hour jets hitting at the same time. That powerful of a tidal wave pushed and destroyed the breakwater walls. That was 1,000 times the force of the tidal wave in the Osaka earthquake 5,000 times the force of the Haiti earthquake. However, in the end times the earthquake that occurs will be so great that it can’t be compared with this one. Every mountain and island will be removed from its place. It will not just be the intensity and shaking, but it will be so big that it will make changes on the earth’s crust too. Also it will not be local, but will occur on a worldly scale. It is said that the biggest earthquake that will occur on this earth will be magnitude 10, but that will be a thousand times greater than last year’s Northern Japan earthquake. Such an earthquake that we can’t imagine will occur at the end of the world.
Please look at verse 2. Here it says, “it will be the same for priest as for people, for the master as for his servant, for the mistress as for her servant, for seller as for buyer, for borrower as for lender, for debtor as for creditor”. What this means is in God’s judgment there is no superiors and inferiors, everyone is the same. It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor. It doesn’t matter if you are high society or low society, the judgment will come equally upon all. Look first it says that “it will be the same for priest as for people” (2) It means religiously there will be no distinctions. Also the master and his servant will be the same, equals. This means there will be no societal distinctions. “It will be the same …for seller as for buyer.” (2) This mean there will be no economical distinctions. Before God’s judgment all are equals.
This is true not only of God’s judgment, but the same can be said about God’s salvation. Your position, how rich you are, how much ability you have, or such things have no relationship at all to your salvation. We are saved only by humbling ourselves and believing in our Savior Jesus Christ. If we believe in Jesus, anyone can be saved. However, if we don’t believe we will be condemned by our sin. God’s salvation has nothing to do with our station in life, our property or things like that. It only comes by believing in our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. God’s salvation is being presented to you.
Please look at verse 3. This is writing about how big an economical loss the huge earthquake will bring. It is just like when a country is taken by force, when it is plundered, it experiences an enormous amount of economical loss. The loss from last year’s huge earthquake has an estimated balance of 16,000,000,000 yen to 25,000,000,000 yen. It is said that 23,000,000,000 yen is needed in the next 10 years in order for the area to recover. That figure we can’t even imagine. By this one earthquake, this much lost occurred so if on a worldly scale, on an earthly scale such an earthquake occurs it will be an astronomical figure. It will be such a situation that it won’t be possible to recover.
Such a condition will occur. That is because the Lord has spoken about it. The end of verse 3 says, “The LORD has spoken this word.” What the Lord says is always fulfilled. Therefore we always need to be “on the watch and pray”. (Luke 21:36) Luke 21:36 says, “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” We need to look at the front page of the newspaper, and the T.V. news, and know what is happening now in the world, and understand what the present age is like. We need to have a humble heart, and be prepared for the end of the world. We mustn’t idle away our time being disheveled by the signs of the end of the world, but so that it is o.k. for Jesus to come back at any time, we must be prepared.
Please look at verse 4. Here it says, “The earth dries up and withers, the world languishes and withers, the exalted of the earth languish.” Here the words “languish” and “wither” are repeated over and over again. Even by just one huge earthquake many people’s hearts were languished. All of society was withered. This was economically, psychologically, emotionally, and politically so. “The world languishes” (4) Those who have placed their happiness in the world and have raised their expectations high from it will “languish” because the world has not proved to be what they promised themselves it would be. Here it says, “the exalted of the earth languish.” (4) “The exalted of the earth”, those in high positions will languish. In other words, the upper class will languish. By the convulsion of nature all the people in the world’s hearts will “languish and wither.”(4) Like a flower which dries up and withers in the hands of those that please themselves too much with it, “the earth dries up and withers” (2) towards a dissolution.
How is your heart? Are you languishing? Are you withering? In Acts 17:6 when Paul and Silas were evangelizing in Thessalonica, lots of people listened well to their words and entered the faith, but the Jews who were jealous, brought Jason and some other believers before the city officials. They shouted, “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here.” “Caused trouble all over the world” (Acts 17:6) means to turn the world upside down. In the world Christians are to turn the world upside down. Christians are sent to the world that is turned upside down by sin to turn the world right　side up again. When our Lord Jesus returns, society will be recovered to the perfect society it was before sin entered mankind. However, before that God wants us to be spiritually recovered and bring that recovery to the world. It is for this purpose that he sends us. Let’s remember this, receive spiritual strength and be a person that turns the world right side up.
II. Mankind that broke the covenant (vs. 5,6)
Secondly, let’s look at the reason why God said that he is going to turn the world upside down. Please look at verses 5 and 6.
Here the reason for the convulsion of nature is written. That is “the earth is defiled by its people.” (5) It is defiled by man’s sin of revoking Christ. We often when we experience things like last year’s earthquake say “Why did God allow such a terrible thing?” and complain about God. When we see something happening often, we blame God, “Why does God allow evil?” However, this is far off. As it is clearly written here the reason that the world has become dark is not God’s fault, but because the people who live on the earth “have disobeyed the laws, violated the statues and broken the everlasting covenant.” (5) All misfortunes are the result of man’s sin. With that reasoning, ultimately this disaster was the result of sin.
“The everlasting covenant” could be thought of as the covenant of Noah. God told Noah’s family that he promised to never destroy the earth again by floods. The sign of the promise was the rainbow. God promised that when He saw it, He would remember his covenant with them and would not bring a flood upon them. That was the covenant of Noah, the covenant of the rainbow.
However, the covenant of Noah was by the grace of God and was a one way covenant. It can’t be broken by man. What man can break is not the average covenant, but a covenant that includes following law and statues. Therefore, I think this is the covenant that was made with Israel on Mr. Sinai, the 10 commandments. In verse 6 by the breaking of the covenant “a curse consumes the earth”. This suggests that this covenant has the covenant of Mt. Sinai in the background. Probably Isaiah is saying that “the everlasting covenant” (5) of Noah is combined with the covenant of Sinai in prosecuting the people who live on the earth.
Verse 6 says, “Therefore”. The people who lived on the earth have “broken the everlasting covenant,”(5) the covenant with God, so “a curse consumes the earth.” (6) Even though God made an everlasting covenant with Noah, Noah who was a grape farmer made wine and became drunk so God’s curse came upon that family. In the same way mankind by breaking the covenant with God invited a curse.
The curse is the “earth’s inhabitants are burned up, and very few are left.” (6) The earth’s inhabitants will decrease. The judgment at the end of the world will be by fire. “Therefore, the earth’s inhabitants are burned up and very few are left.” (6) Please look at II Peter 3:3-13. It is a little long, but let’s read it.
II Peter 3:3-13
At the end of the world God’s judgment by fire will occur. “The elements will be destroyed by fire” (10) and fall. By this the human population on the earth will decrease. This is written in Revelations too. Some “scoffers” (II Peter 3:3) think that this would never happen, and that things won’t suddenly change. They say “Everything goes on as it has.” (II Peter 3:4) That is because such people have deliberately forgotten the reason why such things have not occurred yet. The reason is God “is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (II Peter 3:9) For that purpose God is patiently waiting.
Charles de Foucauld was the the author of the book, “The flame in the desert“. He was an officer of the French Army in North Africa where he first developed his strong feelings about the desert. On his subsequent return to France he went through a conversion experience and became a Catholic. Later he was ordained and returned to the Sahara in Algeria. While he was evangelizing among the Tuareg people living in the Sahara in southern Algeria he was shot to death by passing marauders.
In the book that he wrote he throws out the question, “For Christians who believe in God what is the most difficult thing?” As a Christian what do you feel is the most difficult thing? This answer is different for each person. Father Foucauld answers his own question like this. “The most difficult thing for Christians who believe in God is to believe in God.”
His answer really hit the mark. When I read this I really cried. We don’t doubt even a little that we believe in God. We always confess “I believe in God.” Even so, at a decisive moment, we believe in the world’s law more than God’s law. At that time, in that that place God is there and we forget that God concerned about us. As much as we say, “God is with us”, it is not easy to really believe and take appropriate action in all things. If that’s the case, we can understand why the scoffers think that these things will not happen. To believe in God is difficult not only for people that don’t believe in God, but also for Christians who believe in God.
We must be conscious of God who is living and working. We must not forget that all things start there. We must remember that this is the reason that God is going to judge this world.

III. Joy disappears (vs. 7-13)
The third point is the result of God’s judgment. Let’s look at what will happen to this world. Please look at verses 7 to 13.
The great tribulation will change everything. You will lose the property that you cherished, and you will lose the family that was so important to you. In the midst of that people’s joy will disappear. Sadness will cover them. It will become gloomy. No matter what they do it won’t be fun at all. Even if they drink alcohol to try to forget the bad things, they won’t be able to. Until now the people who enjoyed watching laughter will turn pale. Enjoying things is not bad. It was just so sad and the actual situation would not allow them to enjoy.
Please look at verse 10. It says, “The ruined city lies desolate.” This “desolate” is the same as “empty” in Genesis 1:2. It refers to the condition of there being nothing. In its origin the earth sprouts plants, flowers bloom, and animals and people should live there. However is has become the condition of being nothing. It becomes the condition it was before the heavens and earth were created. At the end of the world things that should be have all disappeared. It becomes the condition of desolation.
Verse 11 says, “In the streets they cry out for wine; all joy turns to gloom, all joyful sounds are banished from the earth.” There is sadness only. In all the cities of the world and in all the towns in the world, in the streets are cries of sadness only.
In verse 12 it says that the city’s “gate is battered to pieces.” The gate which is important to the city “is battered to pieces.” (12) They have lost their safety. The myths of safety are broken down. The things that were said to be safe are not so. Even if they try to bring safety by military strength, they won’t be able to. If there is no joy, there is no one you can depend upon. A place of peace where you can live safely has completely disappeared.
The parable of the olive and grape harvest is saying that by the judgment of God there will only be a little fruit left. In Israel not only wheat, but also when olives and grapes are harvested too there was a teaching to not harvest everything. They must leave some for the poor. This was God’s method for providing relief for the poor. However, that was really only a little. Only a few people will be left. They will be left, but even so they must go through the great tribulation.
Therefore, now is the time of grace, now is they day of salvation. If now you believe in Jesus Christ as savior, you will be saved. Then when Jesus comes again, you won’t perish. You will be raised up in a resurrected body, an eternal body. In a moment we “will be caught up… in the clouds…and so we will be with the Lord forever.”(I Thess. 4:17) We will not meet the Lord’s fearful judgment. That is because “God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (I Thess. 5:9) God doesn’t bring upon Christians lamenting and sadness, but glory and joy.
How about you? Recently have you not had joy in your heart? Please seek to know the reason and how you can recover joy in your heart. If it is coming from the judgment at the end of the word, if it is coming from the emptiness from the Lord not being present, then repent and prepare for the Lord’s second coming. Then the final judgment will not bring insecurity and fear to our hearts, but glory and joy. That joy is shining in our lives now.