Today let’s look at the end of Isaiah chapter 24. Isaiah, who had been speaking the Word of God concerning Judah, next spoke prophecies concerning the countries surrounding Judah. Next from the surrounding countries he spoke to the entire world. This began in chapter 24. In the first part of chapter 24 he is saying that God is going to turn the world upside down. The people who live in the world broke God’s covenant so “the LORD is going to lay waste the earth.” (1) He is going to turn the world upside down and “scatter its inhabitants.” (1) This is in the great tribulation at the end of the world. There will be disasters like there has never been, and gloomy people will wither. He is warning that such a time will come.
However, in the midst of this there will be a few people who will be saved. That is the remnant. The “remnant” is one of the important themes in Isaiah. God when he performs his judgment in the end times with leave a remnant. He will make it possible for hymns to be sung. Today I would like to talk about three aspects of the songs of the remnant.

I. The songs of the remnant (vs. 14-16)
First please look at verses 14 to 16.
“They” are the “remnant”. They are the people who have overcome the great tribulation. The people who up until then had joyfully enjoyed life in the great tribulation will wither and be sad, but in contrast to them, those people who were taken care of during the tribulation will sing a joyful song.
“They raise their voices…from the west they acclaim the LORD’s majesty.” (14) What this will be like is described in Rev. 7:9-17. It is a little long, but let’s look at it.
Rev. 7:9-17
“They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.” (Rev. 7:9) They were “standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Rev. 7:9) crying out in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” (Rev. 7:10) Also “Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever.” (Rev. 7:12) These people according to verse 14 “are they who have come out of the great tribulation.” During the great tribulation in the midst of God’s terrible judgment, they are the people who believed and received the Lord. In other words, they are the remnant. They will give praise and thankfulness to the Lord. They obey God. God left this remnant to give glory to God’s name. Of course, Christians who have risen in a glorious body will be here too. When Christ comes again, Christians will rise from the grave in an imperishable, glorious body. They will be resurrected in a resurrected body and “will be caught up… in the clouds…and so we will be with the Lord forever.”(I Thess. 4:17) However, when the 7 years of tribulation comes upon the earth, those who have been excused from the judgment will be in the sky. When the 7 years of tribulation are over, Jesus will come to this earth and together with the Lord will rule for a thousand years. Then Christians will join voices with the people who went through the tribulation and praise the Lord.
The song Hendel wrote, “The Messiah”, a song about our Savior and Lord Jesus, is such a masterpiece that it takes three hours to be performed. In it is the famous Hallelujah Chorus. Over and over again the wonderful chorus repeats “Hallelujah, Hallelujah”.
In the 18th century “The Messiah” was first performed in London. The song is about Jesus Christ as Messiah. It begins with the prophecy of the Savior coming then it goes through the Incarnation, Passion and Resurrection of Christ to his ultimate glorification in heaven. It is song about the love of God and the plan of salvation. It praises God Almighty. In the Hallelujah Chorus when the phrase “for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth” the crowd’s hearts were so moved by God’s majesty that the audience along with King George II rose to show their reverence。Then they continued standing to the end of the chorus. Since then whenever the Messiah is performed, at the Hallelujah chorus the audience stands up. Before the magnificent God they can’t sit down and listen. At the end of the world such a hymn will be sung.
Beethoven wrote “Symphony Number 9”. In Japan even today it has become the end of the year song that is performed yearly. It is to the point that there are some people that say if they don’t sing it that can’t finish the year.
This chorus song is called “Ode to Joy”. The composer, Beethoven’s, life was very far from being joyful. His father, a singer in a music group, was a heavy drinker. He sternly trained his son in music and enforced practicing. Beethoven who naturally had a gift, from the time he was young taught the piano and performed and supported the family. In 1800 he performed “The First Symphony” and became recognized as a composer. However, when he was about 30 years old, he began losing his hearing which is the most important thing for a composer. At that time Beethoven wrote a letter to a pastor named Amanda saying, “I often feel like I am the most miserable of all men that God has made.” Also written in a letter to his two brothers it says, “Oh. By the will of God. When will I meet joy again? I think that day will never come. That is too cruel!”
He tried various cures that were suggested to him, and had surgery many times, but his hearing ability didn’t recover hardly at all. In the midst of such suffering, Beethoven sought through prayer God’s help. In a letter written to a friend two weeks before he died he wrote, “I pray only that God take care of me in these struggles. No matter how painful and frightening my life is by following the will of God, I will be given the ability to overcome the pain.”
“The 9th Symphony” was written after he lost his hearing. The author of the book, “The life of Beethoven”, Romain Rolland, in his review of “The 9th Symphony” wrote “A little at a time joy is gained. That is one conquest. It is a fight against sorrow… All of mankind hold out their arms to heaven, shout for joy, and make a leap towards joy, and hold it in their arms.” From the midst of pain the joy that he didn’t stop seeking Beethoven found in his faith in God and expressed it in powerful music. That was because he knew the scene of heavenly worship and singing to God.
We too are invited to this worship. In the course of time we will sing from our hearts together with the remnant. This is our hope. Even if now there are fortunate things, or painful things, or sad things, let’s believe that in the course of time we will be overflowing in joy, and on this earth praise the Lord from our hearts.

II. God’s judgment doesn’t stop (Vs. 16-20)
Next let’s look at verses 16 to 20. Let’s read the last half of verse 16.
Certainly in the tribulation there are people who are saved. There is a small remnant. They will sing praises. However, they won’t be completely joyful. That is because there are people that will go to eternal judgment. It is wonderful that some people will be saved, but too many people are painfully judged so they can’t be completely joyful.
Please look at verses 17 and 18.
This means that no one can flee from God’s judgment. Even if you try to hide, even if you try to flee, there will be no place to hide and no place to flee to. That is because “the floodgates of the heavens are opened, the foundations of the earth shake.” (18) “The floodgates of the heavens” (18) appear also in Genesis 7:11. At the time of Noah and the flood, “the floodgates of the heavens were opened” (Genesis 7:11) and large amounts of rain fell and covered the earth and “every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out.”(Genesis 17:23) However, God made an everlasting covenant promising that “never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” (Genesis 9:11) Therefore, when “the floodgates of the heavens are opened” in verse 18 it is not going to be pouring rain. Something scarier will be falling from heaven. If you look at Rev. 16:21, it will be “hailstones of about a hundred pounds each.” That huge of hailstones will fall. We often hear in the news that crops were damaged by hail, but the hail is the average size hail. However, at the end of the world the hail that falls will not be the average hail. The hailstones will be “about a hundred pounds each.” (Rev. 16:21) At the supermarket I often buy 30 kgs. (100 lbs.) of rice. That heavy of hail will fall from heaven with great force. If such a huge thing falls, then your house and fields and everything that you can see with your eyes will be destroyed.
Also here it says, “the foundations of the earth shake.” (18) In special technical language this is called a “pole shift”. The earth’s axis will move. In a really bad case the North Pole and South Pole will be reversed. By that climate change will occur, and diastrophism will occur. The axis moving only just a little from where it was will cause a huge influence on the earth. Many people will try to flee, but it will be a disaster that can’t be fled from.
Then verses 19 and 20 say, “The earth is broken up, the earth is split asunder, the earth is thoroughly 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.”
This means that a huge earthquake will occur. Rev. 16:18 says, “No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake.” An earthquake of great proportion will occur. The huge earthquake in Northern Japan last year was magnitude 9. The damage it caused was so huge, and it transformed everyone’s way of life but, a bigger earthquake is going to occur. As a result, the earth will reel “like a drunkard.” (20) That is because “so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion.” (20)
Isaiah sees this and laments. It is wonderful that a few people are saved and praise God but, on the other hand, by God’s judgment there are people will perish. Isaiah saw such people and lamented, “I waste away, I waste away! Woe to me!” (16)
How about you? Certainly we have believed in Jesus and have been saved. No matter what trials come we are o.k. We have received eternal life and have come into the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, we will praise and sing to the Lord. Now we are singing as a small fellowship, but in the course of time there will come a time when we will with people from all countries and with more people than you can count and in many different languages we will sing. It will bring great joy and move our hearts.
My youngest daughter is going to a church that a missionary from Australia started. There every week they sing Hillsongs. At night too they sing Hillsongs. Hundreds of young people assembling and singing is moving. However, in the course of time at the end of the world the singing will be even so much greater than that. Hundreds of thousands of people in a huge chorus will sing. We will be led into that glory. However, on the other end, there will be people who suffer in tribulation and perish. We must pray that such people will be saved. May such people too enter the ark of salvation. Also so that in the course of time they may be added to the people that will sing to God we must talk about God’s message of judgment.

III. God who sits on the royal throne (Vs. 21-23)
Last let’s look at verses 21 to 23. Please read verses 21 and 22.
Here the words, “in that day” (21) appear. This is a prophecy of what will occur in the tribulation period. Here it is written what will occur at the very end of the tribulation. That is the last war of mankind. This war is called the war of Armageddon. In that war God “will punish the powers in the heavens above and the kings on the earth below.” (21) Of course “the powers in the heavens above” (21) are the powers of demons and their head, Satan. They also appear in Ephesians 6:12 and Col. 2:15. “The kings on the earth below” (21) are the powers which will assemble over Jerusalem’s supremacy. From the East a military force of over 200,000,000,000, and from the West the anti Christ leading the powers and from the North and from the South, everyone will come heading for Armageddon. Then they will venture a war with the Lord who comes down from heaven, but the Lord breathes out from his mouth and blows them away. This is verse 21.
After that what will become of them is in verse 22. “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 “prison” (22) is Hades. “The powers in the heavens above and the kings on the earth below.” (21) will all “be shut up in prison.”(22) This is written in detail from Revelations 20 on so please refer to it. Here it says they will “be punished after many days.” (22) This will be a thousand years later. The devil, Satan, the Dragon is thrown down into the Abyss for a thousand years so the earth has peace for a period of 1000 years. This is the Millennium. For a thousand years a peaceful age will come with the Lord Jesus reigning as King.
However, at the end of the 1000 years they will “be punished”. (22) After a 1000 years Satan who is called the Dragon will once again be set free. Why does God do such a thing? If God left Satan locked up in the Abyss eternally then there would be no problems, but because God sets him free problems occur. However, man is not a robot. He was made with a free will. God wants us to use our free will to love God. Therefore, God let’s Satan free so that the people who lived in the 1000 years in the age of peace can decide if they really love God and are going to follow God or if they are going to follow evil. They are forced to choose one of the two. Christians who have been resurrected in a glorious body will not sin. Christians who were taken up in the sky when Jesus returned have an imperishable body, a glorious body, a perfect body so they will not sin again. It is the people who are still flesh and blood that must choose. The people that choose Satan “in number they are like the sand on the seashore.” (Rev. 20:8) Many people are deceived by Satan and follow him and oppose Christ and surround Jerusalem. Just then “fire came down from heaven and devoured them” (Rev. 20:9) Then they were thrown into the eternal fire. This is called the judgment on the white throne. It is the last judgment of God.
Then there is a new heaven and a new earth. That is in Rev. 21. A new heaven and a new earth will come. “The first heaven and the first earth had passed away.” (Rev. 21:1) The new heaven and the new earth will come down from heaven and there we will be forever with the Lord. There will be no sun and no moon. That is because Jesus himself is the city’s sun. Jesus is so bright that he outshines the sun and the moon so “the moon will be abashed, the sun ashamed.” (23) “The LORD Almighty will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before its elders, gloriously” (23) points to this. Therefore, here is the reason why Isaiah chapter 24 is called “Isaiah’s revelation”. His prophecy covers totally God’s entire eternal plan.
What we can see from this passage is that in the end the Lord is victorious. The reason we praise the Lord is because He is the supreme victor. The Lord that Isaiah saw was sitting on the throne in Jerusalem. He was the victorious Lord that had destroyed the ultimate enemy, Satan and all evil in the world. The appearance of the Lord sitting on the royal throne is really our hope. We praise the Lord because the Lord is the supreme victor.
What are you looking at now? At the various problems in front of your eyes? Or victory that the end of the world will bring? Please welcome the victorious Jesus as the king of your heart, and praise Him from your heart.
Applying it to your life
 Do you give praise like the remnant? Are you saddened by your sin, humble, and thirsting for righteousness? Are you seeking a relationship with God?

 How do you feel when you see people not believing in Jesus perishing? What can you do for the salvation of such people?

 What are you looking at now? At the various problems in front of your eyes? Or the supreme victory that the end of the world will bring? Let’s believe that in the end the Lord will be the victorious and praise the Lord from our hearts.