Commentary - Isaiah 24:13-16

Bird's-eye view

Isaiah 24 is what many commentators call Isaiah's "little apocalypse," a sweeping vision of God's judgment upon the entire earth. The world is turned upside down, its structures dissolved, because its inhabitants have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant. But right in the middle of this cataclysmic upheaval, the prophet reveals that God's purpose is not simple annihilation. It is a severe, holy, and ultimately fruitful pruning. This short section, verses 13-16, is a hinge. It pivots from the stark portrait of near-total desolation to the surprising sound of worldwide worship. A remnant, scattered but secure, begins to sing. The judgment, as harsh as it is, serves to purify a people for God, and the result is that the glory of Yahweh is proclaimed from the ends of the earth. Yet, the prophet himself, seeing both the glory to come and the present apostasy that makes the judgment necessary, is filled with a holy anguish. It is a picture of the Christian life in miniature: rejoicing in the majesty and ultimate victory of God while grieving over the treachery and rebellion that still scar the world.

The passage presents a foundational biblical theme: judgment and grace are two sides of the same coin. God's de-creation of a sinful world order is simultaneously the act of clearing the ground for His new creation. The song of the remnant is not a song that begins after the judgment is over; it begins in the midst of it. This is a profoundly optimistic, postmillennial picture. The shaking of the nations is the very thing that produces the harvest of praise. God doesn't just save His people from the wreckage; He saves them through it, and makes them singers in a world that is being judged.

Outline

Context In Isaiah

This section is part of a larger block of prophecies (Isaiah 13-27) that deals with God's judgment on the nations. After pronouncing oracles against specific pagan powers like Babylon, Assyria, Philistia, and Moab, Isaiah broadens his scope in chapter 24 to a universal judgment. The language is cosmic and absolute: "the earth is utterly broken, the earth is split apart, the earth is violently shaken" (Isa 24:19). This judgment is not arbitrary; it is a covenant lawsuit against a world that has "broken the everlasting covenant" (Isa 24:5). The passage before us, then, is the bright counterpoint to this dark theme. It answers the question, "Is anyone left?" The answer is yes, a remnant, and they are the seed of a new, global chorus of praise. This theme of a faithful remnant surviving judgment is central to Isaiah's message (Isa 1:9; 10:20-22; 17:6) and finds its ultimate fulfillment in the Church of Jesus Christ, gathered from every tribe and tongue and nation.

Key Issues

Judgment, Grace, and a Global Choir

When God brings judgment, He is never sloppy. He is a discriminating judge. He does not use a sledgehammer where a scalpel is needed, and He does not use a broom when He means to use a combine. The imagery here is agricultural. The world is God's olive tree, His vineyard. And when He comes to shake it, to harvest it, most of what comes down is fit only for burning or being trodden underfoot. But He always, always leaves a remnant. It may look like only a few olives left at the top of the tree, or a handful of grapes missed by the main harvesting crew, but this is the fruit He is after. This is His portion.

And what is the nature of this remnant? They are singers. Their defining characteristic in this passage is that they see the judgment for what it is, the majestic work of a holy God, and they respond with worship. This is the great paradigm of biblical history. Noah and his family are the remnant left after the flood, and the first thing they do on dry ground is build an altar. Israel is the remnant brought out of Egypt, and they sing the song of Moses on the far side of the Red Sea. The Church is the remnant that came through the judgment on Jerusalem in A.D. 70, and they are described in Revelation as a multitude singing praise to God and the Lamb. Judgment purifies the Church's worship. It strips away the trivial and the hypocritical, and what is left is a small, hardy, joyful band of singers.

Verse by Verse Commentary

13 For thus it will be in the midst of the earth among the peoples, As the shaking of an olive tree, As the gleanings when the grape harvest is over.

The "For" connects this verse directly to the preceding description of worldwide desolation. This is the result of that judgment. The imagery is stark. After an olive tree is beaten with poles, only a few olives remain on the highest branches. After the gleaners have gone through a vineyard, there is next to nothing left. This is what the world's population will look like after God's judgment has passed through. It is a picture of severity. God is not playing games. But it is also a picture of hope. Something is left. The promise of a remnant is the thread of grace woven through the dark tapestry of judgment. This is not the annihilation of mankind, but its radical pruning. The remnant is small, but it is choice fruit, left by the intentional design of the husbandman.

14 They lift up their voices, they shout for joy; They cry out from the west concerning the majesty of Yahweh.

And what does this tiny remnant do? They are not hiding in caves, bemoaning their losses. They are shouting for joy. This is a loud, public, celebratory roar. And the reason for their joy is not their own survival, but the majesty of Yahweh. They have witnessed the awesome power and justice of God in judging the earth, and it moves them to worship. They see His glory in the very events that terrified the wicked. The song begins "from the west," which, from Isaiah's perspective in Jerusalem, means the coastlands of the Mediterranean and beyond, the Gentile world. The song of salvation is already, in the Old Testament, becoming an international anthem.

15 Therefore glorify Yahweh in the east, The name of Yahweh, the God of Israel, In the coastlands of the sea.

The song that begins in the west becomes a summons to the east. "Therefore", because of this great display of Yahweh's majesty, the logical and right response is worship. The call goes out to glorify God "in the east" (literally "in the lights," perhaps referring to the sunrise) and in the "coastlands of the sea," a phrase Isaiah often uses for the distant Gentile nations (Isa 42:10). The worship of the one true God, the God of Israel, is not to be a localized phenomenon. The judgment was global, and so the resulting worship must also be global. This is the Great Commission in seed form. The majesty of God, revealed in judgment and salvation, is the engine of worldwide missions.

16a From the ends of the earth we hear songs, “Glory to the Righteous One,”

The prophet now hears the fulfillment of that call. The song is actually being sung, not just in the east and west, but "from the ends of the earth." The remnant may be small in any one place, but they are everywhere. And the content of their song is ascribing glory to the "Righteous One." This could refer to God the Father, whose judgments are perfectly righteous. But in the light of the whole of Scripture, it points us forward to the Lord Jesus Christ, the ultimate Righteous One (Acts 3:14; 7:52), whose person and work are the foundation of all true righteousness. The global choir is singing about Jesus. They are celebrating the justice of His reign and the beauty of His salvation.

16b But I say, “I waste away! I waste away! Woe is me! The treacherous deal treacherously, And the treacherous deal very treacherously.”

This is a jarring shift in tone. From the exultant sound of global worship, we are plunged into the prophet's personal agony. Why? Because he sees two things at once. He hears the future song of the redeemed, but he sees the present reality of rampant sin. He says, "I waste away," a phrase indicating profound grief and physical emaciation from sorrow. The reason is the overwhelming reality of treachery. The covenant-breaking, the rebellion, the hypocrisy that makes the judgment necessary is all around him. The "treacherous deal treacherously" is a classic Hebrew intensification. It's not just that there is some sin; it is that sin has become the whole system. The treachery is deep, pervasive, and malignant. The prophet feels the weight of this, even as he sees the glory to come. This is the burden of the man of God: to live with an acute awareness of both the glorious victory of Christ and the desperate wickedness of the human heart.

Application

This passage contains several pointed applications for us. First, we must learn to see God's hand in the shakings of our own time. When nations rage, when institutions crumble, when the world seems to be coming apart at the seams, the Christian is not to despair. We are to look for the majesty of Yahweh. God is on His throne, and He is judging the world in righteousness. These are not random events; they are part of His great pruning process, designed to bring forth a remnant that sings.

Second, we must be part of that remnant choir. Our defining characteristic as Christians should be our worship. And that worship should not be dependent on comfortable circumstances. The remnant here sings in the middle of the wreckage. Our joy is not in our circumstances, but in the majesty of our God. We of all people should be the most joyful, the most celebratory, because we know the end of the story. The song of glory to the Righteous One will triumph.

Third, we must embrace the tension the prophet felt. We should be people of robust, optimistic faith, knowing that the gospel is the power of God and that the kingdom of Christ will fill the earth. We hear the song from the ends of the earth. But at the same time, we must not be naive or callous about the reality of sin. We should grieve, as Isaiah did, over the treachery we see in the world, and even in the Church. We should feel the "woe is me" of living in a fallen world. This combination of joyful hope and sober grief is the hallmark of mature Christian faithfulness. We rejoice in the Righteous One, and we labor and pray for the day when all treachery is finally put away, and His song is the only one left to be sung.