B. From Chaos to Restoration (24:1-27:13)

The next four chapters comprise a unit, one which has been analyzed and debated extensively by commentators (see my book From Chaos to Restoration, An Integrative Reading of Isaiah 24-27). It begins with a picture of utter destruction (24:1-20). There are two unnamed cities (24:10; 25:2; 26:1; 27:10). Their fate affects the rest of the world. When the one is destroyed in 24:10, there is unending lament, and the rest of the world is devastated. When the other is destroyed in 25:2, God is praised and the world rejoices. In 26:1 the city is strong, the place of God’s salvation. But in 27:10 the city is desolate. The identity of these cities and the meaning of these chapters have proved elusive. But, in my view, Isaiah speaks of Jerusalem and Babylon, two cities whose destinies affected the world.

There are three compelling reasons for seeing 24:10 as a reference to Jerusalem: (1) The everlasting covenant in v.5 was extended to Israel alone, no one else. (2) In v.11 the phrase in Hebrew is “the joy of the earth,” which is a well-known epithet for Jerusalem. (3) V.13 focuses the destruction “in the midst of the earth,” an expression for Jerusalem, which was believed to be located at the center of the earth. Its eventual destruction in 587 b.c. would be tantamount to the total collapse of the world, chaos.

In 24:21-23 a day in the future (“in that day”), God will intervene against the forces of chaos. He will destroy the wicked city (25:2), which must be Babylon, to Jerusalem, the most horrible enemy. It will be a day of great rejoicing with a heavenly banquet (25:6-9). But that day of rejoicing is still in the future, so the prophet admonishes the people to trust in the interim. Isa 26:1-6 is a song of trust.

But until that day of victory comes, Judah’s lot is extremely difficult. Isa 26:7-18 is a lament bemoaning the situation of God’s righteous ones who currently are in distress because of God’s disciplinary action (v.16 refers to the Exile). The nation’s pain is like a woman in childbirth, but it has no birth to show for the pain (26:17-18). Isa 26:19 is an oracle of salvation, a shout of joy that the dead will live! There will be a national restoration (this is similar to Ezekiel’s prophecy concerning the dry bones and is not a reference to individual resurrection).

Indeed, God is about to act. He will move out across the face of the earth in terrible judgment, so they must hide for a little while until he is finished (26:20-21). In that day, God will slay the chaos monster (27:1), a reference to the devastation of Babylon. When he does, Judah will be restored (the vineyard song in 27:2-6 is the reversal of the song of the vineyard in 5:1-7). Isa 27:7-11 is a reflection on the current state of Judah, struck down by God, punished with exile, her precious city in ruins. But the ultimate plan of God will be enacted, resulting in complete restoration and the return of the exiles (27:12-13).

These four chapters are placed here as a summary of the previous chapters, albeit in a heightened, almost apocalyptic key. Jerusalem will be punished for breaking God’s laws. She will be utterly devastated (chs. 1-12). But because Jerusalem is the religious center of the world, her demise will mean the destruction of the entire earth. All the earth will be judged (chs. 13-23, the oracles against the nations of the earth). But here, as in the earlier chapters, is a hint of divine action to save and restore Israel (2:1-5; 4:2-6; 9:2-7; 11:1-12:6).