TODAY'S TECHNOLOGY IN BIBLE PROPHECY
Lesson 20: Isaiah's report on what the world will be like when
survivors emerge "the day after" AWWI.
I Isaiah's assessment of the stark conditions that will be
found in the atomic war zones "the day after" AWWI ends.
1 Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it
waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad
the inhabitants thereof (Isa. 24:1).
A The description of the earth being turned "upside down"
may also be translated as "perverteth the face thereof."
B It certainly is a good description of the unrecognizable
condition of the earth from what was there an instant
before the warhead went off.
C Cities demolished by a nuclear bomb have few survivors.
1 The remnant left alive must necessarily flee the radio-
active heap they once called home and seek shelter
someplace where the damage from the nuclear war is less
severe.
2 In this manner the inhabitants of the atomic war zones
shall be "scattered abroad" in the days after the
atomic fighting stops.
2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest;
as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid,
so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller;
as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker
of usury, so with the giver of usury to him (Isa. 24:2).
A Isaiah warned that no favored class shall escape the
horrors of nuclear war by listing both civilians and
priests among the casualties.
B He emphasized this fact further by specifically stating
that the fate of those with great wealth will be the same
as the poorest person who borrows money from them.
II Isaiah's assessment of the environmental damage that will
befall the world "the day after" AWWI ends.
3 The earth shall be utterly laid waste and utterly
despoiled; for the LORD has spoken this word.
4 The earth mourns and withers, the world languishes and
withers; the heavens languish together with the earth
(Isa. 24:3-4, RSV).
A The language used here of the earth--"utterly laid waste
and utterly despoiled," "mourns and withers," "languishes
and withers"--forcefully restates the prophecy's opening
statement: "Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and
maketh it waste" (Isa. 24:1).
B This repetition serves to stress the global scope of the
nuclear destruction.
C Note further that the informational statement: "for the
LORD has spoken this word," was added to clarify the
meaning of the prophecy's opening Hebraic expression
"Behold, the LORD . . ."
- That is, "Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty" does
not mean God will literally bring this atomic calamity
upon the Earth, but rather, that these things will come
to pass according to the infallible Word of God.
D The Hebrew word used in this passage for world literally
means the inhabitable world.
1 Therefore, Isaiah's assessment of the damages to the
Earth here literally included the two-thirds of the
Earth that will not be burned up by AWWI.
2 Accordingly, since crops are "utterly laid waste and
utterly despoiled and wither" when they are suddenly
frozen by dramatic drops in temperature, it follows
from Isaiah's report that crops will be subjected to
subfreezing temperatures around the globe after AWWI.
E The closing comment about "the heavens languish together
with the earth," parallels the Revelation's Fourth and Fifth
trumpet prophecies that predict damage to the Earth's
atmosphere from atomic clouds of smoke.
1 The heavens' unhealthy condition here--their smoke-
clogged, sickly gray color--reveals the unnatural
light-blocking effects of the atomic smoke filled skies.
2 This will cause the sudden destruction of crops around
the world.
F The 1815 volcanic explosion of Mount Tambora, on the
island of Sumbawa, blew some twenty-five cubic miles of
earth and rock into the atmosphere.
1 The dust, smoke, and ash left an area 400 miles across
in total darkness for three days.
2 A substantial quantity of the volcano's smoke was
carried into the stratosphere.
3 This high-altitude smoke subsequently lowered
temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere to the extent
that crops were severely damaged in North America and
many areas of Europe suffered outright famine.
G If the smoke and dust from Tambora's blowout wrought this
much damage on Northern Hemisphere crops, a global atomic
war capable of lofting at least a hundred times the
volumes of dust and smoke produced by Tambora, will
undoubtedly plunge the world into the dark, crop-freezing
days so clearly detailed here by Isaiah.
III Isaiah's identification of the basic problem that will
cause AWWI.
5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof;
because they have transgressed the laws, changed the
ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they
that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants
of the earth are burned, and few men left (Isa. 24:5-6).
A Isaiah identified the cause of nuclear war as the
collective result of men turning their backs on God's
instruction and laws.
B Isaiah then described the consequences of this rebellion
in terms of man's reckless use of nuclear bombs to defend
his defiant way of life.
C Isaiah aptly summarized the violence of atomic warfare as
"the curse" that devours the earth and burns the majority
of its inhabitants.
IV Isaiah's description of the severe hardships that the
world's survivors will be subjected to after AWWI.
7 The new wine mourns, the vine decays, all the
merry-hearted sigh.
8 The gaiety of tambourines ceases, the noise of revelers
stops, the gaiety of the harp ceases.
9 They do not drink wine with song; strong drink is bitter
to those who drink it (Isa. 24:7-9, NASB).
A At this point the prophecy begins to detail the
agricultural damages that will occur in the post-AWWI
period.
B The vine becoming sickly and decaying parallels the
latest scientific findings that predict that prolonged
extreme cold will bring about the death and decay of
crops around the globe.
C Since v. 4 stated that all the earth's crops will wither and
die, why did Isaiah specifically report that grape-producing
vines will rot?
1 Grapevines are one of Earth's hardiest plants--they will
endure wide temperature changes and prolonged drought.
2 Grapevines often produce better grapes when they are
more than a hundred years old.
3 Despite the rugged qualities of grapevines, Isaiah
forewarns that they will rot around the world after AWWI.
10 The city of confusion is broken down: every house is
shut up, that no man may come in (Isa. 24:10).
A An air-burst atomic bomb can reduce a great city to
charred rubble in a matter of minutes.
B The bomb's shock wave generates overpressures that will
crush reinforced concrete structures and flatten or
severely damage all but the strongest buildings within a
radius of a mile to several miles of ground zero.
C According to Barnes' Notes, the word rendered "confusion"
does not denote disorder or anarchy, but is a word that
expresses destitution of form.
1 It occurs in Gen. 1:2: "And the earth was without
form."
2 The Greek Septuagint provides a crisp translation of
this: "all the city has become desolate."
D Isaiah described some houses still standing the day
after the Atomic War.
1 They will undoubtedly be buildings of brick and
concrete located far enough away from ground zero to
be left intact.
2 However they will be "shut up" or off limits to men
due to dangerous levels of atomic fallout.
3 Truly, "no man may come in," because of the risk from
radiation poisoning.
E Immediately after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear-power-plant
accident, 135,000 people living within an 18-mile radius
of the escaping radioactive gas, were evacuated.
- Their houses had to be "shut up so that no man may
come in."
F A 1-megaton hydrogen bomb would produce 1,000 times more
radioactivity within an hour of its detonation than the
worst conceivable reactor accident.
11 There is an outcry in the streets concerning the wine;
All joy turns to gloom. The gaiety of the earth is
banished.
12 Desolation is left in the city, And the gate is battered
to ruins (Isa. 24:11-12, NASB).
A The day after AWWI, survival will be the primary concern
of survivors fleeing the Earth's smashed cities.
B Isaiah noted that gaiety will not be a part of the
scene. "All joy turns to gloom" on the Earth.
C Survivors fleeing bombed, "broken down" cities will
realize that the good times have become a thing of the
past when they gaze back at the heaps of desolate
rubble, "left in the city," they once called home.
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 (Isa. 24:13, NASB).
A "For thus it will be in the midst of the earth among the
peoples" is a summary statement that applies all the
previously described calamities to everyone left alive
on the Earth after AWWI.
1 That is, the survivors shall find themselves in a
world where the "heavens together with the earth" are
in the process of losing their former strength and
vigor.
2 This will cause the "vine" to "decay" as the
agricultural crisis deepens during the dark days
of the ensuing nuclear winter.
B Isaiah compared the survivors to the destitute and
poorest classes of old, who would go into the olive
groves and vineyards after the harvest, to glean what few
olives and grapes were left.
1 There will be a frantic effort to collect every morsel
of food.
2 Note that Isaiah's prophecy confirms today's
scientific predictions that "nuclear winter"
conditions will prevent growth of most foods
after a nuclear war.
V "The day after" AWWI ends, Isaiah reported that the West will
proclaim the good news that Christ will soon Return.
14 They raise their voices, they shout for joy. They cry
out from the west concerning the majesty of the LORD.
15 Therefore glorify the LORD in the east, The name of the
LORD, the God of Israel, In the coastlands of the sea
(Isa. 24:14-15, NASB).
A It is hard to imagine people from the West "shouting for
joy" in the aftermath of atomic war.
1 Yet Isaiah's narrative parallels the same positive
response prophesied in Rev. 8 concerning the Western
nation of the United States launching a worldwide
evangelistic outreach following the First Trumpet
Atomic War.
2 Western Christians will use the prophetic fulfillment
of the outbreak of AWWI to convince the "people of the
East" that Jesus Christ will soon return and establish
His earthly kingdom of peace.
B The joyful news proclaimed by the "people of the West"
the day after AWWI, therefore, will clearly be "Christ
is coming."
VI Isaiah warned that the good news will be silenced by a
betrayal that will lead to Atomic World War II.
16 From the ends of the earth we hear songs, Glory to the
Righteous One," But I say, Woe to me! Woe to me! Alas for
me! The treacherous deal treacherously, And the
treacherous deal very treacherously" (Isa. 24:16, NASB).
A People "from the ends of the earth" will hear the facts
about God's mighty deliverance of Israel from the
invading Russian forces and will promptly turn to God
and praise Him for His righteousness.
B Isaiah's documentation of their positive response
coincides with Ezekiel's prophecy which states that all
nations will know who God is after Russia's defeat.
C Isaiah then shifts back to the physical condition of
AWWI's survivors.
1 "Woe" by definition is an exclamation of grief, distress,
affliction, or trouble.
2 "Alas" by definition is an exclamation expressing
sorrow, grief, or apprehension of evil.
3 Since woe and alas both warn of continuing hardships
after the atomic war, it follows that Isaiah's
subsequent message after his woe, woe, alas, warning,
will parallel the Rev. 8:13 three woe warning delivered
by the U.S. eagle after AWWI.
4 "Woe to me" also indicates people will be in grievous
distress with a terrible affliction.
5 The New International Version renders this as "I waste
away, I waste away!"
a Waste away means to become physically wasted,
losing flesh and strength.
b People will be simultaneously hit by inadequate
food supplies and radiation sickness.
D The Isaiah prophecy then moves to an extended period of
time after AWWI.
1 Isaiah indicated that the nations will establish
disarmament treaties and other agreements following
the war, such as pledges banning the use of atomic
weapons.
2 This is discernable from the phrase: "the treacherous
deal very treacherously," which means a deceptive
double-cross and a betrayal of an agreement.
E The use of treachery and deceit in the pursuit of
selfish national objectives will eventually usher in
more atomic fighting.
F According to scripture, once this second conflict begins
it will quickly escalate into the world's Second Nuclear
War (AWWII).