24:1 This verse is a dramatic declaration of divine action that parallels the ultimate divine blessing (vv. 21–23). This is no mindless cataclysm but a total purging of evil. “Empty” could equally be translated “lay waste,” which is what the emptying will involve. The Hebrew word balaq (“make it desolate”) is used also in the poetic account of the fall of Nineveh (Nah. 2:10–11). The face of the earth will be desolate and its inhabitants scattered like the earlier inhabitants of Babel (Gen. 11:8–9).

24:2 The desolation of the planet will affect the whole of society, from top to bottom. In disasters such as wars, earthquakes, and famines it is often the poor and vulnerable who suffer most. Not so here: high and low, rich and poor, powerful and powerless will be equally engulfed.

24:3 The verbs here are infinitive absolutes, emphasizing the totality of the destruction. This is the word of Yahweh, which can destroy as well as create. The rest of the chapter will provide the reason for his actions. This is a bleak mirror image of the security of the believer when the earth is shaken (Ps. 46:2).

24:4 This section turns to the blight brought upon the planet by sinful humans, such that the earth is personified as a mourner. The “world” here translates tebel, referring to the inhabited human world as opposed to the planet. Once again, high as well as low are affected. A blighted human nature has blighted the environment.

24:5 The previous idea is developed further here: humanity has polluted the earth, and the curse of Genesis 3:18 is being worked out. This reality has caused the garden to become a wilderness. The language of the fall is spelled out in three ways. People have “transgressed the laws” (here torah is plural, suggesting a comprehensive disobedience). They have repudiated revelation and have gone their own way (cf. Isa. 53:6). “Violated” suggests they have altered the words of God, while “statutes” suggests words engraved on stone to last into the future, perhaps an allusion to the stone tablets of the Decalogue. The “everlasting covenant” is used of the covenant with Noah (Gen. 9:16; cf. Response section). Human rebellion is a fundamental violation of the covenant relationship (cf. Isa. 1:2–3).

24:6 Sin causes the original curse in Genesis 3:17–18, and as time passes that curse deepens. This curse of the covenant means not that Yahweh has broken his covenant but that he is purging the community of false members. As in the time of Noah, there will be a remnant—an idea common in Isaiah.

24:7 Both the fruit of the vine and the vine itself have vanished. Here, as always, wine itself is not condemned and is rather a symbol of rejoicing and partying. All natural joviality disappears as life becomes meaningless.

24:8–9 Music is the next casualty—instruments lie silent because there is nothing to sing about. Wine and beer have run out; even if there is any still available, people have lost the taste for it.

24:10 This city in fact is like the earth in its unformed state. The “wasted city” is a city of tohu, the Hebrew word used alongside bohu of the desolate and unformed earth (Gen. 1:2) before the great creating Word said, “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:3). What is needed here is nothing less than a new creation. The city is marked by fear; the doors are locked and no one ventures out.

24:11 Yet people are still calling for the refreshments that failed, as humanity left to its own resources can only keep on seeking what has already proved to be ineffective. This city of revelry is now a city of darkness and despair.

24:12–13 The city is a broken ruin, while harvest fields lie desolate and olive trees are denuded of their fruit. Harvest, traditionally a joyful occasion, is a time of singing, but here all joy has vanished; the outlook is bleak.

24:14 It is just at this moment of despair, as the joyful song fades into silence, that another song rings out. The prophet is thrilled with the prospect of a new world, although there’s much to grieve about in the destruction of the world city. This can be compared to the universal rejoicing at the fall of Nineveh (Nah. 3:19). Eschatologically, it foreshadows the rejoicing in heaven at the fall of Babylon (Rev. 19:1–8).

24:15–16a This song is one of universal worship, as praise begins in the east, where the sun rises, and then spreads to the west, to the Mediterranean and its islands. One day there will be universal recognition of the glory of Yahweh, which already fills the earth (Isa. 6:3) but will then become visible to all. All nations will praise and honor the God of Israel, while the earth will rejoice.

24:16b Yet this will not happen without great tragedy and suffering, as the effects of sin and the curse are still seen all around, causing physical stress and debilitation to the prophet. “Woe is me” echoes 6:5 and shows the only true response of sinful humans before a holy God. Even if the prophet sees the glorious eternal future clearly, there is still much to grieve before that destination is reached. Daniel shows similar sorrow in Daniel 7:28; 8:27.

24:17–18 The sense of comprehensive destruction is evoked by “terror and the pit,” a snare laid to trap all those who have defied God; a similar set of images is found in Amos 5:19. This judgment was foreshadowed by the flood; “windows of heaven” echo Genesis 7:11. Jeremiah 4:23–26 speaks of the coming exile in similar terms. The quaking of the earth is a common motif in theophany passages (cf. Judg. 5:5; 2 Sam. 22:8; Ps. 68:8–9).

24:19–20 The universal building is dissolving: “utterly broken” suggests cracks throughout the fabric, “split apart” suggests the resulting collapse, and “violently shaken” suggests a scattering of the fragments. The earth staggers like a drunkard and sways like a flimsy structure. This is because of human rebellion and its crushing load of guilt, leading to fatal collapse.

24:21–22 The eschatological emphasis is underlined by “on that day” and shows Yahweh as sole disposer of destinies. The judgment involves heaven and earth, as both the principalities and powers and the earthly rulers they have dominated are judged. There is an intimate connection between the two, as has already been suggested (cf. comments on 14:12–21).55 All powers opposed to God will be judged; no part of heaven and earth will escape that scrutiny. “After many days” probably suggests that the judgment of the final day is the culmination of all those that have occurred throughout history.

24:23 The reference to the sun and moon is likely a reminder that these are not deities but simply light bearers. Indeed, here they are simply the “white one” and the “hot one.” This is perhaps an echo of Genesis 1:16, where they are referred to simply as the “greater” and “lesser” lights. Their shame is because a greater light has appeared, as the glory of Yahweh shines from Zion. The “elders,” representing God’s people, will see his glory, and the curse will vanish.