Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
Fear and pit and snare rest upon every inhabitant of the earth in the closing days, bringing danger, disaster, entrapment and inescapable judgment with no escape by flight. Whoever flees from the noise of the fear falls into the pit, and whoever comes up out of the pit is taken in the snare, so that escape from one peril leads only into another. The Lord makes the earth empty and waste and turns it upside down, breaking it down and dissolving it until it reels to and fro like a drunkard and falls to rise no more, because iniquity lies heavy upon it and its inhabitants have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance and broken the everlasting covenant. At the coming of Christ all the living wicked are slain while all the righteous are made immortal and taken to reign with Him in heaven for a thousand years, leaving the earth desolate and without living people as the abyss where Satan is confined, until the wicked are raised and destroyed and God makes new heavens and a new earth. From every calamity there is a safe shelter for those anchored to the Rock of Ages, so the warning calls sinners to flee while they still can and seek mercy before probation closes, for the great day of God hastens greatly.
Fear Pit and Snare
Fear and danger and entrapment come upon the inhabitants of the earth, bringing disaster and inescapable judgment in the closing days of earth's history with no escape by flight. This is the condition of awful disturbances in nature pouring in from all parts of the world, with ships dashed to pieces by sea and houses and property broken up and destroyed on land, in a state without precedent and appallingly on the increase. It belongs to the shaking and breaking of the earth under the weight of sin and to the time when God settles accounts with the world for its iniquities and transgressions, amid widespread treachery and sin and future earth-shaking upheavals. The San Francisco earthquake and fire stands as a foretaste of the approaching end to which this warning applies, while urging flight to God's mercy before probation closes.
He who flees from the sound of terror falls into the pit, and he who climbs up out of the pit is caught in the snare, so that escape from one danger only leads into another and judgment is unavoidable on every side. The surrounding picture is a shaking and breaking of the earth, which reels to and fro and is removed because transgression lies heavy upon it, until it falls and does not rise again for the final exposure and punishment of rebels against God. This same overthrow comes because the earth is defiled under its inhabitants through transgressing the laws, changing the ordinance, breaking the everlasting covenant and dealing treacherously. In that overthrow the Lord makes the earth empty and waste, turns it upside down and scatters its inhabitants without distinction of priest and people, master and servant, buyer and seller, borrower and lender, burning its dwellers till few are left. Then the windows from on high are opened and the foundations shaken till the earth is utterly broken down, clean dissolved and moved exceedingly like a drunkard and removed like a cottage, while the Lord punishes the host of the high ones on high and the kings of the earth, gathering them as prisoners in the pit and shutting them in prison till after many days they are visited, then reigning in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem gloriously before His ancients when the moon is confounded and the sun ashamed.
In its setting the warning follows songs of glory to the righteous heard from the farthest parts of the earth and the lament over treacherous dealing. It thus contrasts confident claims of peace and safety in the last days with sudden ruin, danger and distress coming upon the inhabitants of the earth amid unfaithfulness, even among professed believers. The chapter as a whole describes the great day of God's wrath at Christ's coming, when the wicked are slain and the earth is left desolate without a living person for a thousand years. That broader description does not explain the specific images of fear and pit and snare.
Earth Broken and Emptied
The Lord makes the earth empty and waste, turns it upside down, scatters abroad its inhabitants, and returns it to disorder and chaos as at the beginning. That scattering makes no distinction of rank or dealing, falling alike upon priest and people, master and servant, buyer and seller, borrower and lender. At Christ's coming this emptying brings universal destruction upon the face of nature, leaving the earth desolate.
By divine agency the windows from on high are opened and the foundations of the earth are shaken, so that its pillars tremble. The repeated Hebrew word for earth shows this shaking is of the entire inhabited globe, not a merely national judgment nor one limited to Palestine. As at the flood, great convulsions of earth are sent as judgment upon human corruption and violence, and present mighty shakings with widespread iniquity are signs that conditions will grow worse until the end.
The earth is utterly broken down, clean dissolved, and moved exceedingly, reeling to and fro like a drunkard and removed like a cottage. Fleeing from one danger only casts men into another, for the broken earth falls under the heavy weight of transgression to rise no more. This shaking and breaking is the settling of accounts with the world for its iniquities before the Lord reigns gloriously in Zion.
By reason of iniquity the curse devours the earth, its inhabitants are burned till few are left, and it mourns and languishes and fades away and is made desolate. At the same time the Lord punishes the host of the high ones on high and the kings of the earth upon the earth. They are gathered together as prisoners in the pit and shut up in prison till after many days they are visited, being struck by great stones from heaven and gathered into the pit of death to be visited again at the end of the thousand years. Then He reigns in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem gloriously before His ancients, when the moon is confounded and the sun ashamed.
Cause in Human Transgression
Desolation overwhelms the earth because iniquity and transgression lie heavy upon it, and the inhabitants face fear, disaster, destruction, entrapment and inescapable judgment from which flight is impossible, for whoever flees from one danger falls into another and whoever comes up out of the pit is taken in the snare amid the earth's final shaking and breaking, reeling to and fro like a drunkard and removed like a cottage to fall and rise no more. This is the time when God settles accounts with the world for its iniquities and exposes and punishes rebels against Him, with the terror joined to the opening of heaven's windows, the shaking of the heavens and the sign of the Son of man, when people seek shelter among falling rocks and in caverns to hide from Christ's majesty and none but the holy can escape. Those who so taught held that what comes in consequence of sin falls when the deceived exalt Sunday as the test of all religions and confederate together to destroy the people of God who oppose the false theocracy, with the heavens opened and the foundations shaken and the Lord punishing the high ones on high and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
The earth is defiled under its inhabitants through transgressing the laws, changing the ordinance, breaking the everlasting covenant, and dealing treacherously, so that transgression lies heavy upon it and fear and the pit and the snare are upon every inhabitant with no escape. That defilement is transgression of God's Ten Commandments, for which God expresses His indignation through disturbances in the earth that throw it into chaos, and earthquakes such as the earthquake in Chile are instances of that distress and signs that the end is nearing. The closing days therefore bring the Lord making the earth empty and waste, turning it upside down and scattering its inhabitants without distinction of priest and people, master and servant, buyer and seller, borrower and lender, burning its dwellers till few are left, opening the windows from on high and shaking the foundations till the earth is utterly broken down, clean dissolved, moved exceedingly and removed, while the host of the high ones on high and the kings of the earth are gathered as prisoners in the pit and shut in prison till after many days they are visited, then the Lord reigning in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem gloriously before His ancients when the moon is confounded and the sun ashamed.
The verse belongs to a time of widespread treachery, iniquity and sin, when fear, danger and entrapment confront the inhabitants amid the shaking and reeling of the earth's foundations. In its setting the warning follows songs of glory to the righteous from the farthest parts of the earth and lament over treacherous dealing, contrasting confident claims of peace and safety with sudden ruin, danger and distress. Such moral corruption together with mighty earthquakes are signs that the end of all things is near, and conditions will grow worse until then. It shows part of the vast, incalculable, broad, deep, manifold, malignant mass of evil under which the earth groans and which fills the atmosphere of the present age, an inspired description of sin and misery whose depth is proved by comparison with the world around. Only its outer circle is seen while its innumerable inner circles of vileness and misery are unseen and cannot be seen, and its extent proves the vanity of all human efforts to better mankind apart from God, as useless as silencing thunder with a harp or stopping pestilence by scattering roses, which should make a man wiser, more thoughtful and solemn, moved not to hate, scorn or satirize but to pity, mourn and pray.
Last Days Worldwide Judgment
The prophecy is discursive and looks forward to the last days, covering the portion of history immediately before the coming of the Lord in darkness and tumult and error. As part of Isaiah 23-27 it concerns near and distant events, including times of exile, the overthrow of evil, and Christ's coming and reign. In those last days desolation overwhelms the earth because of iniquity, with the earth utterly broken down and clean dissolved and moved exceedingly.
It belongs to the day of the Lord, which is a day of wrath and destruction and not salvation or a new probation. Judgments upon lands and nations foreshadow the final judgment included in the prophecy. It is the time of trouble just before God's people are finally delivered, associated with the outpouring of the seven last plagues, when inhabitants face fear and unavoidable danger.
The repeated Hebrew erets shows it means the entire earth inhabited by man, a universal convulsion of the whole globe at the end of the world in connection with the second coming, not a mere national judgment on the Jews nor limited to Palestine. Written by inspiration more than twenty-five hundred years ago, it is now being literally fulfilled in awful disturbances in nature pouring in from all parts of the world, without precedent and appallingly on the increase. By sea ships are dashed to pieces and on land houses and property are broken up and destroyed, in earthquakes, tidal waves, and storms.
The San Francisco earthquake and fire, the earthquake in Chile, the severe earthquake in Mexico, and present earthquakes are instances and foretastes and premonitions of the final shaking. They show the instability of earthly things and warn that the end of all things is near amid widespread treachery and sin, yet they are not the final stroke of divine judgment. Conditions will grow worse until the end, and though men expect to rebuild larger and grander, God will throw down again in the final visitation. Modern hurricanes, tidal waves, and tornadoes, with raging natural elements, are the beginning of its fulfillment, bringing global terror to those not anchored to the Rock of Ages. What has been seen so far in storms and calamities by sea and land is as nothing compared with what will come in the near future.
God Himself shakes the foundations of the earth and causes the pillars of the globe to tremble by divine agency. As at the flood, great earth-convulsions were sent as judgment upon human corruption and violence. A coming worldwide earthquake, an unprecedented convulsion in which the earth reels like a drunkard and is moved from its place and thrown into chaos, is a signal of the earth's final dissolution and the approach of a new world. In that upheaval God uses disturbances in the earth to express indignation against those who transgress His law.
Millennial Desolation and Renewal
At Christ's coming universal destruction is brought upon the face of nature in connection with the second coming and the great day of God. The earth is made empty and waste, turned upside down, left desolate, mourning and languishing and fading away, devoured by the curse, utterly broken down and dissolved, reeling to and fro like a drunkard and removed like a cottage, and returned to its original condition of disorder and chaos. The warning of coming wrath in this belongs to that destruction and calls sinners to flee while they still can.
The terror is joined with the shaking of the heavens and the sign of the Son of man, when heaven's windows are opened and the earth reels and is broken under the weight of its transgression. People who flee one danger fall into another, seeking shelter among falling rocks and in caverns to hide from Christ's majesty, and none but the holy can escape fear, destruction, and entrapment upon the inhabitants of the earth during its great shaking near the day of the Lord. At His return all the living wicked are destroyed and slain while all the righteous are made immortal, delivered, raised from the dead, and gathered to meet the Lord. They are taken to reign with Christ in heaven and the New Jerusalem for a thousand years, leaving the earth desolate, empty, depopulated, rolling in darkness, and without a living person, and it will remain so until the resurrection of the wicked and the final fire.
That ruined, empty earth, like the chaotic unformed earth, is the abyss or bottomless pit where Satan and his angels are confined and bound during the thousand years. No living people remain for him to tempt, Christ does not reign on the earth, and the trouble upon its inhabitants lasts the many days which are a thousand years, with the sun darkened and human life destroyed, while Christ and the saints are in heaven and the earth lies waste and unfit for the redeemed to live on. Left to roam over and witness the ruin he wrought, Satan remains in that desolate, uninhabited place while the redeemed are elsewhere. This fulfills the type of the scapegoat being sent into an uninhabited land.
During that day the kings of the earth and the host of the high ones are struck by great stones from heaven as the earth is shaken, gathered into the pit of death, and shut in prison to be visited again at the end of the thousand years. The old earth is already tottering in process of fulfillment in its final death struggle, in awful confusion when people are no longer worthy of God's favor and the earth is rejected, and its passing contrasts with the enduring word of God. It will lie waste until God creates new heavens and a new earth. Afterward the saints descend, the wicked dead are raised and finally destroyed and consumed by fire from heaven, the earth is purified by fire in its desolate, dissolved state at the day of judgment and delivered from corruption, and God brings a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness which the redeemed will possess forever; only when the thousand years end comes the reign in its fullness. The execution of judgment and the penalty of God's law shown in these verses belong to the new-covenant arrangement, as they also belonged to its type.
Shelter Call and Response
From every calamity coming upon the earth there is a safe shelter open to everyone, for God remains refuge and strength to those anchored to the Rock of Ages. The fear and destruction now upon the inhabitant of the earth are awful disturbances in nature pouring in from all parts of the world, with ships dashed to pieces by sea and houses and property broken up and destroyed on land, in a condition without precedent and appallingly on the increase, and modern hurricanes, tidal waves, tornadoes, earthquakes and storms with raging natural elements are the beginning of its fulfillment, as nothing compared with what will come in the near future. These judgments are global, with the earth's foundations shaken and the earth reeling as flight from one danger leads only into another, bringing terror to those not anchored. Faith enables believers to escape spiritually, though it does not prevent earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or tidal waves, and those who trust need not fear.
The day brings fear and bitter consequences to those outside God's safety, while those who accept His rule and redemption and obey Him experience it as a day of joy and glory. Those who know the Lord and understand what the earth-shaking upheavals of the last days portend need not fear, but are filled with hope and delight at the event they foreshadow.
The warning of coming wrath calls sinners to flee while they still can and to seek God's mercy before probation closes, for the great day of God is near and hastens greatly. Destructive earthquakes give a foretaste of the final shaking when the earth reels to and fro, but they are premonitions and not the final stroke, warning that the end is near. Knowing and trusting God in such an hour is worth more than the price of the material world, and all must be ready for the final visitation. Those whose lives are spared should thank God and reconsecrate all to Him, and should vacate the wicked place unless God has special work for them there to perform, though men expect to rebuild larger and grander than before, for God will throw down again.
Present earthquakes show the instability of earthly things and serve as merciful warnings and premonitions of the coming upheaval and of iniquity's end, meant to teach lessons ignored in times of ease. They are meant to stop people in pursuit of wealth, position, and pleasure, to prompt reflection, and to turn treasure and affections toward an enduring kingdom. Compared with what is seen in the world, the vast, manifold mass of evil under which the earth groans fills the present age, of which only the outer circle is seen while innumerable inner circles of vileness and misery are unseen. Its extent proves the vanity of all human efforts to better mankind apart from God, as useless as silencing thunder with a harp or stopping pestilence by scattering roses. It should make a man wiser, more thoughtful and solemn, moved not to hate, scorn, or satirize but to pity, mourn, and pray.
In the same connection the prophecy points to the signs and conditions of the prophet's own time and also forward to Gospel days when similar conditions would exist. It shows the desolation of the earth as God's sure punishment of sin and sure destruction that awaits, while holding out the wonderful deliverance of God's people and God's children amid destruction. What comes in consequence of sin falls when the deceived exalt Sunday as the test of all religions and confederate together to destroy the people of God who oppose the false theocracy, with inescapable terror and destruction from which flight is impossible, when the heavens are opened and the foundations of the earth are shaken and the earth is utterly broken down and dissolved and reeling to and fro and removed, falling under the heavy weight of its transgression never to rise again, when the Lord punishes the high ones on high and the kings of the earth upon the earth. The verse stands against assurances that no evil will come and that the world will be converted before the Lord comes, warning that judgment is coming upon the wicked.
Fear and pit and snare rest upon every inhabitant of the earth in the closing days, bringing danger, disaster, entrapment and inescapable judgment with no escape by flight. Whoever flees from the noise of the fear falls into the pit, and whoever comes up out of the pit is taken in the snare, so that escape from one peril leads only into another. The Lord makes the earth empty and waste and turns it upside down, breaking it down and dissolving it until it reels to and fro like a drunkard and falls to rise no more, because iniquity lies heavy upon it and its inhabitants have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance and broken the everlasting covenant. At the coming of Christ all the living wicked are slain while all the righteous are made immortal and taken to reign with Him in heaven for a thousand years, leaving the earth desolate and without living people as the abyss where Satan is confined, until the wicked are raised and destroyed and God makes new heavens and a new earth. From every calamity there is a safe shelter for those anchored to the Rock of Ages, so the warning calls sinners to flee while they still can and seek mercy before probation closes, for the great day of God hastens greatly.
Fear Pit and Snare
Fear and danger and entrapment come upon the inhabitants of the earth, bringing disaster and inescapable judgment in the closing days of earth's history with no escape by flight. This is the condition of awful disturbances in nature pouring in from all parts of the world, with ships dashed to pieces by sea and houses and property broken up and destroyed on land, in a state without precedent and appallingly on the increase. It belongs to the shaking and breaking of the earth under the weight of sin and to the time when God settles accounts with the world for its iniquities and transgressions, amid widespread treachery and sin and future earth-shaking upheavals. The San Francisco earthquake and fire stands as a foretaste of the approaching end to which this warning applies, while urging flight to God's mercy before probation closes.
He who flees from the sound of terror falls into the pit, and he who climbs up out of the pit is caught in the snare, so that escape from one danger only leads into another and judgment is unavoidable on every side. The surrounding picture is a shaking and breaking of the earth, which reels to and fro and is removed because transgression lies heavy upon it, until it falls and does not rise again for the final exposure and punishment of rebels against God. This same overthrow comes because the earth is defiled under its inhabitants through transgressing the laws, changing the ordinance, breaking the everlasting covenant and dealing treacherously. In that overthrow the Lord makes the earth empty and waste, turns it upside down and scatters its inhabitants without distinction of priest and people, master and servant, buyer and seller, borrower and lender, burning its dwellers till few are left. Then the windows from on high are opened and the foundations shaken till the earth is utterly broken down, clean dissolved and moved exceedingly like a drunkard and removed like a cottage, while the Lord punishes the host of the high ones on high and the kings of the earth, gathering them as prisoners in the pit and shutting them in prison till after many days they are visited, then reigning in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem gloriously before His ancients when the moon is confounded and the sun ashamed.
In its setting the warning follows songs of glory to the righteous heard from the farthest parts of the earth and the lament over treacherous dealing. It thus contrasts confident claims of peace and safety in the last days with sudden ruin, danger and distress coming upon the inhabitants of the earth amid unfaithfulness, even among professed believers. The chapter as a whole describes the great day of God's wrath at Christ's coming, when the wicked are slain and the earth is left desolate without a living person for a thousand years. That broader description does not explain the specific images of fear and pit and snare.
Earth Broken and Emptied
The Lord makes the earth empty and waste, turns it upside down, scatters abroad its inhabitants, and returns it to disorder and chaos as at the beginning. That scattering makes no distinction of rank or dealing, falling alike upon priest and people, master and servant, buyer and seller, borrower and lender. At Christ's coming this emptying brings universal destruction upon the face of nature, leaving the earth desolate.
By divine agency the windows from on high are opened and the foundations of the earth are shaken, so that its pillars tremble. The repeated Hebrew word for earth shows this shaking is of the entire inhabited globe, not a merely national judgment nor one limited to Palestine. As at the flood, great convulsions of earth are sent as judgment upon human corruption and violence, and present mighty shakings with widespread iniquity are signs that conditions will grow worse until the end.
The earth is utterly broken down, clean dissolved, and moved exceedingly, reeling to and fro like a drunkard and removed like a cottage. Fleeing from one danger only casts men into another, for the broken earth falls under the heavy weight of transgression to rise no more. This shaking and breaking is the settling of accounts with the world for its iniquities before the Lord reigns gloriously in Zion.
By reason of iniquity the curse devours the earth, its inhabitants are burned till few are left, and it mourns and languishes and fades away and is made desolate. At the same time the Lord punishes the host of the high ones on high and the kings of the earth upon the earth. They are gathered together as prisoners in the pit and shut up in prison till after many days they are visited, being struck by great stones from heaven and gathered into the pit of death to be visited again at the end of the thousand years. Then He reigns in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem gloriously before His ancients, when the moon is confounded and the sun ashamed.
Cause in Human Transgression
Desolation overwhelms the earth because iniquity and transgression lie heavy upon it, and the inhabitants face fear, disaster, destruction, entrapment and inescapable judgment from which flight is impossible, for whoever flees from one danger falls into another and whoever comes up out of the pit is taken in the snare amid the earth's final shaking and breaking, reeling to and fro like a drunkard and removed like a cottage to fall and rise no more. This is the time when God settles accounts with the world for its iniquities and exposes and punishes rebels against Him, with the terror joined to the opening of heaven's windows, the shaking of the heavens and the sign of the Son of man, when people seek shelter among falling rocks and in caverns to hide from Christ's majesty and none but the holy can escape. Those who so taught held that what comes in consequence of sin falls when the deceived exalt Sunday as the test of all religions and confederate together to destroy the people of God who oppose the false theocracy, with the heavens opened and the foundations shaken and the Lord punishing the high ones on high and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
The earth is defiled under its inhabitants through transgressing the laws, changing the ordinance, breaking the everlasting covenant, and dealing treacherously, so that transgression lies heavy upon it and fear and the pit and the snare are upon every inhabitant with no escape. That defilement is transgression of God's Ten Commandments, for which God expresses His indignation through disturbances in the earth that throw it into chaos, and earthquakes such as the earthquake in Chile are instances of that distress and signs that the end is nearing. The closing days therefore bring the Lord making the earth empty and waste, turning it upside down and scattering its inhabitants without distinction of priest and people, master and servant, buyer and seller, borrower and lender, burning its dwellers till few are left, opening the windows from on high and shaking the foundations till the earth is utterly broken down, clean dissolved, moved exceedingly and removed, while the host of the high ones on high and the kings of the earth are gathered as prisoners in the pit and shut in prison till after many days they are visited, then the Lord reigning in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem gloriously before His ancients when the moon is confounded and the sun ashamed.
The verse belongs to a time of widespread treachery, iniquity and sin, when fear, danger and entrapment confront the inhabitants amid the shaking and reeling of the earth's foundations. In its setting the warning follows songs of glory to the righteous from the farthest parts of the earth and lament over treacherous dealing, contrasting confident claims of peace and safety with sudden ruin, danger and distress. Such moral corruption together with mighty earthquakes are signs that the end of all things is near, and conditions will grow worse until then. It shows part of the vast, incalculable, broad, deep, manifold, malignant mass of evil under which the earth groans and which fills the atmosphere of the present age, an inspired description of sin and misery whose depth is proved by comparison with the world around. Only its outer circle is seen while its innumerable inner circles of vileness and misery are unseen and cannot be seen, and its extent proves the vanity of all human efforts to better mankind apart from God, as useless as silencing thunder with a harp or stopping pestilence by scattering roses, which should make a man wiser, more thoughtful and solemn, moved not to hate, scorn or satirize but to pity, mourn and pray.
Last Days Worldwide Judgment
The prophecy is discursive and looks forward to the last days, covering the portion of history immediately before the coming of the Lord in darkness and tumult and error. As part of Isaiah 23-27 it concerns near and distant events, including times of exile, the overthrow of evil, and Christ's coming and reign. In those last days desolation overwhelms the earth because of iniquity, with the earth utterly broken down and clean dissolved and moved exceedingly.
It belongs to the day of the Lord, which is a day of wrath and destruction and not salvation or a new probation. Judgments upon lands and nations foreshadow the final judgment included in the prophecy. It is the time of trouble just before God's people are finally delivered, associated with the outpouring of the seven last plagues, when inhabitants face fear and unavoidable danger.
The repeated Hebrew erets shows it means the entire earth inhabited by man, a universal convulsion of the whole globe at the end of the world in connection with the second coming, not a mere national judgment on the Jews nor limited to Palestine. Written by inspiration more than twenty-five hundred years ago, it is now being literally fulfilled in awful disturbances in nature pouring in from all parts of the world, without precedent and appallingly on the increase. By sea ships are dashed to pieces and on land houses and property are broken up and destroyed, in earthquakes, tidal waves, and storms.
The San Francisco earthquake and fire, the earthquake in Chile, the severe earthquake in Mexico, and present earthquakes are instances and foretastes and premonitions of the final shaking. They show the instability of earthly things and warn that the end of all things is near amid widespread treachery and sin, yet they are not the final stroke of divine judgment. Conditions will grow worse until the end, and though men expect to rebuild larger and grander, God will throw down again in the final visitation. Modern hurricanes, tidal waves, and tornadoes, with raging natural elements, are the beginning of its fulfillment, bringing global terror to those not anchored to the Rock of Ages. What has been seen so far in storms and calamities by sea and land is as nothing compared with what will come in the near future.
God Himself shakes the foundations of the earth and causes the pillars of the globe to tremble by divine agency. As at the flood, great earth-convulsions were sent as judgment upon human corruption and violence. A coming worldwide earthquake, an unprecedented convulsion in which the earth reels like a drunkard and is moved from its place and thrown into chaos, is a signal of the earth's final dissolution and the approach of a new world. In that upheaval God uses disturbances in the earth to express indignation against those who transgress His law.
Millennial Desolation and Renewal
At Christ's coming universal destruction is brought upon the face of nature in connection with the second coming and the great day of God. The earth is made empty and waste, turned upside down, left desolate, mourning and languishing and fading away, devoured by the curse, utterly broken down and dissolved, reeling to and fro like a drunkard and removed like a cottage, and returned to its original condition of disorder and chaos. The warning of coming wrath in this belongs to that destruction and calls sinners to flee while they still can.
The terror is joined with the shaking of the heavens and the sign of the Son of man, when heaven's windows are opened and the earth reels and is broken under the weight of its transgression. People who flee one danger fall into another, seeking shelter among falling rocks and in caverns to hide from Christ's majesty, and none but the holy can escape fear, destruction, and entrapment upon the inhabitants of the earth during its great shaking near the day of the Lord. At His return all the living wicked are destroyed and slain while all the righteous are made immortal, delivered, raised from the dead, and gathered to meet the Lord. They are taken to reign with Christ in heaven and the New Jerusalem for a thousand years, leaving the earth desolate, empty, depopulated, rolling in darkness, and without a living person, and it will remain so until the resurrection of the wicked and the final fire.
That ruined, empty earth, like the chaotic unformed earth, is the abyss or bottomless pit where Satan and his angels are confined and bound during the thousand years. No living people remain for him to tempt, Christ does not reign on the earth, and the trouble upon its inhabitants lasts the many days which are a thousand years, with the sun darkened and human life destroyed, while Christ and the saints are in heaven and the earth lies waste and unfit for the redeemed to live on. Left to roam over and witness the ruin he wrought, Satan remains in that desolate, uninhabited place while the redeemed are elsewhere. This fulfills the type of the scapegoat being sent into an uninhabited land.
During that day the kings of the earth and the host of the high ones are struck by great stones from heaven as the earth is shaken, gathered into the pit of death, and shut in prison to be visited again at the end of the thousand years. The old earth is already tottering in process of fulfillment in its final death struggle, in awful confusion when people are no longer worthy of God's favor and the earth is rejected, and its passing contrasts with the enduring word of God. It will lie waste until God creates new heavens and a new earth. Afterward the saints descend, the wicked dead are raised and finally destroyed and consumed by fire from heaven, the earth is purified by fire in its desolate, dissolved state at the day of judgment and delivered from corruption, and God brings a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness which the redeemed will possess forever; only when the thousand years end comes the reign in its fullness. The execution of judgment and the penalty of God's law shown in these verses belong to the new-covenant arrangement, as they also belonged to its type.
Shelter Call and Response
From every calamity coming upon the earth there is a safe shelter open to everyone, for God remains refuge and strength to those anchored to the Rock of Ages. The fear and destruction now upon the inhabitant of the earth are awful disturbances in nature pouring in from all parts of the world, with ships dashed to pieces by sea and houses and property broken up and destroyed on land, in a condition without precedent and appallingly on the increase, and modern hurricanes, tidal waves, tornadoes, earthquakes and storms with raging natural elements are the beginning of its fulfillment, as nothing compared with what will come in the near future. These judgments are global, with the earth's foundations shaken and the earth reeling as flight from one danger leads only into another, bringing terror to those not anchored. Faith enables believers to escape spiritually, though it does not prevent earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or tidal waves, and those who trust need not fear.
The day brings fear and bitter consequences to those outside God's safety, while those who accept His rule and redemption and obey Him experience it as a day of joy and glory. Those who know the Lord and understand what the earth-shaking upheavals of the last days portend need not fear, but are filled with hope and delight at the event they foreshadow.
The warning of coming wrath calls sinners to flee while they still can and to seek God's mercy before probation closes, for the great day of God is near and hastens greatly. Destructive earthquakes give a foretaste of the final shaking when the earth reels to and fro, but they are premonitions and not the final stroke, warning that the end is near. Knowing and trusting God in such an hour is worth more than the price of the material world, and all must be ready for the final visitation. Those whose lives are spared should thank God and reconsecrate all to Him, and should vacate the wicked place unless God has special work for them there to perform, though men expect to rebuild larger and grander than before, for God will throw down again.
Present earthquakes show the instability of earthly things and serve as merciful warnings and premonitions of the coming upheaval and of iniquity's end, meant to teach lessons ignored in times of ease. They are meant to stop people in pursuit of wealth, position, and pleasure, to prompt reflection, and to turn treasure and affections toward an enduring kingdom. Compared with what is seen in the world, the vast, manifold mass of evil under which the earth groans fills the present age, of which only the outer circle is seen while innumerable inner circles of vileness and misery are unseen. Its extent proves the vanity of all human efforts to better mankind apart from God, as useless as silencing thunder with a harp or stopping pestilence by scattering roses. It should make a man wiser, more thoughtful and solemn, moved not to hate, scorn, or satirize but to pity, mourn, and pray.
In the same connection the prophecy points to the signs and conditions of the prophet's own time and also forward to Gospel days when similar conditions would exist. It shows the desolation of the earth as God's sure punishment of sin and sure destruction that awaits, while holding out the wonderful deliverance of God's people and God's children amid destruction. What comes in consequence of sin falls when the deceived exalt Sunday as the test of all religions and confederate together to destroy the people of God who oppose the false theocracy, with inescapable terror and destruction from which flight is impossible, when the heavens are opened and the foundations of the earth are shaken and the earth is utterly broken down and dissolved and reeling to and fro and removed, falling under the heavy weight of its transgression never to rise again, when the Lord punishes the high ones on high and the kings of the earth upon the earth. The verse stands against assurances that no evil will come and that the world will be converted before the Lord comes, warning that judgment is coming upon the wicked.