Isaiah 24:20, commentary and pictures

The earth staggering unsteadily like a drunkard means it will shake violently in a mighty earthquake when God's voice shakes heaven and earth at Christ's second coming. Being carried away like a frail hut means it will be displaced out of its place, so that mountains, hills, and all the visible world pass away. Sin lies as a heavy curse upon the earth that weighs it down and ruins it, so that in its cursed state it falls into utter desolation and does not rise again during that period. Amid that convulsion the heavens are rolled together like a scroll and the earth and its works are burned up with melting elements, while the Lifegiver calls all the righteous dead to glorious immortal life and the broken earth is left desolate as Satan's prison for a thousand years. It is the time of God's final punishment of earth's inhabitants for iniquity, when worldly wealth and honor add nothing to a person's worth before God, so the reeling earth warns all to make peace with Him now, for only a clear title to the heavenly inheritance and the thoughts, acts, and unselfish service done for Him will endure.

Earth's Final Convulsion

The reeling to and fro like a drunkard is a violent, unsteady staggering of the earth in a mighty earthquake when God's voice shakes heaven and earth. That shaking comes when Christ returns in the clouds of heaven in power and great glory as King, accompanied by ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of angels, before whom His enemies cannot stand. The trumpet sounds at His appearing in glory, and the upheaval precedes His appearance and the Lifegiver's call of the righteous dead from their graves to glorious immortal life. Not the earth only but the heavens themselves are shaken, with the elements in flames and the heavens rolled together as a scroll.

The removal like a cottage is a displacement and shifting out of place, so that the visible world passes away. Mountains and hills are shaken and removed, and the things now seen pass away. The earth staggers unsteadily like a drunkard and is shifted like a hut amid that final convulsion at Christ's coming.

The heaviness of transgression upon the earth is the curse that sin brings upon it, weighing it down until it is shaken and ruined and brought down and collapses unable to recover. Under that weight it reels and is removed, falling into a desolation from which it does not rise again during that period, with cities in heaps, mountains displaced, and the land strewn with rocks and uprooted trees. The broken earth then becomes Satan's home, where he is confined with his angels for a thousand years to see the effects of his rebellion. That is the time when God punishes the earth's inhabitants for their iniquity, when the proud and those who made the world their god flee to caves and dens, while the earth reveals the blood of the slain instead of concealing it.

The falling without rising again is utter destruction in its cursed condition, never to rise again in that condition. It is connected with palaces being destroyed by fire and with the final punishment of earthly rulers, when those who devoted their lives to earthly wealth face remorse too late to undo their choices.

This convulsion happens at Christ's second coming, when He shakes not the earth only but also heaven. The earthquakes with flashing lightning, roaring thunder and reeling ground at Christ's death and triumphant resurrection foreshadow that greater shaking, and as the earth trembled at His resurrection so it will reel amid the upheaval of His coming in power and glory with terror. While the earth staggers and is displaced and the heavens are rolled together and the elements melt and the earth and its works are burned up, the Lord will be the hope of His people and the strength of the children of Israel.

Resurrection Amid Cosmic Upheaval

Christ comes in the clouds of heaven in power and great glory as King, with countless angels, ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands, before whom His enemies are unable to stand. The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard and is removed like a cottage or hut when His coming shakes not the earth only but also heaven. While the earth staggers unsteadily and is shifted out of place, the heavens are rolled together like a scroll, the elements melt and burn in flames, and the earth and its works are burned up.

Amid that shaking the Lifegiver calls the righteous dead from their graves to immortal life. The trumpet sounds and all the righteous, from Abel to the last saint, awaken to glorious, immortal life. That general resurrection is distinct from His own resurrection, when only a few graves were opened.

The convulsion leaves the land desolate, with cities in heaps, mountains displaced, and rocks and uprooted trees strewn about. The broken earth, violently shaken and ruined under the weight of its transgression and fallen into a desolation from which it does not rise again during that period, becomes Satan's home. There he is confined with his angels for a thousand years to see the effects of his rebellion. In that same shaking the Lord is the hope of His people and the strength of the children of Israel.

Judgment and Lasting Worth

Isaiah 24:20 marks the time of God's final punishment of the earth's inhabitants for iniquity, when the earth reels and is removed under the weight of its transgression and then falls never to rise again in utter destruction. In that punishment palaces are destroyed by fire and earthly rulers are punished. The proud and those who made the world their god flee to caves and dens, while the earth reveals the blood of the slain instead of concealing it.

Then worldly wealth and honor will not increase anyone's worth before God, and a clear title to the heavenly inheritance will be what matters. Those who have devoted their lives to earthly wealth will then face remorse, too late to undo their choices. The reeling of the earth like a drunkard is a sign of the upheaval accompanying the Lord's coming, and a warning to make peace with God and be ready to stand through that upheaval.

When the earth is shaken and removed, all things seen by mortal vision will pass away, including churches where truth was preached, places visited with the word of life, and mountains and hills. While visible things disappear, the thoughts, purposes and acts of God's workers remain and will appear at the great day of final retribution and reward. Forgotten things are then brought forth as witnesses either to approve or to condemn. Love, courtesy, self-sacrifice and every small act of unselfish service are preserved through the eternal ages, when God's chosen ones are changed from mortality to immortality through Christ's imputed righteousness.