Beware! The Earth is going to be Emptied!

I don’t remember it. I was only two years old after all, but I’m told that my mother got angry at my father. He took me on a rollercoaster ride, while she thought I was too young. When the ride was over and he carried a crying baby to her, sheepishly ignoring the judgmental glances of other adults he passed, her fears seemed confirmed. Two years old was far too young to take a baby on a rollercoaster ride.

Then he explained: I was crying because I had loved the ride so much, I didn’t want to get off!

Some people love to be scared; others don’t, and while psychology does not know for sure everything that factors into the differing reactions to fear, some researchers have suggested the difference has to do with how people experience stress. A person who loves scary movies, for example, will feel energized by an adrenaline dump, while another who avoids scary entertainment will interpret the same adrenaline surge as a panic attack.

When it comes to prophecy, Christians also seem to be divided into two groups. A smallish minority are so confident Yahuwah will protect them through the time of trouble that they’re actually excited at the thought of witnessing such miracles. The vast majority of Christians, however, are terrified at the thought of living on earth while the wrath of Yah is poured out. The heresy of a secret rapture where a special remnant is whisked to Heaven prior to the seven last plagues was developed as a way to reassure frightened believers that no, they don’t have to worry about the time of trouble.

Nice as that fantasy might be, that’s all it is: a fantasy. Scripture is clear that Yahuwah will have a remnant that remain faithful to Him while living through the seven last plagues and He will protect them. In the days ahead, as with all of the Father’s dealings, Yahuwah’s love will be seen for the exhaustless, limitless miracle that it is.

Isaiah 24 is one of Yahuwah’s love gifts to His children. It reveals what will happen during two distinct phases of divine judgment. The first phase is explained in Revelation 8 and 9 under the symbology of seven trumpets. The second phase is the better-known seven last plagues, described in Revelation 16. The biggest difference between the two, is that the events under the trumpets are to call people to repentance. Therefore, these judgments are mingled with mercy. By contrast, the seven “last” plagues are unmingled with mercy, “for in them is filled up the wrath of Yahuwah.” (Revelation 15:1, NKJV¹)

Isaiah presents this series of events by first explaining what the end result will be: a desolate earth.

Behold, Yahuwah makes the earth empty and makes it waste,
Distorts its surface
And scatters abroad its inhabitants.
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 creditor, so with the debtor.
The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered,
For Yahuwah has spoken this word. (Isaiah 24:1-3)

Everyone on earth will be affected by the events soon to transpire.

The earth mourns and fades away,
The world languishes and fades away;
The haughty people of the earth languish.

Isaiah reveals that the final conflict will be over worship.

The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants,
Because they have transgressed the laws,
Changed the ordinance,
Broken the everlasting covenant.
Therefore the curse has devoured the earth,
And those who dwell in it are desolate.
Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned,
And few men are left. (Isaiah 24:4-6)

All loyal to Yahuwah will honor Him by worshipping Him on His holy Sabbath, calculated by the luni-solar calendar He established at Creation. This is established in Revelation 14 where John sees three angels sent from Heaven with messages to prepare the world for Yahushua’s return. In language reminiscent of the fourth commandment, the first angel declares: “Fear Yah and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.” (Revelation 14:7)

But not all will accept the loving warning, therefore: “The city of confusion is broken down … In the city desolation is left, and the gate is stricken with destruction.” (Isaiah 24:10, 12) In Scripture, “cities” are symbols of churches. Babylon symbolizes all false religions, which is precisely why the command is given: “Go out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues: For her sins are come up into heaven, and Yahuwah hath remembered her iniquities.” (See Revelation 18:4-5, 1599 Geneva Bible.)

All who make a full surrender to Yahuwah and accept His gift of righteousness will be able to trust in Him through the crisis ahead.

They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing;
For the majesty of Yahuwah
They shall cry aloud from the sea.
Therefore glorify Yahuwah in the dawning light,
The name of Yahuwah Elohim of Israel in the coastlands of the sea.
From the ends of the earth we have heard songs:
“Glory to the righteous!” (Isaiah 24:14-16)

During both phases of divine judgment there will be a number of earthquakes. The last one, the seventh plague, will return the earth largely to the state it was prior to Creation.

And the foundations of the earth are shaken.
The earth is violently broken,
The earth is split open,
The earth is shaken exceedingly.
The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard,
… And it will fall, and not rise again.
It shall come to pass in that day
That Yahuwah will punish on high the host of exalted ones,
And on the earth the kings of the earth. (Isaiah 24:18-21)

Afterward, Yahushua will return and Yahuwah will set up His kingdom on the earth made new.

Then the moon will be disgraced
And the sun ashamed;
For Yahuwah of hosts will reign
On Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
And before His elders, gloriously. (Isaiah 24:23)

An eternity of joy living with the Creator in the earth made new awaits all who accept His gift of salvation.