Isaiah 24:12

In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction. THE GATE IS SMITTEN WITH DESTRUCTION - `with a great tumult (of the assailants) the gate is battered down' (Horsley). Or else, with a crash....

12._In the city is left desolation. _By an elegant mode of expression he describes the desolation of Jerusalem or of many other cities. The ornament and perfection of cities consists of men; and therefore, when their inhabitants have been removed, cities are said to be deserted. The Prophet says ironically, that “ruin” will be left; but the word שמה (_shămmăh_) is rendered by others _desolation_, which amounts to the same thing. _And the gate is smitten with desolation. _He mentions the _gates_, because in them the crowded population of the city was seen, for there the people assembled, and there the courts of justice were held. At first, therefore, he mentions the whole city, and next he names one part of it, but for the purpose of setting the matter in a stronger light; for although cities be deprived of their inhabitants, yet some are to be seen in the gates; but if the gates be a

1-12 All whose treasures and happiness are laid up on earth, will soon be brought to want and misery. It is good to apply to ourselves what the Scripture says of the vanity and vexation of spirit which attend all things here below. Sin has turned the earth upside down; the earth is become quite different to man, from what it was when God first made it to be his habitation. It is, at the best, like a flower, which withers in the hands of those that please themselves with it, and lay it in their bosoms. The world we live in is a world of disappointment, a vale of tears; the children of men in it are but of few days, and full of trouble, See the power of God's curse, how it makes all empty, and lays waste all ranks and conditions. Sin brings these calamities upon the earth; it is polluted by the sins of men, therefore it is made desolate by God's judgments. Carnal joy will soon be at end,...

AND THE GATE IS SMITTEN WITH DESTRUCTION - The word rendered ‘destruction’ may denote ‘a crash’ (Gesenius). The idea is, that the gates of the city, once so secure, are how battered down and demolished, so that the enemy ran enter freely. Thus far is a description of the calamities that would come upon the nation. The following verses show that, though the desolation would be general, a few of the inhabitants would be left - circumstance thrown in to mitigate the prospect. of the impending ruin....

SECTION VI. GOD'S GENERAL JUDGMENTS UPON THE EARTH (Isaiah 24-27.). EXPOSITION ISAIAH 24:1 GOD'S JUDGMENTS ON THE WORLD AT LARGE. From special denunciations of woe upon particular nations—Babylon, Assyria, Philistia, Moab, Syria of Damascus, Egypt and Ethiopia, Arabia, Judea, Tyre—the prophet passes to denunciations of a broader character, involving the future of the whole world. This section of his work extends from the commencement of Isaiah 24:1. to the conclusion of...

IN THE CITY IS LEFT DESOLATION,.... And nothing else, palaces, houses, and temples burnt, and inhabitants destroyed; none but devils, foul spirits, and hateful and unclean birds, inhabiting it, Revelation 18:2: AND THE GATE IS SMITTEN WITH DESTRUCTION; or "gates", the singular for the plural; none passing and repassing through them, as formerly, and themselves utterly destroyed. This, according to Kimchi, shall be in the days of the Messiah, in the times of Gog and Magog....

CHAPTER 24 The Day of Jehovah 1. _Jehovah dealing with the earth(Isaiah 24:1)_ 2. _All classes affected (Isaiah 24:2)_ 3. _The Desolations described (Isaiah 24:3)_ 4. _The Jewish Remnant during the trouble (Isaiah 24:13)_ 5. _The punishment of the high ones and kings (Isaiah 24:21)_ 6. _Jehovah's reign in Mount Zion and Jerusalem (Isaiah 24:23)_ A marvellous chapter. Not a word of it has ever been fulfilled. The great day of Jeh

ISAIAH 24. A WORLD-WIDE JUDGMENT FORETOLD. The apocalypse opens with the description of a judgment on the whole world. This judgment is predicted, it has not already happened. It will involve all in one common ruin, every distinction of class will be obliterated. For the world's inhabitants have broken the covenant made with Noah, in which bloodshed was forbidden (Genesis 9:5 f.). On bloodshed the huge empires have been founded and they shall perish in the blood they have spilt. Few men will be left, merriment ceases for wine is scarce, and the revellers who drink wine and strong drink find no pleasure in it. The city of false gods has its walls broken, the houses are closely barricaded, all gladness has gone, the city is desolation, the gate in ruins. The survivors are proportionately as few as the olives left to be beaten off the tree, or the few grapes to be gleaned when the principal...

DESOLATION. astonishment. Hebrew. _shamen_. Compare Isaiah 24:6; Isaiah 24:10; Isaiah 24:23....

Even the "city," usually the scene of busy and joyous life, shares in the universal sadness. It is difficult to say whether a particular city is meant, or whether the word is used collectively for cities in general. The fulness of the picture gives the impression that the writer has a particular city before his mind, although it stands as a type of many others throughout the world. If this be so, it is most natural to refer the description to Jerusalem, where the prophecy seems to have been written....