Isaiah
24:13
13 When thus it shall be in the midst [qereb] of the land ['erets] among [tavek] the people [`am], there
shall be as the shaking [noqeph] of an olive
tree [zayith], and as the gleaning grapes [`olelah] when the vintage [batsiyr]
is done [kalah]. KJV-Interlinear
13 For thus it shall be in the midst of
the earth among the nations, as when an olive tree is beaten, as at the
gleaning when the grape harvest is done. ESV
Two things are
revealed within these metaphors that Isaiah employs.
The first is
that the previous verses which have been describing the destruction and chaos
of the city, namely Jerusalem, is also applied to the nations. The word for people, ‘am,’ refers to the
collections of peoples as referring to collections of multiple groups or
nations. The word for earth or land, ‘erets,’
can often times refer to a single place, but here it is referring to many
lands, or to the whole world.
And so, in the
midst of the world, this destruction will be wide spread and thorough and
complete and extremely bad.
But there is one
more thing being mentioned here.
As in a harvest,
and the vines of trees are shaken, and most of the fruit falls to the ground,
there is still left on the tree or vine, and few, a remnant, of fruits remaining
on the branches or vine.
And so, even
though in the final days of history, the whole world will be literally turned
upside down and the destruction will leave virtually nothing, there will still
be a few, as in the gleanings, a very few, that will survive the end of the
world scenario.
It is not the
fruits that save themselves, but God who will protect and deliver them.
The fruits are
merely hanging on and happen to remain on the branches, while all of the rest
fall to the ground.
And so too, when
the end of the world occurs, there will be a remnant that survive. And if you could count the fruits in a given
tree and then compare that count to the count of those that fall and those that
remain in the branches, then you would know that the remaining number in the
branches will be very small, perhaps less than one percent of the total.
That alone makes
a dramatic statement as to just how severe the final judgments on humanity, will
be.
Also, all who
are delivered, will be in a totally helpless state. Their only hope is Christ. And when the world is falling apart all
around, then faith alone becomes a frightful yet powerful thing.
To rely on a
mere belief is difficult. And when you
do not know if your belief is correct, then that too, makes for a scary
ordeal. But faith in the Bible is not
unsupported, but based on the substance of Bible doctrine.
Therefore, to have
true faith and correct faith, you have to learn doctrine so that you will know with
certainty and confidence.
Those who do not
pursue a daily study, cannot have the quality of faith that God intends,
because they will not have the inner resources to formulate their faith.
