And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] Jehovah will punish the host of the high ones on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
Isaiah 24 describes a judgment that shakes and empties the whole world, and at verse 21 the prophet looks higher. The same day that topples earth's kings also reaches a "host" above them — two kinds of power, two places of punishment, one day.
Older translations read the line here as "the host of the high ones on high, and the kings of the earth on the earth." God judges each set of rebels where it acted. The verse keeps the two apart.
Who says that the host of the high ones on high, and the great ones of the earth, are punished together? Scripture does not. It says, "the host of the high ones [that are] on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth." So it is not together. The high ones are punished on high — if these are taken to mean spiritual wickedness, which I do not argue against — and the kings of the earth on the earth.
A natural guess is that the "high ones" are earth's great men. The verse points somewhere else.
By the host of the high ones the Spirit of God clearly does not mean high-placed men on the earth, since they stand in contrast with the kings of the earth. He means the powers of evil in the heavenly places. (Compare Eph. 6:12.) This is exactly what we find, though with fuller detail, in Rev. 12, 19, 20. The kings of the earth meet with their punishment on the earth, while Satan and his followers, the host of the high ones, suffer on high. Satan is thrown down to the earth, and his angels with him. There is no place left for them in heaven… That day will see the judgment of all foes above or below.
Read that way, the verse also shows how evil is organised. One writer sums up the link between the two in a single line.
The high ones are spiritual wickedness on high, in the heavenly places — the source of the evil. The kings of the earth are the chief instruments here below.
Scripture gives only glimpses of those unseen powers.
God will judge not only the nations but also the Satanic powers behind the nations. We get a glimpse of these powers in Daniel 10:13, 20.
The scope is what makes the verse so severe. God's judgment reaches past human wrongdoing to created beings above.
God's dealing goes so deep and reaches so far that even the angelic hosts escape no more than the proudest rulers here below… Until now these spirits of evil had misled man and dishonoured God, trying to corrupt almost every mercy at its source. But the time has come for angels to be judged as well as living men — far beyond even the judgment of the flood. The power of the heavens will be shaken: not earth only, but heaven too. Yet this is far from being time melting away into eternity…
The punishment of verse 21 clears the field. It is not the last word. The next verse marks the difference.
The next verse shows that this is not their final judgment. It is a setting aside from their harmful influence "in that day," after which God will deal with them — and as we know from Revelation, not for a limited time, but for eternity.
The verse points to something still ahead. Faith does not wait for that display to be sure of the outcome.
Here again it is not a question of the kingdom in power and glory, when Jehovah will punish the host of the high ones on high and put down the kings of the earth on the earth… The Christian knows what is coming for the deliverance of God's earthly people and the joy of all nations. But he already sees by faith that Satan has been judged in Christ's death, resurrection and ascension… The ruler of the world is judged in His cross.
- Above — "The host of the high ones on high" means the powers of evil in the heavenly places, not earth's great men. The verse itself sets them opposite earth's kings.
- Below — Earth's kings are the visible instruments. The unseen powers are the source. God deals with both.
- Where — God punishes each in its own place: the high ones on high, the kings on the earth. He does not lump them together.
- When — "On that day" God shakes heaven as well as earth. Even so, this is judgment inside history, not time melting away into eternity.
- How far — The blow first sets these powers aside; their final sentence comes later. For faith, the verdict on the ruler of this world already fell at the cross.
And they shall be brought together, [as] an assemblage of prisoners for the pit, and shall be shut up in prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
Isaiah 24 ends with a judgment that falls on powers above the earth and on kings upon it. Verse 22 shows where the defeated end up, and its phrase "after many days" raises three questions: who is in this prison, what is the pit, and what does the visit bring?
Verse 21 names two groups. Writers read them as unseen powers and the human rulers they work through.
The high ones are spiritual wickedness on high, in the heavenly places. They are the source of the evil. The kings of the earth are the chief instruments here below… The glory of Jehovah replaces all the false glitter of the world.
Two things support that reading: a contrast in the wording, and the place where each group meets judgment.
From Isaiah 24 we learn that God punishes the high ones on high, and the kings of the earth on the earth. Clearly, by "the host of the high ones" the Spirit of God does not mean great men on the earth. They stand in contrast with the kings of the earth. He means the powers of evil in the heavenly places.
The word "pit" carries a settled sense in the Old Testament. One writer traces it from there into Revelation.
In the Old Testament a "pit" is often another word for a dungeon, and everything points to that meaning here. The "abyss" is not something other than the pit. It only defines the pit further — the dungeon which is the abyss… The Old Testament passage that matches this one in Revelation says: "They will be gathered together as prisoners in a pit; they will be shut up in a prison." Here the abyss is clearly the "pit," or prison.
The prison is not the end of the story for these powers.
This verse indicates that it is not their final judgment. It is a setting aside from their harmful influence "in that day." Later they will be dealt with — and as we know from Revelation, not for a limited time, but for eternity.
Some translations end the verse with "after many days shall they be visited," where the ESV reads "they will be punished." The older word can sound kind, so one writer says which way it runs.
The high ones in verse 21 are the wicked spirits in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6). The kings on earth are the kings mentioned in Psalm 2 and Rev. 19:19. Their visitation after many days will be a visitation of judgment and not of blessing.
Commentators measure the gap by comparing Isaiah with Revelation. There the same two groups appear, and Revelation puts a number on the time.
The end of Rev. 19 first shows us the fate of the beast and the kings of the earth. Then Satan is bound and shut up in the abyss for a thousand years… Isaiah, eight hundred years earlier, gives us the same things almost as plainly, and in perfect harmony with the obvious meaning: "they will be shut up in a prison, and after many days (plainly, the millennium) they will be punished."
The same writer notices something odd. Revelation shows these kings killed at Christ's appearing, yet Isaiah still speaks of them as held. He takes that as evidence about the state of the dead between death and final judgment.
There are other texts, such as Isa. 24:21-22 and 1 Peter 3:19-20. The first speaks of the "kings of the earth" whom Revelation (Rev. 19:19, 21) shows us killed with the sword at Christ's coming in glory. Isaiah speaks of the same kings as prisoners shut up in the pit, to be visited after many days — that is, at the judgment of the dead, after the millennium. The second speaks in the same way of those who were disobedient in Noah's days, as now "spirits in prison." Both texts assure us of retribution in the intermediate state.
The judgment reaches past human rulers to the powers behind them, and one writer says what those powers had been doing.
God's dealing goes so deep and reaches so far that even the angelic hosts escape no more than the proudest rulers here below… These spirits of evil had until now misled man and dishonoured God. They tried to corrupt every mercy, right at its source. But the time has come for angels to be judged as well as living men.
- Two ranks. The prisoners are of two kinds: evil powers in the heavenly places, and the kings of the earth. God punishes each where it ruled.
- One dungeon. The "pit" is a prison, the abyss of Revelation, where Satan is shut up when the earth's rulers meet their doom.
- A pause, not a verdict. Being shut up sets these powers aside from doing harm; it is not their final sentence.
- Many days counted. Commentators read the interval as the thousand years. Then the visit comes: judgment, not blessing, and this time for eternity.
- Nothing forgotten. The delay is not escape. Those held are under retribution while they wait. Their removal clears the scene for the Lord's glory to replace the world's false glitter.