Isaiah 24:21-23 New American Standard Bible 21 So it will happen on that day, That the Lord will punish the rebellious angels of heaven on high, And the kings of the earth on earth. 22 They will be gathered together Like prisoners in the [c]dungeon, And will be confined in prison; And after many days they will be punished. 23 Then the moon will be ashamed and the sun be put to shame, For the Lord of armies will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, And His glory will be before His elders.
When the day of the Lord takes place there will be no escape for those who have acted wickedly in all creation. God will deal with both the fallen angels who today serve Satan and are known as the power and principalities that Paul writes about in Ephesians chapter six. The fallen angels who serve Satan and his wicked schemes are behind the vast wickedness we see upon the earth.
When Jesus compared humanity to sheep, He was showing that we are led and influenced by someone. In this life we are either led by Almighty God and our lives are given over to Him, or we are deceived by Satan, enslaved to him, and simply chase after the wicked, sinful desires within us.
When Jesus returns to establish His kingdom on the earth and to rule the throne of David from Jerusalem, He will not only deal with the wicked rulers who have aligned themselves with the antiChrist, but he will deal with the demonic host. Satan will be bound and cast into the Abyss for a thousand years during the millennial reign of Christ. At the end he will be loosed for a short time and then cast forever into the lake of fire.
Sometimes we may wonder when God is going to deal with the wicked of our day. We may become very discouraged because it seems the wicked prosper and are never held accountable for their actions. But there is a time of judgement that is coming. God’s timing is always perfect. His righteousness and justice will be poured out in due measure upon the wickedness of the world in His appointed time.
The punishment and suffering that awaits the wicked is far greater than we can comprehend on this side of eternity. The Lord says “they will be gathered together like prisoners in the dungeon, and will be confined in prison”. When prisoners were going to be sentenced, before they faced the judge they would often be held in a holding cell. They were held there until their appointed day in court came.
Right now those who die upon the earth who do not know Christ go to be in hades. It is a holding place of the dead that is darkness and suffering. But there is an appointed day of judgement for the wicked. The wicked are any who are not in right relationship with the Living God. The only reason we are declared righteous is because of faith in Jesus Christ.
When the great white throne judgement comes all those of humanity who have died in their sin and rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ will stand before Jesus in judgement. They will give an account for their lives and the last words they will hear before entering into the Lake of Fire will be: depart from me I never knew you. Understanding this truth as believers in Christ should motivate us to share the gospel with those who are lost and without Jesus.
We know from the new testament that there are fallen angels now who are imprisoned. Jude writes in verse six “And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day”. There were the fallen angels who had relations with human women in the book of Genesis that the result of their union was the creation of the Nephilim. Genesis 6:4 states “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown”. The sons of God here refers to the created fallen angels who left their abode in the spiritual realm and desired to corrupt creation through sexual relations with human women. The result was the production of giants who were known as men of renown or demi-gods. They were seen as half man and half god. God’s punishment for this is to imprison them already as a message to the rest of the demonic angels. But there will come a day when God will fully and rightly deal with the wickedness that the demonic angels have done throughout human history.
But for wickedness to take place it always requires for man to choose wickedness in his freewill. Demonic fallen angels work in deception and darkness, but ultimately humanity must yield and surrender to their influence. This is why when the day of the Lord comes that God will deal with all of creation including both human and fallen angels.
Our hope as believers in Christ is that there is a day coming in which Christ shall return. He shall establish His kingdom. He shall rule the earth with a rod of iron. The wickedness of our day grows, but we must understand that through the increase of darkness, God is still accomplishing His purposes. It is always important to focus not on what the devil is doing, but to focus on the plans and purposes of the Lord. To fix our hearts and minds upon Jesus Christ.
The moon will be abashed and the sun ashamed because there is coming a day when the moon and the sun will no longer be needed. In the new Heaven and Earth all of creation will be illuminated by the glory of God. There will no longer be night, but the Lord shall be with us and His glory and majesty shall illuminate all things.
In the book of revelation it speaks of twenty-four elders (Rev 4:4). These twenty-four elders represent both the twelve tribes of Israel and the body of Christ. During Jesus' earthly ministry He had twelve disciples. The number twelve in God’s word and creation represents government. In the book of Revelation the twenty-four elders cast their crowns at the feet of Jesus. Isaiah writes “for the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem”. Our hearts and minds must be fixed upon the future return and rule of Jesus Christ. We shall have the honor and privilege to rule and reign with our Lord and Savior. This world is passing away and as we continue our journey through Isaiah we shall see that no matter how dark and wicked things become on the earth, there is always hope. There is always hope because Jesus is fully in control.
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