Footnotes

1. Isaiah 24:1 “The prophet transports himself in spirit to the end of all things. He describes the destruction of the world. He sees, however, that this destruction will be gradually accomplished. He here depicts the first scene: the destruction of all that exists on the surface of the earth... as even now occurs [in limited areas] as a consequence of wars... Jehovah empties, devastates, depopulates the surface of the earth...” (Johan P. Lange, A Commentary). “The writer feels that he is living in the last days, and in the universal wretchedness and confusions of the age he seems to discern the ‘beginning of sorrows.’ His thoughts glide almost imperceptibly from the one point of view to the other, now describing the distress and depression which exist, and now the more terrible visitation which is imminent” (The Cambridge Bible).