The City of Meaninglessness (Isaiah 24:1-20)

Following the ten oracles against various nations (including Israel and Judah!), Isaiah brings five visions. The ten oracles are made up of two sets of five that thematically parallel each other, and the five visions follow that parallel. The overarching theme of trusting YHWH instead of human powers is there. There is also, here, an overarching story of two cities. The city of humanity and the city of God, set up in contrast with each other.

Isaiah is a masterful prophet and poet. He structures his writing in Hebrew parallelism and chiasms. Here, the five visions form a large chiasm with Zion, the City of God in the precise middle point. The first of the five visions is all about the devastation, withering, and failing of the city of humanity, with the name of that city: The City of TOHU. This is translated as “city of chaos” (NAS), “ruined city” (NIV), “wasted city” (ESV), or “city of confusion” (KJV). The word here is the same as that from Genesis 1, paired with WOHU, in the phrase, “formless and void.” I like Motyer’s take when he calls this the “city without meaning.”

Humanity, looking to itself as God and Master, has lost the script. Sin and evil are products of us going our own way and failing miserably. How foolish is it to choose our way over God’s? To trust in our ability to fix things and save the world and not the Creator’s?