One theme that we often see in science fiction movies is the devastation of the earth where everything is laid waste. Terminator and Matrix come to mind.
That’s the kind of picture I get as I read this passage where the whole world is laid waste.
There will be a time when God’s judgment will come on this earth, and Isaiah says of that time,
See the Lord is going to lay waste to the earth and devastate it; he will ruin its face and scatter its inhabitants…
The earth dries up and withers, the exalted of the earth languish…
The earth is broken up, the earth is split asunder, the earth is thoroughly shaken. The earth reels like a drunkard. (Isaiah 24:1, 4, 19–20)
Why must it be this way? Why must the world go through this? Isaiah answers this in verse 5.
The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws (of God), violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant.
Isaiah adds in verse 6,
Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt.
God created a perfect world. When God created mankind, we were perfect. But then we turned our backs on God, living our own way and defiled the perfect earth God created.
It is no longer the beautiful place God intended; it has been ruined by sin.
So God will have to tear everything down, and make everything new.
And in the process of tearing everything down, he must deal with the sin of the people that caused the damage before making everything new. After all, if sin is left undealt with, a new world would soon be defiled all over again.
And so the guilty will be punished. All who have turned their backs on God, living their own way, will be dealt with permanently.
But all who belong to God will be preserved and saved. Isaiah says of them,
They raise their voices and shout for joy; from the west they acclaim the Lord’s majesty… From the ends of the earth we hear singing: “Glory to the righteous One!” (Isaiah 24:14, 16)
So in this passage, we have both warning and hope. Warning that a time of judgment is coming. Hope that those who belong to him will be preserved and will once again sing his praises.
Let us take God’s warning so that we may avoid his judgment and find the hope that he desires for all of us.
Moment to Moment (Bible blog) 