Look! The LORD is about to destroy the earth and make it a vast wasteland. He devastates the surface of the earth and scatters the people. Priests and laypeople, servants and masters, maids and mistresses, buyers and sellers, lenders and borrowers, bankers and debtors—none will be spared. The earth will be completely emptied and looted. The LORD has spoken! The earth mourns and dries up, and the land wastes away and withers. Even the greatest people on earth waste away. The earth suffers for the sins of its people, for they have twisted God’s instructions, violated his laws, and broken his everlasting covenant. Therefore, a curse consumes the earth. Its people must pay the price for their sin. They are destroyed by fire, and only a few are left alive. [Isaiah 24.1-6]
What follows this passage in all of today's OYCB reading is much more of the same. What is spoken of here is global in its reach. The destruction described is unprecedented. Few will survive.
Did Isaiah just miss it on this prophecy (Isaiah 24-27)? Is this really even possible?
Frankly, I don't hear anyone preach or teach on Isaiah 24-27, except for little excerpts. In fact, anyone who proclaims that the earth is about to be destroyed is written off as a lunatic. Mind you, the destruction of the earth described here is not obliteration, but rather widespread devastation and loss experienced by all (there are a few survivors).
How does modern intellectual theology line up with this? Actually Isaiah 29 may provide an indictment:
And so the Lord says, “These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote. Because of this, I will once again astound these hypocrites with amazing wonders. The wisdom of the wise will pass away, and the intelligence of the intelligent will disappear.” [Isaiah 29.13-14]
For those who doubt God's power to destroy the earth, I encourage them to simply consider the recent COVID-19 Pandemic. Regardless what a person believes about how and why it all came about, it came about nonetheless, and it affected the entire world! It's quite possible that COVID-19 was nothing more than a warm-up exercise - a precursor, if you will. Could the COVID-19 Pandemic have been given to us as a gift to let us know worldwide destruction is indeed possible?
Should not Christians at very least look at Isaiah's prophecies with discernment? We know widespread chaos is possible!
Father, help us to be discerning concerning Your Word as penned by Isaiah. May we understand the vulnerability of the earth to Your judgment. Help us see the real possibility of the earth being devasted as Isaiah describes. May we be found seeking and serving You alone.
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