Scripture Daily

Context No. 1250 of 4322 · Isaiah

Context · Reflection

Isaiah 24:1-13: in context

1Behold, the LORD makes the earth empty, makes it waste, turns it upside down, and scatters its inhabitants. 2It will be as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the creditor, so with the debtor; as with the taker of interest, so with the giver of interest. 3The earth will be utterly emptied and utterly laid waste; for the LORD has spoken this word. 4The earth mourns and fades away. The world languishes and fades away. The lofty people of the earth languish. 5The earth also is polluted under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant. 6Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell therein are found guilty. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left. 7The new wine mourns. The vine languishes. All the merry-hearted sigh. 8The mirth of tambourines ceases. The sound of those who rejoice ends. The joy of the harp ceases. 9They will not drink wine with a song. Strong drink will be bitter to those who drink it. 10The confused city is broken down. Every house is shut up, that no man may come in. 11There is a crying in the streets because of the wine. All joy is darkened. The mirth of the land is gone. 12The city is left in desolation, and the gate is struck with destruction. 13For it will be so within the earth among the peoples, as the shaking of an olive tree, as the gleanings when the vintage is done.

Isaiah pronounces a sweeping judgment, not on one nation but on the whole earth. The LORD lays it waste and scatters its inhabitants, and the judgment falls on everyone alike: as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with the master; buyer and seller, lender and borrower, all the same. The earth mourns and withers because its people have broken the everlasting covenant. The joy is gone: the wine fails, the music stops, the merry-hearted sigh, the songs cease, the city lies desolate.

Two things stand out in this dark chapter. First, the great leveling. When this judgment comes, it makes no distinction between the classes and stations people spend their lives sorting themselves into: priest and layman, master and servant, rich creditor and poor debtor, all are treated alike. The distinctions we build our identities and securities on, our status, our position, our wealth, count for nothing before the judgment of God; it falls on all the same. It is a sobering reminder that the things separating people, the hierarchies we live inside, do not separate anyone from accountability to God. Second, notice what fails: joy. The chapter is full of the ending of gladness, the wine mourns, the tambourines fall silent, the songs stop, the merry-hearted sigh. When a people breaks the everlasting covenant, the first casualty is joy; the mirth drains out of life. There is a truth in that beyond this particular judgment, that joy is finally tied to right relationship with God, and when that is broken, all the sources of gladness go bitter. The wine turns bitter to those who drink it. Sin does not only bring judgment; it quietly kills joy, until the songs stop and the merry-hearted sigh.

Do I build my security on distinctions that mean nothing before God, and have I noticed how sin against him quietly drains the joy from life until the songs stop?

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