Daily Devotions
Isaiah
"The earth mourns and fades away"
Text: Isaiah 24:4
THE LANGUISHING OF THE EARTH
When God made the earth, He gave His creation His blessings. The earth may multiply wonderfully. But as mankind became more and more sinful, the earth seemed to have inherited a curse instead!
“The earth mourns and fades away,
The world languishes and fades away;
The haughty people of the earth languish.
The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants,
Because they have transgressed the laws,
Changed the ordinance,
Broken the everlasting covenant.
Therefore the curse has devoured the earth,
And those who dwell in it are desolate.
Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned,
And few men are left.”
Isaiah 24:4-6
1. The world “languish” was used aptly.
a) To languish.
i) To be weak.
ii) To lack vitality.
b) The earth seemed to have been badly assaulted.
i) It mourns.
ii) It fades away.
iii) Even the haughty people feel worn out and weary.
2. The earth defiled.
a) The inhabitants of the earth had defiled the earth.
b) The laws of nature had been transgressed.
c) The ordinances that had governed the earth had been “changed”.
d) God’s everlasting covenant (Noahic Covenant) had been “broken”.
3. A curse on the earth.
a) It seemed as if a curse had descended on the earth.
b) Instead of blessings from God, where the earth is full of vitality,
a curse had robbed the earth’s vibrancy and it now languishes in obvious weakness.
c) The inhabitants of the earth had become much fewer:
i) Because of wars.
ii) Because of diseases.
iii) Because of wanton abuse of the earth and its resources.