To this point, Isaiah’s warnings have been about God’s judgment on specific nations. But here he broadens the word of doom to encompass the entire world: destruction will come to all who sin.
The picture he paints is of devastation so complete that it will rival the flood God sent in the time of Noah. Ruin its face suggests a disaster that will change the contours of the planet, much like the flood did. Natural disasters such as earthquakes, droughts and crashing meteorites have the potential to do that. This much is clear: God, not human beings, will lay waste to the planet in judgment for sin.
We don’t know when this destruction will happen. But Isaiah seems to say that after the earth is laid waste, God will make a new creation. Perhaps this will be in the last days of human history, when God defeats evil once and for all.
The Lord’s Devastation of the Earth
24 See, the Lord is going to lay waste the earth
and devastate it;
he will ruin its face
and scatter its inhabitants—
2 it will be the same
for priest as for people,
for the master as for his servant,
for the mistress as for her servant,
for seller as for buyer,
for borrower as for lender,
for debtor as for creditor.
3 The earth will be completely laid waste
and totally plundered.
The Lord has spoken this word.
