READ: Isaiah 24-25
Verses
chosen for meditation: Isaiah 24:5
5 The earth
lies defiled under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the
laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant.
REFLECT
Chapters 1-12 focused on events in Judah while
chapters 13-23 speak of the nations around Judah. Isaiah 24-27 broadens the
horizons even more, where it concerns the whole earth. Isaiah sees a devastation
so great, that social status, wealth and even religious titles mean nothing
(Isaiah 24:2). Even heavenly beings will be judged (Isaiah 24:21).
The scenes are nightmarish on this judgement day in
the end times. We live in a country where natural disasters don’t affect us
adversely, but those who experienced earthquakes, tsunamis, tornados can
relate. Standing in the middle of a desolated town that was your home makes one
numb with despair. The magnitude of destruction in these visions are much
worse, as if the earth would spin out of its orbit.
Why this happened is stated in v5, because humanity
have broken the everlasting covenant. Save for a remnant of faithful servants,
the rest will pay for things they refuse to repent for. A humanity who lived as
if God or God’s expectations didn’t exist could not get away with this
lifestyle forever. The cataclysmic scene is also related to our defiling of the
earth. God is showing a preview of where our abuse of his world is leading to.
A world so abused that it can no longer sustain life.
There will be some, scattered among the nations who welcome
God’s judgement, knowing that good will triumph over evil permanently. Amidst
the desolation, a song of praise from the ends of the earth will be heard
(Isaiah 24:14-16). At this point, Isaiah is too burdened to join this song
(yet), but this is the song of the redeemed, showing God would not destroy the
righteous with the wicked, sparing those who have turned to him in humble
repentance, waiting for his salvation (Isaiah 25:9).
RELATE
In the KJV version, “violated the statutes” in v5 is
translated as “changed the ordinance”. That sits closer to the original Hebrew
text, meaning humanity violated the statutes by changing the original laws. Once
upon a time, it was universally recognised that it was wrong to do many things
(lie, steal, being sexually immoral, etc.). Now, we have a world that justifies
some of these being acceptable under certain conditions.
For e.g., we commit piracy all the time. Perhaps we
do not realise this, but jumping through hoops to access free content, or even
the way we share our streaming services may be a form of modern stealing. Even
if we know this, we may justify by saying everyone is doing it. This is why some
content creators face a hard time making ends meet, with people resorting to
piracy, save for some well-meaning people willing to pay to support good works.
There’re other ways of “changing the ordinance” if
we are not careful. One way is to distort God’s laws by adding more laws (perhaps
emphasising piousness), and in so doing, misunderstand God’s intent. The
Pharisees did this with their extensive (and exhausting) list of Sabbath laws. Jesus
had to rebuke them for missing the whole point of Sabbath. Some also manipulate
people’s understanding of the laws to advance their own agenda.
While we do not follow the Pharisees, we also do not
go opposite by removing laws, or downplay severities, or change the meaning of
laws that seem tough to us, to our liking. In the past, I believe I made untrue
comments to friends like “I think God will understand” (He does! Doesn’t mean
He allowed it!) or “God should be ok with this”. I tend towards the idea of God’s
love, yet ignore his hate and anger towards sin.
The above examples show just how easily we are
influenced by cultures and societal norms that we may not realise we are
distorting ancient laws still applicable today. They are not outdated. It takes
an added awareness then to discern the wise way to go, and encourage others to
do the same, instead of being pulled in the flow of culture.
REST
Like
Isaiah, we may hesitate to rejoice in the idea of judgement, but we can rejoice
that this judgement signals the Lord’s reign (Isaiah 24:23). There’s a sense that
God also reigns now, but much of what happens in the world does not reflect his
will. This reign in v23, however, will lead to a final glory where everything
reflects his will, a time where evil and suffering will be no more.
Chris Chong
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