When the Landlord Comes to Evict Text: Isaiah 24:1-6
Introduction: The World as a Rental Property
We live in a world that believes it owns the place. Modern man struts about on this earth as though he holds the title deed. He drills, he builds, he legislates, he pollutes, he redefines, and he rebels, all under the grand delusion that he is the landlord. He believes the earth is his, and therefore he can do with it as he pleases. He sets the rules, he determines the ethical standards, and he decides what is right and wrong in his own eyes. But the central message of the prophet Isaiah, and indeed of all Scripture, is that this is a profound and catastrophic misunderstanding. The world is not a democracy with man in charge; it is a theocracy with God Almighty as the undisputed sovereign.
This earth is not our property. It is a rental. We are tenants, and the lease agreement is what the Bible calls a covenant. God created the heavens and the earth, and because He made it, He owns it. He has leased it to mankind for a time, and He has laid out the terms of the lease very clearly in His law. The terms are simple: live righteously, worship Him alone, and steward His creation according to His standards. But from the very beginning, man has been a delinquent tenant. He has trashed the property, refused to pay the rent of worship, and has tried to rewrite the lease to suit his own sinful desires.
Isaiah 24 is what happens when the landlord shows up to evict. This chapter, often called the "little apocalypse," is a terrifying and glorious picture of God's final judgment on a world that has broken covenant with Him. It is not a localized judgment on Israel or Judah, but a global, all-encompassing cataclysm. The language is stark and absolute. God is going to turn the world upside down, empty it out, and hold its inhabitants accountable. This is not the gentle, therapeutic god of modern sensibilities. This is Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, whose patience has an end and whose justice is as certain as the sunrise.
We must not read this as some far-off, disconnected prophecy. We are living in the midst of this rebellion. Our civilization is actively and boastfully violating the terms of the lease. We have trespassed His laws, violated His statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore, we should not be surprised when the foundations begin to shake. The curse that Isaiah describes is not an arbitrary punishment; it is the built-in consequence of rebellion against the Creator. It is the house falling down on the heads of the tenants who have been knocking out all the load-bearing walls.
The Text
Behold, Yahweh empties the earth to destruction, eviscerates it, distorts its surface, and scatters its inhabitants.
And the people will be like the priest, the male slave like his master, the female slave like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor.
The earth will be completely emptied to destruction and completely plundered, for Yahweh has spoken this word.
The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and withers; the exalted of the people of the earth languish.
The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they trespassed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant.
Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who inhabit it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men remain.
(Isaiah 24:1-6 LSB)
The Great Unmaking (v. 1)
The prophecy begins with a shocking and violent announcement of divine judgment.
"Behold, Yahweh empties the earth to destruction, eviscerates it, distorts its surface, and scatters its inhabitants." (Isaiah 24:1)
The language here is a deliberate and terrifying reversal of creation. In Genesis, God brought order from chaos, form from formlessness. Here, Yahweh actively de-creates. He "empties" the earth, making it void. He "eviscerates" it, a visceral term, like gutting an animal. He "distorts its surface," turning the world upside down. This is not a minor correction; it is a complete and total upheaval of the established order. God is not just trimming the hedges; He is pulling the whole thing up by the roots.
This is a direct assault on the pride of man. We build our towers, our cities, our empires, thinking they are permanent. We establish our institutions and our cultures, believing they will last forever. But God says that with a word, He can turn it all into a ruin. The stability we take for granted is a gift of His common grace, and when that grace is withdrawn, chaos ensues. The scattering of the inhabitants is a direct echo of Babel. When men unite in rebellion against God, He confuses and scatters them. He will not allow rebellious societies to stand.
The Great Leveling (v. 2-3)
This judgment is not selective. It is comprehensive, dissolving all the social distinctions and economic structures that men rely on.
"And the people will be like the priest, the male slave like his master, the female slave like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor. The earth will be completely emptied to destruction and completely plundered, for Yahweh has spoken this word." (Isaiah 24:2-3)
In times of crisis, all the artificial hierarchies of society collapse. Your job title, your bank account, your social standing mean nothing when the foundations of the earth are shaking. The priest, who represents spiritual authority, has no advantage over the common person. The master has no power over the slave. The creditor cannot collect from the debtor because the entire economy has been wiped out. All are equal in their desperation. This is a terrifying picture for those who find their security in their status or wealth. When God judges a land, He shows that all these things are vapors, illusions of control.
And the reason for this certainty is stated plainly: "for Yahweh has spoken this word." This is not a possibility; it is a divine decree. God's Word does not merely describe reality; it creates it. When He speaks judgment, that judgment is as good as done. Our only hope is not to argue with the verdict, but to appeal to the Judge for mercy on the basis of the one who took the verdict for us.
The Land Mourns (v. 4)
The consequences of man's sin are not limited to human society. The creation itself suffers under the weight of our rebellion.
"The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and withers; the exalted of the people of the earth languish." (Isaiah 24:4)
This is a foundational biblical principle that our modern, secular environmentalists completely miss. They see the pollution, the decay, the ecological disasters, and they correctly identify that the earth is groaning. But they misdiagnose the disease. They think the problem is carbon emissions or plastic straws. The Bible says the problem is sin. The earth is not sick because of what we are doing to it, but because of who we are. As Paul says in Romans 8, the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the one who subjected it, and it groans, waiting for the revealing of the sons of God.
When man, who was appointed as God's vice-regent over creation, rebels against God, he drags the entire creation down with him. The land itself "mourns and withers." The curse of Genesis 3 is playing out on a global scale. And notice who languishes most of all: "the exalted of the people." Those who thought they were immune, those who lived in their gated communities and ivory towers, will be brought low. God's judgment always humbles the proud.
The Reason for Judgment: Broken Covenant (v. 5)
Here we come to the heart of the matter, the legal basis for God's eviction notice.
"The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they trespassed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant." (Isaiah 24:5)
The word for "polluted" here is the Hebrew word for profaned or defiled. It's a word used for moral and spiritual corruption. The land is not just physically dirty; it is spiritually contaminated by the actions of its inhabitants. And what are those actions? They are covenantal violations.
They "trespassed laws" and "violated statutes." This refers to God's revealed moral law, the standards of righteousness that He has written into the fabric of creation and upon the hearts of men. But the ultimate charge is that they "broke the everlasting covenant." What is this covenant? While it certainly includes the Mosaic covenant for Israel, the scope here is global. This likely refers to the Noahic covenant (Genesis 9), where God made a covenant with all flesh. That covenant was not just a promise not to flood the earth again; it came with responsibilities. It established the principle of human government and the sanctity of human life, based on the fact that man is made in God's image. All humanity stands under the terms of this covenant.
To break this covenant is to live as though God does not exist, as though man is not made in His image, and as though there is no ultimate accountability. It is to embrace murder, violence, sexual perversion, and idolatry. It is, in short, to live exactly as our modern world is living. We have systematically dismantled every pillar of that everlasting covenant, and we call it progress. God calls it pollution, and He will not tolerate it indefinitely.
The Result of Judgment: A Devouring Curse (v. 6)
The consequence of breaking the covenant is not a slap on the wrist. It is a curse that consumes everything.
"Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who inhabit it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men remain." (Isaiah 24:6)
The curse is the flip side of the blessing. In a covenant, obedience brings blessing, and disobedience brings curses (Deuteronomy 28). When a whole civilization turns its back on God, it places itself under this devouring curse. The inhabitants are "held guilty." There is no pleading ignorance. God's law has been made plain, both in creation and in conscience. The guilt is real, and the punishment is severe.
The inhabitants are "burned." This points to a fiery judgment, a purification that consumes the wicked. And the result is a remnant: "few men remain." This is a consistent theme throughout Scripture. God's judgment is always thorough, but it is never total. He always preserves a remnant for Himself, a small group of the faithful who are protected through the fire. Noah and his family were the remnant. Lot was the remnant. And in the final judgment, the church, those who are hidden in Christ, are the remnant who will be saved.
The Gospel in the Ruins
This is a bleak and terrifying picture. And if the story ended here, we would have no hope. We are all inhabitants of this polluted earth. We have all trespassed God's laws and broken His covenant. We are all held guilty, and we all deserve the devouring curse. If we are honest, our own hearts are a microcosm of this rebellious world: disordered, polluted, and languishing.
But the good news of the gospel is that God, in His infinite mercy, has provided a way to escape the curse. He did this by sending His own Son, Jesus Christ, to become the curse for us. Galatians 3:13 says, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us."
On the cross, Jesus endured the ultimate fulfillment of Isaiah 24. The earth was distorted as darkness covered the land. He was emptied, crying out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" He was counted with the transgressors, the ultimate leveling of the holy and the profane. The full, fiery, devouring curse of God against our sin was poured out on Him. He was burned in the furnace of God's wrath so that we would not have to be.
Because of this, the judgment described in Isaiah 24 holds no terror for those who are in Christ. For the unbelieving world, it is a day of eviction and destruction. But for the church, it is the day the true Landlord comes to clear out the squatters, renovate the property, and give us the keys forever. It is the day when the groaning of creation will finally cease, and the new heavens and the new earth, the home of righteousness, will be established. Our hope is not that our society will somehow avoid this judgment. Our hope is that we have taken refuge in the one who absorbed that judgment for us. He is our ark in the midst of the flood, our Passover lamb in the face of the destroyer, and our king who will reign when all other kingdoms have been turned to dust.