Reasons For Ruin
Good Morning,
Isaiah 24 tells of the troubles that are headed toward Israel. Consider the various lines of impending doom:
“The land shall be utterly emptied…”
“The earth mourneth and fadeth away…”
“The earth also is defiled…”
“…the curse devoured the earth…”
Those are serious observations of things that are happening and of events yet to come.
Isaiah 24:3 “The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.”
vs. 4 “The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.”
vs. 5 “The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.”
vs. 6 “Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.”
In verse five, three reasons are given for the tragic world in which they found themselves:
vs. 5 “The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.”
Notice the three things:
1. They have transgressed the laws.
2. They have changed the ordinance.
3. They have broken the everlasting covenant.
Transgressed the law – this is the simple violation of the commands of God. There were ten at Mount Sinai. These laws were compounded with many others, but also abbreviated into two by the Saviour – love God and love your neighbor.
The obvious things a society might ignore are: do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not covet, and more. A long list of wrongs is being taught as acceptable, yet God established laws against them. One reason the nations are suffering is because mankind breaks the laws of God.
The second reason for ruin is because they changed the ordinance – the orderly manner in which something is done. The people did not follow God’s preferred ordinance. An ordinance is not a command as, “Do not covet,” but rather a matter of an orderly society’s principles such as, “ If a man does not work, neither should he eat.” These guidelines have to do with good order. America has obviously “changed” the order of mandating work.
An ordinance or something that is orderly could relate to the church. The pastor being “the husband of one wife” means the pastor should be a man; that is the proper “order.” When we change the orderly way in which God says life should run, it hurts people and the earth itself.
The last reason for ruin has to do with the everlasting covenant. The key covenant God made is with the nation of Israel; He said the land of Israel, and the land around it would belong to Israel! That was an everlasting covenant or promise! God gave them the Mosaic Law to know how to operate in that land. The land is not up for grabs; God did not give that decision to the U.N. or whoever the body of politicians was after World War II – they had no business dividing the area around Israel and giving portions to different countries. They broke the everlasting covenant. When a president or national leader turns away from supporting Israel, they are giving God reason to bring judgment on the nation. Elections do matter.
On the positive side, if we want our nation blessed, we will seek to obey the laws of God. We will not change the order that God suggests for life, and we will support Israel; seeking blessing is not difficult.
Pastor