Isaiah 24: 4-13

Imagine, for a moment, the aftermath of a bomb out city. It is desolate, destroyed. Here and there are piles of rubble still smoldering. The smell of sulfur lingers in the air. A deathly quiet hangs heavy over what remains of buildings, apartments, banks. The roads are now eighty percent pot holes. Most of the people are gone, but some still remain, beaten and battered, but alive.

Now magnify this picture to include the whole world. This is similar to what Isaiah is describing here in verses 4-13, I think. But as I read these verses, I paused at verse 5. And when I finished reading, I was drawn back to verse 5:

"The earth lies defiled
under its inhabitants;
for they have transgressed the laws,
violated the statutes,
broken the everlasting covenant."

"Laws" and "statutes" are plural. The "everlasting covenant" is singular. But what exactly is the everlasting covenant? It is basically a covenant between God and Jesus Christ, made before the foundations of the earth whereupon Christ agreed to be the mediator of mankind. Through Christ's death on the cross and his resurrection from the grave, he established a new covenant (Hebrews 9:15). (http://www.pbministries.org/books/pink/Divine_Covenants/divine_covenants_01.htm)

I am beginning to feel the weight of this passage. Perhaps I should meditate on this for awhile.