I was reading in Isaiah 24 about God’s judgment on the earth. That a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. (Isa. 24:6)
Isaiah 24:5 says that the the inhabitants of the earth broke the everlasting covenant. What is the everlasting covenant? It seems based on this passage that it is a covenant that God has made with all the people on the earth, so where and when was this covenant made?
It was not made in the garden of eden but was made after the flood. The first mention of the everlasting covenant is in Genesis 9:16, “When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
God destroyed every living creature on the earth with a flood but he saved Noah’s family, his three sons, and two of every kind of creature on the earth. God promised to never destroy the earth again with a flood of water and gave the rainbow as a sign for the everlasting covenant.
God gave Noah’s family three statutes to live by:
- God gave to Noah’s family every moving thing that is alive as food, just as he gave the first man and first woman the green plant; however, the living things must be put to death before they are consumed and not eaten with their life still in them.
- God gave a statute regarding the life of man, Genesis 9:6: “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.”
- God gave a statute regarding marriage, Genesis 9:7: “As for you, be fruitful and multiply; Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it.”
According to Isaiah 24, God is going to burn the inhabitants of the earth because they have transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant. However, this is followed in the next few chapters by of songs of praise for God’s favor and songs of trust in God’s protection. God promises to deliver his people from the enemy. He has laid a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed. (Isa. 28:16) The costly cornerstone is the Lord Jesus Christ! (Rom. 9:33, 10:11, & 1 Pet. 2:6)
