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5/23 Reading Portions: Numbers 32; Psalm 77; Isaiah 24; 1 John 2
Isaiah 24:16
But I say, “I waste away, I waste away. Woe is me! For the traitors have betrayed, with betrayal the traitors have betrayed.”
EMPTY
Truly, this verse speaks of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He was betrayed, not only by Judas Iscariot, but also by the religious leaders who were anxiously waiting for their Messiah. They listened to the psalms sung by others about the Christ to come:
From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise, of glory to the Righteous One. Isaiah 24:16a
Yet their hearts were far from the truth of God and His salvation (Mark 7:6). Moreover, every one of the Lord’s disciples betrayed Him the night He was arrested in the garden. Likewise, we betray the Lord Jesus in so many ways because of the corruption remaining in our mortal flesh. We must be on constant guard against…
…all that is in the world— the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life. 1 John 2:16
We must keep in mind that “the LORD will empty the earth and make it desolate” (Isa 24:1) when Christ returns. Therefore, we must not be attached to the world and its lusts. We must be detached from the world, loyal to Christ alone, and faithful to His gospel truth. We must consider the enticements of the earth as empty to us, barren, desolate, and laid waste by God in Christ. This is an impossible task unless we keep our attentions and affections upon the person and work of Jesus Christ. We must see our ravaged Savior upon Calvary’s tree with spiritual eyes. We must hear with spiritual ears the anguish of Christ’s soul crying under the cursed weight of God’s holy wrath,
“I waste away, I waste away.”
Unbelievers in this poor world
Are clinging to just dirt;
For we, in Christ, redeemed by grace,
Must see a wasted earth.
The only worth this planet has
Is found in Christ alone.
So while we’re here, let’s fill the earth
With news that heav’n’s our home.