Isaiah
24:20
20 The earth ['erets] shall reel [nuwa`] to and fro [nuwa`] like a
drunkard [shikkowr], and shall be removed [nuwd] like a cottage [maluwnah];
and the transgression [pesha`] thereof shall be
heavy [kabad] upon it; and it shall fall [naphal], and not rise [quwm] again [yacaph]. KJV-Interlinear
20 The earth staggers like a drunken man; it
sways like a hut; its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls, and will
not rise again. ESV
Isaiah continues
his description of the worlds destruction, with the description of both a drunk
and the earthquake.
The important principle
of this verse is that the world will not rise again. That is, on its own.
This is the
absolute destruction of the entire planet.
History has seen
many disasters and the subsequent recover y of the land after the
disaster. But this disaster, in the end
time, will be so horrible and so thorough and so complete, that the world or
nature, as it were, will not be able to recover.
It will take the
act of Christ, to bring about recovery to the planet.
And not only
will the planet recover under the direction of Christ, its entire nature will change,
as we have already studied in other passages.
The cottage,
mentioned in this verse is symbolic of all of the manmade things. Whether towers or roads or bridges or
whatever that man has constructed, whether large or small, they will all be
like a the humble and simple cottage, that when struck by a severe storm will
collapse, blown away, and be utterly destroyed.
And so, we have
it here, in these few verses, the absolute end of the world, will see total
destruction, with no ability for recovery from its own resources.
