What does Isaiah 24:3 mean?
A great future judgement is coming for the world. The language in this passage is like some of the earlier oracles against the various nations around ancient Israel (Isaiah 13—23). But these harsh words are directed against the entire planet (Isaiah 24:1–2).Isaiah does not necessarily mean that the population of the planet will be totally wiped out. Instead, the earth will be empty in the context that nothing will grow. Nothing of value will remain. The planet will no longer be able to support humanity—or possibly, even life itself. The world will be dying.
The language used here resembles that of Revelation 6. It is easy to understand the response of the people who would survive this disaster:
"Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?'" – Revelation 6:15–16
