Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty - "the earth;" not merely the land of Judah, though that land occupies the foreground in the picture (Isaiah 24:3-6; Joel 1:2). For in Isaiah 24:4, "the world" is parallel to, and explanatory of "the earth;" and in Isaiah 24:14-15, "the isles of the sea" are mentioned; and in Isaiah 24:21. "the kings of the earth upon the earth." The desolation of Judah under Nebuchadnezzar pre-figured that under Titus.