What does Isaiah 24:5 mean?

The prophet answers an unspoken question likely to be on everyone's mind when judgement (Isaiah 24:1–2) comes: Why is this happening? Why has the earth been devastated and laid bare? Why has the world become plundered of nearly all life (Isaiah 24:3–4)?

His answer is simple: Humanity has broken the laws of the Lord. The people of the world have violated God's will. They have broken the "everlasting covenant" with Him. They may have lived in this state of negligence and unbelief for so long that they decided there was no God (Psalm 14:1) who cared about how they lived. His explosive, inexhaustible judgment on the earth will prove them wrong. The Lord will hold His creation accountable for their choices.

Only the nation of Israel was given an explicit formal covenant with God. So how could the entire human race be held accountable for God's laws and covenant? The short answer is that God holds every person accountable according to His own standards. He can hold people accountable because He is God. Paul develops the longer answer in Romans (Romans 1:18–32). It begins like this: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse" –(Romans 1:18–20).