ISAIAH

Isaiah 17

quote:

"The oracle concerning Damascus. "Behold, Damascus is about to be removed from being a city And will become a fallen ruin. 2 "The cities of Aroer are forsaken; They will be for flocks to lie down in, And there will be no one to frighten them. 3 "The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, And sovereignty from Damascus And the remnant of Aram; They will be like the glory of the sons of Israel," Declares the LORD of hosts. 4 Now in that day the glory of Jacob will fade, And the fatness of his flesh will become lean. 5 It will be even like the reaper gathering the standing grain, As his arm harvests the ears, Or it will be like one gleaning ears of grain In the valley of Rephaim. 6 Yet gleanings will be left in it like the shaking of an olive tree, Two or three olives on the topmost bough, Four or five on the branches of a fruitful tree, Declares the LORD, the God of Israel. 7 In that day man will have regard for his Maker And his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel. 8 He will not have regard for the altars, the work of his hands, Nor will he look to that which his fingers have made, Even the Asherim and incense stands. 9 In that day their strong cities will be like forsaken places in the forest, Or like branches which they abandoned before the sons of Israel; And the land will be a desolation. 10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation And have not remembered the rock of your refuge. Therefore you plant delightful plants And set them with vine slips of a strange god. 11 In the day that you plant it you carefully fence it in, And in the morning you bring your seed to blossom; But the harvest will be a heap In a day of sickliness and incurable pain. 12 Alas, the uproar of many peoples Who roar like the roaring of the seas, And the rumbling of nations Who rush on like the rumbling of mighty waters! 13 The nations rumble on like the rumbling of many waters, But He will rebuke them and they will flee far away, And be chased like chaff in the mountains before the wind, Or like whirling dust before a gale. 14 At evening time, behold, there is terror! Before morning they are no more. Such will be the portion of those who plunder us And the lot of those who pillage us."

Damascus in Syria was once a great city. With the fulfillment of this prophecy, the fallen city is reduced to a mound of ruins. This is not the first destruction of Damascus, nor will it be the last. The fall of Damascus is dated 731 BC and the desolation of the area of Aroer is dated before the first invasion of Tiglath Pilezer, approximately 735 BC. It became deprived of inhabitants, other than the flocks who grazed where cities once stood.

Damascus (Syria) and Ephraim, who had jointly threatened Judah are mentioned together in verse 3. The fortification of Ephraim, which was Samaria, would be ruined. All of the former glory will be destroyed, that is, all that they had relied upon – their misplaced confidence in their fortresses, weapons and armies.

The prophecy of Syria and Damascus recedes into the background as Isaiah begins to speak of Israel. Although most of the 10 tribes of Israel were carried off by the Assyrians, there was a remnant left who maintained their tribal identity. (2 Chronicles 34:6, 9) Isaiah describes them as the gleanings left from the harvest. The remnant would genuinely repent. The judgments would cause some to look for help from God. To truly depend upon Him, they had to reject their idols. The statutes of Astarte and the sun images would have to come down. It was the God of Israel who had created the nation and covenanted with them to be their God. To worship any other god would be to disregard the one, true and living God.

Isaiah, then again, takes up the description of desolation in verse 9 and continues the picture of judgment. In ancient days a strong city was a refuge and an object of glory. Israel had boasted in her strong and fortified cities, which would come to be a heap of ruin. Israel deserved such punishment, because the God of their salvation had been forgotten. They had not remembered the Rock that served as a true fortress in their time of trouble. Without God's protection, Israel stood defenseless. She had no safe fortress or place of refuge. And though she sought to plant plants that would bring pleasure, the harvest did not yield what was intended. Her harvest would be ruined and her inheritance would be one of oppressive sorrow and pain.

Just as the Canaanites had fled before Israel, so Israel was placed in the same position to flee before the army of the Assyrians. Leviticus 18:26-28 is being fulfilled as they committed the same abominations.

Leviticus 18:26-28
"Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you: 27 For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled; 28 That the land spue [spew] not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued [spewed] out the nations that were before you."

In the background is the sound of onrushing waters. Isaiah's words spoken in the Hebrew language clearly resonate with the sounds of an overpowering turbulence. It is evening and the oppression has overtaken Israel, but the night will pass and in the morning the enemy will be destroyed! Morning will come! God does not allow any nation to assault Israel, the "apple of His eye", without a just response.

What one learns from this passage is that we reap what we sow. We cannot expect to plant thorns and thistles and hope to produce roses. Our lives are to be in step with the Lord God, who gives everything, including rules of behavior, that are beneficial and profitable for us. If we sow into our lives the things that are pleasing to God, He will be our inheritance.

Hosea 10:12
"Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you."

Let us not look to any other source of strength, but to God Almighty, who is our Rock, the hope of our salvation and our refuge in times of trouble.