Isaiah 17:1-14
1 The burden against Damascus.
"Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city,
And it will be a ruinous heap.
2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken;
They will be for flocks
Which lie down, and no one will make them afraid.
3 The fortress also will cease from Ephraim,
The kingdom from Damascus,
And the remnant of Syria;
They will be as the glory of the children of Israel,"
Says the LORD of hosts.
4 "In that day it shall come to pass
That the glory of Jacob will wane,
And the fatness of his flesh grow lean.
5 It shall be as when the harvester gathers the grain,
And reaps the heads with his arm;
It shall be as he who gathers heads of grain
In the Valley of Rephaim.
6 Yet gleaning grapes will be left in it,
Like the shaking of an olive tree,
Two or three olives at the top of the uppermost bough,
Four or five in its most fruitful branches,"
Says the LORD God of Israel.
7 In that day a man will look to his Maker,
And his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel.
8 He will not look to the altars,
The work of his hands;
He will not respect what his fingers have made,
Nor the wooden images nor the incense altars.
9 In that day his strong cities will be as a forsaken bough
And an uppermost branch,
Which they left because of the children of Israel;
And there will be desolation.
10 Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation,
And have not been mindful of the Rock of your stronghold,
Therefore you will plant pleasant plants
And set out foreign seedlings;
11 In the day you will make your plant to grow,
And in the morning you will make your seed to flourish;
But the harvest will be a heap of ruins
In the day of grief and desperate sorrow.
12 Woe to the multitude of many people
Who make a noise like the roar of the seas,
And to the rushing of nations
That make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters;
But God will rebuke them and they will flee far away,
And be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind,
Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 Then behold, at eventide, trouble!
And before the morning, he is no more.
This is the portion of those who plunder us,
And the lot of those who rob us.
This proclamation against Damascus of Syria and against Israel is a burden of the prophet Isaiah because it was a burden on Gods own heart for His people and their enemies. Because of their sin the people of the Lord would see Damascus fall into ruins as they themselves faced judgment. Their former glory would wane as that of Syria and their prosperity was to dwindle away because of their continuing disobedience. He compares the meager harvest of grain, grapes, and olives which leave but a small remnant left in sight, and those high above as if out of sight. This is a picture of the remnant of Israel after their judgment and reaping sin’s consequences. There is always a remnant left after the pruning and drought according to this and other instances of God’s working in dealing with His people and their constant wandering from His commands. But the remnant will turn back (repent) to respect and honor his creator. He will stop looking for help and cease worshiping at altars of deaf and dumb idols of his own making as if they could ever be a substitute for the Lord God to worship and follow. They will see how their cities will fall and be left desolate due to their sin in breaking the first commandment (Exodus 20:3, Judges 10:13). Forgetting the God of their salvation who delivered them time and again from their enemies and bondage to sin, they sowed the wrong plants as if from a foreign land instead of the promised one of milk and honey. They only reaped desperate sorrow and mountainous ruin. Though the nations rage and make much loud noise like waves of a strong storm, God rebukes their attempts to make much of themselves and blows them away like useless chaff from the grain (Luke 3:17) as if a tempest wind blows it far away from Him. Yes, in the evening there is only trouble and the morning reveals nothing is left after the cleansing. This is the end of those who are set against God’s people as robbers and thieves and against His glory and honor in causing them to sin with dead idols. God will judge those within and without, but He knows His own whom he has called and will preserve that remnant forevermore (2 Timothy 2:19, Romans 9:27, 11:5). This is a lesson for we who are the Lord’s to live humbly as we do what is right and fair while showing others the forgiving mercy shown us as His remnant (Micah 6:8). If He for us then who can be against us?
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