Damascus To Be Destroyed

Isaiah 17:1-14

“The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.  The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.  The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts. “ (Isaiah 17:1-3)

By Isaiah’s day, the ten tribes of Israel had turned completely away from god, allying themselves closely with Syria and adopting their gods.  The two countries had become so intermingled it was hard to tell where the boundaries were along the northern edge.  Farther south, in the land of Ephraim, there was a clearer distinction but there were Syrian military posts, ostensibly to help defend Israel.  Syria had occupied the area east of Jordan, taking land as far south as Aroer and its surrounding cities along the Moabite border.

God said that Damascus would cease to be a city, just leaving a pile of ruins and the entire area east of the Jordan would become a vast open area for herding sheep and cattle, such that no one would fight to take it away.  Like Israel, Syria would lose all the prestige and power they once had, no longer even governing themselves. 

“And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.  And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.   Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the LORD God of Israel.” (Isaiah 17:4-6)

In that day both Judah and Israel will be very weak and impoverished.  They will be like a grape vine or olive tree that has had the fruit harvested, so that it seems as if there is nothing worthwhile left.  There is nearly always a little of the fruit that wasn’t quite ripe or got missed for one reason or another that remains, and the same would be true for Israel.  There would always be a few pockets of survivors.

“At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.  And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.  In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation.” (Isaiah 17:7-9)

In that day, People will turn to God, the creator, rather than depending on the things they have made for themselves.  The major cities will be destroyed and only a few little areas will survive because God will still protect the children of Israel.  Most of the land will be desolate and almost uninhabitable. 

“Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips: In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.” (Isaiah 17:10-11)

Israel had placed their faith in the gods and power of Syria rather than in God, forgetting about their contract with him.  As a result, God will destroy the Syrian system so they can’t depend on it.   Slips are cuttings or offshoots from other plants.  The prophecy is that Israel would turn back to God , but then try to build using something other than the plan god gave them.  The prophecy has been fulfilled, as can readily be seen from Israel’s history. 

Seventy years after Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem,  Cyrus ordered the rebuilding of the temple and Jerusalem.  Initially there was a great focus on serving god, but even before the temple was complete they had begun to go along with the peoples around them.  Ezra and Nehemiah stirred them u to serve God again and Jerusalem was finally restored, but when the Greeks began to take over, a lot of the Jews adopted Greek culture, eventually forming the group known as the Sadducees.   

Caught in the fighting between the Selleucid and Ptolemaic kingdoms, there was a brief turn to God under the Maccabees.  This was soon taken over by the Pharisees with their new ways of interpreting the Law, and continued until the time of Christ, with constant conflict between Pharisees and Sadducees.  During Christ’s ministry and shortly thereafter there was a brief turning to god before they turned away and Israel ceased to exist as a nation in 70 AD.  The Holocaust resulted in many Jews turning to God again, with the result that the nation of Israel was reestablished in 1948, but since that time there has been a gradual turning away again.

“Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!  The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.  And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.” (Isaiah 17:12-14)

Throughout history, nations that targeted the Jews specifically have suffered incredible desolation and defeat.  When the antichrist comes to power, he will break the treaty with Israel, and near the end of his reign will bring a global force against her as described in Ezekiel 38-39, Daniel 11, and Revelation 12 and 19.  Ultimately they will be completely wiped out and destroyed, as God promised Abraham in Genesis 12:2-3.  “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”