Isaiah 17
Today’s Passage: Isaiah 17
With each prophecy, Isaiah has spoken the truth of God’s just judgment to Judah, Israel, and every major power at the time. God is universally opposed to sin and calls every nation to repentance. In Isaiah 17, the prophecy turns to Damascus which will be left to “a heap of ruins.” At the time, Damascus was one of the greatest cities at the time and the capital of Syria.
Syria had formed an alliance with the Northern Kingdom, Israel, against the southern kingdom of Judah. So, it should come as no surprise when in verse 3, God says “the fortress will disappear from Ephraim and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Syria will be like the glory of the children of Israel.”
Ephraim was the name of Joseph's second son. In Genesis 48, Jacob blessed Ephraim and his brother saying, “the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. (Genesis 48:16).
Ephraim’s descendents became the tribe of Ephraim, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. At the time, the tribe of Ephraim was the largest tribe of Israel, and so, God is referring to the judgment that will come to Israel. Israel and Syria were so entangled together in their alliance, that God addresses them in the same way and extends to them the same judgment.
The people who were intended to be a beacon to the nations, to be different from the world, had chosen to become indistinguishable from their pagan neighbors.
God describes the day of their judgment by repeating the phrase, “in that day.”
In that day… the glory of Jacob will be brought low. They one whom Jacob had blessed, and who had prospered would be humbled. Only a few will remain.
In that day… man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy one of Israel. There is a glimmer of hope. Some will turn to God and they will look on the Holy one. Some will humbly repent and intimately pursue their creator.
In that day… their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the wooded heights and hilltops, which they deserted because of the children of Israel, there will be desolation. Imagine the biggest city you have ever seen, and imagine it is flattened to the ground. That is the image that Isaiah is painting for Israel and Syria. The trust that they had placed in their strength would easily crumble.
Why? Why would God do this? There seems to be so much destruction… why?
“For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge.”
Forgetfulness. Forgetting who God is is not a simple mistake. It is easy to forget the things that you do not actively fix your eyes on, and there is danger in forgetting.
When you forget the God of your salvation, you are forgetting the Creator. You are forgetting the one who you were formed for. You are forgetting that you need salvation. When you forget the God of your salvation, you are saying “I do not need saving.”
But that is not the truth, we are desperately in need of salvation. Just like the Israelites we have made ourselves like the lost world, and we need to actively remind ourselves of the God of our salvation before we become indistinguishable from the lost world.
How have you been tempted to identify with the world? Have you become indistinguishable from the world? What does it look like to actively remember God and His promises?
Written By: Paulette Black
With each prophecy, Isaiah has spoken the truth of God’s just judgment to Judah, Israel, and every major power at the time. God is universally opposed to sin and calls every nation to repentance. In Isaiah 17, the prophecy turns to Damascus which will be left to “a heap of ruins.” At the time, Damascus was one of the greatest cities at the time and the capital of Syria.
Syria had formed an alliance with the Northern Kingdom, Israel, against the southern kingdom of Judah. So, it should come as no surprise when in verse 3, God says “the fortress will disappear from Ephraim and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Syria will be like the glory of the children of Israel.”
Ephraim was the name of Joseph's second son. In Genesis 48, Jacob blessed Ephraim and his brother saying, “the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. (Genesis 48:16).
Ephraim’s descendents became the tribe of Ephraim, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. At the time, the tribe of Ephraim was the largest tribe of Israel, and so, God is referring to the judgment that will come to Israel. Israel and Syria were so entangled together in their alliance, that God addresses them in the same way and extends to them the same judgment.
The people who were intended to be a beacon to the nations, to be different from the world, had chosen to become indistinguishable from their pagan neighbors.
God describes the day of their judgment by repeating the phrase, “in that day.”
In that day… the glory of Jacob will be brought low. They one whom Jacob had blessed, and who had prospered would be humbled. Only a few will remain.
In that day… man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy one of Israel. There is a glimmer of hope. Some will turn to God and they will look on the Holy one. Some will humbly repent and intimately pursue their creator.
In that day… their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the wooded heights and hilltops, which they deserted because of the children of Israel, there will be desolation. Imagine the biggest city you have ever seen, and imagine it is flattened to the ground. That is the image that Isaiah is painting for Israel and Syria. The trust that they had placed in their strength would easily crumble.
Why? Why would God do this? There seems to be so much destruction… why?
“For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge.”
Forgetfulness. Forgetting who God is is not a simple mistake. It is easy to forget the things that you do not actively fix your eyes on, and there is danger in forgetting.
When you forget the God of your salvation, you are forgetting the Creator. You are forgetting the one who you were formed for. You are forgetting that you need salvation. When you forget the God of your salvation, you are saying “I do not need saving.”
But that is not the truth, we are desperately in need of salvation. Just like the Israelites we have made ourselves like the lost world, and we need to actively remind ourselves of the God of our salvation before we become indistinguishable from the lost world.
How have you been tempted to identify with the world? Have you become indistinguishable from the world? What does it look like to actively remember God and His promises?
Written By: Paulette Black
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