Damascus
In Isaiah 17
we have a prophecy against Damascus.
Damascus was the capitol city of Aram.
Aram was the name in the 8th – 10th centuries B.C. for what we now know
of as Syria. This nation should not be
confused with Assyria. Remember that
only a few chapters back we had Isaiah’s prophecy against the northern kingdom
of Israel and Aram because they had joined up and threatened the southern
kingdom of Judah. This is why God links
Damascus to Ephraim (Isaiah’s word for Israel) in v. 3. That should set the context of this passage.
Ceasing To Exist
We start off
with an incredible statement right at the very beginning. Damascus will cease to be a city. It will be leveled. It will be destroyed to the point that flocks
of grazing animals will find pasture within its walls. What a horrible prediction.
Stop here
for a minute and think about this. How
would it feel for you to hear someone say that in only a few years the town in
which you currently live, know, and love would become desolate? What would it mean for you to hear that your
own beloved community would completely and totally cease to even be a
city? Can you feel the incredible
oppression of these opening verses? Can
you feel the weight of the message that Isaiah carried from God? Can you imagine how the people reacted to
these words?
The Difficulty of Preaching To The Choir
Let’s run a
little deeper in this passage. Remember
when we started these oracles a few days back I mentioned that these words were
likely not heard by the individual countries – at least not directly from
Isaiah. The Hebrew people living around
Isaiah heard these words. Imagine being
Isaiah and hearing the cheering of the Hebrew people as one of their enemies is
pronounced as being ready to be judged.
Yet, imagine
mourning for those people because they do not recognize how their rebellion
against God is affecting them – all while the people around you cheer on their
destruction. That’s what it means to be
a prophet of the Lord. Being a prophet
doesn’t mean enjoying the defeat of your enemies. Being a prophet means mourning over the
judgment of your enemies while all the rest of the short-sighted people around
you celebrate their doom.
Back to Syria
Verse 4
gives us even less hope. “The fat of his
flesh will become lean.” Imagine, if you
will, a people who live such a comfortable life that they are “fat.” By fat, I’m not talking physically but also
emotionally, spiritually, and even psychologically. Then imagine what would have to happen in
their life so that they would become lean, emaciated, and on the brink of
wasting away. Imagine how hard a whole
nation would have to fall for the kingdom to go from “fat” to “wasting
away.” Imagine what it would feel like
for that “fat” country that knew an abundance of resources to suddenly find its
resources gone, dried up, and no longer productive. This is the point of verses 5-6.
What will be
the natural consequence of such a fall? This
is actually a bit of a surprise here. The
people will realize the futility of placing their faith in such human created “fatness.” They will stop looking upon the work of their
own hands as a symbol of their greatness.
They will then see their Maker and understand what a relationship with
God is truly about. Only through the
darkness of captivity and famine do we truly learn what to value in this life. I hate that this is true about humanity, but
it is.
The Power Of Judgment
At the end
of this chapter we have a small reminder of the people that God is going to use
to bring judgment upon Damascus (Aram/Syria). The Assyrians are considered a mighty sea. If anyone has ever stood on a beach as the
tide comes in, you know the futility of trying to stand there. You know the futility of trying to build a
sandcastle as the tide is coming in.
With each passing rush the water rises higher and higher. With each passing rush the water comes in,
swirls about, and takes part of whatever is in its way. Soon the sand castle is gone. Soon the footprints we leave behind are
washed away even with the rest of the sand.
Nothing can withstand the slow and steady power of the sea.
The same is
true for the Assyrians. When they come,
they will be like the sea. They will
come and conquer everything in their path.
They will swarm about the nations and slowly knock them down and take
them away.
Hope
However, all
hope is not completely lost. Even in the
oracle for Damascus there is a ray of hope.
The armies of the Assyrians threaten for an evening, but by morning they
will be gone. Judgment will be swift and
thorough, but also quick. God does not
enjoy making us suffer. He simply wants
us to see our consequences long enough to regain a true perspective on life and
come back to Him. Of course, sometimes
it takes longer other times to regain that true perspective.
<><
No comments:
Post a Comment