We're going to Isaiah chapter 17. So in our series through Isaiah, this is now message number 24, entitled, The Burden of Damascus. And we're going to be looking at chapter 17. I'll read verses 1 to 3 to get started. The Burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. The cities of Aurore 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." So chapters 15 to 16 gave the burden of Moab that we looked at last time and we're in the midst of this section of Isaiah that began in chapter 13. that is a collection of various oracles of judgment against different nations. Now Moab, as a nation, was not a major power player on the scene at the time of this prophecy, but had a part to play, no matter how small that that may have been, which reinforces for us again, as we study through this section, and sometimes parts of Scripture like this and several chapters here in Isaiah in this way, they can be a little difficult sometimes to get through. There's unfamiliar names and places and people that are referred to, and we don't really maybe know the historical context of what's happening, and so it can seem a little hard to follow. And then in there you throw some references to far future prophecies that'll be fulfilled that can be confusing. So it can be a little difficult, but We do see that in what is being emphasized again and again in this passage is God's purpose for all the nations. That God is ultimately in control and these nations come and go and they rise and they fall and no matter how great or how small they are. Again, you take Moab for instance. Moab was not a major threat. It wasn't a major player in what was happening. Assyria was the major power. Babylon was on the rise. Syria and Israel had joined together to try to oppose Assyria and all these things that were going on. Moab wasn't a major player but still there was a part to play. God has a purpose in and for that nation and so this oracle of this burden was delivered. Moab was facing ruin. They were under threat from Assyria, but were told that a small remnant would survive. They would not be totally wiped out as a people. And Isaiah also, we noticed in the burden to Moab, how that Isaiah experienced grief in this prophecy. He experienced sympathy or pity for them and for what they were coming to, and of course presented messianic hope even to those of Moab and ultimately to all of the nations, but just as it was then and today, pride blocked the way for Moab. In other words, they did not receive this message of messianic hope, this message of salvation, of deliverance in Zion that was presented to them They were too proud. They were too arrogant. They sought prosperity. They sought everything. They fled. They sought their gods. All of these different avenues that they sought for deliverance turned out to be dead ends. Well, now we've come to chapter 17. And chapter 17 has this burden of Damascus. And so we've seen in this section, there's not really a flow to it necessarily in the sense that there's a chronological order or there's some sort of a narrative type flow of different events. We just go from nation to nation and they're connected in different ways. But again, it can be a little bit difficult. So the burden of Damascus is another oracle against the nation of Syria or Aram. And it includes the northern kingdom of Israel, which certainly makes this one a little bit unique among the other burdens that have been delivered. Because Israel and Syria have already received a lot of attention in Isaiah's prophecy to this point. If you recall, it was due to their alliance to resist Assyria and their conspiracy to bring Judah into their alliance and to remove Ahaz as the king of Judah that prompted God sending Isaiah to Ahaz back in chapter number 7. So obviously they have been very involved in what has been going on in this book up to this point. Now Ahaz, you'll remember, was told that this plot against him and against Judah would not succeed. Yes, Israel and Syria were planning it, but that didn't mean that it would come to pass. In other words, if God doesn't permit the plans of men to come to pass, they don't come to pass. They fail. And so he told them that this would not come to pass. And in fact, he was going to bring judgment against both Syria and Israel. And he was going to use Assyria to do it. But even though Ahaz was given that message from Isaiah, he still turned to the enemy of his enemy. He turned to the nation of Assyria. He sought alliance with them, which led to much devastation and trouble and near disaster for Judah by the time of Hezekiah. Well, the northern kingdom would experience yet another problem. So throughout Israel's history, they were told repeatedly not to enter into these kind of alliances with the nations around them. They were to rather trust in God. So when they were under threat, they were not to enter into these alliances. They were to trust in God to deliver them. That didn't mean that they wouldn't have to fight, but they were to trust in God and not in the power that seemed to be presented by these other nations and their armies. Well here we have yet another problem from being yoked together with these other nations in violation of God's Word. And that is they would share in the judgment against them. So judgment was coming against Syria and Israel was not going to be left out. Israel was going to share in that judgment as well. And once again, we see some of this blending of near and far prophecy. So as we look at this chapter, we essentially see the word, this burden that was delivered that Israel and Syria will fall. So let's start here with verses 1 to 3. The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. The cities of Aror are forsaken, and 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." Well, Damascus was the capital city of Syria, just as Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel. And Damascus is a very ancient city, but it was conquered by the Assyrians around about 732 BC. And so you can read about that in 2 Kings chapter 16, but all of the things that are talked about here were not fulfilled then. And we've seen that in other instances of this prophecy. And Samaria was then conquered by the Assyrians later in 722 BC. So there was a pretty close time frame, around about 10 years or so, between both of them falling to the Assyrians. Now, this mention of Oror was at the extent of the Assyrian kingdom, and again, just as we've seen previously, the mention of cities and places oftentimes has the effect of showing that this judgment will cover all of the land, all of the territory of the nation that is being spoken about. grazing sheep also suggests the de-peopling of the land. In other words, the sheep will be able to graze undisturbed in this land. And again, it's another image that is used of judgment. So whereupon a time there was a city that was bustling with people and with activity and all of these sort of things, Now it'll become a place for grazing animals who will be completely undisturbed. Why? Because there's no people around. There's no industry. There's nothing going on. Again, it's another very picturesque way of describing the judgment that is going to come to them. Now, verse number four reads, 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. Now we get references. to end that day, I think, four different times in this particular chapter. And we've noticed how oftentimes that reference has a future aspect, a far future aspect to its fulfillment. Now, we just read in verse number three that Syria would be made like the glory of the children of Israel. In other words, the glory of the northern kingdom of Israel had faded. that glory was dying, that glory was going, and the same thing was going to happen to Syria. And so this glory of Jacob, it goes on to describe this now as he gives words here more relevant to the judgment on Israel. So the glory of Jacob will be made thin. This is an example of severity in judgment. So it's taking a picture of a person that's healthy and filled out and basically turned to skin and bones. It's a picture of descending from prosperity into poverty, from having plenty to suffering privations. verses five and six, and it shall be as when the harvest man gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm, and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephim, 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. Now here is another common image of judgment. And Isaiah uses it, he uses it more than just here, and other prophets use this imagery as well. And that is the coming judgment being like a harvest, like a field being reaped. And we're given descriptions of work that is the careful work of a harvester, and they're shaking the trees, they're going over the fields. In other words, they're harvesting, they're gleaning, they're doing everything to leave as little as possible behind. They want to take every fruit from that field so it's it's a reference to the thoroughness of judgment but it also you notice here how it still gives that reference to a small remnant like a few berries on this branch and one over here and and one there so a field and trees that have been gone over and have been shaken and have been have been harvested and gleaned and still yet There's a few fruits that remain in this field. And this is thematic, and it is very common, not just in Isaiah, but throughout the prophets. When these judgments, in particular, are described against Israel and against Judah, they are also given in terms of a remnant being left. There being something left over. Not total destruction, but a remnant being left. And so we get that here in this harvest imagery. So the judgment that's described will be severe. It will be severe, it will be thorough, it will be extreme, but it will not be total in the sense of total destruction coming to Israel. But they will be reduced. They will be reduced to a pitifully small amount. So you think about, and obviously around us at this time, a lot of the fields are being cut and harvested, and you see those long, large fields that seem to stretch on and go on and go on and go on, and you just think about all of the corn that is there, the beans that are there, whatever it is that is planted, all of the fruits that are there. And then for that to be harvested, to be gleaned, to be gone over, for all of this to happen, then what's left? It's very, very little in comparison to what was there. And that's the point of that imagery. It's a very small amount, but still yet there's something left. There's something left, but they will be reduced. Verses seven and eight. 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 and the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves or the images." So this preservation of a remnant that was just mentioned and is followed by their restoration to repentance. So again, we're seeing this far future aspect here in this judgment, that this judgment's gonna come and it's going to make Israel like this reaped field, but nevertheless, there will be a remnant and they're gonna turn to the Lord. They will repent. of their idolatries. And we've seen this reference before. They will turn from those things that they have trusted in. There's going to come a time when they are going to turn to the Lord and will never again trust in man, trust in other gods, trust in anything else. Now we get reference to the Maker and the Holy One of Israel. Of course, the Holy One of Israel is a common Messianic term, particularly referring to the coming of Christ here at the end of Jacob's trouble. But this reference to the Maker does have particular application when it comes to Israel. Because Israel, not only is he the creator of humankind and of the earth and of all the things in the universe, but he also specially made a nation, a nation that was not a nation before. He took from the seed of Abraham to make a nation in keeping of the promises that he made to Abraham, and because of that, This remnant is left, and because of that, there will be a nation to turn and to be restored. And so here in this prophecy, you notice how that's connected. There's the turning and the repentance to the restoration. Now verse 9, 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. Now this is pointing back to the judgment that's going to take place, again, this time of Jacob's trouble. The strong cities, these refer to the fortifications, the strongholds, the places that Israel trusted in for defense, they will be done away in that day, in that time of that judgment. And remember, if you recall how you go through Revelation and how many so many that are going to be killed during this time of tribulation. Verse number 10, 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. So Israel is going to be exposed and vulnerable to judgment. Why? Because of forgetting God. Because of turning to others. And we find that that's going to reach its ultimate apostasy in the time of that tribulation when they will in fact enter into covenant with the Antichrist. They had worshiped false gods, and trusted in the gods of the nations. They had looked to others. And all of these things, they'd sought to strengthen themselves with the might of Syria. but it would not profit them. All their fleshly work, and then we get the imagery here, that sort of agricultural, they will work, they will plant, make their seed to flourish, but when the harvest time comes, it'll just be a heap. and it'll be a day of grief and desperate sorrow." In other words, no harvest will come without God's blessings. So all of their efforts, all of their efforts that will be expended to save themselves, to be delivered from this time of judgment will come to nothing. Emphasizing to us once again, that it is worthless to try to act to meet our own needs without dependence on God. It's worthless. It's fruitless. And whatever prosperity may be there, it will be very temporary, and it will vanish away, and it will not provide any refuge from the day of God's wrath. Now, verses 12 to 14 that end this chapter turn now to speak more generally to the nations. It says in verse 12, Now here's a case where we get many people and that is plural, it is peoples. I think some of the newer translations there have peoples. And we get words for nations that are used here, which is actually a synonym of Goyim, nowhere near as common as Goyim, but the Lumum, it is plural, it is a reference to nations, it's a synonym for that term, just not what we're used to seeing. And all these nations, they're described as making a noise like the sea and like the rushing of mighty waters." So the nations are compared to the seas that are always churning, always churning. The waves are always coming in and going out with the tide and they're always crashing and all these sort of things. And anyone that has gone for a swim in the ocean has probably experienced just how powerful that ocean water is and how weak and helpless that we can be against it, especially if we get in a place of trouble. We can be very, very helpless in that time. All the nations are described as being like that. And again, They will come to a peak in that time of Jacob's trouble and their opposition to Israel and all of their raging and thrashing. Verse 13, the nation shall rush like the rushing of many waters, but God shall rebuke them and they shall flee far off and shall be chased as a chaff of the mountains before the wind and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. So regardless of the number, the number of the nations or the number of the peoples within the nations, regardless of their number, regardless of the noise that they make, they will flee at God's rebuke. When that time comes, they will flee at His rebuke. So this picture that is presented here, is one of a growing darkness and an increasing danger until it seems that there is no hope. And it is exactly what Israel is going to come to in that time of tribulation in particular. They're going to come to the place of seeming no hope for deliverance whatsoever. Verse 14. And behold, at eventide 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. So here we get God's deliverance of his preserved remnant. And it's going to happen, and it's going to happen very suddenly. It's not any sort of a slow, long, delayed process. But when that time comes, it will come suddenly. And of course this is referring to the return of Jesus Christ. And then we get this last statement of this chapter that really refers to God keeping his promises to Abraham that he would bless those that bless him and curse those that curse him. And that is what is being referred to here in verse number 14. So as we look over a passage like this that speaks to Syria, speaks to Israel, but then also speaks to other nations more generally by the time that you get down to the end, we should learn to understand that the golden days of nations, so when we think about nations at the very peak of their glory and of their power and all of those things, that those golden days mean absolutely nothing in terms of the longevity of that nation. In other words, their rise may be epic. They may come to great heights. They may come to nearly rule the world, but that glory fades, and nations can rise and fall overnight. And that's the description we get there in verse 14, that suddenness. There's trouble at eventide in the evening, but by morning, he's totally gone. They can vanish overnight. This is God's purpose. And he raises and he sinks them according to his own counsel. And it also means that God can deliver in an instant. And that is exactly what Israel will experience in that time. Now, it can be easy. to celebrate the rises or to celebrate the falls, and to totally miss what this real message is. And it's a message that is just as much relevant today as it was in Isaiah's time. And that's a message of warning that should be sobering. Because if that nation can fall, and that nation can fall, then this nation can fall as well. There is no refuge within a nation from the judgment of God. The world is here depicted as being in constant turmoil. And even if you know nothing of history, if you've just lived for a few years, you have witnessed it. This world is constantly in turmoil. The nations are roaring and thundering all the time, and one rises and another falls, and then the one that has fallen, another rises to take its place and might even be worse than the one that was before it. And if you remember Psalm 2, and if we remember Psalm 2, God laughs at the raging of the nations. It's distressing to us. We see the chaos. We see the tumult. We don't know what's going to happen. What's going to happen? Where's this going to go? We don't know. But God laughs at these nations that are constantly raging and in turmoil. And what's His response? His response is to send His Son in judgment and to rule from Zion. That's His response. He laughs at the nations rebelling against him. So while we're studying a section like this, and again, sometimes it can be difficult to sort of plod through it, but I hope that we can understand at least there is certainly plenty of application for us. These burdens of the nations are a good reminder, a good reminder that God is in control of all things. Now, here we're given a small look into the future for some of these nations, but we weren't told anything about all of the twists and turns that got them to this point. In other words, they may have had what seemed like great victories and many good things and all these things, and here they're at this point, and this is where they're heading to. What I'm saying is, we're not told every detail about everything, about all these nations, about every particular ruler that came and went, and all the different things that happened, the events that took place. We're not told about that. So, it's a good reminder for us to be very careful with the predictions of so many oftentimes self-styled prophecy experts. And we are exposed to these all around all the time. As long as I can remember in my life, I have heard people reacting to current events with some supposed prophetic interpretation. And the benefit is I've lived long enough to see For the most part, pretty much all of the time, those people were completely wrong. The things that they said was going to happen because of this and because of that didn't happen. The things that they said were going to happen next didn't happen. And all of these prophecy experts give these predictions all the time, still do it today. There's still good business in it, I guess. And this is not something that's only done by dispensationalists. There's certainly quite a few post-millennialists and other preterists that are just as much interested in current events and putting their interpretation on them. It does happen. So a nation, one nation will move against another nation and so that means that this or that is going to happen. This some government adopts a law or adopts a policy and so that means this or that is going to happen. Some politicians gaining power and popularity and so this or that is going to happen. I can remember even as a kid I can remember the stir. that was caused when, in our local area, our local stores were installing these barcode scanners. And, I mean, people were losing their minds. This is a sign of the times and all of those sort of things. I can remember hearing warnings coming from a pulpit against using direct deposit or direct debit with your banking accounts because that would be the mark of the beast and on and on and on and on. And of course, again, I've had the benefit of living at least long enough to see that most of these things turn to nothing. Turn to nothing. These things are always happening. The nations of the world are like those seas, always churning. And you know what else? Men are always planning and attempting evil things. I really don't know. That shouldn't surprise us. We shouldn't be taken off guard by that. Men are always planning and attempting evil things. So we need to be very careful about getting caught up and drawn off and distracted. What is the message here? And when we look out and we see the world around us and the problems, what is the message? Well, the message is human effort will not avail to escape the wrath of God. Nor will human effort ever avail to overturn God's counsels. don't care what men are planning they're not going to stop God's purpose from being fulfilled it will be fulfilled God rules over his creation He rules over everything and everything is a part of His purpose. Nations and human glory will fade. Human accomplishments are nothing. Don't trust in anything other than God and His Son. That really is the message. Nations rise and fall, and we'll get much more of that as we go on in Isaiah. Nations rise and fall, and they do so according to God's will and God's purpose. And they're not going to do or accomplish anything that he doesn't permit, that he doesn't have a reason for doing so, whether we know what that is or not. And oftentimes we don't. So what's the message? Again, trust in God. Trust in His Son. Look to His kingdom that is going to be the only kingdom of peace and righteousness that this world will ever know. But again, we have the promise, just as we saw the messianic hope in the previous chapter. You believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved from the wrath of God. That's God's promise to everyone, whether Jew or Gentile. But of course, what's the problem? Well, because of pride, we refuse. And we reject. And we think we're going to find some other way. Just like Steve was talking about in the Sunday School. How so many are resting on the fact that, well, if there is a God, I've got a few questions of my own for Him. He's going to have to give me some answers. If I have to stand before Him one day, Yeah, there really are a lot of people that are convinced of that in their own minds. So again, we don't want to miss the message, even though sometimes, again, it can be difficult trying to sort everything and it can be confusing. Nevertheless, we don't want to miss that message.