The Fall of Damascus and Israel
Study note
Damascus was one of the oldest cities in the world and the capital of Syria (also called Aram). Around 735 BC, Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel formed an alliance against Judah. Isaiah prophesies that Damascus will be reduced to a heap of ruins and that Israel's glory will fade like a sick person losing weight. The destruction will leave only a few survivors, like the few olives left on a tree after harvest or the last grapes left on the vine. This prophecy about Damascus was fulfilled when the Assyrians conquered it in 732 BC.
1 This is a message about Damascus. Look! Damascus is about to stop being a city. It will become nothing but a pile of rubble. The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
2 The towns near Aroer will be abandoned. Flocks of animals will lie down there with no one to bother them. The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
3 Ephraim will lose its strong city, and Damascus will lose its kingdom. Whatever is left in Syria will share the same fate as Israel's fading glory," says the Lord who commands heaven's armies. 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.
4 When that day comes, the glory of Jacob will fade away, and his strong body will grow thin and weak. 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.
5 It will be like a field after harvest workers have come through, cutting grain with their arms and carrying it away. It will be like picking through what is left in the Valley of Rephaim after most of the grain is already gone. 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.
6 Still, a few things will be left behind. It will be like the two or three olives at the very top of the tree after the harvest. Or like the four or five on the outer branches," says the Lord, the God of Israel. 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.
A Day of Turning to God
Study note
In the midst of judgment, there is a ray of hope. On that day, people will finally look to their Maker instead of to the altars and idols their hands have made. They will stop worshipping Asherah poles and incense altars, which were part of the Canaanite religion that had corrupted Israel. However, because they forgot the God who saves them and did not remember the Rock who protects them, even their best efforts at planting and growing will end in a harvest of grief and sorrow.
7 When that day comes, people will finally look to the one who made them. Their eyes will turn to the Holy One of Israel for help. At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.
8 They will stop looking at altars they built with their own hands. They will have no interest in the wooden poles and incense stands their own fingers crafted for false gods. 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.
9 When that day comes, their strongest cities will be empty. They will be left behind, just like the places people left when the Israelites first arrived. Everything will be deserted. 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.
10 This happened because you forgot the God who saves you. You did not think about the Rock who keeps you safe. So even though you plant the finest plants and set out the best imported vines, 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:
11 and even though you get them to bloom the very next morning, the harvest will only bring grief and pain that never ends. 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.
The Roaring Nations
Study note
The chapter ends with a vivid description of the nations that attack God's people. They rush forward like the roaring of mighty waters. But God rebukes them, and they flee like chaff blown by the wind or like tumbleweeds in a storm. At evening there is terror, but before morning the attackers are gone. This is a picture of God's protection of his people. Many scholars see this as a reference to the sudden destruction of the Assyrian army that threatened Jerusalem during Hezekiah's reign.
12 Listen! The thunder of many nations rushing forward! They roar like the crashing ocean! The rumble of armies surging ahead like a wall of mighty water! 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!
13 The nations rush forward like mighty waters, but God shouts at them and they scatter. They blow away like chaff on the mountains in the wind, like tumbleweeds spinning before a storm. 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.
14 At nightfall, sudden terror strikes! But before morning light, the enemy is gone without a trace. This is what happens to those who try to rob us. This is the fate of those who steal from us. 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.