September 19, 2018
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Reading along with us in Isaiah & 2 Kings? Here’s today’s reading:
Isaiah 17 (ESV)
An oracle concerning Damascus.
Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city
and will become a heap of ruins.
2 The cities of Aroer are deserted;
they will be for flocks,
which will lie down, and none will make them afraid.
3 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,
declares the Lord of hosts.
4 And in that day the glory of Jacob will be brought low,
and the fat of his flesh will grow lean.
5 And it shall be as when the reaper gathers standing grain
and his arm harvests the ears,
and as when one gleans the ears of grain
in the Valley of Rephaim.
6 Gleanings will be left in it,
as when an olive tree is beaten—
two or three berries
in the top of the highest bough,
four or five
on the branches of a fruit tree,
declares the Lord God of Israel.....Continue Reading
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A warning and a promise
7In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel. 8He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and he will not look on what his own fingers have made,
Here in chapter 17 Isaiah turns to God’s judgement of the nation of Aram (which would become Syria). Damascus was it’s main city. It is also the nation that Namaan was associated with from 2 KIngs 5. And yet the Northern kingdom of Israel is tied up in this judgement as well. Ephraim and Jacob are a reference to that portion of Jewish nation. The reason for their judgement is given towards the end of the chapter. They had forgotten their Savior and their Rock. Tough things to forget, huh? And yet just as Deuteronomy said God would bless obedience and curse disobedience. And it is all infolding here. And yet there is hope. There will be a remnant and there will be a day when men will look to their Maker and trust Him rather than the images they have made. It is just like God to provide a way of escape, a way back to Him, both individually and nationally for His people.