Isaiah 17

Isaiah now declares the burden against Damascus. Israel, the northern kingdom had made an alliance with Syria rather than putting their trust in God. Therefore, the Northern Kingdom would become partakers in the judgment that would come upon Syria. Who we trust in is critical. Who we make alliances with is critical. As Christians, our total faith and trust must be in Jesus Christ and His word. Assyria was raised up by God to be a tool of judgment. Ephraim would be devestated by the judgment that came to them through this mighty army. The people, the wealth, the land would all be devestated by this invasion. Of the few who would remain, they would respond by looking once again to their maker and having respect for the Holy One of Israel. The reason for this brutal judgment from God was because they had forgotten the God of their salvation. They were not mindful of the fact that God is the Rock of their stronghold. It is ever so critical in the life of a believer that we never forget the God of our salvation. We entered our relationship Jesus at the foot of the cross. Our Christian journey must always continue at the foot of the cross.The key to living a strong, mature Christian life is to never forget the God of our salvation. The evidence that we have not forgotten the God of our salvation is a life lived in obedience to Jesus Christ and His word.Those who are backslidden, have fallen into the depths of apostasy, who are floundering in lukewarmness are there because they have chosen to forget the God of their salvation.We are commanded not to forget the God of our salvation. To remember the God of our salvation is an act of obedience. To obey is better than sacrifice.

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1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

3 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 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 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 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.

7 At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.

8 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 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 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 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.

12 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 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.