PEOPLE WILL LOOK TO THEIR MAKER

Isaiah 17:1-18:7 / Keywords 17:7

In that day men will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.

 

17:1 A prophecy against Damascus:

“See, Damascus will no longer be a city

    but will become a heap of ruins.

2 The cities of Aroer will be deserted

    and left to flocks, which will lie down,

    with no one to make them afraid.

3 The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,

    and royal power from Damascus;

the remnant of Aram will be

    like the glory of the Israelites,”

declares the Lord Almighty.

4 “In that day the glory of Jacob will fade;

    the fat of his body will waste away.

5 It will be as when reapers harvest the standing grain,

    gathering the grain in their arms—

as when someone gleans heads of grain

    in the Valley of Rephaim.

6 Yet some gleanings will remain,

    as when an olive tree is beaten,

leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches,

    four or five on the fruitful boughs,”

declares the Lord, the God of Israel.

7 In that day people will look to their Maker

    and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.

8 They will not look to the altars,

    the work of their hands,

and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles[a]

    and the incense altars their fingers have made.

9 In that day their strong cities, which they left because of the Israelites, will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth. And all will be desolation.

10 You have forgotten God your Savior;

    you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress.

Therefore, though you set out the finest plants

    and plant imported vines,

11 though on the day you set them out, you make them grow,

    and on the morning when you plant them, you bring them to bud,

yet the harvest will be as nothing

    in the day of disease and incurable pain.

12 Woe to the many nations that rage—

    they rage like the raging sea!

Woe to the peoples who roar—

    they roar like the roaring of great waters!

13 Although the peoples roar like the roar of surging waters,

    when he rebukes them they flee far away,

driven before the wind like chaff on the hills,

    like tumbleweed before a gale.

14 In the evening, sudden terror!

    Before the morning, they are gone!

This is the portion of those who loot us,

    the lot of those who plunder us.

18:1 Woe to the land of whirring wings[b]

    along the rivers of Cush,[c]

2 which sends envoys by sea

    in papyrus boats over the water.

Go, swift messengers,

to a people tall and smooth-skinned,

    to a people feared far and wide,

an aggressive nation of strange speech,

    whose land is divided by rivers.

3 All you people of the world,

    you who live on the earth,

when a banner is raised on the mountains,

    you will see it,

and when a trumpet sounds,

    you will hear it.

4 This is what the Lord says to me:

    “I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place,

like shimmering heat in the sunshine,

    like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”

5 For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone

    and the flower becomes a ripening grape,

he will cut off the shoots with pruning knives,

    and cut down and take away the spreading branches.

6 They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey

    and to the wild animals;

the birds will feed on them all summer,

    the wild animals all winter.

7 At that time gifts will be brought to the Lord Almighty

from a people tall and smooth-skinned,

    from a people feared far and wide,

an aggressive nation of strange speech,

    whose land is divided by rivers—

the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the Lord Almighty.

Footnotes

a. Isaiah 17:8 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah

b. Isaiah 18:1 Or of locusts

c. Isaiah 18:1 That is, the upper Nile region

1. Chapter 17 prophesies about Damascus, a city in Aram, and northern Israel (Ephraim). Aram and Israel formed an alliance to overthrow Judah (ch. 7,8). But God announced judgment against Damascus. It would become a city of ruins. The glory of Israel would also fade. Israel would waste away and very little would remain, like a field after the harvest. People and nations may scheme and depend on each other, but God rules over all. In verses 9-14, God foretold Israel going into exile because she had forgotten about God. In fact, all nations that rage against God or oppress God’s people would become like chaff or tumbleweed.

 

2. Then Isaiah predicts a time when people would no longer look at idols (17:7-8). They would turn their eyes to their Maker, the Holy One of Israel.

 

3. Chapter 18 prophesies about the people of Cush (Ethiopia). They were aggressive and feared by many. Nevertheless, the LORD ruled over them too. He would quietly wait like shimmering heat from his dwelling place. Then, before Cush could reach its potential, God would cut them down. Yet, one day in repentance, some of them would also bring gifts to Mount Zion to worship the LORD Almighty.

 

Prayer Father, though the nations scheme and rage and people are fearsome, we pray that people from all nations may turn their eyes to you.

One Word Look to the Holy One