Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the challenges and perhaps enemies you feel are coming before you? I suspect Judah felt that way when Israel and Syria were aligned against them. However, Isaiah 17 reminds us that God is all-powerful. He is able to bring down your enemies before you and remove what obstacles you are facing. Put your faith in the LORD. Follow His ways. Be encouraged.
I think the Matthew Henry Concise commentary includes some good background on Isaiah 17 for those interested. I want to highlight a few sentences in particular to share.
“Happy are those who remember God as their salvation, and rely on his power and grace. The trouble of the believers, and the prosperity of their enemies, will be equally short; while the joy of the former, and the destruction of those that hate and spoil them, shall last for ever.”
Prophecy about Damascus
1The oracle concerning Damascus.
“Behold, Damascus is about to be removed from being a city
And will become a fallen ruin.
2“The cities of Aroer are forsaken;
They will be for flocks to lie down in,
And there will be no one to frighten them.
3“The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,
And sovereignty from Damascus
And the remnant of Aram;
They will be like the glory of the sons of Israel,”
Declares the LORD of hosts.
4Now in that day the glory of Jacob will fade,
And the fatness of his flesh will become lean.
5It will be even like the reaper gathering the standing grain,
As his arm harvests the ears,
Or it will be like one gleaning ears of grain
In the valley of Rephaim.
6Yet gleanings will be left in it like the shaking of an olive tree,
Two or three olives on the topmost bough,
Four or five on the branches of a fruitful tree,
Declares the LORD, the God of Israel.
7In that day man will have regard for his Maker
And his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel.
8He will not have regard for the altars, the work of his hands,
Nor will he look to that which his fingers have made,
Even the Asherim and incense stands.
9In that day their strong cities will be like forsaken places in the forest,
Or like branches which they abandoned before the sons of Israel;
And the land will be a desolation.
10For you have forgotten the God of your salvation
And have not remembered the rock of your refuge.
Therefore you plant delightful plants
And set them with vine slips of a strange god.
11In the day that you plant it you carefully fence it in,
And in the morning you bring your seed to blossom;
But the harvest will be a heap
In a day of sickliness and incurable pain.
12Alas, the uproar of many peoples
Who roar like the roaring of the seas,
And the rumbling of nations
Who rush on like the rumbling of mighty waters!
13The nations rumble on like the rumbling of many waters,
But He will rebuke them and they will flee far away,
And be chased like chaff in the mountains before the wind,
Or like whirling dust before a gale.
14At evening time, behold, there is terror!
Before morning they are no more.
Such will be the portion of those who plunder us
And the lot of those who pillage us.
I want to close by coming back to the point highlighted above from the Matthew Henry Concise commentary.
“Happy are those who remember God as their salvation, and rely on his power and grace. The trouble of the believers, and the prosperity of their enemies, will be equally short; while the joy of the former, and the destruction of those that hate and spoil them, shall last for ever.”
I invite you to pray with me:
Father, help me to remember You are my salvation. Help me to rely on Your power and grace. The trouble of believers and the prosperity of our enemies will be equally short. Our joy as believers will last forever as we draw nearer to You. Help us to find peace by casting our anxiety and worries upon You for You care for us. I pray this in the name of Yeshua, Amen.
Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ
Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.