”On that day the splendor of Jacob will fade, and his healthy body will become emaciated. It will be as if a reaper had gathered standing grain — his arm harvesting the heads of grain — and as if one had gleaned heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim. Only gleanings will be left in Israel, as if an olive tree had been beaten — two or three berries at the very top of the tree, four or five on its fruitful branches. This is the declaration of the Lord, the God of Israel. On that day people will look to their Maker and will turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel. They will not look to the altars they made with their hands or to the Asherahs and incense altars they made with their fingers. On that day their strong cities will be like the abandoned woods and mountaintops that were abandoned because of the Israelites; there will be desolation. For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and you have failed to remember the rock of your strength; therefore you will plant beautiful plants and set out cuttings from exotic vines. On the day that you plant, you will help them to grow, and in the morning you will help your seed to sprout, but the harvest will vanish on the day of disease and incurable pain.“ (Isaiah 17:4-11 HCSB)
As you’ve probably begun to realize, I’m only putting a small portion of our focal passage in the quoted passage, above. For the full passage, go read Isaiah 17-18.
Simple outline:
1. Damascus and Israel (northern tribes) judged for idolatry
2. The nations rage against God, He rebukes with a Word
3. Cush/Egypt arise, God cuts them down, Cush turn to Him
Key verse: ”On that day people will look to their Maker and will turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.“ (Isaiah 17:7 HCSB)
Some of you may think I’ve just become obsessed with morbid thoughts. I suppose in some ways I am. These prophecies of judgment and destruction can certainly make you consider your own mortality and it doesn’t help that my 65th birthday is rapidly approaching. I keep getting mail, phone calls and advertisements regarding Medicare, retirement and end of life decisions. Then I get a letter from my life insurance agent telling me that my premiums are scheduled to begin increasing dramatically over the next few years. Sheesh, you’d think I was getting old or something. To be honest, I certainly feel it more and more each day.
The people of God are also facing end-of-life issues and decisions about their future. The two chapters we will study today are a bit different in that they seem to deal with several different nations, even all nations, but are pulled together into a single prophecy or oracle. While it starts out as an “oracle against Damascus”, it broadens out and brings in the northern tribes (referenced by Ephraim, Israel, Jacob) and then pulls in Egypt and Cush (Ethiopia) and even seems to include a judgment against all nations. But God’s judgment is not without purpose and hope. Isaiah begins by painting the picture of a future that includes their destruction but ends with a declaration of hope, purpose and life.
First, the oracle against Damascus (Syria) is all about dependence upon past accomplishments and former power and glory. The nation state of Syria/Damascus will suffer the same fate as the northern tribes of Israel, as referenced by Ephraim (v. 3) and Jacob (v. 4): “the remnant of Aram [Syria] will be like the splendor of the Israelites.” What was once a fortress and a teeming city will now be a field of grass that the flocks graze upon and lie down without fear.
Because the northern tribes have placed their trust in Syria and her former might for their salvation, their health and splendor will fade and they will become like an emaciated body. Where they once harvested plenty to keep them healthy and well fed, they will have to gather as one gleaning the left over of the fields. Instead of olive trees weighed down with a bountiful crop, there will be only a small remnant [who trust in the LORD God]. They will be like an olive tree that has already been harvested and only a few olives remain on the upper branches.
The people of the northern tribes had forsaken their Maker and had turned to worshiping the foreign gods of the neighboring nations (v. 8). Instead of seeking their Creator, they had resorted to worshiping at altars they created with their own hands and Asherahs (poplar poles or groves) and incense altars they had made themselves. Listen to God’s declaration: “On that day people will look to their Maker and will turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel” instead of their human objects of idolatry.
In our day, our objects of worship may not be groves of poplar trees or incense altars but the reality of our idolatrous worship is no less real. Although these ancient altars celebrated and trusted in the fertility rites of these foreign gods to bring crop/flock success and wealth, the altars our generations have built to the gods of sexual freedom and materialistic wealth are no different and no less despised by our Creator.
Next, notice the reason for God’s judgment: “For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and you have failed to remember the rock of your strength…” God doesn’t despise our planning and our efforts at improving our conditions, but He does despise our tendency to turn away from Him and to forget our dependence upon Him. Instead of trusting in “the rock” that gave them stability and strength, they trusted in the safety of the fortified city walls they had constructed and the armies they had amassed.
These people had a long, storied history with the God who saves them, but they had forgotten Him. No doubt they had heard the tales of Israel’s deliverance at God’s hand. While tales of God’s glory and personal experiences of His provision can be told and retold from generation to generation, real faith must be born afresh in each new generation. When faith in the current generation becomes nothing more than the fading memories of previous generations it dies out. It is trumped by the pragmatist’s “what have You done for me lately” attitude.
Fortunately, there’s always a few berries clinging to life [real faith] at the top of the tree…
Then Isaiah issues a warning: “Ah! The roar of many peoples – they roar like the roaring of the seas. The raging of the nations – they rage like the raging of mighty waters.” But God rebukes them and they flee, driven before the wind like chaff or like a tumbleweed before a gale. The word translated as “Ah!” here is the word for woe or behold. He wants us to clearly see how the peoples rage against Him, how He rebukes them and His spoken rebuke is like the wind driving the chaff or the gale blowing the tumbleweed. Don’t miss this, His spoken WORD is His Son bringing justice and judgment to this world.
Consider Jesus’ words: ”Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send Him to you. When He comes, He will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment: About sin, because they do not believe in Me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me; and about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.“ (John 16:7-11 HCSB)
Next, Isaiah seems to change focus as we move into chapter 18 but these passages are intimately tied together. Notice that the “Ah!” from the previous verses is repeated here: “Ah! The land of buzzing insect wings beyond the rivers of Cush sends couriers by sea, in reed vessels on the waters.” The land of the buzzing insect wings is Egypt who is now controlled by a ruler from Cush (or Ethiopia). This Egyptian/Cush leader sees an opportunity to unite the people of the area against the Assyrian aggression. He sends swift messengers in small reed boats to try and sway Judah to join his alliance of nations against Assyria.
The nation of tall, smooth-skinned people who are feared as mighty warriors are the men of Cush. The average height of the Cush or Ethiopian people is significantly taller than other nations at six feet, four inches. But God warns Judah to not rely upon the size and fearsome reputation of these Cushite warriors, but to rely upon God for their salvation. Isaiah says, God looks on the situation from His place or throne but His presence goes unnoticed like the people overlook shimmer of the sunshine in the summer heat or ignore the dew on a summer morning. The people seek outside help in the situation while they completely ignore God’s power and presence in their everyday lives.
Go back and read that, again.
We seek outside help with the circumstances of our lives even as we overlook God’s powerful presence in our daily struggles. Like that shimmer you see rising up from the ground on a hot summer day or like drops of dew on the grass in the morning, God is present in our lives but we completely ignore or overlook Him. But God’s will not be overlooked or ignored…
Like a farmer who clear cuts his field just before harvest begins, God will cut off the shoots with a pruning knife and He will tear away and remove the branches. He will stack it all up and leave it for the birds to build nests or the wild animals to use for their winter dens. I almost missed this the first time, so I want to make sure you see it. God is not clearing this field AFTER the harvest is over. He’s cutting the young shoots and tearing away the branches of the vine BEFORE the grapes have matured and ripened. Just when you pass the point where you think something might ruin the year’s crop and you begin to anticipate the harvest, then He comes in and cuts it all away.
We tend to live our lives like that, don’t we? When we’re young we’re too busy trying to get our careers and families established and we don’t have time for God. We plan our lives around entertainment, sports and work and have little time left for what really matters. Let me tell you, your kids really don’t want the latest and greatest toy or electronic gadget. They want your time and your attention. It doesn’t really matter so much what you’re doing as long as you’re doing it with them. They don’t want or need your PRESENTS, they want and need your PRESENCE.
In much the same way, God doesn’t want our presents or our weak and ineffective efforts at winning His favor, but He wants our presence. Prayer, praise and worship are less about what you say or do and more about being present in them, being with Him. Let me tell you something, when God shows up in our prayer, praise and worship then everything we are doing fades into the background and He becomes our sole focus. It is not what you do but who is present in it – you and Him!
Finally, I want you to notice the last verse in our focal passage: ”At that time a gift will be brought to Yahweh of Hosts from a people tall and smooth-skinned, a people feared far and near, a powerful nation with a strange language, whose land is divided by rivers — to Mount Zion, the place of the name of Yahweh of Hosts.“ (Isaiah 18:7 HCSB) I told you at the beginning of this lesson, God’s judgement is NEVER without a divine purpose and eternal hope. Though God will cut down this Egypt/Cush alliance before it has a chance to mature, He isn’t finished with the people of Cush.
After God cuts them down, these same people – the people of Cush – will be brought as a gift to Him. They will be brought to Mount Zion, and placed before Yahweh, the LORD of Hosts. Maybe you haven’t made the connection, yet. If not, let me remind you. In Acts 8 God sent a messenger to Philip, a deacon in the Jerusalem church, who told him to get up and head south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.
When Philip arrived on the scene, he saw an Ethiopian man who was a high official to Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He had been in Jerusalem to worship and was sitting in his chariot on his way home and was reading aloud from the prophet Isaiah. The Spirit told Philip to go and join up with the chariot. As Philip ran up, he heard the man reading and Philip asked, “Do you understand what you’re reading?” The man replied, “How can I unless someone guides me?” So he invited Philip to join him and he asked about the passage he was reading (Isaiah 53:7-8), “Is the prophet speaking about himself or someone else?” So Philip began with those verses and began to tell the man the “good news about Jesus.”
This Ethiopian official became a believer that day and boldly proclaimed his faith that “Jesus Christ is the Son of God” and was baptized in some water alongside the road. What you may not know is that Ethiopia is predominantly Christian to this day and the Coptic church of Egypt dates back the first century and may be the direct result of this man’s conversion and the evangelical work of Mark. Egypt was primarily Christian following Mark’s work and would remain so until 12th century, even after it was conquered by Muslim conquest in the 7th century. Today, the Coptic church is still alive and vibrant in Egypt and Coptic Christians still make up about 15% of the population. Ethiopia is over 65% Christian and has the largest Christian population on the African continent.
Why is that important? Because it clearly illustrates the accuracy of Isaiah’s prophecy and highlights God’s design in judging sin and redeeming those who repent and turn to Him in faith. Let that sink in a bit. God is using the struggles you and I are facing today to achieve His purpose far outside our ability to see, understand and appreciate. He is not only the one source of redemption, He is the Rock of Salvation. Everything that is built upon faith in Him has not only a solid foundation for today, but a source of strength and hope into eternity.
Our God is not just a god of the past, He is the God of yesterday, but He is also the God of today, tomorrow and forever. The Rock of Salvation that you can build your life upon, place your faith in today and trust for all your tomorrows and into eternity. When you face issues and struggles today don’t forget that God knew you would face them and He is using the situation to strengthen your faith, develop your righteousness and to lead you into Christlikeness.
This is His purpose for you: ”We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose. For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified; and those He justified, He also glorified.“ (Romans 8:28-30 HCSB)
So, you can either build your life on the shifting sands of cultural trends or you can build your life on the Rock of Salvation. When you build your life on that Rock it survives the storms of life…
Hilltop Baptist Church - Shawnee, OK 
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