Isaiah 17:1–11

Besides its everyday use, this word occurs at the start of several prophecies, as "The burden of Babylon," "the burden of Moab" (Isa. 13:1; Isa. 15:1, etc.). Scholars are not agreed about the force of massa in such places. Its natural meaning would be "a judgment that lies heavy on the people," but some take its meaning to be "an oracle or sentence pronounced against them."

The word burden has the thought of a weight heavy to bear, for God is bringing His displeasure to bear on mankind, and He intends people to feel it.

Isaiah prophesied that Damascus would become a heap of ruins, because it allied itself with Ephraim against God's city Jerusalem (Isa. 17:1; compare also Amos 1:3-5; Jer. 49:23-27; Zech. 9:1). God had used the kings of Syria to punish Israel; but, as in other cases, He afterwards brought them to nothing for their arrogance and cruelty.

I do not see how it is possible, in all this part of Isaiah, from chapter 13 and even before, not to see that the Spirit of God is taking up the great plan of God, and speaking of future coming events, but taking hold of present ones as an occasion, and that connected with the government of God then, which will be fully displayed at the end.

Damascus, which lay to the north of the Holy Land, was the very ancient and most celebrated city of Syria in the old days. (See Gen. 15:2) It was to be made a heap of ruins — the cities of Aroer a place for flocks.

District near Damascus. Isa. 17:2.

Isaiah prophesied that Damascus would become a heap of ruins. This was because of its alliance with Ephraim against God's city Jerusalem. Isa. 17:1: compare also Amos 1:3-5; Jer. 49:23-27; Zech. 9:1. God had used the kings of Syria to punish Israel. But later, as in other cases, He brought them to nothing for their arrogance and cruelty.

It is worth keeping in mind that it was not Sennacherib but Tiglath-Pileser who destroyed Damascus. That ruin followed the alliance of Pekah and Rezin, made to remove David's house in Judah — unworthy and false as Ahaz was. Isaiah had predicted this in Isa. 7, and our chapter speaks of it becoming a heap of ruins. But the prophecy clearly goes on to its reappearance and overthrow in the latter day.

Long ago Syria and Ephraim conspired against the kingdom of David's son, and it ended in their own undoing. Now once more the remarkable feature of this judgment is that God will deal with His people as well as with their old ally.

He will gather out of them everything that causes stumbling, and He will punish those who do wrong. He will use the nations' hostility to clean that threshing floor, the land of Israel. He will deal with His people in a judicial way. The nations may encourage themselves and each other with the hope that things are going hard for Israel. But their conspiracy will offend God, however much He may use it for Israel's good.

Next comes the burden of Damascus, brought down from a city to a heap of ruins. In verses 4-6 we see the judgment of Israel, but a few grapes are left there for gleaning. God chastises His people until they stop resting on their own strength and rely on God alone. Yet they will dwindle to a remnant, two or three here and four or five there. Then they will look to Himself, the only source of strength, the Holy One of Israel.

But the judgment is also future. And the enemies of Israel, who trouble His people, will be troubled "in that day." The chapter closes with a solemn word: "This is the portion of those who loot us, and the lot of those who plunder us."

Suppose a child grows up knowing his father's dishonour, and hearing of his disgrace and punishment. If he had any right feeling, would not that sin be especially hateful in his eyes? The public example of his father's evil ways would always be before him. But suppose the son treated it lightly, and used it as encouragement to walk the same path. Is it not just that a still more severe punishment should fall on that son?

Long ago Syria and Ephraim conspired against the kingdom of David's son, and it ended in their own defeat. Once again the remarkable feature of this judgment is that God will deal with His people as well as with their old ally… He will gather out all the causes of stumbling from them and punish the transgressors. He will use their enmity to purge that threshing-floor, the land of Israel. He will deal with His people in a judicial way.

Isaiah prophesied that Damascus would become a heap of ruins. The reason was its alliance with Ephraim against God's city Jerusalem. Isa. 17:1; compare also Amos 1:3-5; Jer. 49:23-27; Zech. 9:1. God had used the kings of Syria to punish Israel. But later, as in other cases, He brought them to nothing for their arrogance and cruelty.

So in Isa. 17 Damascus is to be a heap of ruins, when Ephraim too, who looked to her for help, ceases to have power. And in the latter day the mighty rush of nations that interfere, to their own destruction, is rebuked.

God chastises His people until they stop resting on their own strength and rely on God alone… When God's people are faithless, they can still act with the good sense and wisdom of the natural man. When they do not rest on God, they are weaker than the world. And when He gives them over to chastening, they break to pieces at once.

Keep in mind that it was not Sennacherib but Tiglath-Pileser who destroyed Damascus. That ruin followed the alliance of Pekah and Rezin, who tried to remove David's house from the throne of Judah — unworthy and false as Ahaz was. Isaiah had predicted this in Isa. 7, and our chapter speaks of Damascus as a heap of ruins. But the prophecy clearly goes on to its reappearance and overthrow in the latter day.

The power that dealt with Damascus and Ephraim in Isaiah 17, we know, was the Assyrian. But the chapter goes on in the clearest way to his doings in the last day.

In the days of Isaiah, Damascus was allied with the ten tribes. The prophecy soon moves from Damascus to the children of Israel, for disaster was to come on both. Both had joined in alliance against Judah. The picture used is harvest, of corn or of grapes, which would leave them poor and thin. Yet a remnant would remain, like a gleaning of grapes or a few berries on an olive tree. That remnant will turn their eyes to "the Holy One of Israel," and away from the idolatrous things that once held them.

As of old, Syria and Ephraim conspired against the realm of David's son, and brought about their own downfall. So once more the remarkable feature of this judgement is that God will deal with His people as well as with their old ally... He will gather out of them everything that causes offence, and punish those who break His law. He will use their enmity to purge that threshing-floor of the land of Israel. He will deal with His people as a judge.

The prophetic message however quickly passes from Damascus to the children of Israel, for disaster was to come on both, since both had united in alliance against Judah. The figure used is of harvest, whether of corn or of grapes. It would leave them poor and thin. Yet a remnant would be left, like a gleaning of grapes or a few berries on an olive tree. That remnant will turn their eyes to "the Holy One of Israel," and away from the idolatrous things that once held them.

In verses 4-6 we see the judgment of Israel, but gleaning grapes are left there. God chastises His people till they cease to rest on their own strength, instead of relying on God alone. Yet when they have dwindled to a remnant — two or three here, four or five there — they will look to Him, the only source of strength, the Holy One of Israel. Their idolatry had left them desolate... When God's people are faithless, they can act with all the prudence and wisdom of the natural man. When they do not rest on God, they are feebler than the world. And when chastening falls on them, they break to pieces at once.

The prophecy relates to a time when "the glory of Jacob" is to be "made thin, and the fatness of his flesh" to "grow lean." Those who survive are pictured looking to their Maker, instead of to the altars which their own hands had made. They have respect to the Holy One of Israel, instead of to the groves and images they once worshipped.

It is worth keeping in mind that Tiglath-Pileser destroyed Damascus, not Sennacherib. That ruin followed the alliance of Pekah and Rezin, who set out to depose David's house in Judah — unworthy and false as Ahaz was. This had been predicted by Isaiah in Isaiah 7, and our chapter speaks of its being a heap of ruins. But the prophecy clearly goes on to its reappearance and overthrow in the latter day.

Long ago Syria and Ephraim conspired against the kingdom of David's son, and brought defeat on themselves. Now again the remarkable feature of this judgment is that God will deal with His people as well as with their old ally… He will gather out all offences from them and punish the transgressors. He will use their enmity to purge that threshing-floor of the land of Israel. He will deal with His people in a judicial manner.

A valley on the south of Jerusalem, in which the Philistines gathered themselves against Israel, and where David twice decisively defeated them. 2 Sam. 5:18, 22; 1 Chr. 14:9-17; Isa. 17:5. In the Authorised Version it is twice called the "Valley of the Giants." Joshua 15:8; Joshua 18:16.

These giant races, the enemies of God's people, can overthrow you with the mere sight of them. They picture the enemy's power: monsters, and, you might say, superhuman.

In verses 4-6 we see the judgment of Israel, but gleaning grapes are left there. God disciplines His people until they stop resting on their own strength, instead of relying on God alone. Yet when they have dwindled to a remnant — two or three here, four or five there — they will look to Him, the only source of strength, the Holy One of Israel.

The people shrink so far that the survivors are like "gleaning grapes," or the "two or three berries left in the top of the highest bough after the shaking of an olive tree." These survivors look to their Maker instead of to the altars their own hands had made. They respect the Holy One of Israel instead of the groves and images they once worshipped as idols.

The figure is used of harvest, whether of grain or of grapes, which would leave them poor and thin, yet a remnant would be left, like a gleaning of grapes or a few berries on an olive tree, and that remnant will turn their eyes to "the Holy One of Israel," and away from the idolatrous things that formerly held them.

It is worth remembering that not Sennacherib but Tiglath-Pileser destroyed Damascus. That ruin followed the alliance of Pekah and Rezin, who set out to remove David's house from the throne in Judah… But the prophecy goes on to its reappearance and overthrow in the last days.

Isaiah 17 shows how its aim is the last days, reached through present circumstances… Jacob is brought low at the same time. Yet in the remnant there is deliverance and salvation, when Israel is at its lowest — the remnant looking to God.

Long ago Syria and Ephraim plotted together against the kingdom of David's son, and brought themselves down by it. Once again the remarkable feature of this judgment is that God will deal with His people as well as with their old ally... He will gather out all the causes of stumbling from them and punish the transgressors. He will use their enmity to purge that threshing-floor of the land of Israel. He will deal with His people in a judicial way.

The figure here is harvest, whether of corn or of grapes. It would leave them poor and thin. Yet a remnant would remain, like a gleaning of grapes or a few berries on an olive tree. That remnant will turn their eyes to "the Holy One of Israel," and away from the idolatrous things that once held them.

This prophecy relates to a time when "the glory of Jacob" is to be made thin, and "the fat of his flesh" is to grow lean. The people shrink so far that the survivors are like gleaning grapes, or the two or three berries left in the top of the highest bough after someone shakes an olive tree. Those who do survive look to their Maker instead of to the altars their own hands had made. They have respect to the Holy One of Israel, not to the groves and images they once worshipped. This is the outcome of these closing troubles.

In verses 4-6 we see the judgment of Israel, but gleaning grapes are left there. God disciplines His people till they stop resting on their own strength, instead of relying on God alone. Yet when dwindled down to a remnant of two or three here and four or five there, they shall look to Himself, the only source of strength, the Holy One of Israel... When God's people are faithless, they are able to act even with the shrewdness and wisdom of the natural man. When they do not rest on God, they are weaker than the world.

If God is to punish their departure from Him by visiting them outwardly and inwardly, this passage plainly marks out a remnant as well. Mercy rejoices against judgment, and God makes good His own glory in both. But Jehovah's pruning hand must thin that returned remnant. Still the holy seed will be there when judgment has done its work over and over again. It is the stock, the rooted stump of the nation. There is ever a remnant according to the election of grace.

The gloom of judgments on the earth fills the first 12 verses of the chapter. But at verse 13 light begins to break. It points to a remnant of God-fearing ones, under the same figure used in Isaiah 17:6. So even in the darkest hour a note of praise will sound, and people will acknowledge and honour God.

Long ago Syria and Ephraim plotted against the kingdom of David's son, and it cost them dearly. Once again the striking feature of this judgment is the same: God will deal with His people as well as with their old ally. … He will gather out of them everything that makes people stumble, and He will punish those who do wrong. He will use their enemies' hostility to clear that threshing-floor, the land of Israel. He will deal with His people in a judicial way.

Isaiah 17 proves that the aim is the last days, seen through present circumstances. Here the Assyrian is the occasion, not Babylon: the invasions of Shalmaneser, Sargon and Sennacherib, above all Tiglath-Pileser and Sennacherib. But Jacob is brought low at the same time. In the remnant there is deliverance and salvation, in the lowest condition of Israel, and the remnant looks to God. The nation is judged for leaving Jehovah and trusting its own ways.

So few of the people are left that the survivors are like "gleaning grapes," or the "two or three berries left in the top of the highest bough after the shaking of an olive tree." Those who do survive are pictured as looking to their Maker, not to the altars their own hands had made. They have respect for the Holy One of Israel, not for the groves and images that were once the objects of their idol worship. Such is to be the outcome of these closing troubles.

To whom, then, should Israel trust, if not in Jehovah? It might seem strange that such an appeal should be needed. Could not everyone see the idols and learn what they were? Had not their ancestors suffered for idolatry? Had they not renounced it for centuries? All true. Yet we read that most of the nations will go back to this sin and worship idols again (Isa. 2:20; Isa. 17:7-8; Isa. 30:22; Isa. 31:7; Hosea 14:3). And the call to trust in Jehovah will be needed all the more, because in that day those who fall away will be outwardly prosperous.

Throughout Isaiah He is called "the Holy One of Israel." This title of the Lord, who deals with His people in judgment and in mercy, appears twenty-five times in Isaiah. Read 1:4; 5:19, 24; 10:20; 12:6; 17:7 … The Holy One of Israel is Jehovah; He is the Redeemer of His people. … This Holy One is the Creator. "The Holy One has created it" (41:20).

The same prophet speaks of a faithful remnant of the people who will cling to the Holy One of Israel, believing His word and profiting by His grace (chap. 11:20; 17:7). This will be an individual work. Whoever believes on the Lord will not be ashamed. … The great principle of grace comes out here. It is the same grace in the precious words of the Lord Jesus: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:3).

Long ago Syria and Ephraim conspired against the kingdom of David's son, and it ended in their own defeat. Once again the remarkable feature of this judgement is that God will deal with His people as well as with their old ally… He will gather out all the causes of stumbling from among them and punish the transgressors. He will use their enmity to purge that threshing-floor, the land of Israel. He will deal in a judicial manner with His people.

God chastises His people until they stop resting on their own strength instead of relying on God alone. Yet when they have dwindled to a remnant of two or three here and four or five there, they shall look to Himself, the only source of strength, the Holy One of Israel. For their idolatry they had been made desolate.

Those who survive are pictured as looking to their Maker, instead of to the altars which their own hands had made. They have respect to the Holy One of Israel, instead of to the groves and images which were once the objects of their idolatrous worship. Such is to be the outcome of these closing troubles.

There is "the iniquity of Jacob" which will have to be purged from them by these severe dealings from the hand of God… for Jacob the smitings will reach to the altars and groves and sun-images, which shall be ground to powder. So the very judgments that God will inflict upon His people, largely by the hand of other people, will have the effect of destroying the very things that had been a snare to them.

Could not all see the idols, and learn what they were? Had not their forefathers suffered for idolatry? Had they not for centuries renounced it? All true. Yet we read that the majority of the nations will return to this sin, and again worship idols. (Isa. 2:20; Isa. 17:7-8; Isa. 30:22; Isa. 31:7; Hosea 14:3.) And the call to trust in Jehovah will be all the more needed, because in that day those who fall away will be outwardly prosperous.

Are not men today really worshipping Christ after their own fashioning? Are they not worshipping a god which they themselves have manufactured, out of their own thoughts, calling it by the name of the living God? … The root of it among professed Christians is putting Christian activity in the place of Christian faith. Faith must always be at the foundation. If Christian faith is not there, there is bound to be an idol of some kind, no matter how great the activity may be — even activity that looks fruitful for God.

Long ago Syria and Ephraim conspired against the kingdom of David's son, and it ended in their own defeat. Now the striking feature of this judgment is the same: God will deal with His people as well as with their old ally… He will gather out of them everything that causes offence and punish those who do wrong. He will use their hostility to purge that threshing floor, the land of Israel. He will deal with His people as a judge.

It is well to remember that Tiglath-Pileser destroyed Damascus, not Sennacherib. That ruin followed the alliance of Pekah and Rezin, who tried to remove David's house from the throne in Judah — unworthy and false as Ahaz himself was. Isaiah had predicted this in Isaiah 7, and our chapter speaks of Damascus becoming a heap of ruins. But the prophecy clearly goes on to its reappearance and overthrow in the latter day.

But then we come back, as it were, to the troubles themselves, and to what brought them on the nation. "And there will be desolation. Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not been mindful of the Rock of your strength."

When God's people are faithless, they act with nothing more than the prudence and wisdom of the natural man. When they do not rest on God, they are weaker than the world. When God gives them over to discipline, they break to pieces at once.

Two things had to happen first, to prepare for the fulfilment of Isaiah's ancient prophecy. The land had to be emptied of people, and then it had to become barren and sterile. Titus, the Roman general, emptied it when he scattered the Jews. Then God withheld the latter rain. That rain failed in May, just when the land needed it most, so the country turned barren and unproductive, overrun with thorns.

The picture is of harvest, whether of grain or of grapes. It would leave them poor and thin. Yet a remnant would be left, like a gleaning of grapes or a few berries on an olive tree. That remnant will turn their eyes to "the Holy One of Israel," and away from the idolatrous things that once held them.

In the days of Isaiah, Damascus had been allied with the ten tribes. Its message of judgment fills the three verses that open Isaiah 17. But the prophecy soon passes from Damascus to the children of Israel. Disaster was to come on both, since both had joined in alliance against Judah.

God chastises His people till they cease to rest on their own strength, instead of relying on God alone... When God's people are faithless, they can still act with the shrewdness and wisdom of the natural man. But when they do not rest on God, they are weaker than the world. And when God hands them over to chastening, they break to pieces at once.

Israel's turning her back on God was an especially wicked act. No other nation stood in the relationship to God that they did. His keeping them alive in the desert for forty years was a miracle of the first order. Their possession of Canaan was an act of grace on God's part. Again and again He sought to teach them the lesson that departure from God is a grievous thing.

Jeshurun grew fat and kicked. God's loved, upright one turned rebellious when times were good — a strange yet common case. He gave up his Maker and thought little of the Rock of his salvation. Then the heart that had drifted from Him turned to His opposites. Foreign gods came in, with all their detestable practices. Newly invented gods replaced the One who had brought them into being.

In Isaiah 17:10-11 we find them there, still forgetting the God of their salvation and not remembering the Rock of their strength. They plant pleasant plants and set them with foreign cuttings. But here is how their farming ends: "though you make them grow on the day that you plant them, and make them blossom in the morning that you sow, yet the harvest will flee away in a day of grief and incurable pain."

The land had first to be emptied of people, and second to become barren. Titus scattered the Jews, and that did the first. God withheld the latter rain, and that did the second. Without that rain in May, when the land badly needed it, the country turned barren and was overrun with thorns.

Their hopes, however, will be dashed to the ground when the day of the great tribulation bursts upon them... It must come, for only that way will the Jew be humbled at last and blessed. Israel can enter the land of her possession only through purification, repentance, and acknowledging their Messiah, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

It is worth remembering that it was not Sennacherib but Tiglath-Pileser who destroyed Damascus. That ruin followed the alliance of Pekah and Rezin, who set out to remove the house of David from the throne in Judah — unworthy and false as Ahaz was. Isaiah had predicted this in chapter 7, and our chapter speaks of Damascus becoming a heap of ruins. But the prophecy clearly goes on to its reappearance and overthrow in the latter day.

All this found a fulfilment in the days immediately ahead, yet will have a fuller fulfilment in the last days still to come. Writers often link the prediction about the "pleasant plants," or "plantations," and the "strange slips" to what Jewish immigrants have recently been doing in Palestine. They have been busy with plantations in their farming colonies. They have imported vast quantities of vine cuttings from other lands to restart vineyards.

It is clear, from several passages, that many of the Jews will return to their own land in unbelief. In Isaiah 17:10-11 we find them there, still forgetting the God of their salvation and not mindful of the Rock of their strength, planting pleasant plants and setting it with strange slips. Verse 11 then describes the outcome of their farming. It is clearly the time of trouble we have already been hearing about.

The word here translated "desperately wicked" is, in the authorised version of Isaiah 17:11, rendered "desperate," and in Jeremiah 17:16, "woeful." Everywhere else our Bible translates it "incurable" — as in Job 34:6, Jeremiah 15:18 and Micah 1:9. The one exception is 2 Samuel 12:15, where a different form occurs and our Bible gives "and it was very sick."

God drove the Jews out of their land and withdrew the latter rain, reducing the country to barrenness, because they refused their Messiah… A Christian friend told an unbeliever he would show him striking proof that Scripture is true. He took him to a wine merchant's window and pointed to a row of bottles. Their labels said the wine came from grapes grown in Palestine, from slips imported from Spain. These labels proved four things. (1) Foreign slips would not have been needed unless barrenness had overtaken the land. (2) Foreign slips would not have been imported unless the rainfall had improved and the sterility had been overcome. (3) The wonderful inspiration of God's word, that could prophesy this 2,500 years ago. (4) God's present ordering and arranging. Man could not arrange a return of the latter rain. God alone could do that.

Part of the prophecy still has to be fulfilled. It speaks of the prosperity of the country at the beginning, and of the glad hopes of the settlers, who settle in the land promised to Abraham without Abraham's faith. Their hopes, however, will be dashed to the ground when the day of the great tribulation bursts upon them. That is the time of "Jacob's trouble," or, as our verse phrases it, "the day of grief and of desperate sorrow." … Come it must, for only in that way will the Jew be finally humbled and blessed. Israel can only come into the land of her possession through purification, repentance, and acknowledging their Messiah, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.