July 18 A READ ISAIAH 17–20
Collapse from Corruption
OVERVIEW
Damascus, Ethiopia, and Egypt are next to feel the hot blast of Isaiah’s burdens of judgment. The glory of Damascus will be removed, leaving behind leanness of body and soul. But a handful will repent and—like the gleanings from an olive tree—provide hope for a future harvest. Ethiopia, though tall in stature and smooth of skin, will be pruned away like branches and one day return to Zion to pay homage to God and acknowledge him as their Sovereign. Egypt will experience civil war, economic ruin, and spiritual poverty, showing the bankruptcy of Egypt’s false gods. But one day the Lord Almighty will declare, “Blessed be Egypt, my people” (19:25).
MY DAILY WALK
The case is presented; the jury recesses; a verdict is reached: guilty as charged. But then the trial takes an unexpected twist. The presiding judge also happens to be the criminal’s father. And just before his son reaches the bar, the judge steps down, takes off his robe, and pays the fine for his guilty son. Justice . . . and mercy!
That story illustrates a divine truth. The judge would not have been just if he had allowed his son to go free. But his love caused him to take his son’s place in paying the fine. The same is true of God. He would not be just if he ignored the sins committed against him. But in his great love, he gave the gift of his Son to pay the price for our sins.
Isaiah 14:1-8 is a message of mercy inserted between many dark chapters of judgment. God is just, but he also shows love toward all who trust him. In his love he has provided the answer to our sin problem—a Savior (11:10).
MERCY WITHOUT JUSTICE BECOMES UNMERCIFUL; JUSTICE WITHOUT MERCY, UNJUST.
INSIGHT
Human Saviors versus “God with Us” | Isa. 17:10
Israel’s citizens and kings kept turning to everyone but God for help (17:10), including Aram, Assyria, their own altars, and anyone else they could make an alliance with. This was a tragic irony for those described as the people of Immanuel, “God with us” (see 8:5-8).
INSIGHT
Old Testament POWs | Isa. 20:2-4
As part of his judgment on Egypt, God instructed Isaiah to dress like a prisoner of war—unclothed and barefoot—for three years (20:2-4) as a sign of the calamity God was going to bring upon Egypt.
A Message about Damascus and Israel
1This message came to me concerning Damascus:
“Look, the city of Damascus will disappear!
It will become a heap of ruins.
2The towns of Aroer will be deserted.
Flocks will graze in the streets and lie down undisturbed,
with no one to chase them away.
3The fortified towns of Israel* will also be destroyed,
and the royal power of Damascus will end.
All that remains of Syria*
will share the fate of Israel’s departed glory,”
declares the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
4“In that day Israel’s* glory will grow dim;
its robust body will waste away.
5The whole land will look like a grainfield
after the harvesters have gathered the grain.
It will be desolate,
like the fields in the valley of Rephaim after the harvest.
6Only a few of its people will be left,
like stray olives left on a tree after the harvest.
Only two or three remain in the highest branches,
four or five scattered here and there on the limbs,”
declares the LORD, the God of Israel.
7Then at last the people will look to their Creator
and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.
8They will no longer look to their idols for help
or worship what their own hands have made.
They will never again bow down to their Asherah poles
or worship at the pagan shrines they have built.
9Their largest cities will be like a deserted forest,
like the land the Hivites and Amorites abandoned*
when the Israelites came here so long ago.
It will be utterly desolate.
10Why? Because you have turned from the God who can save you.
You have forgotten the Rock who can hide you.
So you may plant the finest grapevines
and import the most expensive seedlings.
11They may sprout on the day you set them out;
yes, they may blossom on the very morning you plant them,
but you will never pick any grapes from them.
Your only harvest will be a load of grief and unrelieved pain.
12Listen! The armies of many nations
roar like the roaring of the sea.
Hear the thunder of the mighty forces
as they rush forward like thundering waves.
13But though they thunder like breakers on a beach,
God will silence them, and they will run away.
They will flee like chaff scattered by the wind,
like a tumbleweed whirling before a storm.
14In the evening Israel waits in terror,
but by dawn its enemies are dead.
This is the just reward of those who plunder us,
a fitting end for those who destroy us.