Isaiah
17, An Oracle Against Damascus - Jack Kelley - http://www.raptureready.com/featured/kelley/jack123.html
In the past couple
of years it has become even clearer that Isaiah's prophecy of the destruction of
Damascus will soon come to fulfillment, perhaps being part of the Psalm 83
scenario I've written about. If so, it would explain why Syria is not included
among the coalition of Moslem nations who will gather against Israel in the
Battle of Ezekiel 38. Updating our study of Isaiah 17 seems a fitting conclusion
to our recent reviews of Ezekiel 38 and Psalm 83.
Emboldened by the
outcome of the 2006 Hezbollah Israel war, Syria has become ever more bellicose
in it's behavior toward Israel, as if inviting confrontation. Aggressive acts
have included moving large military forces onto the Golan, opening the crossing
that gives Syrians access to Israel for the first time since 1973, forming and
training a Syrian terrorist force to infiltrate Northern Israel, and openly
helping Hezbollah re-arm in violation of UN resolution 1701. Now Hezballah and
Syria are building a massive fortified wall, 22 kilometers long, that promises
to be one of the biggest fortified structures in the Middle East. It is designed
as an obstacle against any Israeli tank forces heading through Lebanon toward
the Syrian capital, Damascus. And most recently, Syria has moved 800 long range
missiles into firing position and updated targeting coordinates for specific
locations in Israel in preparation for war.
It's been known
for some time that Syria has one of the world's most advanced chemical weapons
programs, even though such things are illegal, and is probably in possession of
the bulk of Saddam Hussein's WMDs that the MSM (main stream media) delights in
telling you never existed. Recent satellite imagery suggests significant efforts
to update Syria's known chemical weapons facilities. They've also mobilized
reserves, set up alternate communication centers, and moved all official
historical and legal documents out of Damascus. They did this because they
believe that Israel will respond to a chemical attack by destroying Damascus
with nuclear weaponry. They've recalled all their citizens living in Lebanon.
They've purchased Russian arms and defensive systems costing hundreds of
millions of dollars in an effort to protect Damascus.
Going
Nuclear
In July 2007, a
chemical warhead exploded at a Syrian missile facility while being fitted to a
Scud missile, killing dozens of Iranian and Syrian technicians. The only likely
target within range of the missile was Tel Aviv. Then, just 2 months later, the
Israeli bombing of a secret Syrian facility deep inside the country made
headlines and demonstrated Israel's ability to render the Russian
state-of-the-art anti-air defenses ineffective. These systems were sold to both
Syria and Iran to protect against US or Israeli attacks by air. The presence of
nuclear materials at the Syrian base has been confirmed, so it might have been
the location of at least a dirty bomb assembly plant and perhaps even a
clandestine nuclear weapons facility. The North Koreans were heavily involved in
this, and are suspected of still helping Syria to develop some kind of nuclear
weapons capability.
More recently
Syria has purchased untold millions of dollars' worth of offensive and defensive
weaponry from Russia and Iran, making every population center in Israel a viable
target. Passing a portion of this weaponry through to Hezbollah, they've all but
transformed this terrorist organization into a regiment of the Syrian army, and
made Lebanon their first line of defense against Israel.
While some of
this is more than the MSM has been willing to share with you, it is a matter of
public record. My guess is that there's a lot more going on that we don't know
about, making matters even more urgent. So let's take another look at Isaiah 17,
An Oracle Against Damascus, while it's still prophecy.
An Oracle
Concerning Damascus:
"See, Damascus
will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins. The cities of Aroer
will be deserted and left to flocks, which will lie down, with no one to make
them afraid. (Isaiah 17:1-2)
Because of the
language of these verses, many scholars believe that this prophecy was only
partially fulfilled when the Assyrians defeated the Arameans and overran their
capital, Damascus, in 732 BC. To this day Damascus is thought to be the world's
oldest continuously inhabited city with a 5000-year history and a population
close to 2 million, yet Isaiah 17:1 indicates that it will one day cease to
exist.
Some believe the
phrase "cities of Aroer" refers to Aramean territory east of the Jordan River
around the Arnon River, which flows into the Dead Sea in southern Jordan.
However, the Jewish Encyclopedia claims that this phrase in Isaiah 17:2 is
probably translated incorrectly because the geographical distance from Damascus
is too great. While they say it's possible that there may have been another
Aroer near Damascus, it is more likely that the passage should be rendered "the
cities thereof shall be forsaken." If that's the correct translation, it would
include the Hezbollah stronghold in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, which was part
of Aramean territory in Isaiah's time, and is in a direct line between Beirut
and Damascus.
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. "In
that day the glory of Jacob will fade; the fat of his body will waste away. It
will be as when a reaper gathers the standing grain and harvests the grain with
his arm- as when a man gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim. (Isaiah
17:3-5)
This segment
speaks of the defeat of Damascus in 732BC and the destruction of Samaria 10
years later (722 BC). Damascus continued to exist as part of the Assyrian Empire
and is still here today, but the ruins of Samaria are just now being excavated
out of the sandy soil of Israel. The systematic relocation of the ruling classes
to the far reaches of the Assyrian Empire is also in view here, symbolized by
the fat of Jacob's body wasting away. This was standard Assyrian policy to
reduce the likelihood of subsequent rebellion among their conquered peoples.
Jacob and Ephraim are alternate names for the Northern Kingdom, and Samaria was
its capital.
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. (Isaiah 17:6)
Not all the
people were dispersed. Farmers were left behind to tend the crops and protect
the harvest for their new rulers. They were joined by refugees from other parts
of Assyria and their combined descendants were known as the Samaritans in the
time of Jesus. (A quick reading of 2 Chronicles 11:16 shows that all the
faithful from the 10 northern tribes moved south at the time of the civil war
that divided the nation after King Solomon's death 150 years earlier. From then
on, all 12 tribes were represented in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, so the 10
tribes from the North weren't totally lost. The Lord has always preserved a
believing remnant from all the Tribes of Israel.)
In that day men
will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel. They
will not look to the altars, the work of their hands, and they will have no
regard for the Asherah poles and the incense altars their fingers have made. 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.
(Isaiah 17:7-9)
This is another
passage that's problematic for those who try to consign the whole passage to
history. There is simply no reason to believe that the Assyrians turned to God
following their conquest of Aram and Israel. And far from abandoning their
cities because of the Israelites, it was the Israelites who were defeated and
dispersed. The yet future Jewish attack on Damascus causing the destruction and
abandonment of Syrian cities, and the eventual return of the survivors to their
God is a much more likely fulfillment. And it could happen soon.
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, 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. (Isaiah 17:10-11)
Asshur, father of
the Assyrians, and Aram, father of the Arameans were both sons of Shem. Aram's
son Uz is the traditional founder of Damascus. (The setting for Job, the Bible's
oldest book, is the Land of Uz.) The knowledge of God in the memories of these
patriarchs cannot be questioned. It wasn't that they never knew Him, but that
they had forgotten Him, abandoned Him in favor of the Canaanite gods of the
region, Baal and his consort Ashtoreth (aka Asherah, Astarte, Ishtar, Aphrodite,
Venus.) Currently Syria is almost totally Moslem. Until they return to their
Maker and Savior none of their plans and schemes will prosper in the long run,
no matter how promising they seem at the beginning.
Oh, the raging of
many nations- they rage like the raging sea! Oh, the uproar of the peoples- they
roar like the roaring of great waters! 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. 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. (Isaiah 17:12-14)
Having conquered
most of the Middle East including the Arameans and the Northern Kingdom, the
Assyrians set their sights on the Southern Kingdom, Judah. Assyria's King
Sennacherib brought his armies almost literally to the gates of Jerusalem, so
close his commanders were within speaking distance of the Jewish defenders. On
the night before they were to attack, the Lord sent His angel into the Assyrian
camp on Mt. Scopus to slaughter 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. Before dawn they had
packed up and fled, ending 44 years of conquest. (Isaiah 37:36-38) This time in
Israel's history so parallels the Jewish view of the End Times that Sennacherib
is seen by them as a type of the anti-Christ, while Judah's King Hezekiah models
the Messiah.
But notice that
Isaiah speaks of many nations raging against God's people, not just Assyria,
leading us once again to consider Sennacherib's defeat to be a partial
fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy.
The phrase
"rushing of many waters" is often used to describe the sound of loud voices and
today many nations are stirred up. The cry of anti-Israeli sentiment can be
heard around the globe. The various Mid-East "peace" conferences combined with
the Gaza war and the recent boarding of the Turkish/Terrorist flotilla have left
Israel standing alone against all but irresistible pressure to negotiate away
its very existence. Syria and Iran are dead certain that Israel will attack
soon, and are preparing accordingly. Israel's other next-door neighbors are also
preparing for war, and indeed many nations are taking sides.
Israel is not
blind to these mounting threats, but until lately seems to have been ignoring
them. That's about to stop. Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu has told
the world he will not apologize for defending his country and will continue to
do so even if it results in more confrontations. We can easily envision a
scenario that escalates into the final fulfillment of Isaiah 17, the destruction
of Damascus. Once again there will be sudden terror in the evening, and before
morning they will be gone. If you listen carefully, you can almost hear the
footsteps of the Messiah.
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