The Oracle Against Damascus: Remember the Lord

The Oracle Against Damascus in Isaiah 17

Go ahead and read our passage for today, which is back in Isaiah 17. Go ahead and turn to Isaiah 17. We'll read. Let's see, I suppose we can read the whole. Well, let's read all of chapter 17. These are the words of the Lord an Oracle concerning Damascus behold Damascus will cease to be a city and will become a heap of ruins.

The cities of error are deserted. They will be for flocks which will lie down and none will make them afraid. The fortress will disappear from Ephraim and the kingdom from Damascus and the remnant of Syria will be like the glory of the children of Israel declares the Lord of hosts and in that day the glory of Jacob will be brought low and the fat of his flesh will grow lean and it shall be as when the reaper gathers standing green and his arm harvests the ears and As when one gleans the ears of green in the valley of Ephraim Gleanings will be left in it as when an olive tree is beaten.

Two or three berries in the top of the highest bow four or five in the branches of a fruit tree declares the Lord God of Israel and That day man will look to his maker and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel.

He will not look to the altars To the work of his hands and he will not look on what his own fingers have made either the Asherah or the altars of incense in That day the their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the wooded heights and the hilltops which they deserted because of the children of Israel and There will be desolation.

For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the rock of your refuge. Therefore though you plant pleasant plants and so the vine branch of a stranger. 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. That's in there, I may be seated. Dearly father. I pray that today as we look at this passage in Isaiah 17 that you would bless the reading and the preaching of your Word, I ask that you would help us as we come to it to understand what you have for us in this oracle against Damascus pray that you would bring to remembrance all that you have done that we would Remember you and love you and honor you as we ought and that we would not stray into a Senseless behavior due to lack of understanding of who we are and who you are and what you have done in Jesus name.

Amen. All right, so we are back in Isaiah, this is a another oracle. And just a few thoughts on the structure of this oracle. You'll notice that in the ESV it starts. Chapter 18 is called an oracle concerning cush.

I Don't necessarily think that's the best way of thinking about this very similar to what I said earlier on in some of the other oracles each one of these oracles is Isaiah. Isaiah titles each one of his oracles sure the ESV is adding titles.

But if you look in chapter 19, he actually says an oracle concerning Egypt in this chapter. He says an oracle concerning Damascus. And so when he doesn't give one of those titles I'm inclined to think that he's not actually starting a new oracle so you can think of all of chapter 17 and 18 as Coming together and today.

We'll just be looking at verses 1 through 11 in chapter 17. And next time we'll likely look at the rest of the verses of this chapter and all of 18 together because I think they I Believe they logically go together that this is all one big oracle.

This is not two different oracles and to associate verses 12 through 14 with Chapter 18 I think is a an appropriate way of looking at this so Let us consider what God has for us here. What he has for us here is a Reminder that we need to remember him a reminder that we need to remember him.

In verse 10, he says for you have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the rock of your refuge. And this is really the key accusation in this whole passage. Mankind is inclined to forget who God is especially in times of prosperity.

Especially when we have much, you know, you can ask yourself a simple question When do you pray the most is it when you're in a great season of need or when you have everything that you need. I think Universally, there's the human condition that we would only call out to God most often.

When we have when we sense our great need that is. That is why we pray is because we recognize our need for the Lord. We recognize our dependence on him and it's in those seasons of need that we most recognize it and in those seasons without need We are very inclined to forget who he is to forget that we need him and Being a people who live in one of the most prosperous areas of the country and even the world.

There is a special call for us to to consider this passage in a way that maybe others wouldn't be so obligated all of God's Word is for all of his people, but There is a special way that we should consider this.

Given how much God has blessed us in this area. So this Oracle Concerning Damascus, which is the capital of Syria. And if you remember from earlier sections of Isaiah Syria and Israel Syria and Israel had made an alliance which was countered by the alliance between Judah and Assyria, it's a little confusing because Judea and Israel are.

You know, we're formerly a part of the same nation and Syria and Assyria sound very similar. But in this passage when it addresses Damascus It's addressing the nation of Syria and along with Syria that northern kingdom of Israel where they have made this alliance.

So let's go ahead and begin reading an Oracle concerning Damascus. Behold Damascus will cease to be a city and will become a heap of ruins. The cities of error are deserted. They will be for flocks which will lie down and none will make them afraid.

The fortress will disappear from Ephraim and the kingdom from Damascus and The remnant of Syria will be like the glory of the children of Israel declares the Lord of hosts. So here you have a statement.

The destruction is coming to Damascus destruction is coming to the northern kingdom of Israel it's coming to all of Syria and Isaiah. The Lord through Isaiah declares this and we're going to see this chain in this that because people have forgotten God because the northern kingdom of Israel has forgotten God and Damascus was never concerned about him.

God is going to send destruction that destruction leads to humility and that humility Leads to the recognition of who God is and that he is the creator of all things. He is the giver of all things. So we're going to see destruction lead to humility lead to recognition and Here we are with these statements of destruction.

Damascus will cease to be a city. The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, you know this language of ceasing and disappearing. I believe it's intentionally placed with this theme of forgetting God. These people have forgotten who God is and God and using this language of disappearing and ceasing to exist Essentially says that those who have forgotten him will be forgotten.

You know if they pretend like he doesn't exist. They will not exist. Damascus capital Syria will become a heap of ruins. The cities of error which is on the border of Moab and Amman are Deserted. They will be for flocks which will lie down and none will make them afraid.

We've seen this picture in Isaiah several times where it describes when it describes destruction it talks about animals living there without anyone threatening them being able to graze in the city as though it were just an ordinary field and We even saw pictures of that.

I remember seeing pictures of that in the news early on in the pandemic when people were Posting photographs of coyotes and things just wandering around San Francisco. Because when all the people were inside it was like a deserted city.

That's the that's the picture that God is imagining here the city's destroyed. There are no people and there are just animals free to roam about. The fortress will disappear from Ephraim. Ephraim being one of the tribes of Israel.

But also especially in Isaiah used as just a name for the northern kingdom in general. So Ephraim doesn't refer to just one tribe. It actually refers to ten tribes it refers to all the northern kingdom and the kingdom from Damascus and The remnant of Syria will be like the glory of the children of Israel declares the Lord of hosts.

So here you're saying the fortress will disappear from Ephraim, you know that northern kingdom will lose its glory and then Damascus will lose its glory and So when it says the glory of the children of Israel.

That the remnant of Syria will be like the glory of the children of Israel. Means that Syria will be destroyed just as Israel is destroyed. It's not talking about some glory. It will attain. It's talking about it will lower itself to that level of Ingloriousness.

So we have this statement here of destruction now people are. People are not typically ready to hear that they will be destroyed. You know, I imagine if you spoke to Syria at this point in their existence.

They would not have felt the the real sense of threat and so many people today. Do you not think that there is any real destruction coming upon them? It may not come immediately in this life it may not come by way of by way of Early death or disease, but it will come by way of death eventually because everyone dies and we will all be destroyed Before the Lord unless we have some hope to place our trust in unless we have an eternal Savior.

Unless we have remembered the Lord, we will not be remembered. If we have forgotten the Lord we will be forgotten. And so he sends this destruction in order to humble them. Didn't that day the glory of Jacob will be brought low and the fat of his flesh will grow lean describes Jacob as fat.

Now someone who is fat is someone who has been fed. Well, someone who has a lot of wealth and riches and food. They have everything that they need and in that fatness, like I said when people have what they need They are inclined to forget who the Lord is this this picture of Jacob being fat.

This calls to mind a very Famous passage in Deuteronomy. I don't know if it's Coming to anyone else's mind, but I'd like to turn to Deuteronomy 32 you'll go ahead and turn there. I'll read a larger passage, but in the Song of Moses Describing the people's Tendency to forget who God is it speaks of Jacob growing fat and if you remember the Old Covenant that was made with with By Moses or through Moses with the people of Israel between God and the people of Israel.

It's all hinged on that preface that I am the Lord your God who has brought you out of the land of Egypt it's all prefaced on remembering who he is and his salvation that he has provided and So in thinking about how this people have maintained this covenant He addresses how as God has blessed them with salvation.

They have done the exact opposite of what they are supposed to do. They have not thanked him for these things, but they have turned from him. If you start in verse 10 He found him in a desert land and the howling waste of the wilderness.

He encircled him. He cared for him. This is speaking of God caring for Israel. He kept him as the apple of his eye. Like an eagle that stirs up its nest that flutters over its young spreading out its wings catching them bearing them on its pinions.

The Lord alone guided him no foreign. God was with him. He made him ride on the high places the land and he ate the produce of the field. He suckled him with the honey out of the rock and oil out of the flinty rock.

So miraculously providing for the people curds from the herd and milk from the flock with that of lambs rams of Bashan and goats with very finest of the wheat and You drank foaming wine made from the blood of the grape.

But Jeshurun another name for Jacob, but Jeshurun grew fat and kicked you grew fat stout and sleek. Then he forsook God who made him and scoffed at the rock of his salvation. They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods with abominations.

They provoked him to anger. They sacrificed to demons that were no gods. To gods they had never known to new gods that had come recently whom your father's had never dreaded. You were unmindful of the rock that bore you.

You forgot the God who gave you birth. These people have been specially blessed with God with miraculous salvations time and time again and Their response to that was to to growth as they grew fat. They forgot the Lord who gave them birth.

And so we are being told that there is a great danger and forgetting who the Lord is as he is good to us now this is especially a Cause for concern for the Christian the Christian has been miraculously brought out of darkness and to light.

One who is one who is part of the church has been a recipient of God's Word. They have seen wonderful works of the Spirit and As they are blessed with these things and as they experience even the blessings of Obedience to God and seeing how that orders one's life there can be cause for well, there can be a Circumstances that lead someone to cease to trust in the Lord because he has saved them from things.

Do you see how backwards that is the salvation of the Lord should cause one to remember the Lord? But many times it causes people not to remember the Lord. Now this doesn't just apply to the to the one who's a regular church tender and in church often.

You see in this previous passage that we looked at this is an oracle concerning Damascus, right? This is not just about Israel, but about the whole Israel Syria Alliance. And so likewise since all good things come from God this applies.

Even if it applies in a special way to the recipient of God's Salvation it applies also to those who have been simply recipients of God's goodness, which everyone is. Everyone who has benefited from what is called common grace the fact that rains Bring life to crops everywhere that the Sun shines on both the evil and the good.

Those who receive these things from God and Do not remember him. They themselves Will be forgotten. Isaiah 17. Isaiah 17 speaks of Jacob growing fat and forgetting. There's another passage that this brings to mind for me and that is Proverbs 30 some Proverbs 37 through 9.

Short side note. I had actually memorized this verse, but apparently I grabbed it out of the wrong translation so I I would like to Memorize it from the ESV, but I don't. I don't actually know it from the ESV.

Two things I ask of you deny them not to me before I die. Remove far from me falsehood and lying. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me lest I be full and deny you and say who is the Lord or lest I be poor and steal and Profane the name of my God.

So here you have Solomon recording this. Right on the wealthiest men who have ever lived whether or not he wrote the original proverb you have in verse 31 says the words of Agur the son of Jaka. Regardless, you know as Solomon's compiling all these things He's one of the richest men in the world and for him to record this as wisdom to pray that you don't become too rich.

Now how many people pray for that? I I often pray the second half of this prayer not to become too poor. But to not become too rich how many people pray for that. Because when one grows fat, they are inclined to forget the Lord and that's exactly what it says here.

Lest I'd be full and deny you and say who is the Lord? Who is he? I've forgotten who he is. Do not forget the Lord verse 5 and It shall be as when the reaper gathers standing grain and his arm Harvest the ears as when one gleans the ears of grain in the valley of Rafaam.

So The farmers would leave gleanings for the poor to come and pick up. But then the poor would come and glean and then there'd be even less left. Gleanings will be left in it. That's when an olive tree is beaten two or three berries in the top of the highest bough.

Four or five in the branches of a fruit tree declares the Lord God of Israel. So further describing that humiliation that will be brought the one who is fat will be made to lean they will all their all their Prosperity will be taken away.

So they have none left and here it's describing very Literal. Well, I guess it's figurative because it's talking about trees and things but it's talking about An actual reduction of the numbers of people in these cities that as they are destroyed.

There will be hardly anyone left. God will. God will humiliate these people. And so we should be we should consider this and to pray for humility. Even prior to God calling us to humility through such Through such severe means.

We should recognize the danger and as we pray pray for humility that he might Be able to bless us without the danger of us of us growing growing fat and forgetting. We should pray as as you see in the Proverbs not to be too rich.

But we should also pray simply to be humble so that should God bless us. It not be a harm to us. Those blessings would not be turned into cursings so pray to the Lord in good times and bad times. Do not do not wait for the for the bad times to pray to the Lord pray to him regularly and Continually remember your need for him because you are always in need for him.

Regardless of whether or not you feel it and so. That destruction leads to humiliation which leads to a recognition of who God's is. Verse 7 and that day man will look to his maker and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel.

He will not look to the altars to the work of his hands. He will not look on what his own fingers have made either the ashram or the altars of incense. Mankind no longer looking to these different gods recognizing these different gods are no hope.

Only the Lord is any hope. Now if you continue reading here, it speaks it continues speaking of that of that Destruction so it is not clear to me. Whether or not this is speaking of a recognition that is full of true repentance or whether or not.

This is simply a recognition that is one of regret, you know. Every knee will bow to the Lord. But that does not mean that everyone will be saved. Some of those knees that bow are not bowing willingly.

Right. They are being forced to recognize who the Lord is. They are being forced to remember him and not forget him but apart from repentance. And so this these two verses leave it vague. Leave it open as to whether or not one who remembers the Lord.

The one who God humiliates does so repentantly or does so. Truly as we as we receive trials in this life, they are calls to truly repent not to just Recognize God because everyone will be brought to the recognition of God.

Everyone will be forced to bow the knee to Christ but We should turn to him with repentance turning from our forgetfulness and knowing that we should have remembered him. Have you ever seen a child? Who's just learning how to unbuckle their car seat?

You know kids car seats are really hard to unbuckle. But a lot of times when they first learn they get really insisted that no, I want to unbuckle myself so the parent lets them try and. And a lot of times, you know.

If they're fairly new to this they're not able to and then they realize they're trapped there while their parents just sitting there watching them. Be trapped and they have to they have to look to their parent.

They have to look to their father and ask for his kindness. Otherwise, they will be trapped in that chair forever. Of course no parent would do that to their child. But God is not the he's not the father of all.

He's only the father of those who who turn to him and trust true humility and repentance in. That day their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the wooded Heights and the hilltops. That's referring to you know, these these place where their ashram and altars.

Which they deserted because of the children of Israel and there will be Desolation all these things destroyed. For you have forgotten the God of your salvation have not remembered the rock of your refuge.

The rock of your refuge being the one that has saved them. Therefore though you plant pleasant plants and so the vine branch of a stranger. 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. Pleasant plants in the vine branch of a stranger. The vine branch of a stranger here is referring to something that they would have gotten from the outside, right?

It's talking about foreign order or foreign articles of religion, right? And they have planted these things they have they have worshipped these other gods. They they feel that they're receiving some kind of blessings from these gods.

And it's saying 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. These things will not bear fruit. These other things that people trust in will come to nothing.

You know people trust in all sorts of things right? They they trust in their job. They trust in their own ability and strength. You know just this past year considered the various things people have put their trust in a particular Politician right or left that they think is going to save them and has failed them.

They think about the the power of humanity and science to conquer all the world's problems and it simply can't. Because science and humanity are not as great as God and God would not allow. For such things to be so conquered by humanity that humanity would be able to to rise up and said I did this thing now.

Humanity does do that but without sufficient cause. People can put their trust in these things and they can see some initial benefits. But ultimately these things will be stripped away. We must remember the Lord if we wish to be remembered.

If we forget the Lord we will be forgotten and so Christ Jesus Christ Came to remind us of the Lord and he himself was one who frequently remember the Lord frequently Trusting in him and going to him in prayer.

You know as Jesus conducted his ministry and he would often retreat to go pray. I'm always struck by that because I think well everything's going fine. Why is he why does he go pray now? Nothing's wrong.

You know, I get it in the garden. He goes and prays because he knows something's about to happen. But why is he retreat after these things and go pray to the Lord? Well, the answer is because he Did not allow fatness To cause him to forget the Lord.

He has perfectly obeyed this commandment. And so as he has died on behalf of all those who trust in him He has died on behalf of those who have forgotten them on behalf of those Who would trust in him but have not perfectly remembered the one who has saved them.

We are weak people who have not remembered God as we ought but if we put our trust in Christ He bears the penalty that is owed to us all this description destruction described here in Isaiah 17. He is born that on behalf of his children.

And think about Some of the accusations he and his disciples are received. I think specifically of the blind man who was Who called himself a disciple of Jesus after he was healed and the the people said Has this man really healed you give glory to God.

What were they saying remember the one who really saves you. They were accusing Jesus disciples and implicitly him of forgetting God. This is one of the accusations that was thrown his way towards the Messiah.

He is one who perfectly remembered the Lord and yet was accused of being one who had forgotten the Lord. So when he's on the cross, he is suffering the penalty for ones who have forgotten the Lord that very penalty.

And not only that but in in Giving us the Holy Spirit who is called in 1st Corinthians 2. He's given us. It's called the mind of Christ that we might remember the Lord. You know He has not just forgiven us for forgetting but he has also given us a mind by which we may begin Remembering who the Lord is we may begin To recall our salvation in a godly manner and remember him and so we should do so we should do so in prayer and We should do so in prayer in community gathering with each other and Reading the word and remembering what God has done and this is not just a story of what happened to many other people.

But this is about us. These are truths that apply to us and we should we should Remember him with thankfulness. When you pray, you know, thank God for the things he has done. You know Jesus when he prayed the Lord's Prayer he thanked God for all that God has done.

We ought to pray with gratitude and with that gratitude is specifically a gratitude for the great salvation that he gives. So remember the Lord you will be forgotten. But Jesus is one who forgives those who have forgotten and will bring to mind by the Spirit the true Savior.

Let's pray Dear Heavenly Father. We thank you for these reminders of who you are we acknowledge our sin of Not remembering you though. You have done many good things for us though. You have even saved many of us that we have not recalled you as we ought.

I pray that you would be merciful and kind to us and That we would find forgiveness in your son as we turn to you in repentance and Lord. I pray that by your spirit. By that mind of Christ that we would remember you as we ought in Jesus name.

Amen.