The Oracle Against Damascus: A Well-Meant Warning

Isaiah’s Oracle Against Damascus and Cush

That is Isaiah 18. But let me go ahead and read, and sorry I told you to be seated. We can please stand for the reading of God's word. We'll begin in Isaiah 17, verse 12, and continue all the way through the end of chapter 18.

Ah, the thunder of many peoples, they thunder like the thundering of the sea. Ah, the roar of nations, they roar like the roaring of mighty waters. The nations roar like the roaring of many waters. But he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind, and whirling dust before the storm.

At evening time, behold terror. Before morning, they are no more. This is the portion of those who loot us, and the lot of those who plunder us. Ah, land of whirring wings, that is beyond the rivers of Cush, which sends ambassadors by the sea, and vessels of papyrus on the waters.

Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people feared near and far, a nation mighty and conquering, whose land the rivers divide. All you inhabitants of the world, you who dwell on the earth, when a signal is raised on the mountains, look, when a trumpet is blown here.

For thus the Lord said to me, I will quietly look for my dwelling, like clear heat and sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heart heat of harvest. For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he cuts off the shoots with pruning hooks, and the spreading branches he lops off and clears away.

They shall all of them be left to the birds of prey on the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth, and the birds of prey will summer on them, and the beasts of the earth will winter on them. At that time, tribute will be brought to the Lord of hosts, from a people tall and smooth, from a people feared near and far, a nation mighty and conquering, whose land the rivers divide, to Mount Zion, the place of the name of the Lord of hosts.

Why This Oracle Is About the Nations, Not Just Cush

You may be seated. So as I mentioned last time, your ESV is going to label this an oracle concerning Cush, because it begins talking about Cush. But if you notice, it's really not about Cush. It's just, it starts off by addressing messengers from Cush to go tell the rest of the world something.

So this is not a message to Cush, it is a message to other nations. And all of the oracles, at least many of the oracles, if I were to give, I suppose, the other position the benefit of the doubt, many of these oracles begin with an oracle concerning, insert name here.

And so to break off other things as being oracles when they don't have the same introduction that we see so frequently, I don't think is exactly right. I think that we should consider this part of the oracle of Damascus, and I believe that verses 12 through 14 fit very nicely with the theme of 18, which is still in this oracle concerning Damascus.

Now as we look at this passage and we consider what it says about judgment, many of these passages are about judgment and include some kind of hints of the gospel as well. The main takeaway for me as I read this passage, what I consider it to be, and I say for me because it is it is such a cryptic passage and it's, you know, hard to understand, what I consider to be the biggest takeaway here is God's purposes in warning, in telling people of judgment, of being good purposes, that God's warnings are well-meant.

He gives well-meant warnings. And so you, a lot of people have these questions about about warnings. You know, you see street preachers talking about judgment, you see hellfire and brimstone preachers preaching about judgment, and you might ask, well, obviously there are abuses, but what is, what is the purpose of preaching judgment?

Ought we to preach about God's judgment? Ought we to emphasize that and tell people about God's judgment? Doesn't that take away from the gospel? And the answer is, God has a purpose in the proclamation of justice, of judgment.

In part, it is to prepare the world for what will happen so that they will be without excuse, and in part, it is to call people to his mercy, to let them know that they need to come to him for mercy. And so we're going to see this message of judgment proclaimed, proclaimed, but then people respond, coming to him for mercy.

All the earth, great peoples from all over the earth, coming to God for mercy. Verse 12, ah, the thunder of many peoples, they thunder like the lightnings, like the thundering of the sea, excuse me, ah, the roar of nations, they roar like the roaring of mighty waters.

The nations roar like the roaring of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away. So this is, this is a picture of what it looks like for many nations to be opposed to God. Their voice is like many waters.

All their thunder as they, as they roar and as they stampede, they appear as though they are unstoppable, a mighty deluge, a flood that no one could, that no one could hold back. You know, the Bible also talks about Jesus's voice being like many waters.

You know, if you imagine the strong voice of God as being like the sound of the roaring ocean, this is what this is talking about. These people and their sound, you know, they sound as though they are as powerful as God, but yet, ah, the Lord will rebuke them.

You know, this is, this is the attitude that many people have as they oppose God and his word, as they oppose his church. They consider themselves to be unstoppable. If you consider, ah, the social ideologies that are against God in our day, often called progressive ideologies, what does that language of progressive mean?

You know, it means this is progress. Nothing can stop this. Things are moving forward, and if you disagree with this, you're on the wrong side of history, right? This is, this is inevitable. It doesn't matter if it's loose sexual immorals, or it doesn't matter if it's the, the, um, socialization that breaks down, ah, God's notions of private property and things.

It doesn't matter what it is. This is, this is progress. You're on the wrong side of history if you don't, if you don't see this, if you don't agree. But the Lord rebukes those who go against him. He will rebuke them, and they will flee far away.

Chase like chaff on the mountains before the wind, and whirling dust before the storm. At evening time, behold terror. Before morning, they are no more. This is a theme that's been frequent in Isaiah, the swiftness of God's judgment, how unexpected it is.

I don't have any statistics for you, but, but ask yourself the question, how many people, the day before they die, knew that they are going to die within the next day? It is very few people. Very few people know that their death is coming so imminently when it comes.

And it's not like, it's not just like that for individuals. It's like that for nations, for societies, and for the world. The world one day, when Jesus returns, it will be caught unawares. This is the portion of those who loot us, and the lot of those who plunder us.

Those who are against God, those who would go against his people, this is their lot, to see this fate of being destroyed. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death.

The Bible is very clear. Everyone who goes against God, they have death coming to them. Now this is not just pagan nations. This is not just people who very obviously are against God. If you consider the context of this passage, if you remember from last time, this oracle against Damascus, this is not merely about the nation of Syria, but it's also about the the northern kingdom of Israel as they've allied with Syria.

And so it's an oracle against both of those nations. So this is not just a rebuke of the of pagan nations, but even of one that has the facades of godliness. There are so many people and churches that consider themselves right with God, but they are not right with God.

You see all kinds of things that suggest that many people are true Christians, but they are not. There was a survey, I believe it was—no, it wasn't Christianity Today. It was in Relevant Magazine, and this was very recent, you know, only a few weeks ago.

They were talking about the the majority of—I think it was 60 percent—60 percent of evangelicals under 40—no, not evangelicals, excuse me, born-again Christians—of born-again Christians under 40 believe that Jesus is not the only way to salvation.

Now, these are—Relevant Magazine is calling this group of people born-again Christians. So here you have, you know, this well-respected source acknowledging those who don't believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life as being born-again Christians.

There are all kinds of things that affirm people that they are right with God, and they're at peace with God, and you see it even in headlines of popular magazines, but all who would go against God, against his law, against his people.

There is death coming, and the only way to be made aware of that is by warning, and so God sends warnings to people. So we go on to this—to this, as I called it, cryptic description of a warning that's sent out to the nations.

The Warning Sent From the Ends of the Earth

Verse one, a land of whirring wings that is beyond the river of Cush, which sends ambassadors by the sea and vessels of papyrus on the waters. What is this talking about? Well, the land of Cush, so near Egypt, oftentimes used to describe the ends of the earth.

You know, when—when the Bible talks about Cush, often that's what's—that's what's envisioned here, the far edges of—of kind of known, you know, existence. And so it's talking about messengers from one end of the earth going to all the—the great nations.

Land of whirring wings most likely refers to the sounds that sails would make in the wind, and vessels of papyrus. I doubt it's talking about the—the ship itself being made of paper, but the sail, if you imagine the sound of a bunch of papyrus, you know, shaking in the breeze, that's probably the sound that sails would make, whatever they are made out of.

So this is describing, you know, in flowery imagery, flowery might not be the right word, but bright visual imagery, this picture of many ships, you know, this land far away where there are many ships going all across the world to bring this message of warning.

Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people feared, near and far, a nation mighty and conquering, whose land the rivers divide. You know, tall and smooth, you might imagine that a nation that's small and has to constantly defend itself would be a rough, scruffy nation, but this is a nation of people tall and smooth, one who has achieved greatness and been able to pursue arts and education and things like that.

There are people but are still feared near and far because they are such a great nation, and they're a land that rivers divide. If you imagine a land has to be very large for multiple rivers to divide it, you know, my plot of property or the plot of property here at this church, rivers don't divide this because it's not big enough, but if you have a large nation, rivers divide it.

You think about our nation, rivers divide our nation. You have the Mississippi, you have Colorado River breaking things up, and so consider who is this written to? Who is this written to? Well, the great nations of the time who have Babylon, you have Assyria, you have maybe Persia off in the distance, and then further out in time, Greece, but what you see here is a picture just of the composite human greatness.

It's not talking about one particular people, and something you hear a lot is that, we ought to, as we're reading the Bible and interpreting it, we ought to consider what it meant for the people then, and while that's true, that's an important starting point, we ought to consider also that as the Holy Spirit has authored scripture, he has done so not just for that era, but the fact that it is preserved in scripture means it was for many generations to come, and so this is not just a word for then.

First Peter 1 10 through 12 says, Concerning the salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.

It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preach the good news to you, things into which angels long to look.

The prophets of old recognized that these things were not primarily to them or even to their time, but primarily to those who have seen, who have, who have, well not, not seen visually, but live in a time where Christ has already come and many of these things have been fulfilled.

These things are written for a later people. These things are written not primarily for the nations of that time, but for us. You know, if you consider that, a lot of times it's easy, especially for a new Christian to read the Bible and all these things that seem foreign and laws that don't exactly apply to us, and you know, well this was written for them back then.

This wasn't, you know, this doesn't, isn't as important for me. No, I would argue it is more important for you than it was for the people at that time. I think that's what 1 Peter 1 10 through 12 is saying, that these things that were recorded, while it was applicable to them in some way, as you consider God's purposes and the variety of his purposes, his purposes for you who are awaiting the return of Christ and know of his first coming, for you, his purpose is much greater than even his purpose for that time.

You are the nation, large and mighty, whose land the rivers divide. You are this nation. This is not, this is not something that was just for people then. It is even more so a message for you, a message of warning for our time and our nation.

Verse 3, all you inhabitants of the world, you who dwell on the earth, when a signal is raised, excuse me, raised on the mountains, look, when a trumpet is blown here, for thus says Lord, I will look quietly from my dwelling, like clear heat and sunshine, like a cloud of dew and harvest heat.

So here you have several statements. Okay, the inhabitants of the world, you who dwell on the earth, something is coming, a signal is coming, and when you see that look, and God is explaining what he's doing, like, and it's kind of surprising.

He gives a very quiet imagery, not what you would expect, you know, as you hear about these raging waters and things like that. I will quietly look from my dwelling, like clear heat and sunshine, like a cloud of dew and the heat of harvest.

So he's describing, you know, being this, being this God who allows the harvest to grow and allows things to flourish. It says, for before the harvest, when the blossom is over and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he cuts off the shoots with pruning hooks, and the spreading branch he lops off and clears away.

They shall all of them be left to the birds, the prey of the mountains, to the beasts of the earth, and the birds of the prey will summer on them, and the beasts of the earth will winter on them. So God is allowing, allowing the world to prosper, allowing it to grow, so that he will have a great harvest, so that much will be destroyed, so that the birds of the prey, the birds of prey will come, and they will leave little left.

The beasts of the earth will leave little left. Talks about summer on them, winter on them, very clever use of nouns as verbs, but the idea being that, uh, that there's no respite, you know, there's no autumn, there's no spring, just the harshest seasons of the year that will destroy, so that very little remains after God does this work.

And so God has his purposes in, in allowing the world to flourish. You know, a lot of people take the fact that he is allowing the world to flourish, they take that as a sign that they are at peace with him.

You know, they say, peace, peace, where there is no peace. They take it as a sign that God will not strike them down. They take it as a sign that they are powerful, and perhaps they can even defeat God, and they can defeat his purposes.

But just the opposite is true. This is a sign that he is preparing the world for a great harvest. He is, he is working in this, in this flourishing. Just as 1516, you see this on a smaller scale, back at the beginning of the, beginning of the world.

You know, he says to Abraham, the people of God would be in Egypt for 400 years, because the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. In other words, he wishes for the Amorites, the Canaanites, to flourish before he will destroy them, so that his judgment will be greater.

You see something similar in Romans 9. It says in Romans 9, verse 21, has the potter no right over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use, and another for dishonorable use?

What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only, but also for the, from the Gentiles.

He is patient on vessels of wrath for his purposes, so that there will be some who come to him for mercy, but also so that his judgment will be on display. If you've ever asked yourself, why does, why is this world allowed to flourish, though?

You know, God could have sent Jesus to come back before man put someone on the moon, right? But he has chosen to do so afterward. Why has God allowed human societies to achieve such greatness? We live in a time of just incredible radical comforts that no other generation has ever experienced.

Why does God allow us to grow in pride, to grow in comfort? Why does he allow such things, and not just send Jesus back to end, to end this story? He has his purposes. He is desiring to grow this so that there will be a great harvest, so his mercy, when it is merciful, is great, and his judgment, when he brings judgment, will be great.

Today is Sarah's birthday, so her parents sent her a cake and steak, winning combination, and both of them are packed with dry ice. So my kids have been playing with dry ice, and I was telling them that when I was a kid, I would make bombs with dry ice by putting them in a water bottle, you know, and sealing it up, and it makes a big bang.

And if you do it just right, you know, it'll really slowly expand the bottle so that, you know, it just makes this really, really massive explosion, and that's, you know, the best kind if you're a kid.

So this is what God is doing, you know. He is not ending things right away. He is, he is growing this harvest for his sake, but it's not just one for for judgment. He also, it is also to show his mercy, as we read there in Romans 9.

What if God is doing this so that he can greater show his mercy to the vessels of mercy? And so we have this people's response, which is surprising, because God has sent out this, this statement of judgment.

You would expect them to either try to fight against him or to run away from him, but no. What do they do? They bring tribute, and we saw in the previous oracle that that was a sign of people coming to God for mercy, of trusting in him.

You know, there was this whole, this whole phrase that said, uh, send the lamb. That was the, in, for, in chapter 16 .1, that was a statement of tribute. Send the lamb to the ruler of the land from Selah by way of the desert to the mount of the daughter of Zion, like fleeing birds, like scattered nests.

So are the daughters of Moab and the fords of the Arnon. Give counsel. Grant justice. Make your shade like night at the height of noon. Shelter the outcast. Do not reveal the fugitive. And it keeps going, and it says, in the tent of David, one who judges and seeks justice and is swift to righteousness.

Speaks of people, when they send tribute to God, they are, when they send tribute to Zion, they are finding their hope in God. So here in 18, at that time, tribute will be brought to the Lord of Hosts from a people tall and smooth, from people feared near and far, a nation mighty and conquering, whose land the rivers divide, to Mount Zion, the place of the name of the Lord of Hosts.

The Nations Coming to Mercy at Mount Zion

God's statements of warning are met not only with people fleeing, not only with people fighting, but some people coming to him for mercy. And in this oracle of judgment, you have this surprising twist ending, right?

The surprising ending that talks about people coming to him for mercy. You have messengers from one end of the earth going to the other end of the earth, to all the great peoples. And are the great peoples going to take seriously this, this message from this small nation, this small nation that can boast of little?

And you see that some do. Many come, many of the great nations of the earth come bringing, bringing their tribute. This is a wonderful picture of the gospel going out to the nations, a wonderful picture of salvation.

Mount Zion, in the Bible, that is the place where the temple is. The New Testament tells us that Jesus Christ is the temple. There's no temple anymore. It's been destroyed. But Jesus Christ is that place where God dwells with man.

And so we can find mercy in him. We can find mercy in him. And those warnings do not become something that push us to death, that just let us know that death is coming. There's something that from that information, we can go to Christ for mercy and find it there, and find that he has perfectly answered the problem of sin and death, that he has died on the cross for those who trust in him.

And it doesn't matter what nation you're from, whether it's small or large, because every knee will bow to him, including many of the great nations on the earth. And so as you're considering some of these questions, some of these questions of what is the purpose of telling people of judgment, or, you know, I've had adults wonder, especially in teaching Sunday school, you know, should we tell children about hell?

You know, should we tell them these things? Yes, I believe it's important to tell your children the truth. You know, there are ways that you can do it that are out of a desire for their good, and not just out of desire to manipulate them, right?

But they must know this truth. Both children and older people, they must know this truth, because they must know what God they should go to for mercy. And if they do not know what they need mercy from, they won't go to him for mercy.

We must continue presenting this message of judgment, not because it is good news in and of itself, but because, if understood rightly, it sends people going to the only one who can give mercy, of going to Jesus Christ.

And so God has great purposes in what he is doing in his, you know, the Psalms, Job. You see many people in scripture wrestling with this question of, why does God allow the wicked to prosper? Well, here you have the answer here.

He is growing the harvest for the harvest season. And so we should not be afraid of that message, that that is what he's doing. Let people know. Let people know that this era of apparent mercy, this era where he is not immediately coming down in judgment, he is growing things for that judgment.

And the only way they can find mercy is not by continuing on the path they are going, but by coming to Christ, by coming to Mount Zion, place of the living God. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your great word.

We thank you for the message that you have given us to give the nations. We are, we are, many of us do not come from Judah, and yet you have given us these people at the ends of the earth, this message to take to the other ends of the earth, to all the great peoples of the world.

I pray that we would, that you would give us courage in doing so, that you would give us confidence. And God, I pray that you would give us fruit from this work, that people would hear this message, and that they would turn, that no one would be fooled into thinking that they're right with you because they think they have some status by the rituals they participate in, or they think they have some peace with you because you have been good to them on this earth.

But I pray that they would turn to you, looking for mercy, and that you would be pleased to use us as the instruments to carry your message. In Jesus' name, amen.