17 The Lord is about to send on you, and on your people, and on your father's house, such a time of trouble as there has not been from the days of the separating of Ephraim from Judah; even the coming of the king of Assyria. 18 And it will be in that day that the Lord will make a piping sound for the fly which is in the end of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee which is in the land of Assyria. 19 And they will come, covering all the waste valleys, and the holes of the rocks, and the thorns, and all the watering-places. 20 In that day will the Lord take away the hair of the head and of the feet, as well as the hair of the face, with a blade got for a price from the other side of the River; even with the king of Assyria. 21 And it will be in that day that a man will give food to a young cow and two sheep; 22 And they will give so much milk that he will be able to have butter for his food: for butter and honey will be the food of all who are still living in the land. 23 And it will be in that day that in every place where before there were a thousand vines valued at a thousand shekels of silver, there will be nothing but blackberries and thorns. 24 Men will come there with bows and arrows, because all the land will be full of blackberries and thorns. 25 And they will send out the oxen and the sheep on all the hills which before were worked with the spade, ... fear of blackberries and thorns.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Isaiah 7:17-25
Commentary on Isaiah 7:17-25
(Read Isaiah 7:17-25)
Let those who will not believe the promises of God, expect to hear the alarms of his threatenings; for who can resist or escape his judgments? The Lord shall sweep all away; and whomsoever he employs in any service for him, he will pay. All speaks a sad change of the face of that pleasant land. But what melancholy change is there, which sin will not make with a people? Agriculture would cease. Sorrows of every kind will come upon all who neglect the great salvation. If we remain unfruitful under the means of grace, the Lord will say, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforth for ever.