171 The oracle concerning Damascus . "Behold , Damascus is about to be removed from being a city And will become a fallen ruin . 2 "The cities of Aroer are forsaken ; They will be for flocks to lie down in, And there will be no one to frighten them. 3 "The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim , And sovereignty from Damascus And the remnant of Aram ; They will be like the glory of the sons of Israel ," Declares the Lord of hosts .
4 Now in that day the glory of Jacob will fade , And the fatness of his flesh will become lean . 5 It will be even like the reaper gathering the standing grain , As his arm harvests the ears , Or it will be like one gleaning ears of grain In the valley of Rephaim .
6 Yet gleanings will be left in it like the shaking of an olive tree , Two or three olives on the topmost e bough , Four or five on the branches of a fruitful tree , Declares the Lord , the God of Israel . 7 In that day man will have regard for his Maker And his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel . 8 He will not have regard for the altars , the work of his hands , Nor will he look to that which his fingers have made , Even the Asherim and incense stands .
9 In that day their strong cities will be like forsaken places in the forest , Or like branches which they abandoned before e the sons of Israel ; And the land will be a desolation . 10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation And have not remembered the rock of your refuge . Therefore e you plant delightful plants And set them with vine slips of a strange god. 11 In the day that you plant it you carefully fence it in, And in the morning you bring your seed to blossom ; But the harvest will be a heap In a day of sickliness and incurable pain .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Isaiah 17:1-11
Commentary on Isaiah 17:1-11
(Read Isaiah 17:1-11)
Sin desolates cities. It is strange that great conquerors should take pride in being enemies to mankind; but it is better that flocks should lie down there, than that they should harbour any in open rebellion against God and holiness. The strong holds of Israel, the kingdom of the ten tribes, will be brought to ruin. Those who are partakers in sin, are justly made partakers in ruin. The people had, by sins, made themselves ripe for ruin; and their glory was as quickly cut down and taken away by the enemy, as the corn is out of the field by the husbandman. Mercy is reserved in the midst of judgment, for a remnant. But very few shall be marked to be saved. Only here and there one was left behind. But they shall be a remnant made holy. The few that are saved were awakened to return to God. They shall acknowledge his hand in all events; they shall give him the glory due to his name. To bring us to this, is the design of his providence, as he is our Maker; and the work of his grace, as he is the Holy One of Israel. They shall look off from their idols, the creatures of their own fancy. We have reason to account those afflictions happy, which part between us and our sins. The God of our salvation is the Rock of our strength; and our forgetfulness and unmindfulness of him are at the bottom of all sin. The pleasant plants, and shoots from a foreign soil, are expressions for strange and idolatrous worship, and the vile practices connected therewith. Diligence would be used to promote the growth of these strange slips, but all in vain. See the evil and danger of sin, and its certain consequences.