Isaiah 17:7 At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel
We are living in a day consumed with polls, what people think, what people are going to do, and who is ascending to power. Right now, everyone is obsessed with what the polls say about the Presidential election, and they want to know what the polls actually mean. People want to know who will be the last one standing and what to do in such a case. We are always thinking about the man in the arena, the last man standing.
That is what Isaiah 17 and 18 are largely about, a jumble of nations striving for supremacy to be the last one standing. You have Syria, Assyria, and the Southern and Northern kingdoms of Israel. They were all striving for supremacy and trying to decide, kind of like a moistened finger to the wind, who is going to win and in whom should they invest and trust. Those are questions we have today. How should I invest my loyalty. Whom should I trust? When should I choose sides?
As you look at Isaiah 17 you find a few curious things. First, Syria was no better as to her prospects than was Israel. Israel was seeking the help of Syria. Syria at that moment was a greater kingdom and military power, so Israel thought, “This is where our safety and strength lie.” They ignored Jehovah and thought Syria was sufficient. Yet, Isaiah 17:1 says, “The burden of Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.” Ancient Damascus means nothing to us in present day, but in that time to think of this place of power becoming nothing but a heap would have been shocking.
Verse 3 says, “The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim.” Ephraim is proxy for the power of Israel. Then it says that because they are depending on Syria, they are going to be in trouble as well because Syria is no better as to her prospects than Israel. It says that “Jacob shall be made thin” and that their harvest would wither.
Second, you see that Israel was acting no holier than Syria. Israel is and was God’s set apart people, but as to their actions they were acting profane like all the other kingdoms striving for supremacy. Verses 10-11 give us the reason, “Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants…but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.” So, Syria was no stronger than Israel and Israel was no holier as to her actions than was Syria.
Third, Assyria, the ascending power, would ultimately be no stronger than all of the victims she took. Chapter 18 is about Cush, which is part of modern-day Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia. No one even thinks about Cush anymore because it is gone, and Assyria was going to be the same way. Verse 12 says, “Woe to the multitude of many people…that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!” But verse 14 says, “And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he [Assyria] is not.” Very specifically, Isaiah 37 tells the story of the mighty army of Assyria that came up against God’s people and was literally destroyed overnight by the angel of the Lord. It was supernatural, God’s A-bomb on the arrogant Assyrians. Verse 14 says, “This is the portion of them that spoil us and the lot of them that rob us.”
So, Syria, no better than Israel. Israel was no holier than Syria as to her actions. Assyria was no stronger than any of her victims in the big picture. At the end of the day, both in Isaiah’s day, in our day, and in the days to come, God will be the last one standing. It is easy to go to the store, work, or school and think, “How can I hedge my bets? Who should I get in good with? Where should I invest? When should I switch my loyalties?” Friend, God will be the last one standing. That has been true and it will be true.
So, God’s people should be the first to regard Him. Verse 7 says, “At that day [when the trouble comes] shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.” God is holy and so should His people be. Verse 8 says, “And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.” So, when trouble comes, I ought to be looking to God, and I ought to be looking to God right now. Get in early on what God is doing because He will be the last one standing. Sometimes when we find trouble, instead of turning to the God who rules, shapes, and works in our lives, we turn to other sources for strength and wisdom like friends, media, or social media, but God’s people should be the very first to regard Him.
Years ago, I was trying to catch a mare in a one-acre lot. When I took the lead up to snatch her, she took off running and placed herself in the corner of a fence on the far end of the pasture with both her hind legs aimed at me. I’m not brilliant, but I knew better to go into that little slot canyon. I couldn’t really approach her from the sides because she was in a tight corner. My boss saw my trouble and instead of trying to approach her, he twirled the rope around his head yelled, “Get up there,” and she took off running. For the next fifteen minutes he kept her running. She would trot to one end of the field; we would run a bit to catch her, and he started the commotion again. We ran her legs off until she was exhausted. Finally, she went back to the corner, but instead of turning her hind legs to kick us, she turned her head. That was body language that meant a lot.
We gave that horse the run around and she gave us the head. That is what God’s people should do with God. When you feel like you have exhausted yourself on your own way, don’t turn to other sources for strength. Turn to the God who made you because God’s people should always be the first to regard Him.