A PROPHECY CONCERNING DAMASCUS AND EPHRAIM God has no partiality, if He would chastise the pagan nations like Moab for their denial of faith and haughtiness and blasphemy against Him, He is doing the same to Israel (or Ephraim, the ten tribes), because of its alliance with Aram or Syria (its capital Damascus) against Judah, leaning on the Pharaoh of Egypt against Assyria. That is why God allowed the king of Assyria to attack and overcome Aram and Ephraim in no time. There were relationships between Damascus and Israel since old times. Abraham, from whom Israel descended, placed his entire household in the hands of his servant Eliezer of Damascus. In the days of the prophet Elisha, Naaman the Syrian came to be cured of his leprosy in the waters of the river Jordan; the Canaanite woman came to ask the Lord Christ to heal her daughter; the apostles of Christ preached in Damascus; and the Lord Christ appeared to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus. 1. Destruction of Damascus 1-2. 2. Defeat of Ephraim 3-11. 3. The enemies’ attacks 12-13. 1. DESTRUCTION OF DAMASCUS Damascus is considered one of the most prominent ancient cities, mentioned since the days of Abraham (Genesis 14: 15); invaded by king David, who put a garrison in it (2 Samuel 8: 5, 6; 1 Chronicles 18: 5, 6). Rezin could establish a Syrian kingdom to make war with Israel for a long time, followed later by an alliance against Judah and Assyria. It has been defeated several times. In the year 843 B.C. Damascus was attacked by Shalmaneser, who defeated its king Hazael, and by Tiglath-Pileser in the year 732 B.C., who killed its king Rezin, and led its people to captivity (2 Kings 16: 5.9; Isaiah 7: 1.8; Amos 1: 3.5). It changed hands, afterwards, from the Assyrians to the Chaldeans, to the Persians, to the Greeks, then to the Romans in the year 64 B.C., to become a Roman province. If Damascus joined forces with Ephraim against Judah, God punished them together. Both of them represent the evil forces of the world, opponents of the truth, as came in the book of Revelation: “Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues, and they did not repent and give Him glory.” (Revelation 16: 8, 9) “Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, and it will be a ruinous heap. The cities of Aroer are forsaken; They will be for flocks which lie down, and no one will make them afraid” (Is. 17: 1, 2) There were at least three cities by the name of Aroer, a Moabite name meaning ‘naked, or nakedness.’ A city in Moab that exists nowadays under the name Araer, twelve miles east of the Dead Sea, a little south of Diban, north of the river Arnon. Then, a village in the southern part of Judea (1 Samuel 30: 28), called nowadays Araara, twelve miles south east of Beer-Sheba; And a third one in Gilead, close to Rabba or Rabbat-Ammon1 (Joshua 30; Judges 11: 33). Nowadays, Amman is the 1 Ironside: The Prophet Isaiah, 1985, p. 99; The New Westminster Dict, of the Bible: Aroer. capital of the kingdom of Jordan. Damascus and Aroer represent the soul, haughty against God, allied with others against His Church, which, although God leave for sometime to appear strong, successful, and flourishing, yet, it ends up collapsing on two aspects: a. To be transformed from a great city to a ruinous heap; namely, to lose its life, being isolated from God Himself, the Source of life. b. To be transformed, like Aroer, from a dwelling place for people (with God), to a pasture for flocks and cattle. As though our opposition to the truth, would lead us to lose our dignity, and would transform our life into a playground for every animal, to end up carrying the carnal animal nature. That is why St. Ephram the Syrian praises the Babe of the manger, saying, [Glory be to Him, who, finding that we likened the beasts in nature and greed, descended to become one with us, to transform us to heavenlies2.] 2. DEFEAT OF EPHRAIM As Damascus has been the chief player in the venture of alliance against Judah, it was worthy of the first punishment, to be followed by Israel, who, submitting to that counsel, was likewise worthy of severe punishment, with the gate of hope left open before it, and the proclamation of the existence of a loyal and honest remnant, to get to enjoy the salvation of God. That prophecy presents the natural fruit of the evil alliance, involving the leaning upon human arm and thought, and disregarding the divine factor. That fruit is a natural punishment, under which man, in his evil, would fall. a. Loss of immunity: “The fortress also will cease from Ephraim.” (Is. 17: 3) “In that day his strong cities will be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel. And there will be desolation.” (Is. 17: 9) If the Lord, God of our salvation, is “the Rock of our stronghold,” (Is. 17: 10) isolation from Him and rejection of His work is a loss of the real stronghold. Then, fortresses would not be able to protect our inner city, which would become like a valueless ruinous heap, that although with a deceiving outer appearance, yet, without any real power! God is our true stronghold, in whom we find refuge, and where our depths would find comfort. Then all the forces of darkness would not be capable of sneaking into us. b. Loss of inner glory: “In that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob will wane.” (Is. 17: 4) If “The royal daughter is all glorious within...” (Psalm 45: 13), the source of her glory is her Christ, dwelling in her, who establishes His kingdom within her. Christ Jesus glorifies her before people, and before the Father; as said by St. Jerome: [Look at us, to behold Your Son, who is dwelling in us3.] c. Loss of strength: “And the fatness of his flesh grow lean.” (Is. 17: 4) That is why the Lord Christ says, “Without Me, you can do nothing.” (John 15: 5) We cannot walk along the way of God, unless we are carried on the wings of قاموس الكتاب المقدس: عروعیر. 2 On Nativity, hymn 2. للمؤلف: الحب الرعوي، ص 3 .45 Spirit4. There is none stronger than him, who enjoys heavenly support, and none weaker than him who is without it5. We should fear nothing. As, in order to overcome the devil, we have to apprehend that our skills are worthless. All things are graces of God6. St. John Chrysostom d. Loss of fruit: The valley of Ephraim was known for its fertility and rich crops. Yet, because of enemies, there would be nothing left for Ephraim, except to pick up the grains fallen from the harvesters, and to gather what are left, “like the shaking of an olive tree, two or three olives at the top of the uppermost bough.” (Is. 17: 5, 6) That is, to become like the poor who have nothing to harvest (Deuteronomy 24: 20). They fence their fields and plant them, but at the harvest time the enemy come to take everything, leaving only what falls on the ground, to turn the feasts of harvest into “days of grief and desperate sorrow” (Is. 17: 11) In other words, they would lose the fruit of their labor, their joy, and their peace. And now, let us ask: Why does God allow such humiliation for Ephraim? To lead him to return to his Creator, instead of sharing with the Syrians their evil counsel, their pagan worship, and their uncleanness, saying, “In that day man looks to his Maker, and his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel. He will not look at (poles of) the altars, the work of his hands. He will not respect what his fingers have made, nor the wooden images (Asherah poles), nor the incense altars (hammanum).” (Is. 17: 7, 8) ‘Asherah poles,’ statues and images of the goddess of love and beauty (Ashteroth) parallel to Aphrodite7, were put on wooden poles. That goddess was considered as wife and companion of the god Baal, that is why his altar was surrounded by groups of trees or poles that carried statues of the goddess, referring to her fertility8. Those poles and trees used to carry pornographic sexual symbols; worship was mixed with uncleanness as an integrated part (Exodus 34: 13; Deuteronomy 16: 21; Judges 6: 25; 2 Chronicles 34: 4.7; Micah 5: 14). God allowed for chastising His people, in order to purify their look at sex; and to lift up their hearts and minds toward God, who is above sex, and who grants us holiness of married life and sexual relationships9. As to the altars of incense, the Hebrew word ‘hammanum,’ means ‘sungoddess,’ interpreted by some as ‘Baal Hamman,’ the Syrian god of the sun. On these altars incense for the sun-god was offered. That expression for that form of pagan worship designates it from the holy incenses which is offered in the temple of the true God10. 3. THE ENEMIES’ ATTACKS He is portraying the enemies as an irresistible sea. God allowed a large multitude of nations to descend upon Ephraim like many waters to inundate it. Yet 4 In Matt. In Gen. PG. 57:30; 53:228. 5 In Paralyt. PG. 51:51. 6 In Act. PG. 60:124. 7 C.F. Keil: Comm, on the O.T., vol 7, p. 343. 8 J.N. Oswalt: The Book of Isaiah, p. 352. 9 cf. Oswalt, p. 353. 10 Ibid 351, n. 1. God has designated, for that sea, a limit that it is not to be crossed. It is allowed to advance to a certain limit, and for a certain time, in order to preserve the little honest remnant of His children, against the fury and wrath of the sea. “The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters. But God will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, and be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. Then behold, at eventide, trouble! And before the morning, he is no more. This is the portion of those who plunder us, and the lot of those who rob us.” (Is. 17: 13, 14) God allows the enemies to attack, like the irresistible many waters of the sea. Yet, when He rebukes them, they becomes like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, weak and helpless, or like an unstoppable rolling wheel before a whirlwind. Our enemy is extremely fierce; if we let ourselves be in his hand he would draw us in his whirlpool, to sink in the depth of his sea. But if we hide in the Lord, those enemies would turn to nothing before us; would withdraw as chaff before the whirlwind of His Holy Spirit; and would roll before the active Word of God. He says, “At eventide, trouble!” (Is. 17: 14); namely, when the Sun of righteousness sets from our life, darkness would prevail in us, as though in the evening; to give the enemy a place in us, and a chance to terrorize us. But, before the morning, that is to say at dawn, when our Christ shines in us, the enemy becomes no more. That would be his portion, as he has robbed our life and plundered our glory, to end up destroyed before the Mighty One who dwells in us.
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