Damascus and other wicked cities will fall 1
Jacob's glory will fade but a few olives will remain 4
Man will look to his maker 7
God forgotten – harvest failure 10
Nations rage like the sea but will be gone when God rebukes them 12
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¶ The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being
a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid. .3 The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts. |
1 -
Burden
Or "oracle."
1 - Ruinous heap The failure of human strength and glory. The city was destroyed bue rebuilt later. Jeremiah wrote against her je4923-27. 2 - Aroer No district with this name is known to have been in Syria but a territory with this name was east of the Jordan. nu3234, de0236, de0312, jos1325, 2sa24:5. Aroer was an "ancient city on the north side of the Arnon, in the southern border of the tribe of Reuben, ... Jos 13:9. It was in the territory of the Amorites, Jos 12:2, but seems to have fallen at a later day into the hands of Moab, Jer 48:19." (ATS Dict.) See map for River Arnon. 3 - Ephriam A tribe in the North. The name is often used to represent the whole Northern Kingdom. |
| .4
And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be
made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.
.5 And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim. 6 ¶ Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the LORD God of Israel. |
4 -
Glory
of Jacob made thin This would happen when the Jewish nation
rejected their Messiah. See is1001-3.
5 - Harvestman The Assyrians would come and take. 5 - Valley of Rephaim The fertile "Valley of the Giants" south of Jerusalem. jos1508. SW of Jerusalem. See map. 6 - Gleaming grapes left A remnant of faithful who respond in verse 7. Israel is the vineyard and the olive tree. Israel would be shaken by the appeal of the coming Messiah ro1117. The fruit would be very small at that time. |
| .7
At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect
to the Holy One of Israel.
8 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. 9 ¶ In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation. |
7
- Maker The Creator. See ge0127,
is 4402,
is4421, je0105.
7 - Holy One of Israel The Messiah. |
| .10
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, and shalt set it with strange slips:
11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow. |
10
- Rock They would reap the sad results of choosing to forget
the Lord, their rock. Compare de3215,18;
mt0724.
10 - Slips Or "cuttings," a piece of a plant to place in the soil to grow. Here they were planting evil plants from false gods in thier land. See ps04420, ps08109. |
| .12 ¶ Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters! | 12
- Multitude ... make a noise But God is in control for the
faithful.
12 - Seas Basis of the sea symbol in Revelation re1301b. Also see ps06507. |
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| .13
The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke
them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of
the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us. |
14
- This is the portion A nice conclusion. We may not see this
happening, but one day we will understand.
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