Day 99: Isaiah 17- Your Maker is In the Mix

Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city and will become a heap of ruins. 2 The cities of Aroer are deserted; they will be for flocks, which will lie down, and none will make them afraid. 3 The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Syria will be like the glory of the children of Israel, declares the Lord of hosts.

4 And in that day the glory of Jacob will be brought low, and the fat of his flesh will grow lean. 5 And it shall be as when the reaper gathers standing grain and his arm harvests the ears, and as when one gleans the ears of grain in the Valley of Rephaim. 6 Gleanings will be left in it, as when an olive tree is beaten— two or three berries in the top of the highest bough, four or five on the branches of a fruit tree,
declares the Lord God of Israel. 

7 In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel. 8 He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and he will not look on what his own fingers have made, either the Asherim or the altars of incense.

9 In that day their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the wooded heights and the hilltops, which they deserted because of the children of Israel, and there will be desolation. 10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge; therefore, though you plant pleasant plants and sow the vine-branch of a stranger, 11 though you make them grow on the day that you plant them, and make them blossom in the morning that you sow, yet the harvest will flee away in a day of grief and incurable pain.12 Ah, the thunder of many peoples; they thunder like the thundering of the sea! Ah, the roar of nations; they roar like the roaring of mighty waters! 13 The nations roar like the roaring of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind and whirling dust before the storm. 14 At evening time, behold, terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us, and the lot of those who plunder us.

Meditation
Between you and me, these judgment passages in the Major Prophets are wearisome to read. To engage God’s word and endure these sections of Scripture I need to see our Maker in the mix.

Last week we passed one month since the first casualty of the COVID19 crisis in San Antonio. We are beginning to come to terms with the reality of the stay and shelter season, understanding the need to change our expectations.  To endure with fruitfulness, emerging stronger on the other side of the storm, we must see our Maker in the mix.

Damascus is facing the storm of God’s judgment for their worship of false gods. God reminds all that hear the oracle that one-day our eyes will be off our troubles and on our Maker. (7) This revelation is grace, inviting us to put our eyes on our Maker in the storms of life today.

When Peter walked on water the circumstances were wavy and stormy. When Peter took his eyes off his Maker he began to sink. (Matthew 14:28-33) Peter could not navigate troubled waters without his eyes of faith on the Maker who was in the mix. Neither could Damascus. Neither can we.

Our Maker is in the mix- One day your eyes will look fully on the Holy One of Israel. Today, by His grace, you can see Him now. Look to your Maker to endure with fruitfulness and emerge from this storm stronger than when you entered.

Richly Dwelling
-Do not grow weary in reading difficult sections of Scripture. The Lord’s Spirit will always give you truth from the passage to meditate on!

-Are your eyes of faith on false hopes or our Maker who is with you in the mix?

-How can you more faithfully fix your eyes on Jesus in the storm, the author of your faith?

Key Verse
7 In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel.