Isaiah 17: Oracle Against Damascus: Chapter 20: The Roaring Seas

Isaiah 17:11 transitions the reader back to Damascus, which, in Isaiah 17:1, was to become “a fallen ruin.” It is clear that both Samaria and Damascus were to suffer the same fate at the hands of Assyria, although we do not know whether or not God was to take any “gleanings” from Damascus.

It appears that God’s underlying purpose in connecting Samaria and Damascus is to show that the Israelites had become Jacobites. They were fulfilling the earlier prophecy of their forefather Jacob, who went into exile to Haran in Syria. He did not become an Israelite until he was returning to his home in Canaan.

The exiled Jacobites were stripped of the name Israel, because they were no longer worthy of carrying the testimony of Israel (“God rules”). Having rejected the idea that the true God was sovereign over them, God cast them out and caused men to forget who they were. Yet even this was prophesied in the name of Joseph’s other son, Manasseh, whose name means “forgetful.”

The point is that when Ephraim was cast off (Jer. 7:15), they became no different from any other non-Israelite nation insofar as their legal status with God was concerned. As I showed in my commentary on Hosea, God leveled the playing field. Under the New Covenant, God would then gather all nations (including Ephraim) on an equal basis—through faith in Christ. Isaiah understood this, as proven by Isaiah 56:8,

⁸ The Lord God, who gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares, “Yet others I will gather to them, to those already gathered.”

This promise comes within the context of God’s promise to foreigners who seek God and desire to be under His covenant (Isaiah 56:6, 7).

Therefore, when God links Samaria-Ephraim with Damascus-Syria, the prophecy suggests not only that both are being judged but also that both nations are to be gathered to God in the end. In that sense, Damascus is a representative of all the nations who, in the end, will walk by the light of the New Jerusalem and its King (Rev. 21:23, 24). Hence, John tells us in Rev. 15:4,

⁴ Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; for all the nations will come and worship before You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed.

Isaiah’s prophecy was obscure when it came to the salvation of Damascus and Syria, but we ourselves know the end of the story, for we have the benefit of John’s revelation that has clarified that which was once obscure. The judgments of God, then, though severe, are not permanent but are designed to bring about the salvation of the nations prophesied in “the Revelation of Jesus Christ” through the apostle John (Rev. 1:1).

Judgment on Damascus

The last three verses of Isaiah 17 return to the oracle against Damascus after a brief diversion in speaking about Ephraim-Israel. We read in Isaiah 17:12 and 13,

¹² Alas, the uproar of many peoples, who roar like the roaring of the seas, and the rumbling of nations who rush on like the rumbling of mighty waters! ¹³ The nations rumble on like the rumbling of many waters, but He will rebuke them and they will flee far away, and be chased like chaff in the mountains before the wind, or like whirling dust before a gale.

Damascus is not specifically named in this final section, because it represents “the nations” in the broader prophecy in Rev. 17:15. In other words, the prophecy began by focusing upon Damascus, but in the end, it applied more broadly to the nations as a whole.

These nations “roar like the roaring of the seas.” This is the prophet’s metaphor indicating the rebellion of all nations against the right of God to rule that which He has created. It is like the roar of an angry mob trying to unseat God from His throne. So we read in Isaiah 57:20 and 21,

²⁰ But the wicked are like the tossing sea, for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up refuse and mud. ²¹ “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

We also see the great harlot of Babylon seated upon many waters (Rev. 17:1). This is interpreted later in Rev. 17:15-17,

¹⁵ And he said to me, “The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. ¹⁶ And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. ¹⁷ For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled.

The harlot rules the nations, inciting them to rebel against the Heir of the world, Jesus Christ. But in the end, when God awakens the eyes of the people, they will turn against the harlot and pledge their allegiance to the true King of Kings.

Isaiah 17:13 says that God “will rebuke them and they will flee far away.” It is likely that the prophet was referring to the parting of the Red Sea, for we read in Psalm 106:9, “He rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up.”

Jesus’ Solution

Jesus also provided us with an example of this in Matt. 8:26, which says, “Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.”

The only reason the nations today are still tossing up refuse and mud is because Christ has not yet seen fit to rebuke the roaring sea. There is an appointed time for everything. When it is time for Him to speak to the sea, it will be by the voice of authority that no man or nation can resist.

Jesus rebuked the tossing sea when He and His disciples were caught in the storm. The threat was real, and the disciples were full of fear. Jesus was asleep (Matt. 8:24), for He was not concerned about God’s apparent lack of protection.

This lesson in faith applies to all who live in turbulent times, even to the present time. We need to learn how to rest in the midst of a storm. Without faith, no one can rest. The nations toss to and fro because they have no faith in Christ and cannot rest. But we are not like the nations.

Isaiah 17:14 concludes,

¹⁴ At evening time, behold, there is terror! Before morning they are no more. Such will be the portion of those who plunder us and the lot of those who pillage us.

Jesus’ disciples were afraid of the storm and the tossing sea. This prophesied of the fear that tends to grip the church when the wicked “plunder” and “pillage” them. But the promise of God is that “before morning they are no more.” In other words, before the dawn, while it is yet dark, it will be as if they ceased to exist. So also, when Jesus rebuked the sea during the night, the storm ceased to exist.

Isaiah thus comforts us, even as Jesus comforted His disciples by rebuking the wind and sea. The lesson is that there is no reason to fear. We should walk always by faith and never in fear. We should learn how to rest in Him and understand that there is no fear (“terror”) in those who have entered into God’s rest.

They know by experience that God is sovereign and that “even the winds and the sea obey Him” (Matt. 8:27).