Isaiah 17-18

What’s Happening?

God’s people in Southern Judah are under attack from Northern Israel and the powerful nation of Syria. These nations are actively plotting the assassination of Judah’s king, Ahaz (2 Kings 16; Isaiah 7:5). Afraid, Ahaz began forming alliances with other countries and worshiping other gods to save him and his nation. However, Isaiah says Ahaz should fear God more than the nations around him. Ahaz’ future is in God’s hands, and it's only by trusting him that Ahaz can save his nation. 

Ahaz does not need to fear Syria or Israel because God will soon level Syria’s capital and destroy the military outposts in Northern Israel (Isaiah 17:1-3). The coalition Ahaz so fears will soon dissolve, and the once formidable glory of Syria and Israel will fade into oblivion (Isaiah 17:4-6). Soon, Israel will admit the impotence of her false gods, abandon the foolishness of their idolatry, and begin worshiping the true God once again (Isaiah 17:7-11). Ahaz has an opportunity to trust God before his nation is destroyed. He can abandon his treaties and false gods now and trust God to save his nation. Ahaz should also trust God because he will not only protect him from Israel and Syria but any nation that attempts to attack him. While the nations might seem like a terrifying wall of water, to God, they are like a tumbleweed in a windstorm (Isaiah 17:12-14). The only one Ahaz must fear is God, and it is only by entrusting himself and his nation to him that he will be saved.

Isaiah abruptly stops directly addressing Ahaz to deliver the same message to the whole world. He summons messengers from Cush, a nation at the ends of the earth, to warn all other nations that God will soon arrive as a military general surrounded by military banners and war trumpets (Isaiah 18:1-3). Like Ahaz, the world should fear God and trust him for their protection.  However, God does not quickly command his army to attack the world’s nations. Instead, God patiently observes the world’s rebellion and idolatry before he takes action (Isaiah 18:4-5). Instead of coming like a warrior, he comes like a skillful gardener. He discerns which vines produce fruit, surgically prunes those that don’t, and leaves the clippings to burn (Isaiah 18:5-6). Isaiah says God’s pruning will produce the fruit of faith in the whole world. Nations that once plotted to destroy Judah will soon bring gifts to honor the God who rules the world and protects his people (Isaiah 18:7). While these prophecies are directed to the world, they are still for Ahaz. His anxious political machinations will fail. If Ahaz wants to protect Judah, he must stop his fearful political conniving and trust God to protect his nation. 

Where is the Gospel?

In a crisis, Ahaz looked to political allies and false gods to protect Judah. Isaiah’s message was simple: stop fearing the nations and trust God instead. God is more powerful than all the world’s armies and deities combined. God can even overcome the idolatry, disbelief, and internal rebellion of the world through acts of patiently considered redemptive destruction. Israel was destroyed as God promised. But after its destruction, Israel rejected its idols. And Isaiah prophecies that through careful pruning, God would restore not only his people but the world to a fruitful relationship with their Creator.

We are no different than Ahaz. We look to gods like money and power instead of the God who made us. We need an act of patiently considered redemptive destruction. Just as Isaiah described, the apostle Paul tells us that God has patiently watched humanity’s rebellion for millennia (Romans 3:25). And like Isaiah prophesied, God did not quickly command an angelic army to attack sinners in some battle. Rather, he gave the world his own Son, Jesus (Romans 5:8). Through God’s loving patience and Jesus’ willing death, a redemptive destruction and pruning took place. Jesus was cut off so that we could produce fruit. Jesus told his followers that he was the vine and they were the branches (John 15:1-8). When we trust the Gardener of the world, God graciously grafts people like us into the vine of Jesus. We join Jesus’ life and become fruitful vines that death cannot destroy. We have no reason to fear the many enemies in our world. God is more powerful than all of them. And when we trust him, God will not only protect us but make us fruitful and full of life.

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see the God who is a gardener. And may you see Jesus as the one who was pruned so that we could produce fruit.