Exposition by Max A Forsythe
In the 1950's the rival milk companies in this country sat down to carve out their assorted milk sheds. Now you may well ask, what is a milk shed. Well, it is very like a water shed where any acreage drained by a particular river is defined as being part of that river's geographic territory. Since my family lives in the highest county in the state, portions of Logan county belong to the Scioto, Miami and even a few northwestern acres to the Maumee River valleys. In a similar manner the cities of Toledo, Columbus and Dayton consider portions of our general area as part of their milk shed. That is, the area from which the city draws milk from farms for its regular supply.
Of course in the fifties, when the milk companies reorganized and restructured the dairy industry, all of the local dairies which had enjoyed selling raw milk to the highest bidders of the three cities were bought out and closed down. The fortunes of Bellefontaine, which at the turn of the century had been one of the one hundred largest cities in America, declined. Even the rail center which once made the city thrive has declined to nearly nothing. The advent of shopping malls and four lane highways has only hastened the continued decline of our local economy.
In the same way may we view the economic status of the trading city of Damascus. In the course of its long history, Damascus has more than once enjoyed and lost economic and political clout. Its once wide influence and prosperity finally became limited in the last thirteen centuries to that of a provincial market town. It is to that loss of independence that Isaiah prophesies in our chapter today. Probably within two years of this oracle, Damascus was temporarily ruined by the expanding power of Assyria. As the petty kingdoms declined, world history moved to a long series of succeeding empires. The whole ancient world, as Isaiah shows in this cycle of chapters, is being changed. What once was, will be no longer! The world as it was known would tumble away before the will of the Almighty. And as the petty nations decline and blow away, God would warn Israel first and Judah as well.
Actually, Damascus is only an introductory theme here. It is Israel that is being warned that they are about to go the same way. Notice the implication in verses three and four. Just as the material wealth and prosperity of Damascus will disappear so has the spiritual glory of Israel departed as well. Yet, and this is always the glory of God's providence: and yet, there will be some gleanings of grain and olives among the former Israelite tribes as we have noted in our passage from 2 Chronicles.
In verses five and six we see the remnant described in agricultural terms. The first image comes from the grain fields at harvest time. Up until the last century wheat, oats and barley were harvested in the time honored fashion with a scythe or sickle. The grain was then tied together in bundles and stacked in the fields. In Amish areas you can still see the stacked grains in mid-July. As the sheaves of grain were bundled, stacked and carried from the fields, some individual stalks would be left standing or dropped on the ground. These gleanings, as they were called, were regularly left for the poor to gather and we have a very good description of that method in the book of Ruth.
The second image comes from the orchard; in this case the harvest of olives from the trees. I can well appreciate this image from my apple picking days twelve years ago. In the orchard where three generations of my family have worked, we were given a row of trees to harvest. Most of the trees would have between ten and twenty bushels to pick. Since the owner was anxious to gather in as much of the crop as possible he insisted that we not go out on a limb to get every apple. Thus, most trees would have two or three dozen apples left in the very top or outside branches where it was not safe to lean a ladder. Since the ladders were twenty-two feet tall, I agreed with the plan!
This is the practice Isaiah is describing here. However, if my sources are correct, the olive pickers would spread blankets on the ground, and then shake or strike the tree to tumble the crop to be picked up and sacked. This practice would leave a few dozen olives on the tree to be picked by the poor or even left for the birds.
In such a way will Israel and Syria be left. As we know from Chronicles, King Hezekiah sent an invitation to the scattered peoples of Israel inviting them to come to Judah. Very many scorned the gospel invitation, but some few, the gleanings of Israel, responded and gladly accepted the invitation. The promise of their salvation is celebrated in verse seven. "In that day men will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel."
Here in this prophecy and Scriptural record of the aftermath of its accomplishment, we see that some things never ever change. Still today whenever the gospel invitation is given, there are some few who will respond: one by one. Yet, the vast majority will spurn the offer of grace and sometimes even chase the messenger out of town. Those who accept the offer of grace will put away the altars of their own religion and the pagan practices which formerly filled their time. And it is good that the elect put such things behind them, because in the remaining verses Isaiah describes the desolation of the worldly cities and religions.
In verse nine Isaiah promises that the former cities and temples will be abandoned and overgrown. How truly this description fits the former glories of many remote Greek and Roman temples or even the tragic Mayan pyramids. Like all these pagans the people of Israel had "forgotten God your Savior; [they] have not remembered the Rock, [their] fortress." That is why there is no profit in their crops and vines and tragically "no harvest in the day of disease and incurable pain." Now there is in that lack of profit and increased disease a lesson for our nation today.
For many years the local profits of farmer and shop keeper have more and more been transferred to corporate socialists, and even now our whole medical field is being put up for auction. When asked about the impact of the new medical plan on small businesses our First Mate in the White House plainly said she had more important things to worry about than undercapitalized businesses.
The profit of farm and shop are not the concern of our leaders and in time neither may be our health as well. There are more important matters at hand in Washington. There are many battles to be waged about the goals of the republic; the same battles are being fought around the earth as well. Certainly, the ragings described in verse twelve are warlike; yet in modern times economic struggles for market and profit have taken on the same aspects as our former military struggles. Even as these struggles for hearts, minds, souls and profits continue we may be assured that God has a plan and He has a purpose. Whenever He decides, the powers of this earth will collapse overnight. We may take comfort in that assurance even as we remember what He did with the former Communist governments in the last decade! He will do the same for the less violent socialist governments in His own time as well.
The principles for God's actions are clearly enunciated in Isaiah. Slowly, certainly God will punish the heathen nations around His people. As we see in Isaiah's visions, nation by nation God judged, condemned and destroyed, each time getting closer and closer to Israel and Judah. Last week it was Moab. This week we have noted that it was the turn of Damascus; next week we will consider Egypt and Cush.
For His own people God keeps turning up the temperature to get their attention to see if they will but listen and put their false religions away and turn to His own Son Jesus Christ. Will we in America listen in time? I wonder. One liberal media commentator is supposed to have wondered out loud recently if God is trying to tell us something through the earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and blizzards. If even a liberal can think that, ought we not be chastened to consider the same question? If we would not be blown about like common tumbleweed, we ought to take to heart the urgent invitation in verse seven. "In that day men will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel." May we, the remnant of America, turn our hearts and minds towards home, to our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Resources Used:
Ellis, Charles..
The Wells of Salvation.
Thomas, Derek..
Welwyn Commentery Series: God Delivers.
Young, Edward J.
The Book of Isaiah.
The Holy Bible.
New International Version (1984 Edition)
NOTE: I am not able to automatically
recommend any future editions.
Christ Covenant Reformed (Presbyterian Church in America) -
Box 13926 - Columbus, OH 43213
(c) 2001
30 January 1994
Permission granted to redistribute unedited versions with this notice.