Isaiah 17:12-14

Isaiah 17:12-14

[12] Woe  to the multitude  of many  people,  which make a noise  of the seas;  and to the rushing  of nations,  that make a rushing like the rushing  of mighty  waters!  [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.

What does Isaiah 17:12-14 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Many warriors would descend on Israel like the waves of the sea, but they would quickly dissipate because the Lord would rebuke them. They would disappear like dust before a strong wind. The terror that would be so strong would vanish overnight. God also gave such a deliverance to Judah when Sennacherib the Assyrian attacked Jerusalem (cf. Isaiah 37:36), but that is not in view here. The fact that Isaiah did not mention a particular nation as the enemy, suggests that he had more in mind than just one foe, and a perspective that extended far beyond his own day. Many nations would punish Israel over the years.
What follows in chapter18 is an example of how the nations are subject to God, the point of Isaiah 17:12-14. It describes an eschatological defeat of superpowers-one of which would destroy Damascus and Ephraim in Isaiah"s day.