Isaiah 17: A Prophetic View of Damascus’ Destruction in the End Times

The Hebrew prophet Isaiah who prophesied that Damascus would become a ruinous heap is best known for predicting the coming of the Messiah (Jesus Christ) to save mankind from sin. Isaiah lived about 700 years BEFORE Jesus’ first coming. Many scholars believe that Isaiah came from a royal family due to his access to kings. The name Isaiah means “The Lord saves”.

Isaiah prophesied during a very tumultuous time in Israel’s history. Because of rampant idolatry, the northern kingdom of Israel was on the verge of collapse to the mighty nation of Assyria (Much of Iran/ northern Iraq/parts of Turkey). The southern kingdom of Judah escaped Assyria’s mighty grasp but would later be destroyed by Babylon.

Isaiah prophesied judgement, redemption, and restoration. Isaiah not only prophesied about what was taking place in his day, he prophesied about the FINAL judgement against all nations that defy God. The Bible calls this time of FINAL judgement the “Day of the Lord”.

In the New Testament, this prophetic “day” is associated with the second coming of Jesus Christ. Although Israel will “taste” of the Day of the Lord (God’s judgement), the nations/people who are not in Covenant with YHWH will bear its full power.

The Lord has placed Isaiah 17 on my heart. In this prophecy, Isaiah predicts that Damascus will become a ruinous heap. Isaiah 17 is an oracle against Damascus, the capital of Syria (ancient Aram). Some scholars believe this prophecy was fulfilled in 732BC when Assyria conquered Aram. However, there are elements to this prophecy that have not yet been fulfilled.

Damascus Syria is considered to be the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world. Although Damascus was attacked by Assyria in 732BC, it was never destroyed to the point where it was no longer a functioning city, which is what is prophesied in Isaiah 17.

We see an example of this same kind of language (utter and complete destruction) in Matthew 24, when Jesus warned His disciples that the Jewish Temple would be destroyed. Jesus’ prophecy about the Jewish Temple was fulfilled in 70AD when the powerful Roman army burned it to the ground.

Matthew 24:1: Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. ² And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

In Matthew 24, Jesus was telling the disciples that the Jewish Temple would become a heap of ruins where nothing would be left standing. Absolutely nothing. This is the same language that Isaiah used to describe the complete and utter destruction of Damascus.

Although we have seen much destruction in the city of Damascus over the past few decades, we have never seen anything like this – a RUINOUS HEAP.

Isaiah 17: 1: The pronouncement concerning Damascus:

“Behold, Damascus is about to cease from being a city
And will become a ruinous heap.
² The cities of Aroer are abandoned;
They will be for herds (tfj: animals) to lie down in,
And there will be no one to frighten them. (tfj: No people living there to frighten the animals)

Isaiah 17 does not mince words. Immediately out of the gate we discover that when the city of Damascus falls under its final judgement, it will be destroyed so completely that it will no longer be a functioning city. It will be a heap of ruins where only animals’ dwell. No humans will be dwelling in Damascus after this judgement happens.

When this judgement falls, it will happen quickly, possibly over a single night.

Isaiah 17:14: At evening time, behold, there is terror!
Before morning they are gone.
This will be the fate of those who plunder us
And the lot of those who pillage us.

The Assyrian attack in 732BC was a foreshadowing of the final end-time judgement of Damascus.

At that time (732BC), Damascus had made an alliance with the northern Kingdom of Israel (aka Samaria) to ATTACK Jerusalem (Judah) (southern kingdom of Israel). In effect, this was a civil war between the northern and southern tribes of Israel.

In Isaiah 8, God comforted Judah (southern tribes of Israel) by reminding them that He would not allow the evil plot between Damascus and the northern tribes of Israel to succeed.

Isaiah 8:9: “Be broken, you peoples, and be shattered;
And listen, all remote places of the earth.
Get ready, yet be shattered;
Get ready, yet be shattered.
¹⁰ Devise a plan, but it will fail;
State a proposal, but it will not stand,
For God is with us.”

How would God defend the southern tribes of Israel against this unholy alliance?

He would raise up the mighty ASSYRIAN ARMY to overflow Damascus AND the northern tribes of Israel. Damascus would be destroyed. The northern tribes of Israel would be SEVERELY CHASTISED and exiled into Assyria. This is exactly what happened.

Isaiah 17: 4: “In that day it shall come to pass
That the glory of Jacob (tfj: Israel) will wane,
And the fatness of his flesh grow lean.
⁵ It shall be as when the harvester gathers the grain,
And reaps the heads with his arm;

Yet gleaning grapes will be left in it,
Like the shaking of an olive tree, 🫒
Two or three olives at the top of the uppermost bough,
Four or five in its most fruitful branches,”
Says the Lord God of Israel.

In 732BC Damascus experienced much destruction when ASSYRIA ATTACKED them and much of northern Israel (the northern tribes) was eventually exiled into Assyria. Some Israelites did remain in the land. They mixed (intermarried) with the pagan Assyrians who moved into northern Israel. This mixed group became known as the “Samaritans” from the New Testament. Isaiah 17 prophesied that very few from the northern tribes of Israel would remain in the land …“Yet gleaning grapes (symbolic of a small number of people) will be left“.

In 732BC, Damascus was destroyed, but it did not cease from being a city where only animals could dwell as prophesied in Isaiah 17. The prophecy of Damascus becoming a ruinous heap is yet to be fulfilled.

The prophet Amos also prophesied of the coming destruction of not only Damascus, but Gaza, and many other neighboring countries of Israel. Since October 7, 2023, there has been a lot of destruction in Gaza.

Amos 1:6: This is what the Lord says:
“For three offenses of Gaza, and for four,
I will not revoke its punishment,
Because they led into exile an entire population
To turn them over to Edom.
⁷ So I will send fire🔥 on the wall of Gaza
And it will consume her citadels.

Amos 1:3; This is what the Lord says:
“For three offenses of Damascus, and for four,
I will not revoke its punishment,
Because they threshed Gilead with iron sledges.

⁴ So I will send fire 🔥upon the house of Hazael,
And it will consume the citadels of Ben-hadad.

⁵ I will also break the gate bar of Damascus,
And eliminate every inhabitant from the Valley of Aven,
As well as him who holds the scepter, from Beth-eden;
So the people of Aram will be exiled to Kir,”
Says the Lord.

Jeremiah 49:23-27 confirms God’s future judgement of Damascus. Although many scholars believe these prophecies were fulfilled when Assyria destroyed Damascus in 732BC, Jeremiah 49:23-27, written LONG AFTER the Assyrian army destroyed DAMASCUS, warned that God would AGAIN judge Damascus.

Jeremiah 49:23: Concerning Damascus:
“Hamath and Arpad are put to shame,
For they have heard bad news;
They despair.
There is anxiety at the sea,
It cannot be calmed.

²⁴ Damascus has become helpless;
She has turned away to flee,
And panic has gripped her;
Distress and labor pains have seized her
Like a woman in childbirth.
²⁵ How the city of praise has not been deserted,
The town of My joy!

²⁶ Therefore, her young men will fall in her streets,
And all the men of war will perish on that day,” declares the Lord of armies.
²⁷ “I will set fire 🔥to the wall of Damascus,
And it will devour the fortified palace of Ben-hadad.”

In 732BC, the kingdom of Damascus was destroyed by Assyria, BUT the city revived. It is to the latter that Jeremiah prophesied.

The TOTAL DESTRUCTION of DAMASCUS as a RUINOUS HEAP is yet to come. The partial destruction of Damascus in 732BC was a FORESHADOWING of what is prophesied to happen “on that day” (THE DAY OF THE LORD).

If the destruction of Damascus by Assyria in 732BC is a foreshadowing or model of what is to come, then what might we expect? As of today, April 19, 2024, we already see Gaza being torn apart. What will happen to Damascus?

IF we follow a similar pattern to 732BC, then we may just see the total annihilation of Damascus, causing it to become an uninhabitable ruinous heap. At the same time, we may see the SEVERE CHASTISEMENT of both the northern and southern tribes of Israel.

We know that the majority of Jewish people (southern tribes) live in the modern state of Israel now, but where are the lost ten (northern) tribes of Israel today?” Where is the tribe of Ephraim today? Where is the tribe of Manasseh? Many people believe that much of Ephraim settled in the United Kingdom and that much of Manasseh is in the United States. This is why these two nations have been so richly blessed.

• Las Lunas stone, thought to have been in the US around the time of King Solomon!

Research indicates that those who descended from Jacob are among the world’s wealthiest nations and occupy the world’s choicest land. ...but what IF in the LAST DAYS these nations who absorbed much of the lost ten tribes of Israel were to make a “secret” alliance with “Damascus” (Syria/Hezbollah/Iranian proxies) to go up against Judah (modern state of Israel, pushing a “Two State solution”)?

Could we see a repeat of what happened in 732BC – but worse – the final fulfillment of Isaiah 17?

Could we see Damascus, Syria become a ruinous heap? Could we see the nations where the “northern tribes” of Israel were exiled (CHRISTIAN NATIONS) become “lean” (judgement/chastisement) – LIKE THE SHAKING OF AN OLIVE TREE? 🫒

Why would God allow HIS PEOPLE to be shaken🫒? Isaiah 17 tells us why…

Isaiah 17:10: Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation, ✝️
And have not been mindful of the Rock of your stronghold, ✝️
Therefore you will plant pleasant plants
And set out foreign seedlings; (tfj: IDOLATRY)

¹¹ In the day you will make your plant to grow, (tfj: planting seeds of IDOLATRY/false gods)
And in the morning you will make your seed (tfj: IDOLATRY) to flourish;
But the harvest (tfj: of IDOLATRY) will be a heap of ruins
In the day of grief and desperate sorrow.

Any nation that once KNEW GOD (YHWH/JESUS CHRIST) and FORGOT HIM in favor of IDOLS (false “gods”), will find themselves severely CHASTISED. Any nation that curses the Jewish people (Judah) will also find themselves smack in the middle of judgement. (Genesis 12:3)

Isaiah 17 describes this end-times judgement…

Isaiah 17: 7: In that day a man will look to his Maker,
And his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel. (tfj: JESUS CHRIST is the Holy One of Israel) ✝️
⁸ He will not look to the altars,
The work of his hands;
He will not respect what his fingers have made,
Nor the wooden images nor the incense altars.

⁹ In that day his strong cities will be as a forsaken bough
And an uppermost branch,
Which they left because of the children of Israel;
And there will be desolation.

The phrase “IN THAT DAY” is seen all across the Old and New Testaments and usually refers to the DAY OF THE LORD (God’s final judgement on an unbelieving world) and the RETURN OF JESUS CHRIST.

The return to the God of Israel✝️🕊️ will be brought about by a bitter experience of the results of idolatry. The eyes of God’s people will turn in the hour of their calamity to the Holy One of Israel – Jesus Christ✝️. Man will no longer look to the work of his own hands to “save him”.

Why will man no longer look to his own “altars” or the things he has made for “salvation”? Because these things left him DESOLATE. They did not help. In-fact, as idols they hastened the day of his destruction. His strong cities will be as a “forsaken bough”. All his money, his plans, his vaccines, his drugs, his “knowledge”, his technology, his weapons, his own “power” did NOT help.

In “that day” of JUDGEMENT, there will be much destruction. Only a remnant will remain. 🍇

Isaiah 17:12: Woe to the multitude of many people
Who make a noise like the roar of the seas,
And to the rushing of nations
That make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters! 🌊
¹³ The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters; 🌊

But God will rebuke them and they will flee far away,
And be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind,
Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.

¹⁴ Then behold, at eventide, trouble!
And before the morning, he is no more.
This is the portion of those who plunder us,
And the lot of those who rob us.

Revelation 12:¹³ Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman (tfj: ISRAEL) who gave birth to the male Child. (tfj: JESUS CHRIST)✝️¹⁴ But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, 🦅that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time (tfj: THREE AND A HALF YEARS), from the presence of the serpent. 🐍😈

¹⁵ So the serpent🐍😈 spewed “water” out of his mouth like a flood 🌊after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 🌊

¹⁶ But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood🌊 which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 

Isaiah, as a watchman on the wall, saw the DAY OF THE LORD and the great multitudes of people invading the nation(s) like the rushing of mighty, waters🌊, which denotes the fury and force with which they come, threatening to bear down all before them as an inundation of water (flood) 🌊does.

And yet, we see what happens to them. God will rebuke them, and they will flee far away. The earth will SWALLOW UP the FLOOD! 🌊

What was will be again, there is nothing new under the sun. (Ecc. 1:9)

This is exactly what the first President of the United States, George Washington, saw in his famous vision.

God will allow His people (Judah/Jews and Ephraim/Christians) to be SHAKEN by enemy nations for the purpose of REPENTANCE and turning them back to God, but the enemies of God will bear the full force of God’s wrath when it is poured out. 🔥🔥🔥

Is the fulfillment of Isaiah 17 and the complete destruction of Damascus, Syria imminent? Is JUDGEMENT coming to the State of Israel AND the UNITED STATES for the purpose of CHASTENING the people of God?

NOW is the time to turn to Jesus Christ✝️ – BEFORE the GREAT AND TERRIBLE DAY OF THE LORD!!!

How to be saved – Life in a Dying World

Damascus Destruction and World War Three ~by Veronika West (hiskingdomprophecy.com)