Isaiah

Isaiah 17: God turns eyes back to Himself

Begin in prayer

Before we read of cities emptied and a few olives left on a tree, let us seek the living God. Ask Him to turn our family from things we trust and lead us to Jesus for salvation.

They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,

Psalm 106:21

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us the folly of forgetting You and trusting what our hands have made. Help us see Christ and depend on His saving power. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Damascus will become a heap of ruins, and Ephraim will lose its fortress alongside Syria’s kingdom. Jacob’s glory will grow thin like a body wasting away. A few survivors will remain like olives left after a tree has been shaken. People will look to their Maker and turn their eyes from the altars their fingers made. They have forgotten the God of their salvation, so carefully tended plants will yield grief and no lasting harvest. Roaring nations will rush against God’s people, yet His rebuke will scatter them before morning.

As you read Isaiah 17, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God brings false refuges to ruin and turns His people’s eyes back to their Maker.

Damascus and Ephraim were the partners who threatened Judah in chapter 7. God now announces the collapse of the strength behind that alliance. Harvest and olive gathering describe a judgment that leaves only a few gleanings behind. Those survivors turn toward the Holy One whose help they had forgotten. Their handmade altars can no longer hold their gaze or give them hope. Planting and tending cannot secure a harvest when the God of salvation is neglected. The final rushing waters picture nations arriving with force and noise. God’s rebuke sends them away like chaff, the light husks wind blows from grain.

How does Isaiah 17 show us that God brings false refuges to ruin and turns His people’s eyes back to their Maker?

God humbles strength that seemed secure.

Jacob’s glory becomes thin, and the fortress disappears with Damascus’s kingdom. The harvest pictures how few people remain after judgment. Olives left on the branches show that God has preserved a remnant.

God draws eyes away from handmade idols.

The survivors look to their Maker, and they turn away from the altars and objects their fingers fashioned. Those objects could never supply the salvation they had forgotten. The Holy One becomes the One they respect and seek.

God can silence nations with His rebuke.

The attacking peoples sound like mighty waters. God scatters them like chaff and whirling dust before a storm. Evening terror ends before morning because the Lord controls the plunderers’ strength.

Memorise

In that day, people will look to their Maker, and their eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah 17:7

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what has captured my eyes while I forget the salvation found in Jesus?

Isaiah names the root of the ruin, “you have forgotten the God of your salvation.” Handmade altars have drawn eyes away from the living Maker. Yet God preserves people who will look to Him again.

Our forgetfulness and false worship also deserve His judgment. Jesus carried the sin of His people to the cross and suffered the penalty they deserved. He rose from death with their rescue accomplished. His sacrifice needs nothing added, and His finished work supplies all His people need for acceptance with God.

Turn from the things that draw your trust away from God and believe in Jesus. He gives forgiveness to every sinner who comes in faith. Lift your eyes from the refuge you have made to the Savior God has given. The Lord who scatters the nations can preserve those who trust Him.

Parent's note

Tell your children that the survivors turn from things their hands made to the God who made them. Explain the harvest pictures as judgment that leaves a remnant. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God that He preserves a remnant and turns eyes back to Himself, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

How can you believe, who receive glory from one another, and you don’t seek the glory that comes from the only God?

John 5:44

Lord, thank You that false refuges cannot defeat Your saving purpose. Please turn us from our idols and help us trust Jesus. Forgive our neglect of You through Him. As we face the coming week, help us look to You before seeking security elsewhere. Amen.