Verses nine through eleven of Isaiah chapter seventeen give more of a description of the judgment that will come upon Judah and Jerusalem and the effect it will have on the land and on the harvest. What beautiful, strong cities Judah had – bustling with activity and well inhabited. People were prosperous and their land was productive and beautiful. Sadly, these cities would lie desolate when judgment came, “In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation.” (verse nine)
Why would the cities be laid waste, destitute and full of gloominess? What would cause such a sorrowful state to come upon them? Verse ten gives the reason, “Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength…” The people had forgotten God. They did not remember that God was their rock and that in Him was their strength. They were becoming self-confident and trusting in their own abilities and strength. They had forgotten the words given to them by Moses many years before, “3) …I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. 4) He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.” (Deuteronomy 32:3,4)
The coming judgment would catch the people by surprise. Because they were strong and prosperous, they would go about their ways as if everything would always be the same. It did not occur to them to acknowledge God and seek Him and trust in Him for help. With false hope, they would plant their fields and their specialty plants and crops, “therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips: In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish.” (Isaiah 17:10b,11) Evidently, they had planted many things to beautify the land. They had gotten exotic plants (strange slips, plants from other lands) to set in their own land. With special care, these plants came up. Oh, how beautiful they were! They grew and flourished and made the place look so lovely. “…But the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.” (verse 11b) One day, when they least expected it, judgment would come, and the harvest would be nothing but a heap. All those things they had set their heart upon would come to naught and vanish away.
Why? Why would this happen to Judah and Jerusalem? Because they had forgotten the God of their salvation and did not remember that their strength and prosperity came from Him. God sent many prophets to warn them; but, they were so caught up in their own ways and their own doings and in trusting in their own understanding, that they thought they could take care of themselves. One day their wonderful little world would come collapsing down all around them, and they would realize that the arm of flesh could not sustain them. It would only fail.
What is the remedy for such desolation? What can prevent it? The remedy is to lean on God because His arm is sufficient. Wait on the Lord, trust in Him, and put confidence in Him. “O Lord, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.” (Isaiah 33:2)