A message the Lord God revealed
to Isaiah the prophet:
And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean. And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.-Isaiah 17:4-5
Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the LORD God of Israel. At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel. And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images. 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. Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, 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: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.-Isaiah 17:6-11***Isaiah was an Israelite and a prophet of the Lord God. Damascus was the principal city of Syria. King David was the 2nd king to reign over all of the Israelites in the Promised Land, the land that the Lord God promised to give to Abraham (Abram the Hebrew), and to Abraham's son Isaac, and to Isaac's youngest fraternal twin son Jacob (Israel), and to their descendants. During David's reign, Syrians (Arameans) from Damascus arrived to help the enemies attacking David and his fellow Israelites. David and his army defeated the Syrians, and established posts in Damascus, and the Syrians were forced to regularly pay sums to David. Solomon, the 2nd child born to David and Bathsheba, was the 3rd king to reign over all of the Israelites. Rehoboam, the son born to Solomon and Naamah, was the 4th king to reign. After Rehoboam gave a specific answer, the Israelites split into 2 kingdoms, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of Solomon. Israel was the northern nation, Samaria was the final royal city and Jeroboam, the son born to Nebat and Zeruah, was the 1st king to reign. In the divinely inspired Scriptures of the Holy Bible, the northern nation of Israel is sometimes identified as Ephraim. Ephraim was the 2nd son born to Joseph and Asenath, and Joseph was the 1st son born to Jacob and his 2nd wife Rachel. However, Jacob proclaimed Ephraim and Ephraim's older brother Manasseh to be his own sons. The Ephraimites were a large and strong tribe in the northern nation of Israel. Judah was the nation in the south, Jerusalem was the royal city and Rehoboam was the 1st king to reign. Rehoboam's grandson Asa was the 3rd king to rule Judah. During Asa's reign, Asa paid Tabrimon's son Ben-hadad, ruler of Syria (Aram), to help him against the hostile activities of King Baasha, the 3rd king to rule the northern nation of Israel. Ben-hadad successfully attacked multiple cities in the northern nation. During the reign of King Ahab, the 7th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel, Ahab defeated the Syrians (Arameans) twice, according to the will of the Lord God. Afterwards, Ahab made a covenant with Ben-hadad that included Damascus. King Jehoash (Joash) was the 12th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel. Jehoash's son Jeroboam, the 13th king to reign, recaptured Damascus for the Israelites. Asa's great-grandson Ahaziah was the 6th king to rule Judah. Joash (Jehoash), the son born to Ahaziah and Zibiah, was 7th king to rule Judah. During the latter end of Joash's 40-year reign, the Syrians (Arameans) invaded Judah and Jerusalem, killed Judah's idol worshiping princes, sent the dead princes' valuables to Damascus, and left Joash physically ailing. Joash's great-great-grandson Ahaz was the 11th king to rule Judah. King Pekah was the 18th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel. During Ahaz's reign, Pekah killed many Israelites in Judah and took Israelites away before the Israelite captives were led back towards Judah. King Rezin and his army from Damascus killed many Israelites in Judah and took other Israelites to Damascus. Moreover, Pekah and Rezin conspired to conquer Ahaz and Jerusalem, and enemies from 2 other idol worshiping nations successfully invaded Judah. Ahaz sought help from King Tiglath-pileser, ruler of Assyria. Tiglath-pileser conquered Damascus, killed Rezin and began taking Israelites from the northern nation of Israel to Assyria. Meanwhile, Ahaz began worshiping the idols worshiped by the Syrians in Damascus. During the reign of King Hoshea, the 19th king to rule the northern nation of Israel, the Assyrians conquered Samaria, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. Isaiah began proclaiming the words of the Lord God to the Israelites during the reign of Ahaz's grandfather, King Uzziah (Azariah), the 9th king to rule Judah, and during the reign of Uzziah's son and Ahaz's father King Jotham, the 10th king to rule Judah, and during Ahaz's reign, and during the reign of Ahaz's son King Hezekiah, the 12th king to rule Judah. During the reign of Hezekiah's great-great-grandson King Jehoiakim (Eliakim), the 17th king to rule Judah, the Babylonians (Chaldeans) invaded Judah and Jerusalem and King Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of Babylon, began looting the temple of the Lord. During the reign of Jehoiakim's son King Jehoiachin (Jeconiah/Coniah), the 18th king to rule Judah, the Babylonians took more prominent Israelites, including Jehoiachin, his wives and his mother Nehushta, to Babylon. During the reign of Jehoiakim's brother King Zedekiah (Mattaniah), the 19th king to rule Judah, the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. Over 500 years after Israelites began returning to Judah and Jerusalem, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, was born. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, a virgin, and Jesus was born into the tribe of Judah, the tribe of David, Solomon, and all of Judah's kings, to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin. Judah was the 4th son born to Jacob and his 1st wife Leah. Approximately 30 years after Jesus was born to Joseph and Mary, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by Mary's relative John the Baptist, from the tribe of Jacob and Leah's 3rd born son Levi. Jesus having prayed, the heavens tearing open, the Holy Spirit descended as a dove and lit upon Jesus. The Lord God in heaven audibly acknowledged his Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert wilderness. Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights and was tempted. Afterwards, Jesus was tended to by angels, and Jesus went to the area near John the Baptist, and John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus to be the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world. In Galilee, Jesus told specific Israelite men to follow him, and Jesus began to preach, teach and perform miracles among the Israelites, the treasured and chosen people of the Lord God. Jesus taught that the Lord God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and Jesus taught of the prophecies Isaiah proclaimed to the Israelites. The inhabitants of Syria heard of Jesus the Christ, and many afflicted Syrians were bought to Jesus, and Jesus healed them.-Genesis 11:26-50:26, Exodus, Numbers 20:1-29, 27:12-23, Deuteronomy 31:1-30, 32:44-52, 34:1-12, Joshua 1:1-4:24, 23:1-24:33, Judges 1:1-2:23, 1 Samuel 1:1-3:21, 8:1-31:13, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles 1:1-34, 2:1-17, 3:1-24, 10:1-29:30, 2 Chronicles, Isaiah, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26
Reference Information:
burden = massa = doom
Reference Scripture:
And the children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,-Numbers 32:34
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