Isaiah 9:12
12 The Syrians ['Aram] before, [qedem] and the Philistines [Palishtiy] behind; ['achowr] and they
shall devour ['akal] Israel [Yisra'el] with open mouth. [peh] For
all this his anger ['aph] is not turned away, [shuwb] but his hand [yad] is
stretched out still. [natah]KJV-Interlinear
12 The
Arameans on the east and the Philistines on the west; And they devour Israel
with gaping jaws. In spite of all this His anger does not turn away, And His
hand is still stretched out. NASB
The Syrians were led by
Rezin, and despite an alliance between the Samarians and the Syrians, against
Judah, they were still enemies.
When evil allies itself
with evil, there is no such thing as honor between evil partners.
The Philistines were
peoples that lived to the south and west along the Mediterranean coast, but
too, Philistine is a name derived from the region known as Palestine which
means, The land of the Philistines. It
in general refers to all non-Hebrew people in the region.
Samaria had enemies
without on all sides as well as enemies within.
That was the case back in
Isaiah’s day, and it will be the case in the Tribulation. It is even the case
today as there are many nationalities living within every country in the Middle
East.
And here is the
importance of this verse. All of the enemies of Samaria, are in fact enemies of
God and truth, even though Samaria itself has turned against God and truth.
And their attitude is one
of ravenous hatred and hunger for the destruction of truth. There is no interest in what is right or
just, and when the flood gates are opened wide then the invading armies will
take at will with no concern for the victims.
But, God is still there. And even though justice has to be handed out,
Gods hand, or grace, is still extended to any and all who turn, legitimately
turn, to Him.
On the Cross, Jesus had
no one to turn to, and that was by design.
But in life, we all have God to turn to at any moment during our life.
