Isaiah 17:9
9 In that day [yowm] shall his
strong [ma`owz] cities [`iyr] be as a forsaken [`azab]
bough [choresh], and an uppermost branch ['amiyr], which they left [`azab]
because [paniym] of the children [ben] of Israel [Yisra'el]: and
there shall be desolation [shamamah]. KJV-Interlinear
9 In that day their strong cities
will be like forsaken places in the forest, Or like branches which they
abandoned before the sons of Israel; And the land will be a desolation. NASB
In that day, is a reference
to the time or period of Gods judgment.
It is a technical phrase reserved for a specific time in the future,
where God alone will be recognized as the one and only sovereign and judge over
man and history. It is used for the
closing events of history, after which man and Satan will cease to rule this
world.
The strong cities,
refer to the secular attitudes of people who look with pride at what they have
achieved in building cities, architecture, roads, industry and so forth. And where this pride of accomplishment will rule
the boastings and awe of people, then all they see is the greatness of their own
construction and ordered society, never once thinking of the larger masses of
the poor, upon which their cities were most likely built.
Because in case you
haven’t noticed, the world cannot function without the very wealthy and the
very poor. This is by Satan’s design,
not Gods. Therefore, the pride of the
haves is at the expense of the have-nots.
And then it will all be
gone.
The forsaken bough and
the uppermost branches, refer to that which is left behind when foresters go
through a forest, cutting down trees for logs and lumber. They first cut the tree down, then they
remove the limbs and the top most portion of the tree, then they cut or buck
the tree into varying lengths of logs and these logs are taken away to be used
for whatever construction purpose that they were cut down for.
The branches and the
tree tops are left behind to rot back into the forest ground. The branches have no names, no identity, and
no use, and they are forgotten for their uselessness, because they are
worthless.
And so the proud cities
of man and of history, will fade into the annals of the useless and the
worthless, to be forgotten and never thought of as though they never had any
importance ever.
And of course this
might be something that you should consider in the event that you believe that
all of this bible stuff is a waste of time, because you would be really
referring to your own value, or rather the lack of it.
Just because we do not
live in that end of days, time, does not make our indifference toward God and
doctrine, any less a violation of Gods mandates, and any less of a failure than
those future people will have.
Do what they do and you
will most certainly end up with nothing.
Or, you could do
something else, like dedicate yourself to a daily bible study.
