The burden against Damascus. “Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, And it will be a ruinous heap. The cities of Aroer are forsaken; They will be for flocks Which lie down, and no one will make them afraid. Isaiah 17:1-2 NKJV
The news this past
week of the attack upon Iran’s nuclear facility at Natanz, and the alleged
involvement of Israel, has produced the expected speculation of how Iran will
respond. My thoughts on that subject are
well known, especially if you have followed my writing for any length of
time. When it comes to past conflicts
throughout history, it becomes evident that one tool seems to stand out as the
one employed by many nations in their relations with others and it is called the
principle of reciprocity, or simply put, responding in a similar or like manner. If you apply that principle to the situation which
exists between Iran and Israel right now, what would Iran choose to do?
That too, was a
question I considered at length when I first began my studies of the Isaiah
prophecy and the conclusion I came to was the result of searching for the
location of the “cities of Aroer” mentioned in the passage
above. Although some might disagree, I believe it is a very strong possibility
that, as you can see from the two maps above, what Isaiah may be telling us is
that Israel responds to an attack by Syria, or Iran's proxies based there, on
the nuclear research facility at Dimona. While this is certainly
speculation on my part, considering Israel's enemies have demonstrated the
range of their missiles with the targeting of Beersheba in the past, I
personally find it hard to believe it is coincidence that the location of Aroer
and Dimona appear to be one in the same.
The area mentioned in
the Isaiah 17 prophecy is described as "the cities of Aroer".
Unlike Damascus, Aroer no longer exists, so we are left to try to identify its
location by studying past references, and looking for archeological evidence
that might support a conclusion as to its whereabouts. Aroer is mentioned three
times in the Bible, and all occur in the Old Testament. Unfortunately for
us, however, each describes a different location, so we are left to examine
what the Bible says about each and see if we can decide which location Isaiah
is attempting to describe. The first mention of Aroer is found in the
book of Deuteronomy where it says;
“From Aroer, which is
on the bank of the River Arnon, and from the city that is in the ravine, as far
as Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us; the LORD our God delivered
all to us.” Deuteronomy 2:36 NKJV
This site has been
identified as being on the northern bank of the Arnon ravine located in the
modern country of Jordan, just east of the Dead Sea. The second mention
of Aroer we find is in the book of Joshua, where Moses is allotting land to the
twelve tribes and describing their boundaries. In this verse he
describes;
“Their territory was
Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the Ammonites as far
as Aroer, which is before Rabbah,” Joshua 13:25 NKJV
Joshua describes Aroer
as being "before Rabbah". This city or any ruins of it
have never been located, but by the description we know it would need to be
situated be some twenty miles or so north of Jerusalem. The final time
Aroer is mentioned before Isaiah’s prophecy is in the book of Samuel, where we
find it listed among a group of cities that David is sharing spoil with from
his defeat of the Amalekites. We find when we read that;
“those who were in
Aroer, those who were in Siphmoth, those who were in
Eshtemoa,” 1 Samuel 30:28 NKJV
This location has been
identified as being in the Negev, twelve miles southeast of Beer-sheba.
We also see from reading this passage that it was one of many cities located in
the same area which helped and supported David in his battle with the
Amalekites. Ruins of this city have been found, and you can even locate
it on a map if your Bible has maps in the back. Simply look for a map of
Israel in the time of David, and you should be able to see Aroer located in the
south of Israel, southwest of Beersheba. So we have three different locations
to choose from, and no help from the Isaiah passage to identify which one he is
referring to. Is it possible to find a way to know for sure exactly which
one of these locations is the one that Isaiah describes as being "forsaken"?
First of all, I think
it may be logical to assume that Isaiah is referring to the location southeast
of Beersheba for several reasons. The first is that if you compare the
dates that these three books were written, you find that the Samuel passage was
written closest to the time of Isaiah, as opposed to the others which were
written much earlier in Israel’s history. Also, if you look closely
at these three locations, you see one of them is in Jordan, not Israel.
Since Isaiah is describing a conflict between Syria and Israel, I think we can
dismiss the Jordan location as a possibility.
So we are left to
choose between two locations, one which has never been positively located, and
one which not only has been located, but may have some military significance as
well. If we look at a map of Israel during the time of the twelve tribes,
we can easily see where Aroer is located. Now compare that map with a map
of Israel today and you may be surprised to find that a very significant
complex has been constructed in the same approximate location of ancient Aroer,
and that is the nuclear research facility known as Dimona. Since Isaiah
is describing a future conflict between Israel and Syria, obviously there must
be a good reason that Israel chooses to completely destroy Damascus. Is
it possible that it is in response to an attack of some sort on Dimona?
“The cities of Aroer
are forsaken;”
The word "forsaken"
in the Hebrew is "azab" which means "to depart,
abandon, loose, relinquish, leave." The first thing that crossed
my mind when I read this was not what it does say, but what it doesn't
say. It doesn't say that Aroer is destroyed; only abandoned. It
also says “cities” which gives the impression of a very large
area being affected. Does this scenario seem so farfetched considering a
missile attack on Dimona might well produce a release of radiation which will
require the evacuation of the surrounding countryside leaving nothing but
animals to wander there? As the world already has seen, we only need to
look at the event which happened at Chernobyl in 1986 to see how this exact
situation could occur.
Only time will tell if
this is what Isaiah is telling us, but what we do know is that God has
prophesied that Damascus “will cease from being a city” as
a result of this attack by Israel's enemies. The rapid escalation of Iran’s
pursuit of nuclear weapons combined with Israel’s vow to never allow them to possess
them makes it appear as if this scenario is on the immediate
horizon. Blaming Israel for the attack
on their nuclear facility at Natanz could certainly be seen as a step by Iran towards using
reciprocity as justification for an attack on Israel’s facility at Dimona. Of
course, it follows that the question I get most often is will we, the Church,
be here to see it? I will address that
question next week.
If the thought of what is to come makes you uneasy, however, understand that God has provided a way of escape for those who choose to believe that He sent His Son to die for our sins. If you have never accepted that gift, I encourage you to do that today. Simply confess to Jesus you are a sinner in need of salvation, and ask Him to forgive you of your sins. Tell Him you believe that He died for your sins and that He has the power to give you eternal life because you believe.
If we confess our
sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. 1 John
1:9 NKJV
Keep watching.
