A Glimpse of Hope For The Future (Isaiah 17:12-14).
Having depicted the dark future for Israel, apart from the remnant, Isaiah now goes on to encourage all of God's people who will listen. No earthly power is all-powerful. They are subject to the Creator. So if His people are willing to trust in Him then just as He rebuked the waters at creation, so will He now rebuke the overflowing waters of the enemy so that they will quickly recede before Him.
Analysis.
a Ah, the uproar of many peoples, who roar like the roaring of the seas, and the rushing of nations, who rush like the rushing of mighty waters (Isaiah 17:12).
b The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters, but He will rebuke them and they will flee far off (Isaiah 17:13 a).
b And they will be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like the swirling dust before the storm (Isaiah 17:13 b).
a At eventide, behold, terror. Before the morning they are not. This is the portion of those who spoil us, and the lot of those who rob us (Isaiah 17:14).
In ‘a' the nations come on with a great rush, seemingly invincibly, but in the parallel terror strikes them, and before the morning they are not. This is the lot of those who attack God's people. It was illustrated most powerfully in what happened to Sennacherib's forces before Jerusalem (Isaiah 37:36). In ‘b' the nations will rush like the rushing of many waters, but He will rebuke them and they will flee far off, and thus in the parallel they will be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like the swirling dust before the storm.
‘Ah, the uproar of many peoples,
Who roar like the roaring of the seas,
And the rushing of nations,
Who rush like the rushing of mighty waters.
The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters,
But he will rebuke them and they will flee far off,
And will be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind,
And like the swirling dust before the storm.'
We have again here Isaiah's vision of many nations (compare Isaiah 13:4-5), a picture of the tumult and restlessness among such nations, and of their racing to overflow the people of God, only to be driven back by God's rebuke. At this they will disappear, fleeing as chaff before the wind. The picture is partly based on poetic conceptions of creation when the waters obeyed the voice of Yahweh (Psalms 104:7). Men always seek to overwhelm, but they are subject to Him just as the waters were, for He is the Creator.
That Assyria, which regularly gathered conquered nations under its banner, is largely in mind we cannot doubt. And Isaiah is thus assuring God's people that if they trust in Him God will finally rebuke them and they will flee, as indeed they did from Jerusalem in the siege of 701 BC (Isaiah 37:36). But he is deliberately keeping his thoughts general, for he wants them to know that this will not only be true of Assyria but of all who come against God's trusting people. If only they would trust Him this is what would happen.
And through history many nations would roar like a tempestuous sea, and rush in like the raging tide, seeking to swamp Israel, but always in the end they would have to retreat at God's rebuke. This was Isaiah's vision. God had not forgotten them. He would preserve His true people, His remnant, through all. And in the end those nations would disappear, blown like chaff across the mountains, like the swirling dust caught up in a storm, scattered and landing no one knows where (except God), while God's own people will be preserved.
‘At eventide, behold, terror.
Before the morning they are not.
This is the portion of those who spoil us,
And the lot of those who rob us.'
The question here is whether the reference to terror is in respect of Israel's terror in the face of their enemies, or is God's terror revealed against their adversaries. Isaiah knew that trust in God did not mean that there would be no trials. There would indeed be times which would arouse terror in many of their hearts, and His people would be spoiled and robbed. But just as evening, and gathering night, soon become morning, so would disappear the dark night of the enemies of God's people who spoiled and robbed them. Their portion is to disappear at the approach of light.
But Yahweh was also a Terror to their enemies, and this may have in mind especially what happened to the forces of Sennacherib as a picture of God's continually protecting hand over His people and revealing His terror against their enemies..
Note the inference that those who are evil always seek to do their work in the dark, they are children of darkness. But they disappear when daylight approaches for they are afraid of the light. And in the same way, however dark the night, God always finally brings morning for His people.
If Isaiah had the creation story in mind in his description of the rebuking of the waters, he may well also have it in mind here. The evening comes first, and then the morning, and by morning God's work is completed. (This would serve to confirm the parabolic nature of the description in Genesis of the cessation of His work). For a similar idea compare Psalms 30:5.
So having delivered his oracle Isaiah adds this appendix to encourage his hearers (‘us'). They need not be afraid, for the One Who brought light out of darkness, the light of the world, the controller of the raging seas, is with them (compare Psalms 46:5).