Turning to a consideration of the second of the allies, Syria,
Isaiah continued:
"Soon shall Damascus cease to be a city
And shall be a ruinous heap.
Its cities shall be given up to flocks
Which shall lie down, with none to make them afraid.
Ephraim shall lose her bulwark,
And Damascus her sovereignty,
And the rest of Syria shall perish;
Like the Israelites shall they be,
Saith the Lord of Hosts."
These descriptions of what would happen to Syria and Israel, however, did not go unchallenged. The prophet was told that he had evidently forgotten that all the nations in Palestine and along the Mediterranean, except Judah, were parties to this coalition against Tiglath-Pileser. Isaiah laughed. With fine scorn he cried:
"Ah! The multitude of many peoples
That roar like the roaring of the seas!
And the rushing of nations,
That rush like the rushing of many waters!
But he shall rebuke them and they shall flee far off,
And shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind,
And like the whirling dust before the storm.
At eventide, behold, terror;
Before the morning, they are no more."
Then, as if addressing himself to all the petty northern countries that were trying to drag his own beloved fatherland into the whirlpool of disaster, Isaiah spoke as follows:
"Make an uproar,
And be broken in pieces;
And give ear, all ye of far countries;
Gird yourselves and be broken in pieces,
Take counsel together, and it shall be brought to naught;
Speak the word and it shall not stand;
For God is with us."
And in answer to the appeal of the people as to what ought to be done in this national crisis, Isaiah replied:
"Call ye not conspiracy all that this people calleth conspiracy.
What they fear do not fear, nor be filled with dread.
The Lord of Hosts, Him regard as the conspirator!
Let Him be your fear and your dread!"
CHAPTER V.
The Survival of the Fittest.