Isaiah 17:1 The oracle concerning Damascus. “Behold, Damascus is about to be removed from being a city and will become a fallen ruin.”
Isaiah 17:9 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.
Two examples are used by Isaiah to prove the point. The land of Syria and Damascus will be desolated.
Isaiah 17:11b but the harvest will be a heap in a day of sickliness and incurable pain.
There will be an incurable sickness. It is terminal. The word used for pain in the Hebrew is a term for both physical and mental pain.
A recent report has been filed by the scientific journal PLOS. The focus is the spreading of the tropical disease Cutaneous Leishmaniasis. It is also known as “Aleppo Evil”. Aleppo is in Syria. The disease is spreading throughout the Middle East as a result of war, poor sanitation, lack of clean water, limited hospitals and medical resources, lack of clean food, and poor hygiene.
Cutaneous Leishmaniasis is carried by sand flies. The flies bite and transmit a parasite in the blood stream. The disease can result in horrible open sores, scarring skin lesions, nodules, boils, or papules. Skin is turned deep purple and black. Social and psychological effects are considerations.
Up to 5.5 million refugees have migrated out of Syria. They have gone to Turkey, Europe, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen. The disease is spreading throughout populations of immigrants. Hundreds of thousands are estimated to be carrying the parasite. The disease can take 2-6 months to incubate before symptoms are exhibited. The disease is not fatal.
Prior to the Syrian civil war and the spread of ISIS, the parasite was not an issue.
http://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pntd.0004545
Isaiah 17:12 Alas, the uproar of many peoples who roar like the roaring of the seas, and the rumbling of nations who rush on like the rumbling of mighty waters!
The verse starts with a comment in the original Hebrew that should gain attention. “Hey, you are as good as dead!” Others have taken this to be a funeral cry. Either way, our translators have obviously softened this. This point is emphasized twice in the verse. Essentially God is telling them they can make all the noise they want, they are still going down. The nations can shout louder and longer, but it does not matter.
At this point, many people from many nations are now involved. At least 14 nations have their air force involved over the skies of Syria as June 2016. People are acting like rushing and rumbling waters.
https://paulthepoke.com/2015/12/30/trend-update-burden-of-damascus-december-2015/
The burden continues. Are we watching the Burden of Damascus unfold in June 2016?
