Isaiah 19-20 "The Burden Against Egypt"
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Chapter 19 The burden against Egypt. Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud, And will come into Egypt; The idols of Egypt will totter at His presence, And the heart of Egypt will melt in its midst. NKJV It is interesting to know that idolatry has long since disappeared from the land, though the people dwell in the ignorance and superstition of the Moslem religion. I have visited Egypt twice, and there is no darkness like the darkness in the land of Egypt. Isaiah’s prophecy has been fulfilled. McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Prophets (Isaiah 1-35) (electronic ed., Vol. 22, p. 145). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. 2 “I will set Egyptians against Egyptians; Everyone will fight against his brother, And everyone against his neighbor, City against city, kingdom against kingdom. NKJV “Not many years after this time it was divided into twelve several kingdoms, between whom there were many and cruel wars, as is related by the historians of those times.” Matthew Poole 3 The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst; I will destroy their counsel, And they will consult the idols and the charmers, The mediums and the sorcerers. NKJV 4 And the Egyptians I will give Into the hand of a cruel master, And a fierce king will rule over them,” Says the Lord, the LORD of hosts. NKJV 5 The waters will fail from the sea, And the river will be wasted and dried up. 6 The rivers will turn foul; The brooks of defense will be emptied and dried up; The reeds and rushes will wither. 7 The papyrus reeds by the River, by the mouth of the River, And everything sown by the River, Will wither, be driven away, and be no more. 8 The fishermen also will mourn; All those will lament who cast hooks into the River, And they will languish who spread nets on the waters. 9 Moreover those who work in fine flax And those who weave fine fabric will be ashamed; 10 And its foundations will be broken. All who make wages will be troubled of soul. NKJV "The Aswan Dam has slowed down the Nile. Six hundred miles downriver the sandbars have stopped building up on the delta. The Mediterranean is flooding the delta and one million fertile acres have disappeared under saltwater. Below the dam, snails carry the blood flukes of schistosomiasis. And thousands of men and women and children are going to die of this painful, cruel disease. The Nile no longer carries its nutrient-rich sediments out to sea, and the fish are disappearing and the fishing families are moving to the slums of Cairo and Alexandria. That source of food is disappearing. Also, oxygen from the loss of the greenery and water." Congressional record, S3448 11 Surely the princes of Zoan are fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give foolish counsel. How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise, The son of ancient kings?” NKJV 12 Where are they? Where are your wise men? Let them tell you now, And let them know what the LORD of hosts has purposed against Egypt. NKJV 13 The princes of Zoan have become fools; The princes of Noph are deceived; They have also deluded Egypt, Those who are the mainstay of its tribes. 14 The LORD has mingled a perverse spirit in her midst; And they have caused Egypt to err in all her work, As a drunken man staggers in his vomit. 15 Neither will there be any work for Egypt, Which the head or tail, Palm branch or bulrush, may do. NKJV 16 In that day Egypt will be like women, and will be afraid and fear because of the waving of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which He waves over it. 17 And the land of Judah will be a terror to Egypt; everyone who makes mention of it will be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts which He has determined against it. NKJV 18 In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear by the LORD of hosts; one will be called the City of Destruction. NKJV 19 In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at its border. 20 And it will be for a sign and for a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the LORD because of the oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Mighty One, and He will deliver them. NKJV 21 Then the LORD will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day, and will make sacrifice and offering; yes, they will make a vow to the LORD and perform it. 22 And the LORD will strike Egypt, He will strike and heal it; they will return to the LORD, and He will be entreated by them and heal them. NKJV 23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians. NKJV “In Isaiah’s day, Assyria was the one power feared by every little nation in the Fertile Crescent. The calculated brutality of the Assyrians probably made them more of an object of general hatred than any other nation of antiquity. The Egyptians, Babylonians, and Persians were all capable of inhuman acts, but the Assyrian record for callous cruelty is difficult to parallel.” Geoffrey Grogan 24 In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing in the midst of the land, 25 whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.” NKJV “Who, standing amid the terrors of the plagues, could ever have supposed that Egypt would be addressed as ‘my people’? Who could have thought that Assyria, the tyrant persecutor, would ever be called ‘the work of my hands’? Yet these are the trophies and triumphs of divine grace.” Meyer This prophecy seems to be pointing to an eschatological event when Jews and Muslims throughout the Middle East will join God’s people in worshiping Yahweh as one community of believers. This will finally solve the Middle East crisis and bring real lasting peace among these nations. Smith, G. V. (2007). Isaiah 1–39. (E. R. Clendenen, Ed.) (p. 360). Nashville: B & H Publishing Group. Daniel 11 41He will also invade the Beautiful Land. Many countries will fall, but Edom, Moab and the leaders of Ammon will be delivered from his hand. 42He will extend his power over many countries; Egypt will not escape. 43He will gain control of the treasures of gold and silver and all the riches of Egypt, with the Libyans and Nubians in submission. NIV 1. God’s grace often comes to the very worst of men. 2. God’s grace sends a Savior. 3. Grace changes men’s language. 4. God’s grace sets men on holy service. 5. God’s grace teaches men to pray. 6. God’s grace instructs men. 7. God’s grace changes the relations of men to each other. 8. God’s grace makes men to be blessed, and to be a blessing to others. C.H. Spurgeon, The Fruits of Grace Chapter 20 In the year that Tartan came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and took it, NKJV 2 at the same time the LORD spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and remove the sackcloth from your body, and take your sandals off your feet.” And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. NKJV “God would sometimes have his prophets to add to their word a visible sign, to awaken people’s minds to a more serious consideration of the matters proposed to them.” Matthew Poole 3 Then the LORD said, “Just as My servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder against Egypt and Ethiopia, 4 so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians as prisoners and the Ethiopians as captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. 5 Then they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation and Egypt their glory. 6 And the inhabitant of this territory will say in that day, ‘Surely such is our expectation, wherever we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria; and how shall we escape?’ ” NKJV “There is no place of security for the people of God, other than that to be found in the rule of God. All expectation not centered in God, is doomed to disappointment and discomfiture.” Morgan Psalm 118 8It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. 9It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes. NKJV Titus 3 4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.