Isaiah 19 and 20
The Burden of Egypt
Isaiah 19—The Burden against Egypt
A. God strikes Egypt [19:1–17]
1. The LORD strikes Egypt by giving them over to civil war and submission to a cruel master (1–4)
a. The LORD rides on a swift cloud, and will come into Egypt: Egypt was one of the great powers of the ancient world, and being situated immediately to the south of Israel, it was an empire that Israel constantly had to reckon with. Many times Egypt had been the enemy of Israel, at times Egypt had been a refuge for Israel, and sometimes Egypt offered a tempting but ungodly alliance to Israel. In this chapter, the LORD presents both a prophecy against and for Egypt.
b. The idols of Egypt will totter at His presence: Egypt was known for its worship of many, many different gods. Through His hand of judgment, the LORD will “knock over” these many different gods.
i. “In Isaiah’s day there was no other nation on earth that was so much in the grip of superstition and filthy idolatry as Egypt. Apes, cats, frogs, crocodiles, lizards—everything was venerated by them.” (Bultema)
ii. At the time of the Exodus, when the Pharaoh of Egypt would not release the children of Israel from their captivity, the LORD also made the idols of Egypt to totter at His presence. He directed each of the plagues against a particular idol of Egypt. He knocked over the god Khnum, the guardian of the Nile, the god Hapi, the spirit of the Nile, and the god Osiris (who had the Nile as his bloodstream), when the waters were turned to blood. He knocked over the goddess Heqt, the frog-goddess of fertility, with the plague of frogs. He knocked over the goddess Hathor, a cow-like mother goddess, with the plague on livestock. He knocked over the god Imhotep, the god of medicine, with the plague of boils. He knocked over the god Nut, the sky goddess, with the plague of hail. He knocked over the whole system of Egyptian worship of their gods with loathsome lice and swarms of insects. He knocked over the god Seth, thought to be the protector of crops, with the plague of locusts. He knocked over the god Ra, thought to be the sun god, with the plague of darkness. He knocked over Osiris, the Egyptian god thought to be the giver of life, and the supposed deity of Pharaoh himself, with the plague against the firstborn. God made all the idols of Egypt to totter at His presence before, and Isaiah tells us He will do it again!
c. I will set Egyptians against Egyptians: Isaiah prophesies a coming civil war in Egypt, which was indirectly the hand of God’s judgment against them. “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.” (Poole)
d. I will destroy their counsel, and they will consult the idols and the charmers: When a nation is under the judgment of God, He often seems to “remove” sound counsel and wisdom from their leaders, and they turn to vain, pagan things for wisdom instead (idols and the charmers).
i. “Egypt was renowned for her class of wise men (1 Kings 4:30), but they would not be able to cope with this judgment from the Lord.” (Wolf)
e. The Egyptians I will give into the hand of a cruel master, and a fierce king will rule over them: God may judge a nation through their leadership in two ways. First, by removing competent leadership (I will destroy their counsel). Second, by giving them cruel and oppressive rulers. This is a curse and a judgment to any people!
2. The LORD strikes Egypt by drying up the Nile, thus wrecking their economy (5–10)
a. The river will be wasted and dried up: The Nile River was the key to Egypt’s agriculture and economy. For it to suffer a severe drought or lowering would have a devastating effect on the lives of Egyptians. God promises this will happen as a judgment against Egypt.
b. Therefore, the workers cry out: the fishermen also will mourn … they will languish who spread nets on the waters … those who weave fine fabric will be ashamed … all who make wages will be troubled of soul.
3. The LORD strikes Egypt by sending them with foolish counsel (11–15)
a. Surely the princes of Zoan are fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give foolish counsel: As the LORD strikes Egypt, not only does He give them cruel rulers, but He also gives those cruel rulers foolish counsel.
b. Where are your wise men? Let them tell you now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts has purposed against Egypt: Here, the LORD reminds us of what true wisdom is. It is knowing what the LORD of hosts has purposed. True wisdom isn’t knowing all kind of facts and plans and strategies. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10).
4. When God strikes Egypt, there will be terror among the people (16–17)
a. Because of the waving of the hand of the LORD of hosts: All the LORD will need to do is to wave His hand, and the people of Egypt will respond in terror, they will be afraid and fear.
b. The land of Judah will be a terror to Egypt: This is a switch! For thousands of years, the land of Judah lay submissively in the shadow of the great Egyptian Empire. The LORD prophesies a day when Judah will be more mighty than Egypt, and the land of Judah will be a terror to Egypt. Of course, this is fulfilled today, when Israel has military superiority over Egypt.
B. God saves Egypt [19:18–25]
1. Egypt turns to the LORD (18–22)
a. Five cities in the land of Egypt will become more identified with the LORD than with Egypt. A better translation of the phrase City of Destruction may be, City of the Sun, which was a well known Egyptian city known as Heliopolis.
b. Egypt will worship the LORD, with an altar to the LORD, and will memorialize God’s great works with a pillar to the LORD. When Egypt is brought under this oppression, they will cry to the LORD because of the oppressors, and then He will send them a Savior and a Mighty one, and He will deliver them.
i. “In the time of the Maccabees, the high priest Onias IV was forced to flee to Egypt, and there he built a temple that was similar to the one in Jerusalem. Some commentators relate the ‘altar’ of verse 19 to this structure.” (Wolf) This may relate to the City of the Sun prophecy, because the temple Onias IV built was in the province of Heliopolis.
ii. He will send them a Savior and a Mighty One: “The text says the Savior is a great one. Oh! I wanted a great Savior. A little Savior would not have answered my turn, for great sin wanted a great atonement, and my hard heart wanted great grace to soften it down.” (Spurgeon)
c. The Egyptians will know the LORD in that day: There did come to be a widespread knowledge of the LORD in Egypt. In the days of Jesus, more than a million Jews lived in Egypt. In the early days of Christianity, there was a strong, vital church in Egypt for more than 600 years.
i. This prophecy may have additional fulfillment during the Millennium, but it certainly has been fulfilled in history. In the fourth century, the great theologian Athanasius, wrote this from Egypt: “The thing is happening before our very eyes, here in Egypt; and thereby another prophecy is fulfilled, for at no other time have the Egyptians ceased from their false worship save when the Lord of all, riding as on a cloud, came down here in the body and brought the error of idols to nothing and won over everybody to Himself and through Himself to the Father.” (From On the Incarnation, cited by Grogan)
ii. The altar and sacrifice described most likely are fulfilled during the Millennium, when sacrifice will be allowed as a memorial of Jesus’ great work, but never as atonement. “For just as restored Israel will bring blood sacrifices unto the Lord to keep in remembrance of the all-sufficient blood sacrifice of Christ, so this may also take place in Egypt on that memorable day.” (Bultema)
d. He will strike and heal it: Whatever judgment God allowed, His desire was that people would repent and return to Him so they could be healed.
2. An amazing peace between three formerly hostile enemies (23–25)
a. Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria: God promises the day will come when there will be peace between Israel, Egypt, and Assyria. There will be trade and travel between the three nations (a highway from Egypt to Assyria). In that day, the LORD will bless all three nations.
b. Blessed is Egypt, My people, and Assyria, the work of My hands, and Israel is My inheritance: What an amazing work of redemption! This shows that God’s salvation will extend to the nations, and He will call forth His own even from Egypt and Assyria, not only from Israel.
i. It was powerful to say this of Egypt; it was almost unbelievable to say it about Assyria, the nation Jonah hated so much. “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.” (Grogan)
ii. “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)
iii. “But Israel is always his inheritance. There he finds rest and home, for the Lord’s portion is his people. Oh to know the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints!” (Meyer) We are also the Lord’s inheritance; in Ephesians 1:18, Paul prayed that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. God’s people are His riches and inheritance and glory!
c. From this passage regarding the conversion of Egypt, Spurgeon draws these points: 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. Grace makes even trouble a blessing to a man. 8. God’s grace changes the relations of men to each other. 9. God’s grace makes men to be blessed, and to be a blessing to others. (The Fruits of Grace)
Isaiah 20—Don’t Trust In Egypt!
A. Isaiah acts out a sign [20:1–2]
1. The political setting for the sign (1)
a. In the year that Tartan came to Ashdod: This describes the time when the army of Assyria conquered the Philistine city of Assyria. Isaiah’s sign is a response to this victory of Assyria.
i. This invasion has a concrete marking point in secular history: 711 B.C.
b. The Philistines were both neighbors and thorns to Israel, and the fall of Ashdod would certainly make Israel think, “We’re next. We need protection.”
2. The LORD gives Isaiah a sign to act out (2)
a. Remove the sackcloth from your body, and take your sandals off your feet: Before this, Isaiah wore an outer garment of sackcloth—clothes of mourning. Now, God tells him to remove his outer garment of sackcloth, and to take his sandals off.
i. “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.” (Poole)
b. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot: We shouldn’t think that Isaiah was nude, completely without clothing. Instead, he only wore the inner garment customary in that day—sort of like wearing only your underwear or a nightshirt. The message wasn’t nudity, it was complete poverty and humiliation. Isaiah dressed as the poorest and most destitute would dress.
i. “One need not imagine that Isaiah walked around stripped for the entire three years or that Ezekiel lay on his side for 390 days without getting up (Ezek. 4:9). Perhaps part of each day was used for those designated purposes.” (Wolf)
ii. “Not stark naked, but stripped as a prisoner, his mantle or upper garment cast off.” (Trapp)
iii. “Other prophets were asked to go through equally difficult experiences as signs to Israel. Hosea endured a trying marriage, and Ezekiel’s wife died as an illustration for the nation (Ezek. 24:16–24).” (Wolf)
B. The meaning of the sign [20:3–6]
1. The sign announces the judgment and humiliation of Egypt (3–4)
a. My servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years as a sign and wonder against Egypt: Under the command of the LORD, Isaiah dressed in this poor and humble way for three years. It was a message against Egypt, because the king of Assyria would lead away the Egyptians as prisoners.
b. As the Assyrians took the Egyptians captive, they would humiliate them by stripping them and leading them away as prisoners. This would all be to the shame of Egypt.
i. “So dealeth the devil with all his wretched captives, whom he driveth away hellward, naked a barefoot with their buttocks uncovered, the shame of their nakedness exposed to public view for want of the white raiment of Christ’s righteousness that they might be clothed.” (Trapp)
2. The sign’s message to Judah (5–6)
a. They shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation and Egypt their glory: When God judges Ethiopia and Egypt, it will be evident how foolish it was for Judah to look to them for protection against Assyria.
i. Whenever our expectation is in something wrong, or our glory is in something wrong, the LORD will find a way to make those things disappoint us. Judah set their expectation on Ethiopia, and looked to Egypt for glory, but now they are left afraid and ashamed.
ii. “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 centred in God, is doomed to disappointment and discomfiture.” (Morgan)
b. How shall we escape? The LORD allowed Judah to be backed into a corner, caught between two mighty Empires (Egypt and Assyria), without being able to trust either one. There was no escape—except in the LORD.
i. Because of the glorious promise of revival and restoration among Egypt in Isaiah 19, Judah might have been even more tempted to say, “Well, we can trust in Egypt. They are all going to come to the LORD someday anyway!” But with the dramatic three-year sign, Isaiah shows Judah how vain it was to make Egypt their expectation or glory.