Isa 19
Notes
Transcript
An Oracle concerning Egypt
An Oracle concerning Egypt
We turn our attention to a new land that God is speaking about here in our text… the land of Egypt.
Egypt is no stranger to the people of Israel as a greater whole. The were there for over 400 years from the days of Joseph to the rise of Moses by God’s hand to deliver his people.
They have been a strong and powerful nation at times, bringing a great deal of influence upon the Kingdoms of that region.
They have had good influences, but the majority they have effected the world negatively. They are a superpower of sorts, but one truth we cannot forget is this… God is the sovereign ruler over all the earth.
But here in this text, we see the initial ruin of Egypt as well as God’s miraculous deliverance of Egypt in the future.
As we open up the test we know there is a civil war happening in Egypt and followed by the rule of a cruel master.
So lets open the text and see what is happening in Egypt at the time of Israel’s division.
1 An oracle concerning Egypt.
Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud
and comes to Egypt;
and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence,
and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.
2 And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians,
and they will fight, each against another
and each against his neighbor,
city against city, kingdom against kingdom;
3 and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out,
and I will confound their counsel;
and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers,
and the mediums and the necromancers;
4 and I will give over the Egyptians
into the hand of a hard master,
and a fierce king will rule over them,
declares the Lord God of hosts.
This oracle or word against Egypt begins with the phrase; Behold the Lord is riding on a swift cloud. It is meant to draw attention to the fact that the Lord is making a swift appearance to Egypt.
And what is God first attack upon? The false gods of Egypt will tremble in the presence of the Lord. The idols really amount to nothing, for these false gods are not able to stand in front of the sovereign God of the universe.
And the words says the Egyptian people will be disoriented, weak and without any power in the presence of God.
In truth who can stand before God?
When you look at verse 2 you see what amounts to a civil war. The political situation is so bad that people will oppose each other. The unrest will be so bad, that any hope of being a great nation seems to falter away. What we know historically is that just before 711 bc, there are 4 different dynasties that were struggling to be on top. The heart of the people is lost…verse 3
Their dreams of greatness as a nation will be lost, God says their wisdom will be confounded, so much so that they will seek fortunetellers for direction.
But sadly nothing will help them. God will stop the child by raising up a strong overlord or hard master. We do not know who this hard master is, but we know from last week that the Ethiopian king did rule them
Now there is a time when Judah hoped to maybe have an alliance with Egypt to have an upper hand with the Assyrians, but Isaiah says that God is canceling their plans, their would be no help from Egypt.
Now moving on...
5 And the waters of the sea will be dried up,
and the river will be dry and parched,
6 and its canals will become foul,
and the branches of Egypt’s Nile will diminish and dry up,
reeds and rushes will rot away.
7 There will be bare places by the Nile,
on the brink of the Nile,
and all that is sown by the Nile will be parched,
will be driven away, and will be no more.
8 The fishermen will mourn and lament,
all who cast a hook in the Nile;
and they will languish
who spread nets on the water.
9 The workers in combed flax will be in despair,
and the weavers of white cotton.
10 Those who are the pillars of the land will be crushed,
and all who work for pay will be grieved.
So this second paragraph focuses on the a great drought that will dry up the Nile and ruin the Egyptian way of life, a great deal of the local economy would be provided by the areas that benefit from the water ways.
Consider Egypt, it is mostly a desert area but there are very fertile and lush lands that are along the edges of the Nile river. And Egyptian life depends on the yearly flooding of the Nile river to provide fresh soil for the fields and water for the crops.
A dry period is devastating, without flowing water the irrigation canals will stink with stagnant water and dead fish.
The plants will dry up at well. All those cash crops that the people depended upon will be gone and the people will be devastated.
Of course, as the water drys up, not only the water ways will be gone but so the fish as well verse 8.
Both of these losses will lead to a economic down fall, despair will be on the hearts of the people. With no water there is no flax, no cloths and no work or income and no want to make a living.
All of this leads to despair, to morning and pain for the people near and far in the land. The land is without order and the people have no hope.
Isaiah is not weeping over the events, He merely exposes what God is doing in the land and its suffering.
Now lets move on verses 11-15
11 The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish;
the wisest counselors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
“I am a son of the wise,
a son of ancient kings”?
12 Where then are your wise men?
Let them tell you
that they might know what the Lord of hosts has purposed against Egypt.
13 The princes of Zoan have become fools,
and the princes of Memphis are deluded;
those who are the cornerstones of her tribes
have made Egypt stagger.
14 The Lord has mingled within her a spirit of confusion,
and they will make Egypt stagger in all its deeds,
as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
15 And there will be nothing for Egypt
that head or tail, palm branch or reed, may do.
Here are you open the passage and see the ridicule that is extended to the people there in Egypt. As you open the first couple of verses in this section you see God identify the wisest of people who are tthought to be stupid.
They should have wisdom but do not… The princes, the Kings and the King counselors and other leaders should have it, but it is missing from them.
They ask the sages to reveal God’s plan for Egypt in the future.
These mediums and idols are nothing my friends, they are thought to be the wisest and the foundation for interpreting the future, but sadly they are not in control.
Since they cannot know the mind or heart of God, they will lead the people astray, as verse 13 indicates...
Without access to God’s wisdom and plan, people are left confused and misguided. Fearing God and depending on his wisdom is where every wise person must start (Prov 1:7).
They live leading people astray, causes them to stagger or stumble.
How has this stupidity overcome Egypt? Well God uses the imagery of drunkenness in verse 14. The prophet pictures God has mixing or brewing a confusing concoction that makes the Egyptian wise men disoriented in their spirits.
They do not know which way to go as they stumble, like shameful drunks they bounce around and fall down. The prophet even says they wind up even in their own vomit
And as you look at the last verse in this section. Verse 15..
The picture is a harsh picture for Egypt. Egypt will have no one to mourn for it when it stumbles and falls.
There would be nothing left to assist anyone else in the world, lets alone to assist Judah against Assyria.
Judah didn’t need Egypt, they needed God more. The same is true with mankind. We often look in every direction trying to find help when we should have looked up.
Now we come to the last section, verses 16-25. This is a future look that will take place after Egypt’s judgment. We see this signified by terms like this “ In that day...”
So lets begin....
Verses 16-17 Isa 19:16-17
16 In that day the Egyptians will be like women, and tremble with fear before the hand that the Lord of hosts shakes over them. 17 And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians. Everyone to whom it is mentioned will fear because of the purpose that the Lord of hosts has purposed against them.
So here is that term, “In that day” it is a future day… a promise that goes beyond anything mentioned in the first 15 verses.
The Egyptians are compared to fearful women who are shuddering together, rather than being strong faithful men and soldiers.
The reason for their feat is the “uplifted hand” of God. This hand is about to punish Egypt. As they stand or attempt to stand against God, they will finally realize that they are defenseless and helpless before God.
The mighty hand of God was about to strike.
The phrase that the land of Judah will bring fear to them is not a reference to a mighty army, a strong fighting force, no! It is the land of God, the place of his people and where the Temple is...
The same God who struck Pharoah is the same God is will bring fear to them on this day
The purpose of God is against them, the people and rulers of Egypt.
Now moving forward we look at verse 18 Isa 19:18
18 In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of hosts. One of these will be called the City of Destruction.
Again you see the phrase , “in that day” pointing to the future.
So we being with 5 cities that will be speaking Hebrew, the language of Canaan and swearing loyalty to God. Traditionally these were identified as Memphis (Noph), Migdol, Tahpanhes, Pathros ( from Jer 44;1) and the city of Destruction /Sun. where Jewish people live after the fall of Jerusalem.
The existence of a Jewish Temple at Elephantine in southern Egypt in the 5th century BC and at Leontopolis about 170BC is seen as a fulfillment of those prophecies
Now we no Isaiah is talking about the coverts among the Egyptians, not Jews living in Egypt.
Signs that they will have a true change of heart is that some of the Egyptians will speak Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament and will plead their allegiance to the Lord.
These 5 ciities, especially the cities where the sun god Re was worshipped in the past demonstrates that a large number of Egyptians were radically changed and turned to God.
Now verses 19-22 Isa 19:19-22
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 It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the Lord because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them. 21 And the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the Lord and perform them. 22 And the Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the Lord, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.
There is that phrase again, in that day. so again we are talking about a future time.
In a future time, where will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of Egypt.
So remember, why did the Egyptians turn to Israel’s God? How will they worship Him? The building of an Altar in the heart of Egypt is surprising …Since you might expect them to go to Jerusalem to worship..
But God allowed them, the Egyptians to build their own altar and pillar ( a memorial stone) to Him. The memorial stone is like a tabernacle altar when they would build these things along the way. It reminded them of the victory God won, etc...
I like verse 21… Just as the Lord made Himself known to them, they received Him, they followed and worshiped. They will also on that day, worship, sacrifice and give unto Him offerings. Also this is the testimony of their relationship with Him.
Now verse 22 is interesting… Isa 19:22
22 And the Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the Lord, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.
The striking of them with a plague is consistent with the earlier attempt for them to know that He is God.
And now he calls them to know him, He reveals himself and his power and instaed of hardening their hearts as Pharoah did, they will repent and know Him. He will bless them and heal them.
Now the last section Isa 19:23-25
23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.
24 In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”
In that day we find a religious and political unity that will eventually be characterized by 3 relationships, Egypt, Assyria and Israel.
Earlier ( 11:10-16) Isaiah predicted the return of a remnant of Israel from the 4 corners of the world and on a highway from Assyria and Egypt.
God also foresaw a time when people from all the nations would stream to Jerusalem t Worship and learn from Him.
These mortal enemies will be worshipping the same God together.
You do not expect to hear that Assyria, but all three of these nations and the world are His people and his blessing. He will pour His blessings on the whole earth not just one nation.
Consider this...
Isaiah 1–39 (2) God Will Save Egypt; Egyptians Will Worship God (19:16–25)
Knowing how the radical Muslims control much of Egypt, Iraq, and Iran today, this prophecy still seems an amazing promise of the miraculous transforming power of God’s presence and grace. The prayer of every believer should be that the people in their own nation would respond as the Egyptian’s will and consequently join the many nations that will worship at God’s throne some day in the future
That is the end....
