PM Oct 3rd Isa 19

October 3^rd

Isaiah, 19

1: The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. 2: And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. 3: And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards. 4: And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts. 5: And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up. 6: And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither. 7: The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more. 8: The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish. 9: Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, shall be confounded. 10: And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish. 11: Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellers of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? 12: Where are they? where are thy wise men? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt. 13: The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof. 14: The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit. 15: Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do. 16: In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which he shaketh over it. 17: And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts, which he hath determined against it. 18: In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction. 19: In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the LORD. 20: And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them. 21: And the LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the LORD, and perform it. 22: And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the LORD, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them. 23: In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. 24: In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: 25: Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.

Isaiah, 20

1: In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it; 2: At the same time spake the LORD by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. 3: And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia; 4: So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. 5: And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory. 6: And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and how shall we escape?

Chapters 19 & 20 are the burden of Isaiah for Egypt. From v1-4 Isaiah outlines the destruction of Egypt at the hands of the Assyrians. The passage says that it is the LORD who rides on a swift cloud. What we are seeing here is the LORD who uses a nation in the north to humble a nation in the south. Egypt will be terrified and they will fight against each other. All of the religion of Egypt will be destroyed including its occult basis. V5-10 tells us that the Assyrians will rule them in cruelty and even the geography will be changed by the Lord. The paper, fishing and textile industries will cease. From v11-19 Isaiah talks of the Lord of Hosts who is the cause. The irrigation systems will cease. All the wisdom of Egypt will come to nothing. There will be an economic collapse. They will be terrified of Judah. In that day five cites will speak Hebrew in Egypt and they will be allied to Israel. There will be an altar to the LORD in the land of Egypt and a pillar on its border to the LORD. (Is this referring to the Pillars on the Gulf of Aqabar?) The pillar will be a sign and a witness to the LORD. They will cry to the LORD because of the Assyrian oppression and the LORD will hear them and he will send them a Saviour – a great one who will save them. The Egyptians will be converted to the LORD. They will know the Lord and will offer sacrifice to the Lord. they will enter into covenant with the Lord and be faithful to it. The LORD will smite Egypt and heal them. The highway will be opened from Egypt to Assyria. Israel, Egypt and Assyria will be at peace. The Lord will bless Egypt calling them his people. Assyria will be called the work of his hands and Israel will be the inheritance of the Lord. In Isaiah chapter 20 the prophet continues his prophesy. The Lord told Isaiah to do a very remarkable thing. He told him that in the year that Tartan came to Asdod Isaiah was to put off his sackcloth and shoes and walk naked and bear foot. This was a sign to Egypt and Ethiopia, because the king of Assyria will lead away the Egyptians prisoners, old and young naked and barefoot. Ethiopia will not help them. And even the distant lands will not help them in that day.