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| ISAIAH 19:16-25 |
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Isaiah 19:16-25
THE ATTACK ON EGYPT AND GOD'S DELIVERANCE
At verse 1, "Behold, Yahweh is riding on a
swift cloud, and is about to come to Egypt."
This is the launching pad for both the
contemporary and eschatological "coming" of God.
It refers to the initial arrival of the
Messiah at His second coming which is always the first point of focus in
the ARRIVAL passages.
(1) Verses 2-15 is written in poetry and
refers to the contemporary attack by Sennacherib of Assyria that
devastates Egypt. The language in verses 5-10 is hyperbolic and
therefore symbolic of the economic devastation that Assyria brings upon
Egypt in 713-712 BCE (Isaiah 20).
(2) Verses 16-25 is written in prose and
focuses on a distant situation for Egypt during the Day-of-the-Lord
judgments and afterward in Messiah's earthly kingdom. Usually, the
contemporary prophecies are written in prose and the "end times"
prophecies in poetry. It is reversed in this chapter. The main point is
that transition will usually be indicated by change in the written
format or definite "breaks" in the Hebrew text.
Verse 16, "in that day" is the
transitional phrase that moves from contemporary to the end times.
Depending on context, it usually refers to the general "time period" of
the day of the Lord rather than to a specific "moment" in time.
Thus, this is not the coming of Jesus at
the inception of the Day of the Lord, which began the oracle at verse
19:1.
It refers to the event during that day
which will be both judgment and blessing upon Egypt.
Verse 16
"In that day the Egyptians will become
like women, and they will tremble and be in dread because of the waving
of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which He is going to wave over them."
This is judgment from the armies of the king of the West as he counter attacks Egypt's invasion of Palestine. Daniel 11:4-43.
"The king of the South will collide with
him (K/W)"
"He (K/W will enter the beautiful land
(Palestine) and many will fall."
"Then he (K/W) will stretch out his hand
against countries and the land of Egypt will not escape."
Isaiah 19:17, "The land of Judah will
become a terror to Egypt; everyone to whom it is mentioned will be in
dread of it, because of the purpose of the Lord of hosts which He is
purposing against them."
Because Egypt will move against the king
of the West into Palestine, "Judah will become a terror to Egypt." Not
because Judah does anything at this time, but because "Judah" or rather
the attack against Judah is what causes terror to Egypt through the
counter attack from the King of the West.
In other words, it is BECAUSE they messed
with Judah, that they reap judgment as God allows the king of the West
to defeat them.
But this terror upon Egypt will actually
become a source of blessing.
Isaiah 19:22, God's judgment on Egypt will
be both striking and healing.
When Egypt receives this crushing blow
from the king of the west (the beast), it will elicit in the inhabitants
of Egypt a response of trust toward God. The people as a whole will call
out to God and God will deliver them.
The invitation of Joel 2:32 applies to
everyone during the Day of the Lord.
"Whoever will call upon the name of Yahweh
will be saved."
Thus, after the beast moves on to the
other countries, eventually arriving in Megiddo, he will be destroyed
there by Jesus.
Egypt, as well as other countries will
thus be delivered from the oppression of the beast.
After the dust settles, the surviving
peoples of the world will be evaluated (Mat. 25:32-46).
The sheep (believers) will be divided from
the goats (unbelievers and judged accordingly.
The believers will go into Messiah's
earthly kingdom (Zech 14:16).
The unbelievers will go into Hades to
await the last judgment.
Egypt will have a large population of
believers to go alive into the kingdom.
Isaiah 19:18, "In that day five cities in
the land of Egypt will be speaking the language of Canaan and swearing
allegiance to the Lord of hosts; one will be called the City of
Destruction."
Again, "in that day" refers to the time
period of the day of the Lord. This time the focus is after the battles
have all been resolved and the kingdom has started.
The reference to "the city of destruction"
is probably the idea that ONE OF THE FIVE will be designated as an
historical "reminder" or memorial of all that happened during the day of
the Lord judgments. This is suggested by verses 19-20. The "pillar" will
be a sign and a "witness" BECAUSE, "they will cry to Yahweh because of
oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Champion, and He will
deliver them."
Isaiah 19:19-20, "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 near its border. It will become a sign and a witness to the
Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord
because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Champion,
and He will deliver them."
There is no evidence that the pyramids of
Egypt will be involved with these things. At the present time, there is
nothing about the pyramids that points directly to the person and work
of Jesus, the Savior of the world.
God is not glorified by theories and
speculations, but only by that which unambiguously points to Jesus and
salvation through His name.
The blessing on Egypt that is described
here is BECAUSE they called out to Yahweh.
There will be many people of Egypt who did
not take the mark of the beast. These will turn to the Lord during the
time of oppression and Jesus the Messiah will rescue them.
There will be world-wide evangelism during
the whole time period of the 70th week.
Isaiah 19:21a, "Thus the Lord will make
Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that
day."
Apparently, and finally, the people of
Egypt (and Assyria) will be impacted by the message and accept it. I
suggest that this "impact" will be made upon the people during the time
from Christ's arrival in the clouds and His physical descent to the
earth several months later. There will be many, many people who become
believers after the rapture and during the day-of-the-Lord judgments.
There will be:
(1) The evangelistic message of the church
up to the arrival of Jesus at the 6th seal of Revelation 6.
Matthew 26:14; 10:23; Daniel 11:35; Isaiah
42:10-17; 52:6-7 (Romans 10:15).
(2) The evangelistic impact from the
visible and glorious appearance of Jesus in the clouds of the sky at the
inception of the DOL.
(3) The evangelistic message will continue
with the 144,000 Jewish bond-servants.
Rev. 14:1-7; Isaiah 52:8-10;
24:14-16a; 40:9-11; 62:6-12
A. Messengers within the city of
Jerusalem: Isaiah 62:6-7
B. Messengers outside the city:
Isaiah 62:10-11
(4) At the midpoint of the week, the two
witnesses of Revelation 11 will have their 3 1/2 year ministry.
(5) The evangelistic impact from the
trumpet and bowl judgments. Isaiah 5:10; 26:9
(6) The visible PHYSICAL descent of Jesus
onto the Earth at Revelation 19:11.
All of this will make an impact all
throughout the world.
In Egypt, "They will even worship with
sacrifice and offering, and will make a vow to the Lord and perform it."
Isaiah 19:21b.
This will occur during the Messiah's
kingdom and is summarized at Zechariah 14:16, "Then it will come about
that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem
will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and
to celebrate the Feast of Booths."
The unbelievers will be removed from the
believers during the sheep and Goat evaluation described by Jesus at
Matthew 25:31-46.
Also the unbelieving Jews will be removed
out from among the believing Jews in the separation described at Ezekiel
34:17-2; 20:33-38; Isaiah 27:12-13.
Isaiah 19:22 gives the summary of the
judgment and the blessing.
"And the Lord will strike Egypt, striking
but healing; so they will return to the Lord, and He will respond to
them and will heal them.
Isaiah 19:23-25, During the kingdom
In that day there will be a highway from
Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the
Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the
Assyrians.
In that day Israel will be the third party
with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the
Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and
Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance."
The word group, blessing, is bArak and
basically refers to the giving or receiving of great benefit.
In that day the three kingdoms will be
BOTH the recipients and the source of great benefit located in the
center of the earth.
Whom Yahweh has benefited saying, greatly
benefited is Egypt, etc.
The three terms assigned to the three
nations are terms associated with the people of Israel who are in a
salvation relationship with God.
1. My people: because ALL who live there
will now be believers in Jesus and part of God's people.
2. The work of my hands: all are saved by
the regenerated power of God through the Holy Spirit.
3. My inheritance: Only those who have
trusted in Jesus as Savior share in the spiritual inheritance of a
salvation relationship with God.
In the context of the ancient world and
the context of the Bible that sees Israel as the "center of the world"
(Ezek. 38:12), this image shows that during the earthly Davidic kingdom,
Israel will be the focal point that brings all the world into harmony
under the umbrella of Jesus the Messiah. Assyria shows the area of the
north/east, and Egypt shows the area of the South/east.
And of course all worship will be centered
in the new temple of God as prophesied in Ezek. 40-47 and Zech. 14:16.
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©Ron Wallace, http://www.biblefragrances.com.
Anyone is free to reproduce this material and distribute it, |
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