Isaiah 19:1-4
It was said that the false god, Baal, rode on the clouds. The beginning of the oracle is a declaration that Yahweh is, in fact, the God who rode on clouds. The statement was meant to lift up the Lord and challenge the beliefs of those who followed other gods. The picture Isaiah offers is an idol that totters in instability like a drunk when Yahweh comes. In a similar way, the heart of the people will melt; they will lose their resolve and trust in the idol and the false god will be shown to be nothing.
At the time Isaiah wrote this, the house of Judah had an alliance with Egypt. God warned them not the form this alliance. Their false God's can't help them when God brings His hand against them. God's judgment would come as internal strife as the Egyptians would rise up against each other. They would forsake normal counsel and consult their mediums and spirits of the dead. God was going to give them over to a fierce king; they were in fact conquered by Assyria in the middle of the 7th century BC.
(see also Psalms 18:10; 104:3 and Daniel 7:13)
Isaiah 19:5-10
Isaiah describes the collapse of the economy in Egypt. The Nile was so important to that region; it was the primary natural resource and provided the means for many to make a living. Any disruption of the Nile would have a major impact on the entire culture. Isaiah prophecies that the waters will fail and be dried up. The crops by the river would fail and wither. The fishermen would mourn and lament the lack of any fishing. The economy of Egypt would be broken.
Note: These verses sum up why the Aswan dam was built in the 1950's. It brought stability to the Nile to control flooding and eliminate the dry spells.
Isaiah 19:11-15
Zoan is another name for Tannis; this was a major northern city on the east side of the delta. This capital city would be one of the first cities to fall in judgment. While Egypt was well known for their wisdom literature and their wise counsel, we know God confounds the wisdom of the wise (1 Cor 3:19). Their princes were fools and their wise men were no longer wise. God gives them a spirit of dizziness, or confusion. The same root word is used three times here:
- V 13; 'They have deluded.'
- V 14; 'They have cause err.'
- V 14; 'As a drunken man staggers'.
The lovely picture might also bring to mind the tottering idol at the opening of the passage. It was a deception also; used as a god and seen as one, but nothing more than a trinket.
The 'head or tail, Palm branch or bulrush' is a metaphor for the political and religious elite. They would also be confounded in this judgment and be able to offer nothing to resist it.
Isaiah 19:16-22
'In that day' speaks of the time when the judgment comes, but also may look beyond that time to a greater fulfillment of the prophesy. It could speak of the millennium when Jesus will rule from the Davidic throne. At that time Israel will be a terror to Egypt instead of the other way around.
- In that day Egypt will be like women; portrayed as fearful and jumpy.
- In that day five cities will be identified speak a common language to worship the Lord. The City of Destruction is City of the sun – Heliopolis, the center of worship to the sun god Ra.
- In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the middle of Egypt. Also a pillar on the border. This pillar will be a sign. There will be a time when they cry out and the will answer them.
- Note: Giza means border and was thought to be the border between north and south Egypt. Giza was 'in the midst' and at the border. Could the great pyramid be a monument to the Lord? There are a lot of fascinating things about the Great Pyramid. **
- In that day a highway will exist from Egypt to Assyria. This is a time of peace and cooperation.
- In that day the Lord will offer a three fold blessing with Assyria and Egypt at the extremes with Israel in the midst.
©2018 Doug Ford
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